What happens when one of the world’s leading Holocaust scholars says today’s antisemitism feels frighteningly familiar?

In this vital episode Holocaust historian and former U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt discusses the dangerous surge and normalization of antisemitism worldwide, citing the incidents in London and the October 8, 2023 Sydney Opera House rally. Lipstadt argues antisemitism now operates as a “horseshoe” uniting extremes at the far right and left. She uses the analogy of an upside-down pyramid  to illustrate the threat to Jews, democracy, and international security (including “utilitarian antisemitism” on PRC platforms). She compares today to the 1930s while noting key differences. She critiques university groupthink and campus failures at UCLA and Columbia to protect Jewish students. She describes her envoy work shifting from Abraham Accords, including global guidelines signed by 44 entities and a symposium with major tech platforms. 

She calls for unequivocal leadership, depoliticized action, education, and everyday speaking up. She emphasizes that there must be Jewish joy alongside fighting hate.

Topics include:

• Lipstadt’s legal battle against Holocaust denier David Irving and the film adaptation starring Rachel Weisz. 
• Lipstadt warns about rising antisemitic violence in London, including incidents in Golders Green and the Finchley Reform Synagogue. 
• The episode examines antisemitic protests outside the Sydney Opera House following October 7, 2023. 
• The discussion references the spread of antisemitic content on social media platforms including Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, and X. 
• Lipstadt describes international diplomacy surrounding the Abraham Accords and outreach to Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. 
• Lipstadt praises cooperation from officials in Austria, Germany, and France in combating antisemitism. 
• The Paris Peace Forum and comments by former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls following the Charlie Hebdo shooting and the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket siege. 
• Lipstadt discusses online hate campaigns targeting Jewish institutions including the 92nd Street Y and AIPAC. 
• The murder of Mahsa Amini in Iran and global protests over women’s rights. 
• Lipstadt and Platt discuss authors and commentators including Dara Horn, Douglas Murray, Bret Stephens, Candace Owens, and Tucker Carlson. 
• Lipstadt reflects on Jewish education through organizations like BBYO, USY, and institutions including Emory University and Brandeis University. 
• Surprising Global Allies in France and Austria

Mentioned in the episode:

Deborah Lipstadt

Brandeis University

Emory University

The Tam Institute for Jewish Studies

Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory

Denial (2016 film)

Rachel Weisz Instagram

President Joe Biden

A Conversation With U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt

Antisemitism being 'normalized' and not taken seriously enough, chief rabbi tells BBC

Third arrest over attempted arson at synagogue

Police investigate pro-Palestinian protest at Sydney Opera House over alleged anti-Semitism

Marjorie Taylor Greene to resign from Congress amid clashes with Trump over Israel, Epstein

Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu - Biography

Code Pink Outs Itself as Anti-Jewish Hate Group

Rothschild family

Gunman Kills Three at Kansas City Jewish Community Center, Retirement Home

UCLA can’t allow protesters to block Jewish students from campus, judge rules

Final Columbia University antisemitism report details disturbing examples of Jewish students being cruelly singled out

Met Police apologizes for 'openly Jewish' comment

Paris Peace Forum

Manuel Valls

Charlie Hebdo attack: Three days of terror

‘Déjà Vu’: Remembering Hyper Cacher Five Years Later

Otto Frank

Report of the Yale Committee on Trust in Higher Education

Tel Aviv University

BBYO

Venice Biennale previews in chaos, overshadowed by row over Israeli and Russian participation

Sara J. Bloomfield

Abraham Accords

Leading Jewish Organizations Disturbed By Saudi Arabia’s Islamist Turn

Wahhabism

Fight against antisemitism

Keir Starmer: ‘If you stand alongside people who say Globalize the Intifada, you are calling for terrorism against Jews’

‘Globalize the Intifada’: Meaning, Origins, and Why The Slogan Is a Call for Violence

Emory Together: Countering Antisemitism // DC

Council of Europe

Organization of American States

OSCE

Would-be Michigan car bomber rammed explosives-laden truck into Temple Israel preschool — before security guards shot him dead

NCSY

USY

A Break in the Argentina Murder Case Tied to Iran

Iran: Mahsa Amini's father accuses authorities of a cover-up

92nd Street Y

AIPAC

Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Dutch ministers decry Israeli ministry’s report on Amsterdam violence

Trump Is Right to Deport Hamas Supporters

Fiddler on the Roof

Grace and Frankie

Jon Ossoff

The Presidential Campaign That Changed American Politics

Shabbat

Purim

Passover

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

What Is the Amidah?

After Senate Confirmation Hearing, CAM Voices ‘Unqualified Support’ for Appointment of Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun as Next US Antisemitism Special Envoy

Six-Day War

The Western Wall: The Western Wall Tunnels

Mandelbaum Gate

How Golda Meir Rose to Become the ‘Iron Lady’ of Israel

Arab Terrorists Murder Israelis at Munich Olympics

Natan Sharansky, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Advisory Board

Fear No Evil

Gal Beckerman

When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry

The Adventures of Rabbi Jacob

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Written and Hosted by Jonah Platt, Executive Producers: Steve Hein, Jonah Platt, Chief Business Officer: Kenyon Laing, Chief Marketing Officer: Katya Chen, Production Manager/Executive Assistant: Josie Rothschild, Research Associate: Samantha Greenwald,  Production Associate: Rachel Stern Production Interns: Sasha Nelson, Emma Webb,  YouTube Consultants: Jason Al-Samarrie & Zac Stein, Post Production by TIMEWEAVER, Creative Director: F. Brian Scofield, ACE, Lead Editor: Noam Klement, Editor: Gray Clevenger, Joe King. Graphic Designer: Noah Bell, Theme Music by Gabriel Mann, Performed by Jonah Platt