Podcast Against Antisemitism

Rabbi Mordechai Lightstone is at the cutting edge of the intersection of Jewish thought and technology, having launched projects such as Tech Tribe and NFTorah. The Brooklyn-based rabbi is also one of the key figures spearheading the social media of Chabad.org, the official website of the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

In this episode, Rabbi Lightstone assesses the pluses and minuses of tech and describes his community’s response to the spike in antisemitism against identifiably Jewish people, from the deadly Crown Heights Riot of 1991 to today.

Plus, the podcast takes a look at the far-right group Patriotic Alternative and examines why its latest stunt didn’t go to plan.

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Shoshana Gottlieb is a writer, content creator and podcaster whose work has been featured in The Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post and Hey Alma, but she is best known for running jewishmemesonly, a popular Instagram account that playfully exposes how ludicrous and nonsensical antisemitic beliefs can be, as well as highlighting some of the weird and wonderful aspects of Jewish culture.

In this episode, Shoshana divulges her love for all things pop culture and Jewish, and how she manages to make fun of antisemites through her content without taking away from the seriousness of the subject matter.

Plus, the podcast recaps Campaign Against Antisemitism’s participation at Stamford Hill Shomrim’s annual Open Day and the important work that the Jewish volunteer group carries out.

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Dan Wolff and Sam Thorpe-Spinks are two actor-producers whose newest production, titled Emanate Presents: A Night of New Jewish Writing, features six, stand-alone short plays created as a response to their experiences of antisemitism.

In this episode, the creative duo describe what it’s like for young, Jewish actors just starting out and the challenges posed by the acting industry, the difficulties in speaking out against antisemitism and what can happen when you do.

Plus, the podcast explains what Tisha B’Av is and why Jews around the world will be marking it this weekend.

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Khaled Hassan is an Egyptian political risk and intelligence analyst whose research looks at antisemitism, Islamism and conspiracy theories. 

In this episode, Khaled recounts the fascinating story of how he went from living in Egypt and harbouring antisemitic views himself, to living in the United Kingdom and not only disavowing those views but actually converting to Judaism.

Plus, the podcast examines the controversial record of the Anne Frank Trust.

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Rabbi Michael Schudrich is a native New Yorker and graduate of both the Jewish Theological Seminary and Yeshiva University who served as the Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Japan before undertaking his current position as the longest-serving Chief Rabbi of Poland.

In this episode, Rabbi Schudrich talks about his fascinating life and career, his role in the revival of Poland’s Jewish community following the Holocaust and the fall of Communism, and some of his close calls with antisemites.

Plus, the podcast recounts a recent Court of Appeal sentence of an antisemitic online troll following a referral brought about by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

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Rachel Myers is an award-winning director, designer and actor with hundreds of TV, film and stage credits under her belt. Her work is critically-acclaimed with her short film, Wendy’s Shabbat, screening at film festivals and being broadcast on PBS.

BournRich is an artist and activist who aims to confront division through his art. In addition, he travels the world teaching kids and at-risk youth how to become artists, and his Tiny Kindness project is the subject of Rachel’s most recent film which had its premiere at this year’s Tribeca film festival.

In this episode, the Jewish creative duo discuss their latest film and how tackling antisemitism and promoting Jewish visibility have been recurring themes in both of their works.

Plus, the podcast asks why controversial United States Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was recently welcomed to the United Kingdom by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and several other high-ranking politicians.

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Lyn Julius is a journalist and author of the book Uproot­ed: How 3000 Years of Jew­ish Civ­i­liza­tion in the Arab World Van­ished Overnight. She is also the co-founder of the charity Harif, which aims to educate people about Jews from the Middle East and North Africa.

In this episode, Lyn explains how the persecution of Jews in the Arab world resulted in a destroyed civilisation almost overnight and the lasting impact this had on modern Jewry.

Plus, the podcast questions why British universities fail to tackle antisemitism allegations relating to faculty.

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Izabella Tabarovsky is an expert in Soviet and contemporary left antisemitism and the Senior Program Associate at the Wilson Centre’s Kennan Institute, an organisation widely considered the home of America’s leading experts on Russian studies. 

In this episode, Izabella discusses the parallels between antisemitism in the Soviet Union and contemporary left-wing antisemitism, the recent remarks made by Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov, and her escape from the Soviet Union.

Plus, the podcast takes a look at the recent antisemitic attacks against children allegedly committed by a gang in Stamford Hill.

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Simon Brodkin is an award-winning comedian who has enjoyed three hugely successful BBC series and has performed and hosted on Live at the Apollo (BBC One), Sunday Night at the Palladium (ITV), The John Bishop Christmas Show (BBC One), Children In Need (BBC One), Channel 4’s Comedy Gala and many more TV shows.

In this episode, Simon discusses how he transitioned from performing comedy as different characters to performing as himself, enabling him to talk about his Jewish identity and antisemitism in his act.

Plus, the podcast reviews the humiliating end of Tony Greenstein's failed defamation case.

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Jon Benjamin is a senior diplomat currently serving as the British ambassador to Mexico who has previously represented the United Kingdom in a range of countries including Chile, Ghana, Indonesia, Turkey and the United States. In this episode, Jon discusses his views on the levels of antisemitism across the world, how he first became involved in the fight against antisemitism and why he believes that travelling can help combat prejudice.

Plus, Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Programme Manager, Binyomin Gilbert, and Outreach Presenter, Judith Hayman, discuss CAA’s Love Thy Neighbour teachers’ guides for Church of England schools in the Diocese and the Church's formal apology for its “shameful actions” against Jews.

This episode is the final installment of Season 1 of Podcast Against Antisemitism. We’ll be taking a short break and returning in June for Season 2 with a really exciting line-up of guests. We’d like to thank all of you for listening, and hope that you’re finding our podcast as enjoyable to listen to as we do in producing it.

Now, please enjoy this week’s episode.

Subscribe at antisemitism.org/podcast and send us your feedback to [email protected].

Follow us on all socials @antisemitism