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This episode features Sarai Shavit, writer, literary editor, and Research Fellow at Tel Aviv University, in conversation with Yael Segalovitz, Israel Institute Visiting Professor at the Helen Diller Institute and Assistant Professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Sarai Shavit and fellow writer and literary editor, Dr. Rawya Burbara, have been collaborating on a project to edit a multilingu...

This episode features Maya Arad, author of twelve Hebrew books of fiction and Writer in Residence at the Taube Center for Jewish Studies at Stanford University, in conversation with Yael Segalovitz, Israel Institute Visiting Professor at the Helen Diller Institute and Assistant Professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Reflecting on The Hebrew Teacher, first published in Hebrew, and more re...

This episode features Yuval Shany, Hersch Lauterpacht Chair in International Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and former Chair of the UN Human Rights Committee, in conversation with Masua Sagiv, Koret Visiting Assistant Professor of Jewish and Israel Studies at UC Berkeley and Senior Faculty at the Shalom Hartman Institute. Together, they hold a frank discussion about the complexities and...

This episode features Oz Frankel, Associate Professor of History at The New School for Social Research. Professor Frankel examines the period of the late 1960s as a unique moment when Israel became more closely entwined with the United States not just as a strategic ally but also through its intensifying intimacy with American culture, society, and technology. This is the subject of his new book C...

This episode features Ronen Avraham, Professor of Law at Tel Aviv University, in conversation with Adi Ayal, Professor of Law and Economics at Bar Ilan University and Helen Diller Institute Visiting Professor. Professor Avraham is also one of the leaders of the Fourth Quarter, the largest grassroots movement in Israel. Together, Avraham and Ayal discuss this bottom-up constitutional initiative tha...

This episode features Christine Hayes, Sterling Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Yale University. A Talmudic scholar of late antiquity, she draws on performance studies, as well as theories of humor and play, to examine the Talmudic rabbis’ counter-cultural construction of divine law as a contingent and dynamic phenomenon unfolding in historical time. This episode is drawn from the 16th...

In this episode, Ilan Troen, historian and founding scholar of the field of Israel studies, speaks about his new book, Israel/Palestine in World Religions: Whose Promised Land? He examines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lens of religion and argues that religious perspectives should be considered alongside studies of nationalism and geopolitics as essential components of the conflict....

In this episode, Nadav Eyal (prominent Israeli author and journalist) and Professor Kenneth Bamberger (Berkeley Law) discuss the fast-changing developments in Israel and in the region – including the continuing hostage crisis, the firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israeli society and the burdens of reserve service in the 14th month of war, and the reelection of Donald Trump in relation to I...

In this episode, leading expert on Jewish-Arab relations in Israel Mohammad Darawshe, and Professor Masua Sagiv (Koret Visiting Professor of Jewish and Israel Studies at the Helen Diller Institute) discuss the challenges and opportunities for building shared society in Israel post-October 7. The events of October 7 and the Israel-Hamas War have had a unique impact on Jewish and Arab-Palestinian co...

In this episode, Israeli author and memoirist Ayelet Tsabari and Professor Yael Segalovitz (Israel Institute Visiting Professor at the Helen Diller Institute) discuss Tsabari’s newly released, debut novel Songs for the Brokenhearted, a poignant story about family, loss, and lost family stories, and the unbreakable bonds between a mother and a daughter. They also explore Tsabari’s writing process,...

In this episode, Israeli author and clinical psychologist Ayelet Gundar Goshen and Professor Yael Segalovitz (Israel Institute Visiting Professor at the Helen Diller Institute) discuss the fragile emotional state of Israeli society one year after October 7, and in the wake of the murders of hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Carmel Gat....

In this episode, Professor Keren Friedman-Peleg (College of Management-Academic Studies) and Dr. Rebecca Golbert discuss Friedman-Peleg’s ongoing ethnographic fieldwork examining processes of meaning-making after trauma among October 7th survivors. They also explore the fragile mood of Israeli society following the murder of six hostages in Gaza. This episode was recorded in October 2024. Featurin...

In this episode, Nadav Eyal (prominent Israeli author and journalist) and Professor Kenneth Bamberger (Berkeley Law) discuss the fast-changing developments in Israel and in the region — including in Gaza and in Lebanon — and consider Iran’s response as well as U.S. foreign policy in advance of the U.S. election. This episode was recorded in late September 2024. Featuring: Nadav Eyal , Senior Colum...

In this episode, Israeli author Yossi Klein Halevi joins Ethan Katz (UC Berkeley) for an in-depth discussion on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, exploring the deep-rooted challenges and what it will take to move beyond the current stalemate. Together, they examine potential pathways to peace and the critical steps needed to overcome the enduring obstacles in this complex and long-standing conflic...

Content Warning: This episode features explicit description of sexual violence.  After October 7th, it quickly became clear that Hamas had committed acts of sexual violence during their attack on civilians in Israel. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, Former Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, soon found herself on the front lines of a campaign to c...

The Israel-Hamas War has sparked serious questions about the rule of law in international relations and the effectiveness of international law in conflict situations. These issues are further complicated by the involvement of numerous international legal bodies, including the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and various UN human rights mechanisms. In this episode,...

American Judaism stands at a critical juncture, balancing the successes of the past with the uncertainties of the future. The political, economic, and ideological conditions of postwar liberalism in the 20th century allowed many Jews to thrive in America, fostering a distinctive American Judaism that wove together American and Jewish values. However, today's rapidly changing world challenges this...

Arab-Palestinians make up 21% of Israel’s population, and the events of October 7 and the Israel-Hamas War have uniquely impacted these communities, challenging the vision of a shared society. While Arab citizens have faced the same dangers as their Jewish counterparts, they have also encountered distinct forms of discrimination, with their loyalties questioned and basic rights denied by authoriti...

Arab-Palestinians comprise 21% of Israel’s population, and the events of October 7 and the Israel-Hamas War have profoundly affected these communities, challenging the vision of a shared society. While Arab citizens have faced the same hardships as their Jewish counterparts, they have also been subjected to unique forms of discrimination, with their loyalties questioned and their rights under the...

How should we understand Iran’s evolving relationship with Israel? Where do their interests diverge and where do they clash? In this episode, Professors Abbas Milani (Stanford University) and Ron Hassner (UC Berkeley) discuss Iran’s vision for the region; its influence on proxy forces such as Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis; and Israel's policy towards Iran. This episode was recorded in F...

In this episode, recorded in February 2024, Haviv Rettig Gur and Professor Kenneth Bamberger discuss the state of the Israel–Hamas War during its fourth month.   Featuring: Haviv Rettig Gur, Senior Analyst, Times of Israel Kenneth Bamberger, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Professor of Law; Faculty Co-Director, Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies, UC Berkeley...