A Pittsburgh jury has passed a death sentence on the perpetrator of the most lethal antisemitic attack in US history: the murder of 11 Jews while at prayer at the Tree of Life synagogue in October 2018. Yonit and Jonathan asks how that fits with a Jewish tradition that harbours deep ambivalence about the legitimacy of capital punishment. 
In Israel, all eyes turn towards a court case that’s just over a month away — as the Supreme Court decides whether the first step in Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul is allowed under Israel’s unwritten and unsettled constitution. Protests continue, some Likud backbenchers rebel - but could a breakthrough with Saudi Arabia change everything?
And - it's a Barbie world, we're just living in it: a special guest tells us about the movie sensation of the summer: Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz reflects on being an Israeli in a US boardroom - and whether Barbie’s Jewish inventor was creating a role model whose driving ambition was assimilation.
Plus: chutzpah and mensch nominees that stretch from Tokyo to Mar-a-Lago


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From Bibi to Barbie - with special guest Ynon Kreiz

Yonit Levi of Israel's Channel 12 News and Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian are two of the most prominent journalists in the world today. They are also Jews. Each week, join what MSNBC's Rachel Maddow calls "two great, smart smart smart hosts" as they dissect and debate current events shaping Israel, Jewish life - and the wider world.
Their blend of nuanced discussion and sparkling conversation, featuring a dazzling range of guests, is why New Yorker editor David Remnick calls himself a “proud, avid listener," why Ira Glass says he "completely enjoys this show" and why Malcolm Gladwell calls it an "incredibly fun podcast".
For a weekly fix of globally informed talk – including nominations for the greatest act of chutzpah and outstanding mensch of the previous seven days – there’s only one destination. Make every Friday morning Unholy. 
 

News

In a week when the Gaza conflict seemed to be relocated to the lawns of America’s Ivy League campuses, Yonit and Jonathan talk to Columbia student Noa Fay and to Maya Ilany of Harvard - followed by a conversation with award-winning columnist Hadley Freeman about her new essay on October 7 and the left. Plus: an update on renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire deal and hostage release, and the perennial indecision of Benjamin Netanyahu. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Break - with Hadley Freeman, Noa Fay & Maya Ilany

During the Passover break, another chance to hear one of our most forceful conversations - one that, in many ways, has only become more timely. Yonit and Jonathan talk to the entrepreneur, scholar and podcaster Professor Scott Galloway about the war that is waged not through bombs and rockets, but in the media, online - and especially on campus.
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Rewind: Scott Galloway vs. the World

In an episode recorded before Israel’s reported targeting of Iranian sites in the early hours of Friday morning, Yonit and Jonathan discuss the ongoing fallout from Iran’s attack on Israel six days earlier — assessing the arguments and dilemmas that have gripped Israel’s policymakers. Plus: a conversation about the future for Israelis and Palestinians when the current war in Gaza is finally over, with Israeli scholar and thinker Fania Oz-Salzberger and Palestinian writer and analyst Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib. And, of course, some thoughts for the seder table as Pesach, or Passover, approaches
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The 11th Plague - with Fania Oz-Salzberger & Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib

Yonit and Jonathan talk through an unprecedented night in which Iran launched a direct attack on Israeli territory for the first time - and in which a series of Arab nations joined the US, UK, France and Israel itself in protecting the country from a sustained Iranian drone and missile attack. How will - and how should - Benjamin Netanyahu respond? Is there a way to retaliate without triggering a wider regional war? And what are the implications for both Israel's battle against Hamas and its place in the Middle East? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Urgent Update: Iran Attacks

Israeli writer and satirist Etgar Keret and US broadcasting legend Ira Glass have been friends for two decades - but October 7 put that friendship under strain. They found themselves seeing the same events differently. Like Yonit and Jonathan, one was inside, the other outside. The four of them talk about that, about grief, friendship - and much else. Plus an update on the looming threat from Iran and the state of the war in Gaza — and there are some choice nominees for the chutzpah and mensch awards See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Bibi to Barbie - with special guest Ynon Kreiz

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