The College Commons Podcast

By HUC-JIRSociety & Culture Religion & Spirituality Arts Books Judaism

The College Commons Podcast episodes

July 01, 2025 Lee Yaron: Weaving the Threads of October 7th
Author Lee Yaron resists the simplification of politics, people, and, most of all, of October 7th — in favor of nuance and humanity.

Biography:

Lee Yaron is an award-winning Israeli journalist.

Her new book, "10/7: 100 Human Stories," won the 2024 National Jewish Book Award Book of the Year — and the 2025 Natan Notable Books award.

At 30, Yaron is the youngest Book of the Year recipient in the award's history. She joins distinguished past winners including Philip Roth, Elie Wiesel, David Grossman and Amos Oz.

She was selected for the prestigious 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

Her investigative journalism on corruption, social issues, and environmental concerns has prompted the establishment of state-level commissions and driven changes in Israeli policy and law. This work earned her the 2022 Yitzhak Livni "Knight" Award for Free Speech in Media. She currently serves as an elected member-representative on the Executive Committee of the Union of Israeli Journalists.

Website: https://www.leeyaron.com/
35 min
June 03, 2025 Louis Fishman, Ph.D.: At the Dawn of the State of Israel
Middle East Historian Louis Fishman reshapes our understanding of the birth of Zionism in its Ottoman context.
27 min
May 20, 2025 Rabbi Marc Katz: A Civilization’s Inflection Point
Rabbi Marc Katz uses the historical imagination to plumb the depths of Judaism’s greatest choice for survival.
40 min
May 06, 2025 Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: A New Era for Judaism and Israel
Rabbi Elliot asks us to approach difficult times with depth of mind and spirit.
30 min
April 11, 2025 Rabbi Joshua Weinberg: What do We Even Mean by “Liberal Zionism”?
Rabbi Joshua Weinberg tackles both the complexity and the clarity of vision embedded in the idea of Liberal Zionism.
30 min
December 15, 2024 Menachem Rosensaft: Burning Psalms
Poet Menachem Rosensaft transforms the Psalms into a search for God who permitted the Holocaust.
43 min
November 11, 2024 Yariv Inbar: I, Spy
Who are we and where is home? Author Yariv Inbar investigates through the mental tightrope of espionage.
25 min
November 02, 2024 Aryeh Ben David: The Jewish Thinker of the Millennium
Aryeh Ben David plumbs the diaries of the epochal thinker Rav Kook. He finds the imperative of love.
28 min
September 29, 2024 Mari Lowe: Growing up is tough business
Author Mari Lowe explores adolescence through the lens of the Orthodox experience – both unique and common to all.
18 min
September 28, 2024 Deborah Dash Moore: On a Human Scale
Deborah Dash Moore transports us to midcentury New York and the photographer who captured its people from street level.
26 min

About The College Commons Podcast

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The College Commons Podcast, passionate perspectives from Judaism's leading thinkers, is produced by Hebrew Union College, America's first Jewish institution of higher learning.