Tel Aviv Review

Can films reveal what a nation really believes about itself? For decades, Dutch cinema told one story about its Jews. Then, slowly, that story began to change. This week, Dr. Eyal Boers, head of Film and Television at Ariel University, takes us on a fascinating journey through more than a century of Dutch cinema, showing how films have reflected—and shaped—the Netherlands' evolving relationship wi...

Upon the publication of  Autocorrect , his latest collection of short stories, Etgar Keret joins us to discuss his favorite literary form, the impact of AI on storytelling and the power of literature post-Oct 7. The episode is sponsored by the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History at UCLA and co-hosted by Prof David N. Myers.

The major turning points in Iran's nuclear program were not the JCPOA or the latest wars, but the Shah's defiance of Henry Kissinger and the Iran-Iraq War, says Dr. Sina Azodi, Assistant Professor of Middle East Politics at George Washington University and author of  Iran and the Bomb: The United States, Iran and the Nuclear Question .

How does a Western-educated king survive — and thrive — in the political chaos of the Middle East for more than 25 years? Aaron Magid, a journalist formerly based in Jordan, discusses his book  The Most American King: Abdullah of Jordan , exploring the fascinating story of Jordan's King Abdullah II: a monarch shaped by American culture, dependent on American support, yet ruling one of the region's...

Olga Gershenson, professor of Jewish and Near East Studies and Film Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, explains how a generation raised on VHS, torrents, and global cinema reinvented horror in Israel—turning familiar tropes into sharp, funny, and deeply local cultural critique. From "Hebraizing" zombies to exposing the absurdities of military life, Israeli horror is anything but...

Oz Frankel, professor of American history at the New School for Social Research in New York, discusses his book  Coca Cola, Black Panthers and Phantom Jers: Israel in the American Orbit 1967-1973 .

A thought-provoking episode exploring how early Zionist thinkers engaged deeply with Arabic language and Islamic culture, challenging conventional views of identity and "Orientalism" in the Middle East. Dr Mostafa Hussein, Assistant Professor of Jewish-Muslim Relations at the University of Michigan, discusses his book Hebrew Orientalism: Jewish Engagement with Arabo-Islamic Culture in Late Ottoman...

Did you know that a Yiddish newspaper once had a larger circulation than The New York Times ? At the turn of the 20th century, the Yiddish press in America wasn't just a news industry — it was the beating heart of immigrant Jewish life. Newspapers didn't just report the news; they offered advice, shaped politics, and helped newcomers navigate a bewildering new society. In this week's episode, hist...

Amir Naaman and Dr Ran Heilbrunn, Israeli writers based in Germany, discuss their new collection of essays  Inversion: Gay Life after the Homosexual . What are the next steps for queer theory after the impressive gains made by gay rights activism over the last few decades?

For Michael Sfard, one of Israel's most prominent human rights lawyers and author of the forthcoming book Occupation from Within: How Israel's Oppression of the Palestinians Turned Inwards , the government's anti-democratic proposals, collectively known as the "judicial overhaul", are a culmination of the decades-long occupation of the Palestinians. The episode is sponsored by the Sady and Ludwig...

How will the much-touted special relationship be affected by President Trump's overhaul of many aspects of American governance? Alon Pinkas, former Israeli diplomat and author of the forthcoming book An Unnatural Alliance, reflects on his time as Consul-General in New York in the early 2000s - how has Israeli diplomacy in the US evolved since? Join us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/telavivr...

Dr. Murat Yildiz, a historian of the Middle East at Skidmore College, discusses his book, The Ottoman World of Sports: Refashioning Bodies, Men and Communities in Late Imperial Istanbul . (Forthcoming, University of Texas Press).

Robert Malley, a former US negotiator and president and CEO of the International Crisis Group, and currently Senior Fellow and Lecturer at Yale University's Jackson School for Global Affairs, discusses his book (co-authored with Hussein Agha) Tomorrow is Yesterday: Life, Death and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine . The episode is sponsored by the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish Histor...

Dr Balazs Berkovits, a Hungarian-born sociologist and philosopher, and Dr. Sara Hirschhorn, an American-Israeli historian, discuss the complexity – and adverse effects – of attributing the "whiteness" category to Jews. This series is made possible by the Elizabeth and Tony Comper Center for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism at the University of Haifa.

Steven E. Zipperstein, the director of the Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at UCLA, discusses his book,  Zionism, Palestinian Nationalism and the Law: 1939-1948 .

Dr Dikla Yogev and Dr Shlomi Balaban, two Israeli academics based in Canada, reflect on Oct. 7 and its aftermath in their professional and personal circles. This series is made possible by the Elizabeth and Tony Comper Center for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism at the University of Haifa.

Rabbi Dr Michael Marmur, Professor of Jewish Theology at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, discusses his book  Living the Letters: An Alphabet of Emerging Jewish Thought .

Izabella Tabarovsky and Prof. Khinvraj Jangid, fellows at the Elizabeth and Tony Comper Center for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism at the University of Haifa, discuss the landscape of antisemitism in two non-Western environments: the Post-Soviet and the Indian. This series is made possible by the  Elizabeth and Tony Comper Center for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism at the University of H...

Amos Goldberg, Professor of Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a renowned historian of the Holocaust, explains why he believes Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and weighs in on the role of historians and public intellectuals in addressing it. The episode is sponsored by the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History at UCLA and co-hosted by Prof David N. Myers.

Lior Sternfeld, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Penn State University, discusses his book, "Iran: Life itself. History, politics, culture and trauma," a Hebrew-language primer for Israelis curious about their country's arch-enemy. Hear the full episode on Patreon

Prof. Guy Ben-Porat, political scientist at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, discusses his co-written book  Usual Suspects: Minorities, Police and Citizenship in Israel .

Adam Kirsch, poet, critic and editor at the Wall Street Journal, discusses his widely debated book,  On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence and Justice . The settler-colonialism prism, especially in the wake of October 7, is a textbook example of the use and abuse of academic theories for political ends – how and why has it come to be? Kirsch offers an historical genealogy as well as a contemp...

Guy Miron, professor of modern European Jewish history at the Open University of Israel, and the director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust in Germany at Yad Vashem and a board member of the Leo Baeck Institute in Jerusalem, discusses his most recent book, Space and Time Under Persecution: The German-Jewish Experience in the Third Reich.

Dr Ido Yahel, a postdoctoral fellow at Tel Aviv University's Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, is a historian of modern Syria. An ethnic hodgepodge, was the decades-long stability provided by the brutal Assad regime an exception rather than the rule? Can Syria reinvent itself under the leadership of a reformed (at least partially) radical Islamist? Hear the full episode on...

Prof. Jonthan Dekel-Chen, Rabbi Edward Sandrow Chair in Soviet and East European Jewry at the Hebrew University and the academic chairman of the Nevzlin Center for Russian and East European Jewry, takes a long view on the history of Jews in Russia and its past and present territories, from the turn of the 20th century to the 21st. This episode is made possible by the  Hebrew University of Jerusale...