Rootless with Liel Leibovitz

There are few political issues we consider more contentious than abortions. But what if we are getting this critical subject all wrong? Erica Pelman, the founder and director of SHIFRA, a group that helps Jewish women dealing with unplanned pregnancies, tells Liel about her journey from a high-powered job at the Department of Labor to starting her own organization, about the importance of listening to expecting mothers in distress, and about how we should rethink pretty much everything we think we know about abortion and have a more soulful and helpful debate that transcends those deeply flawed labels, “pro-choice” and “pro-life.” 

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Earlier this week, Israel signed a controversial ceasefire deal with Lebanon, brokered by the Biden administration. Tablet’s news editor Tony Badran joins Liel to explain why the deal is the culmination of Barack Obama’s anti-Israeli vision for the region, how it might complicate the Trump administration’s foreign policy, and what reasons, if any, Israel had for signing such an agreement. 

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In 2017, Liel, back then no fan of Donald Trump, wrote a piece defending one of the president’s advisors, Sebastian Gorka, who was outrageously accused of being an actual Nazi. The reaction it generated sent Liel on a journey of political transformation, one that many Americans have recently shared, away from intimidation and lies and towards freedom and enthusiastic faith in America. Dr. Gorka joins Liel to talk about why Trump’s detractors are still smearing his top aides as extremists, and why we even conservatives should want the Democrat Party to reinvent itself and grow saner and stronger. 

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Once upon a time, American publishing houses were paragons of excellence, championing writers like Cytnhia Ozick or Saul Bellow and helping create a robust culture. These days, however, the industry has been hijacked by inflamed activists who are more interested in banning books than publishing them, and who are especially keen to target Jewish writers, editors, and colleagues. Liel is joined by editor and publisher Adam Bellow to discuss how book publishing descended into madness, and what might yet be done to save it. 

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With Donald Trump slated to return to the White House after a truly historic upset, many Americans are feeling joyful and many others bereft. Both may be missing the point, which is that change, in America, often comes by precisely in a string of revolutions, tearing down old and crumbling institutions and replacing them with ones better geared to serve the needs of their constituents. Free Press columnist Eli Lake joins Liel to deliver a quick and insightful recap of what happened on Tuesday and what it means for Democrats, Republicans, Israel, the media, and everybody else. And Tablet's Editor in Chief Alana Newhouse delivers a master class on why everyone, regardless of party affiliation, should feel tremendously hopeful about America's future. 

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With just a few days to go before the 2024 presidential elections, we hear a lot of chatter about American democracy, usually from partisan hacks who are more interested in touting self-serving lies than honing up to inconvenient truths. But the actual hurdles we face as we try to heal our ailing system are much more complicated, and overcoming them is going to take much more than lofty slogans. Liel is joined by writer Will Tanner, who delivers a cautionary tale from the late Roman Republic contemporary Americans should heed, and explains why the policies too many of our lawmakers are pursuing have led another nation grappling with racial justice, South Africa, to the brink of collapse. 

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These days, a lot of people are feeling anxious about America, Israel, and the precarious state of the world. But Jews have always had a superpower—hope, not the facile and silly sort but the kind that motivates people to change the world. Liel is joined by singer, songwriter and author Peter Himmelman, who explains why giving up is never an option, why he chose a life of Jewish observance and reflection over greater fame and fortune, and why he decided to write a deeply moving song dedicated to the Bibas boys, Kfir and Ariel, still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, a song he shares on the show. They also discuss Himmelman's new book, Suspended by No String.  

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Ta-Nehisi Coates’s latest book, The Message, details his travels from Dakar, to South Carolina, to the West Bank and Jerusalem. Liel is joined by NY Post and Fox News contributor Karol Markowicz to discuss Coates’s problematic approach to “research,” in which he chose not to speak to Israelis directly.  

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The conflict in the Middle East isn’t about religion, or national aspirations, or any of the wonderfully abstract things us westerners like to dream about: Tony Badran, Tablet’s news editor, joins Liel to explain the logic that has governed the Levant since at least the Bronze Age, and argue that Israel now has a historic opportunity to change history by disrupting Iran’s imperialist aspirations in the region.

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On the first episode of our new flagship series, Liel Leibovitz puts the current wars in Israel in context. He is then joined by Amiad Cohen, Founder and CEO of Herut, a leading Israeli think tank, to discuss a novel argument for a path to lasting peace on Israel’s borders.

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