Matt Sienkiewicz, Professor of Communication and International Studies at Boston College, discusses his new co-authored book That's Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them, analyzing the reach and influence of openly right-wing comedians on old and new media in the United States.

Avi Dabush, veteran social activist, Meretz politician and author of the new semi-autobiographical book The Periphery Rebellion: The Guide to a Much-Needed Revolution in Israeli Society, analyzes the origins of social inequalities in Israel and explains why the liberal left – despite everything – is the answer (albeit not always the Israeli left in its current form).

This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education.

Dr. Naomi Shmuel, author and anthropologist, from the department of Folklore at the Hebrew University, discusses her book Generations of Hope: Traditions and Intergenerational Transferal with the Transition from Ethiopia to Israel, analyzing the hybrid identity of Israelis of Ethiopian descent across the generations.

This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education.

Prof. Norbert Lammert, the chairman of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and former President of the German Bundestag, joins us in Tel Aviv for a conversation about the challenges of the liberal and democratic order in his native Germany and elsewhere, upon the 40th anniversary of the Foundation's presence in Israel.

This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education.

Jewish history professor Aron Rodrigue of Stanford University was the keynote speaker at an international conference held this week at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, dedicated to the Jewish history of Salonica. In the late 15th century, the then-Ottoman city (today the Greek city of Thessaloniki) welcomed large numbers of Sephardi Jews who had been expelled from Spain, making it very soon the largest Jewish city in Europe. A series of crises and disasters, culminating in the Nazi occupation in the 1940s, led to its ultimate destruction.

This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

America has long been viewed as the quintessential broker of Israeli-Palestinian peace. In his book Brokers of Deceit: How the US Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East, Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi argues that it's no accident peace has not yet materialized. He shows how the US undermines, rather than advancing an agreement, by playing the role of "Israel's lawyer," or perhaps its siamese twin.

This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Growing up is the pits in the best of times. Growing up Muslim in America has special complexities. Being Muslim in America, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, coming of age during and after September 11, and becoming a public speaker on the religion and culture of Islam could be a formula for collision. Haroon Moghul, Fellow in Jewish-Muslim relations at the Shalom Hartman Institute, has many: with the world, with God, with himself. His book weaves together stories of personal, political, and religious development, and answers questions about Islam for the perplexed of any faith.

This episode was made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Jupp, Salomon (Sally) Perel’s Nazi alter ego, which he had to play to survive in the Second World War, hasn’t left him more than 70 years on. Perel’s hair-raising story, and the baggage that he carries to this day, have been the center of “4 x Sally,” a thought-provoking art installation co-created by Shimon Lev, an Israeli, and Friedmann Derschmidt, an Austrian, and put on display at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.

This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn, a lecturer in Israel Studies at Oxford University, discusses her book City on a Hilltop: American Jews and the Israeli Settler Movement, which attempts to explain why American-born Jews are disproportionately represented among immigrants who settled in the West Bank.

This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel. Tel Aviv Review was also supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.

Yaakov Katz, the editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post newspaper, discusses his book Weapons Wizards: How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower.

This episode of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel. 

This episode was also supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.