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160 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Episode 55: The real war is not in Gaza, with Dr. Einat Wilf
29 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 12 min
Trump's peace plan explicitly calls for deradicalization of the Gazan population. Countries like Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are hoping to take part in Gaza's rebuilding in part so they can help push back against the radical Islamism of Hamas, which those countries see as a larger threat to themselves as well. Lees meer
Can Palestinian society be deradicalized? What might that even mean? Is the problem a religious one? A political one? Can Israel play a part, and how would that look?
We turned to Dr. Einat Wilf, a leading thinker and writer on Israel, on the conflict, on the history of the two peoples, and on Israel's foreign and education policies. Wilf has long argued that Palestinian society is in thrall to a particular ideological narrative that goes beyond Palestinian self-determination and fixates on the demand for a complete eradication of Israel - and that Palestinian ideologues and elites have been advancing that desire for generations, nearly always at the expense of Palestinian interests and wellbeing. She also believes they will continue to do so until this impulse is understood, named and tackled head-on.
This episode is sponsored by the American Technion Society. With Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah degraded, what technologies will Israel need to defend itself in a new Middle East? Every day, groundbreaking research from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology is transformed into real world defense tech that protects Israel and saves lives. From Iron Dome to Iron Beam, drones to satellites, and cybersecurity to supercomputers, fundamental science born in Technion labs is brought to life by visionary Technion alumni serving in the IDF and defense industries giving Israel its qualitative edge.
If you love Israel and want to keep it safe, boost its economy, and strengthen its people, investing in the great minds, discoveries, and inventions that come from the Technion is a phenomenal way to make a bigger impact on Israel’s future and ensure its safety. Please …
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Episode 54: Can Israel be both Sparta and Athens? With Dan Schueftan
23 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 27 min
The Gaza war may now be over. But Hamas remains entrenched in the half of Gaza from which the IDF has withdrawn. Lees meer
Many are hopeful that this marks a new and better day for Gaza, but it's hard to see how Gaza moves forward to the better future envisioned in the Trump peace plan as long as Hamas continues to rule there.
Prof. Dan Schueftan, a preeminent and blunt-spoken Israeli national security scholar who helped craft the original 2005 Israeli withdrawal from Gaza joins the podcast to talk about the meaning of this moment - his lessons from the Gaza withdrawal, how Israeli strategy must account for what he calls the "barbarism" of its enemies, the failures of Israeli strategy that led to October 7 and the resiliency of Israeli society since the massacre. He offers a sober analysis of what the future holds for Gaza.
This episode is sponsored by Aaron and Donna Horowitz and Mitch and Sherri Padnos, who asked us (we swear) to say, "With heartfelt gratitude, we thank Haviv for being the most trusted and insightful voice on the Middle East—helping us make sense of complex realities and offering clarity in a time that so often feels overwhelming. Your work doesn’t just inform us; it helps us cope, reflect, and stay connected to what matters most."
They dedicated the episode to their lone soldiers Alexa Horowitz and Ethan Padnos and to all lone soldiers from Israel and around the world who commit themselves to the defense of Israel, both during their active service and in miluim (reserve duty), whose courage, sacrifice, and devotion inspire us every day.
They also asked us to make special mention of the heavy psychological toll this war has exacted on those who serve. Since the war began, dozens of soldiers have taken their own lives—an unbearable reminder that the wounds of conflict are not only physical but also emotional and invisible. May their memories be a blessing, and may their loss push us all to care for the mental health and wellbeing of every soldier, vete…
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Episode 53: Telling the Jewish story to the Arab world, with Elhanan Miller
21 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 3 min
Rabbi Elhanan Miller has half a million online followers, and almost all of them are Arabs. They tune in to his "People of the Book" project on YouTube and other platforms to learn in Arabic about Jewish ideas, customs and holidays, and to hear the testimonies of Jews from the Arab and Muslim worlds who now live in Israel or the West. Lees meer
Elhanan has appeared hundreds of times on Arabic-language television networks throughout the Gaza war, where is asked to convey the views and experiences of Israelis.
He joins the podcast to talk about the unique and remarkable bridge that he's built between Jewish Israel and its Muslim Arab neighbors.
We also tackle difficult questions of Islamic radicalism, alternatives to Hamas rule in Gaza, and whether peace is really possible in this deeply religious part of the world -- when religion itself often plays such a radicalizing force in politics and society.
This episode was sponsored by Tali Rice as a tribute to her sister who's currently serving in the IDF, and to everyone doing their part to keep Israel safe. This episode is also cosponsored by an anonymous donor who is dedicating it to the lone soldiers from Newton, Massachusetts for their bravery and for their safety. As hard as the situation is for their families here in the US, their service is also a source of deep pride.
If you like what we do here, please join us on Patreon to support our work: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 52: Why do people hate Jews, with Dara Horn
17 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 12 min
Dr. Dara Horn, award-winning novelist and scholar of Yiddish and Hebrew literature, joins the podcast to help us dig deep into the Jewish bookshelf, the whirlwind of antisemitism in which so many Jews find themselves, and, unavoidably, into Judaism’s most successful go-to solution for seemingly every problem: Education. Lees meer
We talk about Jewish “anti-literature,” about why people (and museums and politicians) so often seem to love stories about dead Jews but get uncomfortable with living ones, and about how American Jews, the biggest, wealthiest and possibly most Jewishly illiterate diaspora community in the history of Jews, reclaims the richer, deeper Jewish culture it abandoned in generations past.
We also discuss Dara’s new nonprofit, the Tell Institute (at https://www.thetellinstitute.org), which aims to enable a new generation of Americans to learn about Jewish life, history and civilization, tackling head-on the ignorance in which antisemitism spreads.
This episode is sponsored by the Greenberg family, Freyda, Bob and their daughter Sara Rose. For them this podcast is not only essential in the struggle for the survival and thriving of Israel and Jews everywhere, but it has become their “headspace” where Haviv provides both the enrichment, and the calm reason so needed in the midst of so much chaos.
(Thank you to the Greenbergs for this dedication.)
The Greenbergs would also like to recognize their cousin, the award-winning playwright Richard Greenberg, who passed away far too young on July 4. Richard represented all that was right and wonderful about being a Jew. His work was filled with insight and the irony and humor of being a Jew in 20th century America. And more important than his work was who he was as a person. He created his own family and community based on the values of listening and doing good to others.
This episode is also dedicated to the memory of Tal Movshovitz, a young reserve soldier who fell in Gaza in June of 2025, amid the war with Iran…
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Episode 51: Antisemitism and the Black experience
12 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 5 min
Coleman Hughes is an American writer, host of the podcast Conversations with Coleman, a visiting professor at the University of Austin, and the author of The End of Race Politics. Lees meer
He joins the podcast to talk about America, the Gaza war and the standing of American Jews in American society. A prominent Black thinker who has written and spoken a great deal about race in America, Coleman also helps guide us through the complicated intellectual and cultural story of Black antisemitism in America.
This episode is co-sponsored by Earl and Jordanna Lipson of Toronto in appreciation "for the thoughtful commentary the show has been providing to those in the diaspora who hunger for understanding during these very unsettling times." They asked to dedicate the episode to "non-Jewish allies who have shown strength of character, heartfelt compassion and a willingness to seek out understanding when so many around them have proven unwilling to do so. Sadly, in a world gone crazy, it takes courage to speak up against the tsunami of blood libel and hatred being cast upon us. These courageous souls should know that their righteousness is greatly appreciated and is so very important to us. Thank you, thank you, thank you."
And it is cosponsored by Eve and Bobby Lapin, Leslie Gilstrap, and Suzanne and John Landa, known as "Haviv's Houston Herd," who wish dedicate this episode to the courageous soldiers of the IDF and the IAF, and to the families of Israel’s fallen soldiers. As diaspora Jews in a climate of increasing antisemitism, we are deeply grateful for the sacrifices all of you have made to protect Israel as a safe-haven and homeland. Your fortitude inspires us. Our hearts are with you – and with the hostage families - each day."
If you like this podcast, please join us on Patreon to support our work: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 50: Hostage Deal - A new day for Gaza, a bad day for Hamas
9 oktober 2025 · 23 min
On October 8, President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to his peace and hostage release deal. Israel's tormented hostages will soon be home. Lees meer
The agreement delivers almost everything the pro-Palestinian campaign claimed to want. No Israeli annexation, no Gazans have to leave and any who do can return, and a full rebuilding and rehabilitation under Arab and international auspices - all of it confirmed in an explicit Israeli commitment to the United States.
It's the best possible deal for Gaza.
And that's exactly why it's the worst possible deal for Hamas. Only Hamas loses here, only Hamas is required to disarm - or pretend to for a while. To relinquish authority - or pretend to for a while. It's no longer possible to pretend that Gaza's interests and Hamas's interests are the same. You can support one or the other, but not both.
So will it work? And what does it tell us about the past two years, and about the future of Israelis and Palestinians?
This episode was sponsored by the Goldstein family of Monsey, NY for the Refuah Shleimah (full and complete healing) of former hostage Romi Gonen and all the hostages. The Goldstein family writes: “Romi’s name was given to us 'randomly' (though nothing is truly random) by one of the hostage sites that sprang up after 10/7, to connect those who wanted to pray for hostages with an individual name and face. I printed this out, and Romi’s beautiful young face and name was taped to a chair at our dining table. Every breakfast, lunch, and dinner, there was Romi. Every Shabbos, there was Romi. We read more about her online, how she loves dance and leopard print clothes, how she had been a Tzofim (Scouts) leader, and I thought how much her troop of girls must miss her. I saw videos and interviews with her amazing mother Meirav as well, a powerful and articulate fellow Jewish mother. When Romi’s name was announced as one of the young women scheduled for release, our prayers were being answered! Seeing her…
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Episode 49: Finding hope in the tunnel of Hamas, with Eli Sharabi
8 oktober 2025 · 52 min
On October 7, 2023, Eli Sharabi's home was surrounded by Hamas terrorists. As he was dragged into Gaza, he shouted to his wife Leanna and two daughters Noiya and Yahel that "no matter what they do to me, I'll be back." Lees meer
It was only in February 2025, as he arrived back in Israel after enduring 491 days of physical and psychological torture at the hands of his captors, that he learned that his family was murdered that day.
Eli's new book, "Hostage," is the first comprehensive account of the experience of an Israeli hostage. It contains unique insights about the experience of captivity, about how hostages supported one another and searched for hope in the dark tunnels, about the world-conquering fantasies and fondness for American movies of their Hamas captors, about near-lynchings by ordinary Gazans, about Hamas's expectation that the war that followed their attack would be a short one and their desperate hope that Trump will force an end to the war.
This episode was sponsored by Doug and Fabienne Silverman in memory of the Jewish community of Rhodes, which was all but destroyed in the Holocaust. Fabienne’s mother Maggy’s family came from the ancient Sephardi community on the island, which the family visited in the summer of 2025 to learn about their roots.
If you like this podcast, please join us on Patreon to support our work: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 48: Two years to October 7
6 oktober 2025 · 25 min
The two-year anniversary of the October 7 massacre falls on the joyous holiday of Sukkot. The Hebrew calendar anniversary will fall on the holiday of Simchat Torah, literally "the Joy of Torah." Lees meer
How do we deal with the juxtaposition of these painful anniversaries, of wounds and anxieties and pain that are very much still with us, and the demand to be happy, to celebrate - or even just to try to find release from the pain?
The sages of the Talmud, who lived through great and abiding traumas of their own, show us how.
This episode was sponsored by an anonymous sponsor who asked to dedicate it to all our fallen soldiers and to the sacrifices of the reservists and their families from October 7 until today.
If you like this podcast, please join us on Patreon to support our work: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 47: Building a new Gaza, with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib
3 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 9 min
The day after Trump's release of his 20-point plan for an end to the Gaza war, Haviv sat down with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, Palestinian-American analyst and director of the Atlantic Council's Realign for Palestine project, to discuss what it means. Lees meer
Can Hamas really be disarmed and removed from power in Gaza, as the plan envisions? Can an international force in Gaza succeed where the likes of UNIFIL and countless other international interventions in the region have failed miserably? Who in Palestinian society can push back against Hamas or build out political and military power to rival and ultimately suppress Hamas? Can Gazan society be deradicalized?
Two tweets are mentioned in the conversation.
1. On his transitional force idea: https://x.com/afalkhatib/status/1971747726220984541
2. On Hamas's withdrawal from Gaza City and regrouping in Nuseirat: https://x.com/afalkhatib/status/1972114914069086285
Today’s episode is sponsored by Unpacking Israeli History, a podcast from Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand, which I’ve had the pleasure of joining several times as a guest. Hosted by my friend Noam Weissman, the show dives into Israel’s most fascinating and sometimes controversial moments. It’s smart, nuanced, and never afraid of complexity, taking the headlines we think we know and uncovering the deeper story of how we got here.
If you want more of the kind of thoughtful conversation we have here at AHA, go follow Unpacking Israeli History at https://unpacked.bio/havivUIH.
And if you like what we do here at AHA, please join us on Patreon to support our work: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 46: The Trump Plan - Hope for Israel and Gaza
30 september 2025 · 26 min
Trump's 20-point grand bargain to end the Gaza war is a remarkable document. It offers Israel much of the Israeli cabinet's formally declared war goals, not least the summary release of Israeli hostages from Hamas hands. It seems to enjoy broad Arab backing, and it puts Hamas in the position of having to refuse not merely an end to war, but the beginning, now backed by the US and the Arab states, of Gaza's great rebuilding and rehabilitation. Lees meer
It's a remarkable achievement for the US administration, and may well mark the turning point in the war, the beginning of the end.
Today’s episode is sponsored by Unpacking Israeli History, a podcast from Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand, which I’ve had the pleasure of joining several times as a guest. Hosted by my friend Noam Weissman, the show dives into Israel’s most fascinating and sometimes controversial moments. It’s smart, nuanced, and never afraid of complexity, taking the headlines we think we know and uncovering the deeper story of how we got here.
If you want more of the kind of thoughtful conversation we have here at AHA, go follow Unpacking Israeli History at https://www.unpacked.bio/havivUIH.
And if you like what we do here at AHA, please join us on Patreon to support our work: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 45: 48 hours in Syria, with David Horovitz
30 september 2025 · 47 min
Earlier this month, Times of Israel editor David Horovitz became one of only two or three Israeli journalists to have ever walked the streets of Damascus, Syria’s capital. Lees meer
But he was the very first to be welcomed there with open arms by the Syrian government. His visit with a group of American Jews led by Michigan Rabbi Asher Lopatin was part of the new regime’s efforts to show a new openness to the world.
I asked David what he heard from senior government officials, what he saw among the National Museum’s carefully preserved millennia-old Jewish relics, and what he made of this purportedly new Syria under President a-Sharaa.
His travelogue of the visit, which included some marvelous photos, can be read here: https://www.timesofisrael.com/48-surreal-hours-in-damascus-an-israeli-reporters-travelogue-from-an-enemy-capital/
This episode is sponsored by the American Technion Society. With Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah degraded, what technologies will Israel need to defend itself in a new Middle East? Every day, groundbreaking research from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology is transformed into real-world defense tech that protects Israel and saves lives. From Iron Dome to Iron Beam, drones to satellites, and cybersecurity to supercomputers, fundamental science born in Technion labs is brought to life by visionary Technion alumni serving in the IDF and defense industries giving Israel its qualitative edge.
If you love Israel and want to keep it safe, boost its economy, and strengthen its people, investing in the great minds, discoveries, and inventions that come from the Technion is a phenomenal way to make a bigger impact on Israel’s future and ensure its safety. Visit https://www.ats.org/haviv.
If you like this podcast, please join us on Patreon to support our work: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 44: Fateful choices to make in the new year, a comment for Rosh Hashanah
22 september 2025 · 41 min
Rosh Hashanah is the only Jewish holiday that falls on the first day of the lunar month - that begins in darkness. It is also the holiday most associated in Jewish tradition with great turning-points and new beginnings. Lees meer
The coming year will be a time of great change and momentous decisions. Israel will have some fundamental choices to make.
This is a reflection on the holiday, on the state of the war, and on the responsibility that Judaism places upon us to shape our destiny.
Today’s episode is sponsored by Unpacking Israeli History, a podcast from Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand — and one I’ve had the pleasure of joining several times as a guest. Unpacking Israeli History, hosted by my friend Noam Weissman, takes listeners on a journey through Israel’s most fascinating and sometimes controversial moments, offering a fact-based understanding of Israel’s past and present that is both informative and really entertaining.
If you’ve been here a while, you know how much I value talking about and learning about Israel without oversimplification. Unpacking Israeli History does just that. It’s smart, nuanced, and it never shies away from complexity. Noam does a remarkable job of taking the headlines we all know, and peeling them back to uncover the deeper story of how we got here.
I’m also proud to be a partner of OpenDor Media, the team behind Unpacking Israeli History. Their mission is to meet young Jews and their peers where they are with media that deepens understanding of Israel, Judaism, and the Jewish experience — embracing complexity and fostering informed perspectives. So if you want more of the kind of thoughtful conversation we have here, go follow Unpacking Israeli History at https://unpacked.bio/havivUIH. I think you’ll find it as engaging and meaningful as I do.
To support Ask Haviv Anything, please join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
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Episode 43: After Doha, Israel needs a new story
14 september 2025 · 50 min
On September 9, Israel tried but failed to kill Hamas leaders in Qatar. The regional blowback surprised the Israelis. Emirati and Saudi leaders, who have long seen Qatar as a foe in the region, visited Doha to express solidarity. Criticism of Israel came not only from the usual suspects, but even from Trump administration officials. Lees meer
Israel, many regional allies now worry, doesn't understand its new role as regional superpower. It's still locked into the mindset of a small besieged nation, and it's acting foolishly because of it.
This fallout is part of a larger story, a larger Israeli failure to tell its story in the different environments in which Israel must operate. In the West, it has lost not only opponents, but close friends as well, who are often tired of standing in the whirlwind of claims and counter-claims and hearing only Israel's most extreme voices telling its story. The government faces, too, growing distrust domestically of its war plans and intentions. And even close regional allies (and would-be allies) like the Emiratis and Saudis are growing worried.
This Israeli government has never been able to tell its story, to explain its goals and aspirations for Gaza and for the region. Not to Israelis, not to Westerners, not to regional allies. It didn't matter when the country wasn't engaged in a war that has reshaped the region, but it matters now. Israel is the undisputed superpower of the region, and no one quite knows what that means. It still seems to behave like a small country under siege. It seems to be the only actor on the regional stage not to understand its own strength and newfound position.
It's time for the Jewish state to take control of its story, to tell friends and enemies and everyone in between what it wants for itself and for the region, what its goals are for Gaza's better post-war future, what kind of regional order it hopes to help build with any ally who wants to cooperate. It's time to start thinking bigger and more long-te…
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Episode 42: Why is Egypt so scared to open its border with Gaza? with Mariam Wahba
12 september 2025 · 56 min
Events move fast in the Middle East. This episode was recorded before the Israeli strike in Qatar. We believed this episode was an important one because the world should be paying more attention to the deteriorating situation in Egypt. Lees meer
The attack on Hamas leaders in Doha did indeed grab the headlines. It's a dramatic development Haviv addressed in a Free Press livestream and that we plan to address in an episode already under development.
But the original point behind this episode stands. Everyone is talking about Gaza, Qatar, Israel, Iran. Meanwhile, Egypt, the most populous Arab state, the launching pad for most of the radical Islamist ideologies that have upended the Middle East in recent decades, has been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and social implosion. Emirati bailouts, growing international concern and Egyptian officials suddenly talking openly about war with Israel are all signals of this fragility.
To make sense of this vital but under-discussed powder-keg - and to find out why Egypt continues to refuse to let Gazan civilians escape the war by waiting it out in safety in Sinai - we turned to Mariam Wahba, an Egypt expert (and Egyptian Coptic Christian herself) at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington.
This episode is sponsored by Jason and Lauriel Klinghoffer who have dedicated it to the memory of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two Israeli embassy staffers who were murdered in Washington, DC on May 21st, 2025. They were fatally shot outside the Capitol Jewish Museum by an anti-Israel terrorist after attending an event for young diplomats.
Please join us on Patreon to support this project: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 41: The rise and fall of Ottoman Jewry with Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak
7 september 2025 · 1 uur 18 min
The first Jews to become subjects of the Ottoman Empire lived in Greek-speaking western Anatolia during the Ottoman conquests of the region in the early 1300s. The next seven centuries of Turkish-Jewish interaction were mostly a story of Turkish tolerance rooted in the Jews’ usefulness to the empire. Lees meer
For example, when Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492, Sultan Bayezid II sent his navy to offer them safe transport into his empire. The Jews were considered a talented and industrious population, so much so that Bayezid is reputed to have quipped about the Spanish expulsion of them, “You call Ferdinand a wise king, he who impoverishes his country and enriches mine!”
But this tolerance was always conditioned on the Jews’ subservient status as dhimmi, or protected class, under the Ottoman “millet” system.
In the 19th century, a series of reforms meant to strengthen the flagging empire in the face of growing European power instituted legal equality for minorities, broke down the old social hierarchies — and as with the removal of ghetto restrictions on the Jews of Europe, made the Jews’ situation more precarious.
In our first focused treatment of Sephardi Jewry, we dive into this history with Tel Aviv University historian Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, born in Istanbul and a scion of that centuries-old community.
This episode is sponsored by Jeff and Masha Gershman who asked that we share a story of Jewish bravery on or since 10/7 so that we all might be reminded not just of our pain and anxiety but also of our individual and collective strengh. In consultation with the Gershmans we chose to share the story of Nitai Meisels, one of the friends Rachel and I lost in Gaza. Master Sergeant (Res.) Nitai Meisels, 30, was killed on December 24, 2023 by an anti-tank missile fired at his tank in the Gaza Strip during a mission to locate hostages. He volunteered to be in the formation’s front tank.
Nitai is survived by his parents Ayala and Eitan, his sis…
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Episode 40: You still need real life spies to win wars, with Yossi Cohen
4 september 2025 · 1 uur 2 min
Former Mossad director Yossi Cohen joins the podcast to talk about the war with Iran (spoiler: It isn’t over), the ayatollahs' regime (which won’t be easily felled), and his assurance that there are still strategic surprises in Mossad’s quiver. Lees meer
We discuss the stubborn Israeli insistence to continue investing heavily in HUMINT, or human intelligence - spies - in an age when other major agencies have turned away from classic spycraft to cyber, signals intelligence and AI.
And we discuss how Gaza could be rebuilt and rehabilitated, who’s responsible for the failures of October 7, why Yossi has called for new elections and Yossi’s own political aspirations.
This episode was sponsored by Jason and Lauriel Klinghoffer in honor of the memory of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two Israeli embassy staffers who were murdered in Washington, DC on May 21, 2025. They were fatally shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum after attending an event for young diplomats. Yaron and Sarah were planning to get engaged. May their memory be a blessing.
Please join us on Patreon to support this project: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 39: Fear and loathing in the diaspora, live in Oslo with Bjørn Gabrielsen.
31 augustus 2025 · 1 uur 59 min
During an August speaking tour in Norway, Haviv was interviewed at an event hosted by the remarkable Jewish organization Kos & Kaos - The Nordic Jewish Network. It's a unique group founded in 2016 that brings together Jewish voices and friends and allies of the Jewish community across Scandinavia for dialogue, cultural events and critical conversations. Lees meer
Norwegian writer and journalist Bjørn Gabrielsen interviewed Haviv in front of a packed house in Oslo on August 21 about the war in Gaza, the condition of diaspora Jews in the wake of October 7, the state of modern journalism, how the Middle East is seen in the West, and more.
This episode was sponsored by the children of Naomi Pinchuk of Chicago in honor of her 78th birthday on August 30th. Happy birthday, Naomi! Till 120.
Please join us on Patreon to support this project: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 38: What will it take to defeat Hamas? With Prof. John Spencer
27 augustus 2025 · 1 uur 13 min
Twenty-three months after the October 7 attack, Hamas is massively degraded in Gaza. At a terrible cost to Gaza itself, and after losing hundreds of IDF soldiers on the battlefield, Israel has managed to shatter its battalions and kill nearly all its pre-war command hierarchy. Lees meer
Yet, as with all guerrilla groups, the bar for Hamas to remain a strategic actor is very low. It can still disrupt aid distribution at a large scale, still launch guerrilla attacks out of tunnels, still even launch the occasional rocket at Israeli towns. Hamas also continues to refuse any demand, including from the Arab League, to disarm and surrender its claim to power in the post-war Gaza Strip.
On the cusp of what is shaping up as Israel's most significant military offensive to date against the terror group, the incursion into Gaza City - the largest pre-war city in the Strip - we turn to Prof. John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute, to ask if this long-delayed denial of Hamas's last major bastion and sanctuary in Gaza might finally bring this painful war to an end.
This episode was sponsored by Gideon and Lance Drucker and their firm Drucker Wealth, a financial planning and wealth management firm. They asked to use this dedication to introduce our audience to an organisation called The Legion, a non-profit to help Jewish Americans learn how to defend their families and their communities. You can learn more at their website: https://www.legionalpha.com/
The Druckers would also like to dedicate this episode to Gideon's former officer in the IDF, Maj. Ariel Ben Moshe, 27, a commander in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit, who was killed in the battle against Hamas infiltrators at Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, 2023. Ariel’s brother Shavit, an IDF paratrooper, also fought in the south that day and heard of his brother’s death while engaged in intense fighting in Kibbutz Holit, where he was wounded. Ariel is survived by his mother Galit, younger brothers Shavit an…
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Episode 37: The genocidal claim of genocide with Adam Louis-Klein
22 augustus 2025 · 58 min
Many of our Patreon subscribers have asked us to address the campaign against Israel that accuses it of genocide, colonialism and so on. This episode is the beginning of our deep dive into examining these questions. Lees meer
What do anti-Zionists argue? What do they want? When is it antisemitic and when legitimate? And how do we know?
We posed these questions and more to anthropologist Adam Louis-Klein, a compelling commentator on academic and elite anti-Israel narratives and ideas. The resulting conversation is a fascinating and helpful dive into these ideas and the problems they pose for Jews in the modern age.
This episode is sponsored by the Frozen Chosen, Haviv’s supportive community in Minnesota, to honor Noi Maudi, 29, a US-Israeli dual citizen from the southern Israeli town of Yated who taught in the community for 5 years and was a beloved teacher and friend. Noi was murdered on October 7 along with other members of his family, including his nephew and brother-in-law, at a music festival near Kibbutz Nirim.
He was an impactful and beloved Hebrew teacher at the Talmud Torah of St Paul Minnesota from 2015 to 2021.
Please join us on Patreon to support this project: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 36: How marginalized Mizrahim became Israel's first spies
15 augustus 2025 · 57 min
Long before the operational successes of the Mossad would become the stuff of legend in the espionage world, before the Twelve Day War, before Eli Cohen, before the Mossad itself had even come into being, a small ragtag band of courageous young Jews, without training or equipment, built the country’s first espionage arm to help the nascent Jewish state defend itself against its enemies. Lees meer
Journalist and author Matti Friedman returns to the podcast to talk about his book, Spies of No Country, about the Mizrahi Jewish young men who became the Jewish state’s first spies in the Arab world. Their heroic, tragic, sometimes funny stories help us fill in the longstanding lacunae in the larger story of Israel’s founding and of present-day Israeli society by paying closer attention to the enormous role and influence played by Arab-world Jews in forging today’s Israel.
This episode was sponsored by the Lichterman Family of Jupiter, Florida, and dedicated to the memory and bravery of Aner Shapira, 22 from Jerusalem, who was slain in the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival on October 7. Aner attended the rave next to the Gaza border with a group of friends from Jerusalem, including his close childhood friend, Hersh Goldberg-Polin. When the rocket fire began, they left by car and stopped on the side of the road to seek safety in a roadside bomb shelter next to Kibbutz Re’im. Aner and his friends were among the last people to squeeze inside the shelter, where they soon realized that terrorists were gathering outside to attack. Aner positioned himself at the entrance to the shelter, where he caught and threw back seven grenades before the eighth exploded and killed him. Of the 27 people inside the shelter, only seven emerged alive. Those who survived did so because of Aner’s bravery.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intr…
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Episode 35: Solving hunger in Gaza with Prof. Yannay Spitzer
8 augustus 2025 · 53 min
Professor Yannay Spitzer is an economic historian who has studied food and hunger. His efforts over the past month to get real reliable data on hunger out of Gaza and publicize it to Israelis, data that is neither delayed nor politicized like the many claims of rampant hunger made over the past 22 months that turned out to be either inaccurate or untrue, helped change the conversation in Israel and surge aid into the strip. Lees meer
Professor Spitzer joins us to explain what went wrong, why Israeli officials thought there was much more food available to Gazans than there really was, why the UN's own numbers seem to agree with them even now, why it's so hard to get food to ordinary Gazans - and what all this tells us about the state of Hamas and the future of Gaza.
This episode was dedicated by an anonymous sponsor to the memory of the remarkable Herbert Pagani, artist, composer and author, and in particular to commemorate the essay he shared on French TV in the mid-1970s titled “Plea for my Land,” a powerful and timeless defense of Jews and Israel that should be heard by all. Pagani was a self-described leftist and humanist, and a passionate defender of Zionism.
You can find “Plea for my land” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPpYQGv_jDI
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 34: My life in Al-Qaeda, a conversation with Aimen Dean
6 augustus 2025 · 2 uur 9 min
Aimen Dean was once a fervent young jihadi fighter, a passionate believer in radical Sunni Islam who had memorized the Quran by 12 and was fighting in the Bosnian jihad by 16. Lees meer
Haviv talked to Aimen about the religious and psychological journey of a young jihadi, his experiences in the wars in Bosnia and Chechnya, his recruitment by Bin Laden himself in the mountains of Afghanistan, and his sudden and powerful disillusionment, both political and religious, that led him to become an MI6 spy in Al Qaeda's ranks.
They talked about present-day Islam, the "deradicalization" that Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa underwent in recent years, possible better futures for Gaza and whether Israeli-Palestinian peace was still possible. We also talked about why he thinks it's time to end Western experiments in reforming Middle Eastern governance and fall back on what he sees as the most natural and inclusive form of government for the region: The paternalistic monarchy.
This episode was sponsored by David and Karen Divine, who asked to dedicate it to someone we lost on October 7. This episode, we remember Abed Rahman Ziyadne, 26 of Rahat, part of Israel's Bedouin Arab community, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists on the Zikim beach, north of Gaza, on October 7, 2023, along with his girlfriend, Yulia Chaban.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 33: Thoughts for Tisha B’Av - We live in history
3 augustus 2025 · 31 min
Our Patreon subscribers asked for a dvar Torah, a short homily, on the Jewish fast day of Tisha B'Av, which commemorates many of the great tragedies of Jewish history, including and especially the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem millennia ago. Lees meer
Tisha B'Av, Haviv argues, is a window into the Sages' conception of history, their view of the brokenness of the world reflected in the tragedies of history, and the power of the study of history to mend that brokenness.
This episode is sponsored by Alex and Betty Verjovsky in honor of Sayeret Tzanchanim, the reconnaissance company of the Paratroopers Brigade, in memory if their fallen and wounded, and the soldiers who have been fighting since October 7 and have paid a heavy price for Israel's defense. The sponsors' close friend, the unit's top NCO, is finally retiring after 35 years of service.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 32: Hunger and the Gaza war
31 juli 2025 · 45 min
There is now hunger in Gaza, widespread and dangerous. It's less dire than Western media claims, but could reach those proportions if it isn't reversed through an aid surge. Lees meer
How did we get to this point? What were Israeli officials thinking?
And what does the current crisis tell us about the state of the war?
This episode was sponsored by an anonymous sponsor who dedicated it to the bravery of our friend Shaked Haran, whose story is told in episode 5 of this podcast. On October 7, Shaked's father, uncle and aunt were killed in the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Be'eri, and seven members of her family, including her mother and two cousins aged 3 and 7 were taken hostage, launching a long and grueling fight for their liberation that Shaked helped lead for the family.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 31: The century-old harbinger of October 7, a conversation with Yardena Schwartz
27 juli 2025 · 1 uur
Welcome to a special episode of Ask Haviv Anything. This episode was a live conversation with author Yardena Schwartz taped last week at Martha's Vineyard and hosted by Chabad on the Vineyard. Lees meer
Please note: Patreon subscribers have asked us to address the dramatic pivot in the IDF's strategy in Gaza and the question of widespread hunger there. We're now working on such an episode to provide an analysis and overview of what's happening and what it means. As always, if you have suggestions for topics, please join our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything
The conversation with Yardena covers her book Ghosts of a Holy War about the 1929 Hebron massacre. We discuss the events of that year, what it tells us about the next century of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, and the startling parallels to October 7.
This episode's sponsor asked to remain anonymous but dedicated the episode to his Slovak Jewish Holocaust-survivor grandparents who survived Auschwitz, Mauthausen and other camps and moved to Israel at the founding of the state.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 30: How the Middle East broke, a conversation with Hussein Aboubakr Mansour
21 juli 2025 · 1 uur 19 min
Hussein Aboubakr Mansour was born and raised in Egypt before fleeing to the United States and dedicating his life to understanding how the Arab world came to be defined by state failure, religious extremism and all the rest of the region's many crises. Lees meer
His conclusions, laid out in a recent essay in the magazine Mosaic, are an extraordinarily innovative new path. It isn't a crisis of internal Islamic failure, as conservative thinkers argue, nor a crisis forged and sustained purely by Western imperialism, colonialism, capitalism and the other nefarious isms of the left-wing lexicon.
It is something stranger and more interesting: An imbibing into Islamic form and language of European romantic ideas about nation, history and revolution that went so deep as to almost replace (Hussein speaks of a kind of forgetting) the traditional Islamic sense of what Islamic and Arab culture once were.
In this longer-than-usual episode, we take a deep dive into Hussein's thesis, and then we try to apply it to the Jews.
This episode was co-sponsored by Tovit and Mike on behalf of their son Rafi and his unit, Battalion 202 of the Paratroopers and all of our brave IDF soldiers protecting our country and fighting our enemies.
“This episode was also co-sponsored by the family of Larry from Encino, California in in honor of his birthday. They asked to dedicate the episode to the IDF’s reservist pilots, who 10 -- even 20 -- years out of active service, with families and full-time jobs, continue to serve with incredible selflessness. Their achievements during the Iran war were nothing short of heroic.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 29: After the Druze massacre, can Israel make peace with Joulani? A conversation with Druze activist Rania Fadel Dean
17 juli 2025 · 56 min
The clashes in Sweida in southern Syria this week focused world attention on the plight of the Druze and questions about the nature of the new Syrian government. Videos and claims of atrocities drove hundreds of Golan Druze to rush into Syria to the rescue of their brethren. Israeli strikes in Damascus against Syrian forces raised the stakes and led to questions, including in Israel itself, about how Israel can protect the Druze while not sacrificing an expansion of the Abraham Accords. Lees meer
Rania Fadel Dean comes from a prominent Israeli Druze family. Her organization, Covenant, seeks to teach Americans about the Druze community. She joins us to share an Israeli Druze perspective, including what she's hearing from friends and family members in Sweida.
This episode was sponsored by Bennett and Robin Greenspan of Houston, Texas, strong supporters of Israel who recognize Israel's centrality and vitality to the Jewish world. They asked to dedicate this episode to lone soldiers serving in the IDF.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 28: The Gaza Paradox
15 juli 2025 · 45 min
As hostage talks seem stalled and the war grinds on into its 22nd month, doubts about Netanyahu’s strategy and intentions have become ubiquitous. Lees meer
Netanyahu has given many reasons to distrust him, including his simple refusal to explain the strategy for removing Hamas and Israel’s vision for a post-Hamas Gaza.
But it isn’t enough to criticize Netanyahu’s strategy or even to argue he doesn’t have one. To offer an effective critique, critics need to suggest a better strategy for removing Hamas and securing a better future for Gaza.
So far, criticism of Netanyahu has either avoided this step or suggested that Hamas cannot, in fact, be disentangled from Gaza, that Gaza’s future is inevitably a Hamas future.
In this episode, we dive into these questions. We ask what it would mean for both Israelis and Palestinians if Hamas is, as the critics claim, unremovable.
This episode was sponsored by Bennett and Robin Greenspan of Houston, Texas, strong supporters of Israel who recognize Israel’s centrality and vitality to the Jewish world. They asked us to say that they are proud to sponsor this episode of “Ask Haviv Anything” because this podcast makes understanding the Middle East a bit easier. They have dedicated this episode to the courageous and incredibly imaginative women and men of the Mossad, who make television look boring and simplistic in comparison to their daring exploits behind enemy lines.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
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Episode 27: Music amidst trauma - a conversation on life in a war with Aya Korem and Adam Ben Amitai
7 juli 2025 · 56 min
There are many ways to process and manage painful and difficult times. After the massacre of October 7 and the multi-front war that ensued, many Israelis turned to music, and often to the powerful ballads and melodies of singer-songwriter duo (and married couple) Aya Korem and Adam Ben Amitai. Lees meer
Aya and Adam join us in a special song-laden episode to take a look back at 21 months of pain, resilience, solidarity and, in the end, also hope.
This episode was sponsored by Bennett and Robin Greenspan of Houston, Texas, who believe in Israel's centrality and importance for the Jewish world.
They chose to dedicate this episode to Edut710en.org, a grassroots, volunteer-driven initiative established in the wake of October 7 to listen to, document, preserve, share and amplify the voices of survivors, first responders, and entire communities who experienced Hamas’s brutal attack firsthand. Over 1,600 testimonies have already been recorded to this date—many of them accessible at www.edut710.org.
We hope you like our new musical intro, written just for us by the incomparable Adam Ben Amitai.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur
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Episode 26: How Iran’s regime subverted Shia Islam - with Hussain Abdul-Hussain
4 juli 2025 · 54 min
The Iranian regime has long claimed to be the bearers of Shia Islam's vision of messianic redemption. The Supreme Leader, who ruled under regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini's ideology of "wilayat al-faqih," or Guardianship of the Jurist, created a new model of a revolutionary conquering Shiism that was previously unknown in Shia Islam, at least in its Arab version. Lees meer
We are joined in this episode by Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a Shia Muslim writer and analyst in Washington DC and research fellow at FDD. Hussain grew up in Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War and in Lebanon toward the end of the country's devastating civil war.
Arab Shiism, Hussain argues, is not what the Iranian regime has tried to make of it, and once freed of the financial, political and often violent influence of Khomeinist "revolutionary" ideology, will revert to its traditionally peaceful ways.
This episode was sponsored by Bennett and Robin Greenspan of Houston, Texas, strong supporters of Israel who recognize Israels' centrality and vitality to the Jewish world. They chose to dedicate this episode to the memory of Igal and Amit Wachs, 53 & 48, American-Israeli brothers who died on October 7, 2023, defending their home of Netiv Ha'asara in the Gaza envelope.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur
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Episode 25: What is happening in Gaza?
1 juli 2025 · 48 min
A bombshell Haaretz report last Friday concluded that IDF soldiers were responsible for a great many of the deaths of Gazan civilians outside aid distribution centers in Gaza. Lees meer
What should we make of the report? How reliable is it? And what does it tell us about the army's handling of Gaza and the progress of the war?
This episode was sponsored by an anonymous donor in memory of the seven IDF soldiers who were killed on June 24, 2025, during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip. Their names were: Lt. Matan Shai Yashinovski, Staff Sgt. Ronel Ben-Moshe, Sgt. Ronen Shapiro, Sgt. Maayan Baruch Pearlstein, Staff Sgt. Niv Radia, Sgt. Shahar Manoav, and Staff Sgt. Alon Davidov. May their memory be a blessing.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur
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Episode 24: With Iran down, Turkey steps into the breach - a conversation with Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak.
27 juni 2025 · 1 uur 4 min
(Update: audio issues corrected) Lees meer
Turkey was the first Muslim country to recognize Israel. I was an ally and vital trading partner for decades -- until the rise of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, head of the Islamist AKP party, who began pursuing a "neo-Ottomanist" foreign policy of Turkish influence and expansionism in the region, and specifically identified Israel as a long-term ideological enemy.
Turkey is now forging alliances on all Israel's borders and looking to found an Islamic defense alliance a la NATO. Earlier this year, Turkish lawmakers formally declared Israel the country's top national security threat.
As Iran's influence retreats in the wake of the war, Erdogan has already energetically stepped into the breach, calling for Israel to be dismantled and trying to position himself as leader of the Muslim political world. Unlike Iran, he may well have the military and geopolitical clout in the region to get it done.
Are the two countries on a trajectory for a clash in, say, 20 years' time? Or can these two Middle Eastern powers find a modus vivendi that prevents more conflict in the region?
We posed this question to Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, a scholar at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University who grew up in Turkey's Jewish community and is today one of Israel's top Turkey analysts.
This episode was sponsored by an anonymous sponsor and dedicated to Aviv Atzili, 49, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7 was while fighting alongside the kibbutz’s emergency response team. His wife, Liat, was kidnapped that day, but was released as part of the first truce in November 2023.
Aviv's body was located and returned to Israel for burial in a joint IDF-Shin Bet operation in Gaza two days before the start of the Israel-Iran war together with the body of Yaakov Yagil, also from Nir Oz. We remember them.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything…
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Episode 23: Iran bows out
24 juni 2025 · 46 min
There's now a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Who won the war? And what happens now? Lees meer
We offer some preliminary conclusions as the dust settles.
This episode is sponsored by the Peters family, Tom, Shevi, Daniel, Ethan, Arielle, Yoni and David, in honor of BeLev Echad, an organization devoted to helping wounded Israeli veterans recover physically, medically and emotionally. To learn about how you too can help Israeli veterans recover, visit Belevechad.nyc.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur
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Episode 22: A new dawn in the Middle East?
22 juni 2025 · 47 min
The United States has struck the Iranian nuclear program, marking a watershed moment for the region. Lees meer
It will take days to determine the scale of the damage and many years to understand the implications of President Trump’s decision. But a few things are already clear. A new relationship was established between the US and its ally Israel that defined a new security architecture for the American-led alliance worldwide. Israel did the heavy lifting, suffered the blowback, and only because it was willing to fight successfully itself was then able to call on America’s unique capabilities. Taiwan, take note. Russia’s European neighbors, ditto. Be ready and able to fight, and America will help. But America will no longer fight for you as in the past.
This episode is dedicated to the memory of Willy Field by his family. Willy Field was born Willy Hirschfeld in Bonn, Germany and is perhaps the only survivor of a Nazi death camp who managed to survive, escape and return to German soil in a British tank. His story of disaster, recovery and frontline heroism against Nazi Germany is a testament to over a million brave Jewish soldiers who fought the Nazis in the Allied armies.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur
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Episode 21: Why won’t Haredim serve in the IDF? A deep dive with Shmuel Rosner
20 juni 2025 · 1 uur
Haredi Israelis make up some 13% of the population but have extremely low rates of workforce participation and military service. The growing welfare subsidies that sustain their communities have increasingly become a source of tensions and frustration for other Israelis, and the multi-front war that began on October 7 has now made their exemptions from military service a major political issue. Israel needs more workers, less welfare spending and many more soldiers to thrive in the future. Can the Haredi community change? What happens if it doesn't? Lees meer
We spoke with Shmuel Rosner, senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and veteran journalist and analyst. Rosner has studied the Haredi community and the policy debates on these questions. He's the editor and publisher of the political website The Madad, themadad.com, which we recommend for, among other things, its aggregation of polling and political writing from across the spectrum of Israeli media.
This episode was sponsored by Julie and Frank Cohen because they believe this podcast is a way to teach our story, and because understanding our past and present is key to building a better future.
Julie and Frank have asked to dedicate this episode to someone we lost on October 7.
Today we remember Yochai Azulay, 28, from Holon, was murdered while trying to flee the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival on October 7. Born in Tel Aviv, Yohai grew up in a traditionally religious family and spent much of his time devoted to exploring his roots and his connection to Judaism. He served in the Kfir Brigade during his mandatory military service, and after his release, he toured around South America. After his return, Yohai soon met his girlfriend, Noa, and the pair were planning a future together.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
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Episode 20: Regime change in Iran? What the 1979 revolution can teach us.
16 juni 2025 · 36 min
Twenty-four people have been killed in Israel since the outbreak of the direct Israel-Iran war. The Air Force is busy hunting launchers inside Iran to constrain Iran's ability to fire missiles at Israeli cities. Parts of Tehran are being evacuated as Israel continues to hunt down the IRGC leadership and demolish the country's nuclear program. Lees meer
But enormous questions remain unanswered. Can Israel actually destroy the nuclear program all by itself? If it can't, and America doesn't join the airstrikes, then what's the goal? Could Israel be hoping to achieve regime change?
We raise these questions and others, and then pay a short visit to the 1979 revolution that felled the oppressive Shah in a vast uprising by nearly all parts of Iranian society - and was then taken over and subverted by Khomeini into the theocracy we're still dealing with today. What does that historical perspective tell us about the Iranian regime's staying power?
This episode is sponsored by an anonymous donor who dedicated it to the incredible female lone soldiers of the IDF hailing from Silver Spring, Maryland.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
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Episode 19: Iran faces a humbler, more dangerous Israel
13 juni 2025 · 36 min
The astonishing Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear program was the inevitable result of October 7, a day that convinced Israelis they do not actually understand their Islamist foes, cannot deter these foes and therefore cannot allow them to develop the capacity to destroy the Jewish state, no matter the cost. Lees meer
Israel woke up on October 7. Its enemies had been telling it they plan to destroy it for generations; on October 8 it finally started to listen. And the Middle East will never be the same.
This episode was sponsored by Brenda Yablon in honor of the brave men and women of the IDF, without whose courage and selflessness Israel would not exist.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
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Episode 18: Taking on the ayatollahs with Mark Dubowitz
12 juni 2025 · 54 min
The Trump administration has been trying to hammer out a deal to dismantle Iran's nuclear program. In the last 24 hours, the rhetoric has ratcheted up on both sides, as both Iranian and US officials have warned about impending military action. Lees meer
A week ago, we recorded a conversation with Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, on the Iranian regime's strategy, its nuclear aspirations and what it would take to disrupt those aspirations diplomatically or, failing that, militarily.
Can Iran's nuclear program be stopped? Can the regime be reined in or even toppled? Do the interests of Israel and America overlap, or are there meaningful gaps that could force a divergence in policy? How do we support the Iranian people, who have repeatedly rebelled against the tyranny of the ayatollahs in Tehran?
Mark joined Rachel and Haviv to tackle these questions in a conversation that has only grown more relevant as the days have passed.
This episode was sponsored by Julie and Frank Cohen because they believe this podcast is a way to teach our story, and because understanding our past and present is key to building a better future.
Julie and Frank have asked to dedicate this episode to someone we lost on October 7.
Today we remember 1st Sgt. Eliran Abergil, who was 29 when he died fighting the Hamas terrorists who invaded Kibbutz Be'eri. On the morning of the attack, Eliran was in Tiberias in Israel's north celebrating the Simchat Torah holiday with family.
He rushed down south to join his comrades, met them on the front lines, and volunteered to be one of the first officers to enter Kibbutz Be'eri. He was killed in a firefight with Hamas gunmen. Eliran's wife discovered she was pregnant with their first child shortly after his death.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur
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Episode 17: The Gaza war began 25 years ago, a conversation with Matti Friedman
9 juni 2025 · 53 min
Last month marked the 25th anniversary of the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon after an 18-year guerrilla war that presaged everything we now think of as 21st-century warfare. Lees meer
I spoke to Matti Friedman, veteran of Lebanon and bestselling author of a memoir from that long war, Pumpkinflowers, about the history, the lessons drawn from it and how we're seeing the continuing effects of that conflict in Gaza today.
This episode is sponsored by Julie and Frank Cohen, who believe that this podcast is a way to teach our story, because understanding our past and present is key to building a better future.
And as has become a podcast tradition, it is dedicated to Carmel Gat, an occupational therapist who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Beeri while visiting family. During the first weeks of captivity, she was held with orphaned children who had also been kidnapped. The children reported that she cared for them and taught them yoga. Carmel was murdered by her Hamas captors in August 2024 along with five other hostages.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur
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Episode 16: Hamas and the broken promise of 150 years of Islamic reform
30 mei 2025 · 56 min
Hamas's rule in Gaza is a theocratic dictatorship. But its roots lie in the 19th-century movement for Islamic reform that believes modernization, science and even political liberalization. How did the great liberalizing theologians of the late 19th century, from Al-Afghani to Abduh to Rida, become Hamas? Lees meer
Join us for a story that raises the startling possibility that the deradicalization of Gaza could come from within.
This episode is sponsored by “the Frozen Chosen, Haviv's supportive community from Minnesota."
And as has become a podcast tradition, this episode is dedicated to Netta Epstein, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists in his home in Kibbutz K'far Aza on the morning of Oct. 7th. In his last selfless act, he heroically jumped on a grenade, saving the life of his fiancé Irene. Netta was well known in many communities, but we focus on him today because Netta spent four summers at Herzl Camp in Wisconsin.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur
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Episode 15: Jerusalem Day, a modern redemption story
26 mei 2025 · 20 min
Jerusalem Day falls on May 25th this year. It is the day of Jerusalem's unification in the 1967 Six Day War, and so a symbol of both Jewish rescue from the genocidal plans of its enemies, a palpable experience of strength and redemption just two decades after Auschwitz, and also a symbol of the perils and moral problems of Jewish power, the day Israel found itself ruling another people. Lees meer
It is the day of the Jews' homecoming to their sacred places, but also of political grandstanding and ideological narrative-making.
Yet at its heart, Jerusalem Day is also about, well, Jerusalem, the real living city, the people who belong to it, and the grandeur of ordinary life in the shadow of great and ancient abstractions.
This episode is sponsored by Julie and Frank Cohen, who believe that this podcast is a way to teach our story, because understanding our past and present is key to building a better future.
And as has become a podcast tradition, it is dedicated to Kinneret Gat, teacher, mother, grandmother, who was killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur
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Episode 14: Should Israel give up on international law ? A conversation with a former IDF lawyer
18 mei 2025 · 48 min
If the requirements of international law mean that Israel is effectively prohibited from defeating its enemies or protecting its borders, should Israelis turn their backs on international law? Why do we need "law?" Isn't it enough to just do our best to be as moral as possible? Lees meer
After all, the institutions of international law seem so unfair to Israel. Just this past year, Israel was made to stand in judgment, accused of genocide, before a judicial panel whose president hails from an enemy country (Lebanon) and then left half-way through the proceedings to serve as the prime minister of that country. That is, the top judge who sat in judgment of Israel was campaigning in the political system of an enemy state.Then there are the many reports that accuse the ICC's prosecutor of rushing to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders without bothering with normal procedures because he was trying to cover for credible sexual assault accusations against him?
If the institutions cannot be trusted and the rules themselves are abused by every one of Israel's enemies, is this really a "law?" Can it ever be applied fairly?
I ask former IDF legal advisor Ben Wahlhaus, who spent 12 years as an international law officer whose duties included counseling senior officers on the legality of military operations, including during the Gaza war.
Today’s episode is sponsored by Sapir, the quarterly journal edited by Pulitzer-prize-winning commentator Bret Stephens. If you’re in the US, you can get this excellent journal sent to you absolutely free by going to http://sapirjournal.org/AskHaviv. Please use the link. It helps the podcast if they know we sent you.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur
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Episode 13: John Spencer on war, morality, politics and the fight for the future.
13 mei 2025 · 1 uur 20 min
After a delay (Haviv got a bad flu), we're happy to share a great panel with Haviv and Prof. John Spencer that took place at the Woodbury Jewish Center in Woodbury, New York on May 7.Thank you to Rabbi Jason Fruithandler and Rob Dwek for hosting, and to the Malin family for sponsoring the speaker series this event was part of. Lees meer
Haviv and John talked about whether victory was in the cards against Hamas, what it would require, and whether Israeli society would persevere; about claims of starvation and genocide and the role of propaganda in conflict; about whether Gazans all support Hamas; about the distinction between civilian and combatant and what it might mean for the IDF to be, as many Israel defenders say, the "most moral" army; about Netanyahu's leadership and politicking over the past 19 months; about whether Israel could go it alone on Iran; and finally, about what the rise of a new American antisemitism might mean for the biggest diaspora Jewish community in all of history.
Lots and lots of topics, so it went on a bit longer than our usual episodes.
This episode is sponsored by someone who asked to remain anonymous and to dedicate the episode to someone who fell on October 7. We are dedicating the episode to Yoram Bar-Sinai, architect, kibbutznik and grandpa, who died age 75 in a gunbattle with Hamas terrorists while defending the home of his daughter Ruti in Kibbutz Be'eri. Yoram died in that firefight, but not before forcing the Hamas gunmen to give up on the house, saving his daughter and grandchildren who were inside. May his memory be a blessing.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur
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Episode 12: How Qatar gets a free pass for Islamist radicalism, a conversation with Dr. Jonathan Schanzer
2 mei 2025 · 1 uur 2 min
Qatar has just 330,000 citizens but controls vast wealth due to its plentiful natural gas. It has used that wealth to support radical and violent terrorist groups and regimes throughout the Middle East and to wield enormous influence in the West, including among American politicians and universities.In today's episode, I asked Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and host of its Morning Brief podcast, if Qatar really is as bad as Israelis think, and if so, what should be done about it.We discuss Doha's ideological commitments and central role in building Hamas into an organization capable of carrying out the October 7 massacre; how its immense donations to elite American universities helped drive radicalization on campus; and whether the Trump administration is able or willing to hold the Qataris to account.Today’s episode is sponsored by Sapir, the quarterly journal edited by Pulitzer-prize-winning commentator Bret Stephens. If you’re in the US, you can get this wonderful journal of ideas sent to you absolutely free by going to http://sapirjournal.org/AskHaviv. Please use the link. It helps the podcast.On May 15, Sapir are initiating the Sapir Debates, a series of live debates on issues facing the Jewish people. The first debate will take place at 92NY on May 15 at 7 pm. Former Obama chief of staff and Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel and former Trump special envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt will debate the topic: “Is Donald Trump good for the Jews?”To purchase tickets to the inaugural Sapir debate, go to http://sapirjournal.org/sapirdebate.Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur Lees meer
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Episode 11: Iran is imploding - A conversation with Dr. Sharona Mazalian Levi
28 april 2025 · 51 min
As the Trump administration tries to strike a deal curtailing Iran's nuclear program, I turned to Dr. Sharona Mazalian Levi, an Iran expert and proud Persian Jew, to try to take us past the headlines and political elites to the conditions and hopes of ordinary Iranians. Lees meer
Dr. Mazalian paints a dire picture. Desperate shortages of clean water, electricity and gas, a collapsed currency, a third of the population under the poverty line, an oppressive religious police, the highest rate of executions in the world, severe air pollution and environmental degradation -- and a regime more interested in exporting its "revolution" than tackling any of these problems.
Iran, one of the most energy-rich places on Earth, is "a poor nation in a rich country."
Today’s episode is sponsored by the Sapir, the quarterly journal edited by Pulitzer-prize-winning commentator Bret Stephens. If you’re in the US, you can get this excellent journal sent to you absolutely free by going to http://sapirjournal.org/AskHaviv. Please use the link. It helps the podcast if they know we sent you.
Sapir are initiating the Sapir Debates, a series of live debates on issues facing the Jewish people. The first debate will take place at 92NY on May 15 at 7 pm.
Former Obama chief of staff and Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel and former Trump special envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt will debate the topic: “Is Donald Trump good for the Jews?”
To purchase tickets to the inaugural SAPIR debate, go to http://sapirjournal.org/sapirdebate.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur
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Episode 10: Thirty years of traumatic peacemaking - what do Israelis really think?
22 april 2025 · 1 uur 3 min
Palestinian advocates like to quip that the current war "didn't begin on October 7." That's true, of course, though unhelpful. It didn't begin in any one specific place. There are no singular first causes in history. When we choose the beginning of the story, we choose its framing and meaning.For most Israeli Jews, the story of the current war might be said to have begun in the fall of 2000, in the great collapse of Oslo that still casts its long shadow on the Israeli political psyche.This is that story.Today’s episode is sponsored by Pennyweight Prizefighter, a small business dedicated to preserving the history and craftsmanship of antique and vintage fine jewelry. In a post October 7th world, pennyweight has become more committed than ever to making vintage and new Judaica available to anyone who feels compelled to honor these symbols with something as precious as gold and diamonds worn close to the heart. Check out pennyweight prizefighter on Instagram or pennyweightprizefighter.com.Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur Lees meer
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Bonus episode: This Passover, we find our freedom
11 april 2025 · 17 min
Passover is upon us, the seder is Saturday night.Freedom, the Sages teach, is not an end, it is a path; no mere escape from Pharaoh's tyranny but a becoming, filled with substance and responsibility and devotion; no one-off achievement but a ceaseless struggle to secure and deepen who and what we are.This bonus episode offers a few short thoughts that I teach my children at our seder each year about the meaning of this holiday, and thus the meaning of our peoplehood and freedom.This episode is sponsored by the Sapir Journal, a wonderful quarterly journal devoted to ideas for a thriving Jewish future, edited by the Pulitzer-prize-winning Bret Stephens.If you live in the United States, you can now receive SAPIR in the mail absolutely free. You can sign up for your free subscription by going to sapirjournal.org/AskHaviv.Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur Lees meer
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Episode 9: Did Biden derail Saudi normalization? Breaking down the Abraham Accords with ex-NSC expert Shiri Fein
10 april 2025 · 49 min
The Abraham Accords have the potential to transform the Middle East. The very fact that they survived the Gaza war proves their resilience. Indeed, trade between Israel and its Abraham Accords partners has risen dramatically and stayed high through the war.And now the “kit” of dozens of agreements drafted between Israel and the UAE, from the overarching peace agreement to treaties on cellphone network interoperability and double taxation, stands ready to be copied over to a Israeli-Saudi peace.But will the Saudi normalization go forward? What would it take? Does it depend on what happens in Gaza, and can this Israeli government deliver the conditions in Gaza that would facilitate such a peace?I posed these questions to Shiri Fein Grossman, the former head of regional affairs at the Israeli National Security Council who was one of the key coordinators and planners of the Abraham Accords. Shiri now serves as CEO of the Israel-Africa Relations Institute.This episode was sponsored by a donor who chose to remain anonymous. At her request we will continue the tradition of remembering someone we lost on Oct 7. Today we remember Roi Moshe, 36, a firefighter from Ashkelon, who was killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7 while trying to return home from a night shift at the Be’er Sheva station.Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur Lees meer
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Episode 8: Prof. Alexander Yakobson on what it means to "decolonize Palestine"
3 april 2025 · 53 min
Is Zionism colonialism? Are Jews an authentic people, or merely a religion? What about Palestinians? What are Zionism’s moral costs, and what are those of opposing Zionism? Lees meer
I asked one of my teachers, Hebrew University historian Prof. Alexander Yakobson, some of the great questions now being advanced in Western academic and progressive discourses about Israel.
Alex has that special fearlessness of an intellectual who takes the other side's position seriously. It makes his answers all the more valuable.
This episode was sponsored by an anonymous donor in honor of Battalion 363 of the Harel Brigade, which is an infantry brigade in the IDF where the sponsor’s loved one serves. May all our sons and daughters come home safely.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur
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Episode 7 - Judicial Reform: Is tribalism eating Israeli democracy alive?
28 maart 2025 · 57 min
What if everybody is right on judicial reform? Israel's highest court is immensely and unreasonably powerful. But if it is weakened, what other checks stand in the way of the tyranny of the majority, that great Achilles' heel of democracy since the dawn of Western civilization? Lees meer
This question is especially urgent for Israel, whose politics are more Middle Eastern than Western, more tribal than ideological.
It's not unreasonable to weaken the court, but it would be disastrous to do so without broad trust and buy-in, and without addressing the desperate lack of other checks and balances in the country's constitutional order.
It's time for a more serious left-wing critique and a more responsible right-wing reform. Anything less will only cause harm.
Thank you to Jason and Lauriel Klinghoffer for sponsoring this episode.
Please join me on Patreon to support this project: www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur