Hub Podcasts Matti Friedman on the Iran War, the real life Inglourious Basterds, and Canadian antisemitism
Mar 30, 2026
Matti Friedman, award-winning journalist and author based in Israel and formerly of Toronto. He talks about how the Iran war feels from Israeli streets and whose strategic interests are at play. He discusses rising antisemitism in Canada and why some Jews are leaving Europe. He also recounts daring WWII parachute missions from his book Out of the Sky and critiques journalism’s shift toward activism.
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Daily Sirens And Ten Second Shelters
- Life under barrage alerts is intimate and immediate, with families sleeping in safe rooms and parents near Lebanon getting 10 seconds to shelter.
- Friedman describes his wife with four kids in Jerusalem waking at midnight to sirens and his parents near the Lebanon border having only 10 seconds.
Vertigo From A Blurred War Chronology
- Friedman calls the past years' pace of events 'vertigo' because chronology and meaning blurred after October 7th and subsequent conflicts.
- He explains he had to plot a chronology to separate 2023 from 2024 events like hostage releases and the 12-day Iran war.
Toronto Jews' Sense Of Security Has Eroded
- Jewish life in Toronto shifted from feeling protected to perceiving real threats, including attacks on synagogues and visible armed policing.
- Friedman compares Toronto to Western European cities and cites synagogue shootings, vandalism, and the Bondi Beach massacre as wake-up examples.
