Tel Aviv Diary Podcast

The End of Reading is Here What if It's Not the Phones This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marcschulman.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of the Tel Aviv Diary podcast, Marc Schulman speaks with former Israeli intelligence official Ehud Haik about Israel’s deepening political and strategic crisis. They discuss the collapse of trust in institutions, the conspiracy narratives surrounding October 7, Netanyahu’s war with the judiciary, and the danger of a political system increasingly shaped by one man’s survival. The co...

In this reflective episode of Tel Aviv Diary , Marc Schulman marks two historic milestones: 1,000 days since October 7th and the 250th anniversary of American independence. Speaking from Tel Aviv, Marc reflects on a lifetime lived between two countries—born and raised in America, shaped by American history, but rooted in Israel as home. The episode moves between personal memory and national reckon...

Marc Schulman speaks with Devora Mason, a Canadian-Israeli tech and capital strategist whose career has moved from Jerusalem’s startup scene to venture capital, infrastructure, and AI-driven investment. Mason discusses her new venture, Acadia Green, which focuses on the physical infrastructure behind artificial intelligence: data centers, energy, and the capital needed to build them. The conversat...

This week on the Tel Aviv Diary Podcast , Marc Schulman returns to his Tel Aviv studio after several days in Budapest to examine one of the most consequential weeks Israel has faced since the fighting with Iran came to an end. Rather than focusing on the battlefield itself, Marc argues that the real story is what happened afterward: the diplomatic fallout, the strategic mistakes, and what he belie...

In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary , Marc Schulman begins with a candid assessment of the rapidly evolving strategic landscape facing Israel following the latest marathon negotiations between the United States and Iran. Marc examines the implications of linking the Lebanon conflict to the future of the Straits of Hormuz, the growing tensions between Jerusalem and Washington, and the uncomfortable r...

In this urgent episode of Tel Aviv Diary , Marc Schulman speaks from Budapest after news that four more Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon. What began as a planned discussion on Hasbara and Jewish identity became, by necessity, a hard look at Israel’s worsening strategic position after the U.S.–Iran agreement. Marc argues that the deal was less a nuclear agreement than a bargain to reopen the...

In this episode of the Tel Aviv Diary Podcast , Marc Schulman speaks with Rabbi Uri Regev, President of Hiddush — Freedom of Religion for Israel — about one of the most important internal battles shaping the future of the Jewish state: the struggle over religion and state. Rabbi Regev, a Reform rabbi, attorney, and longtime legal advocate, discusses his journey from Tel Aviv to the leadership of I...

n this episode of Tel Aviv Diary , Marc Schulman speaks with Inbar Harush, one of the leading voices behind the movement for “Service for All” in Israel and a key figure in shaping Yashar’s policy platform under Gadi Eisenkot. Harush, a former CEO of Aharai and former adviser to Defense Minister Benny Gantz, lays out one of Israel’s most urgent structural crises: the erosion of the “people’s army....

In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary , Marc Schulman speaks with author Avi Shahaf about his new book, Pain and Healing: Testimonies from the Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families Forum . Shahaf, a former organizational consultant who has spent years studying narrative research and human dignity, interviewed Israeli and Palestinian members of the Bereaved Families Forum—people who lost loved ones in...

In today’s hybrid episode of Tel Aviv Diary , Marc Schulman opens from Tel Aviv on Friday, June 5, with a wide-ranging assessment of Israel’s current political and strategic moment. He discusses the rising political momentum behind former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, the shifting opposition landscape, Netanyahu’s continued hold on power, and the growing concern over Israel’s standing in the U...

In this wide-ranging episode of Tel Aviv Diary , Marc Schulman sits down with veteran journalist, analyst, and i24NEWS broadcaster Owen Alterman for an in-depth discussion of one of the most important questions facing Israel today: the changing relationship between Israel and the United States. Drawing on his years of research and writing on American Jewry, demographics, and public opinion, Alterm...

In this solo episode of the Tel Aviv Diary Podcast , Marc Schulman looks back at six turbulent weeks since the ceasefire between the United States, Iran, and Israel was announced. What was supposed to be a temporary pause has turned into a dangerous diplomatic limbo, with President Trump moving between threats of renewed war and hints of a possible agreement with Tehran. Marc argues that Israel ma...

In today’s episode of Tel Aviv Diary , Marc sits down with Israeli entrepreneur, investor, and author Yaniv Rivlin for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of Israel’s economy, society, and startup culture after years of political turmoil, war, and uncertainty. Rivlin recounts his journey from growing up in Katzrin in the Golan Heights to studying at Harvard, working in philanthropy and social...

This edition of Tel Aviv Diary combines Marc Schulman’s weekly reflections on Israel’s political and security situation with an in-depth interview on one of Israel’s most important emerging technology sectors: autonomous mobility. Marc opens the episode with a candid assessment of the war on Israel’s northern border, as Hezbollah drone attacks continue and another Israeli soldier is killed in Sout...

In today’s edition of Tel Aviv Diary , Marc Schulman is joined once again by geopolitical and intelligence analyst Ehud Haik for an in-depth discussion on one of the most uncertain moments of the current war. As conflicting signals emerge from Washington and Tehran, Marc and Ehud examine whether the United States and Iran are moving toward another round of fighting or toward an unstable diplomatic...

In this joint episode of Tel Aviv Diary and In This Moment: A Rabbi’s Notebook , Marc Schulman sits down with Rabbi Joshua Hammerman for a wide-ranging and deeply personal conversation on the state of Israel, American Jewry, and the fragile relationship between them. Broadcast during Schulman’s visit to the United States, the discussion captures a moment of profound anxiety and uncertainty. Both m...

On the eve of Yom HaZikaron, Marc Schulman is joined once again by Yitzhak Sokoloff for a deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation about memory, sacrifice, war, and the uncertainty hanging over Israel’s future. As Israel comes to a standstill for Memorial Day, they reflect on the singular weight of Yom HaZikaron in Israeli life, the rising number of fallen soldiers, and the emotional burden c...

In this Friday afternoon episode of the Tel Aviv Diary Podcast , recorded on April 17 in Tel Aviv , Marc Schulman opens with what he sees as one of the clearest signs yet that the war is winding down: the return of Knaf Tzion , the Israeli government plane, from Berlin to Israel. From there, Marc examines the newly imposed ceasefire in Lebanon , President Trump’s decisive role in shaping Israeli p...

In this episode of the Tel Aviv Diary Podcast , Marc Schulman is joined by Joel Rubin , former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Obama administration, former congressional staffer, former executive director of the American Jewish Congress, founding political director of J Street, and a longtime figure in Democratic and Jewish public life in Washington. Speaking from the American capital w...

Two days into the ceasefire with Iran, Marc Schulman reports from Tel Aviv on a night that began with hope and ended in a rush to the shelter as missiles from Lebanon shattered the quiet. In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary , he examines the fragile reality of the current moment: why Israel may be nearing a diplomatic opening with Lebanon, why military force alone cannot bring lasting quiet in the n...

In today’s Tel Aviv Diary podcast, Marc Schulman is joined by Yair Zivan, Israeli-born communications strategist, former adviser and spokesperson to Shimon Peres and Yair Lapid, and one of the sharper centrist voices in Israeli public life. Their conversation unfolds in real time under fire, with sirens interrupting the interview and sending Marc to shelter before they resume. That interruption be...

In this Erev Chag edition of the Tel Aviv Diary Podcast , Marc Schulman reports from Tel Aviv after a harrowing morning of repeated missile attacks on central Israel, the south, and the north. He describes a city moving toward the holiday in an atmosphere of exhaustion and unease, with normally crowded pre-Chag streets and markets noticeably subdued after four back-to-back attacks shook the center...

In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary , recorded on Friday, March 27 in Tel Aviv, Marc Schulman reflects on a war entering its fourth week with no clear end in sight. He examines the growing strain on Israelis living under daily missile and rocket fire, especially in the north, where residents are being told to remain in towns that still lack adequate protection. Marc argues that the government has fa...

In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary , I begin with a grim update from Tel Aviv after a night that was anything but quiet. Repeated missile warnings sent us to the shelters at 1:00 a.m., again at 4:30, and then once more at 7:20 in the morning, when a missile with multiple warheads struck in Tel Aviv, landing uncomfortably close to home. It was a stark reminder that for those of us living here, this...