The Promised Podcast

Don Futterman, Allison Kaplan Sommer, and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to the extra special, special extra segment. Radical Tail Wagging a Moderate Dog? Polls show that Likud voters are socialist, gay and lesbian supporting, religious pluralists, who are far to the left of their leaders on most matters: How can this be? B2LGBTQ Hundreds of Israeli corporations rush to support LGBTQ activists after the Knesset fails to extend to gay men the right to use surrogates to bear children. Business usually avoid politics like the plague: why is this issue different? Street Smarts Experts find that Dizengoff is the best street in Israel. But what makes a street great? And why are we so bad at creating hip and happening streets? Extra Segment: Kinderguardians Come to Washington: One Congressman Seriously Hurt For our primo Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we discuss the segment of Sasha Baron Cohen's new Showtime series, Who Is America, in which he impersonates one Col. Erran Morad, an Israeli lobbying American Republican gun rights activists and congressfolk, to adopt a faux Israeli program called Kinderguardians, aiming to arm kids tots. What the hell sort of image are these American Republicans carry around of Israel, that made Baron Cohen's ruse seem plausible? Music Shalom Gad Vehayahalomim BeTzorat Mabool Pesalim Sof HaMidbar (recorded live in TLV1 Studios) Sigariah be-Shekel

Don Futterman, Allison Kaplan Sommer, and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Check out the extra segment. It's Finally Nice & Legal! Israel is a Jewish State! Israel passes its long embattled "Nation-State" law, declaring that this is definitely, but definitely, a Jewish state. It probably won't mean much in practice, but it is one helluva symbolic statement. Question is, though, just what is it stating? Rigged Two of Israel's leading environmental NGOs to break ranks with protesting activists, and support the plans of the government and huge energy corporations to build a gas rig just ten kilometers from shore. They say they're doing what's best for the environment, but shouldn't environmental NGOs do what is best for the activists they represent? At the end of the day, who do NGOs answer to? The Promised Proscenium, or, A Light Unto Netflix "Start-Up Nation" is soooo 2008. With hits on Broadway, on the silver screen, and on Netflix, Israel of 2018 is a "Stage & Screen Nation." How the hell did that happen? Extra Segment: Birthright Israel, Birthright West Bank? For our primo Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we discuss the newest trend on Birthright tours, demonstrably getting off the tourbus near the end of the trip, and FB live-ing yourself as you go visit Palestinians in the occupied territories. We admire the young folks when they take a stand, but why does this protest feel, well, a little entitled and sour? Music Yagel Haroush & Shir Yedidot Ensemble Yedidi Ro'i Yafah ve-Tamah Yedid Nefesh Shaar Petach Dodi

Don Futterman, Allison Kaplan Sommer, and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Hear this week's extra segment. Pole Position The Prime Ministers of Israel and Poland issue a joint declaration about WWII, asserting that Poles mostly treated Jews benignly. Historians of the Holocaust express outrage. And, anyway, should Israel's Prime Minister be signing agreements about what's true and false in Jewish History? Seeds of Doubt A bunch of eager, energetic religious folks want to move together into a down-and-out Tel Aviv neighborhood, volunteer in the schools, open a synagogue, teach adult ed, and organize public celebrations of holidays, all in hopes of making their new neighbors a bit more Jewish. Should they be stopped or saluted? Muskeljuden No More? What are sports for, in a Jewish State? Music Mira Awad All I Want (by Joni Mitchell) Think of Others (Words by Mahmoud Darwish) We Can Work It Out (with Noa) Bahlawan

Gilad Halpern, Allison Kaplan Sommer, and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. On this week's extra segment, we invite Gabriel Noah Brahm to join us to discuss academic boycotts of Israel. Avi Gabbay's Excellent Imposture (With Apologies to Stephen Herek) Labor Party Head Avi Gabbay pays shadowy consultants to post faux-Facebook pages trashing centrist rival Yair Lapid. Is Gabbay just a politician who is in it to win it, or is he yet another politician who has lost his soul? Right=Bright, Left=Bereft? A new poll finds that Israeli right-wingers, who tend to be poorer than the national average, are optimistic about the country's economic future, while Israeli left-wingers, who tend to be richer than the national average, are pessimistic about the country's economic future: Was PM Netanyahu right when he said that leftists like us are just sour-pussed nattering nabobs of negativism? More Notes on Camp (with Continued Apologies to Susan Sontag) What happened to good old summer camps when kids slept on rocks under stars and sang around campfires? Why have they yielded to space camp, video game camp and veterinary medicine camp? Music Tabarnak, in honor of their debut album, Maurice Academi. Ha-Shir Ha-khi Tov Hu Ba-Olam Ya Sefel Acordover Le-hitraot ya Henunim

Outgoing International Director of Haaretz Charlotte Halle, Allison Kaplan Sommer, and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Hear this week's extra segment. Put Away for Take Away? First Lady Sara Netanyahu is indicted for charging taxpayers $100,000 for fancy take-out (while also charging the taxpayers for a full-time chef). Should the wife of a Prime Minister really stand trial for bilking the public coffers for cardboard cartons of comestibles? Bougie's Golem Former Labor head and present-day chair of the opposition, Yizhak "Bougie" Herzog, is elected to head the venerable, old Jewish Agency. But is the organization better off dead? The Council for the Preservation of Historic Inefficiency? Should Israel's government subsidize such quaint anachronisms as artisanal bread-baking and clothes-making, for the sake of preserving a once-beloved cultural heritage destroyed by the globalization, corporatization and factorization of pretty much everything? Music The White Screen, HaMasach HaLavan: Tembel, Tembel Rak Ba-Kever Indianim Nipagesh ba-Olam ha-Ba

This episode of WhyWhyWhy! features stories on the theme of "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution" as told by Judah Ari Gross, Margot Saffer, Don Futterman, Adam Nice, Varda Spiegel, Avinof Frumer, Marcia Freedman, and Naomi Henoch. The next live event will be held on July 23rd (details) and will feature the theme, "Sweat." Pitch us stories about your sweaty situations! Or just come to have a beer and listen. Either way, you have nothing to lose but your chains! Well, also your sobriety, as the evening is free, with a one drink minimum. Subscribe to the WhyWhyWhy! podcast.

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, Noah Efron, and Don Futterman discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to the extra segment. Benjamin Netanyahu's New World Order According to reports, PM Netanyahu used the threat of Iran's nuclearization to build, strengthen and solidify relations with the Emirates and Saudi Arabia, sometimes behind the back of the American. Should we be high-fiving him, or tsk-tsking? Mothballing The Hope Tel Aviv University doesn't play Israel's national anthem at graduation, out of respect for the feelings of Muslims and Christians. Is this self-abnegation, as some argue, or a brave step towards a more inclusive Israeli future? Notes on Camp (with Apologies to Susan Sontag) Should Jewish summer camps teach campers "the Palestinian narrative"? Music Miriam Toukan We Are Young (with SAZ) A Traveler's Prayer (Quartetoukan) I loved you, Haifa (Quartetoukan) Wolf with Lamb (with Idan Toledano)

Outgoing International Director of Haaretz Charlotte Halle, Noah Efron, and Don Futterman discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Hear the extra segment on Patreon. Terror with a Tail! The flaming kites lofted by Palestinians into Israel have caused tens of millions in damage and left wasted millions of square meters of fields, forests and settlements. But is it right to call them "terror kites"? Golan Heights? A new musical features the music of the great Mizrahi pop singer, Eyal Golan, who was accused five years ago of having consensual sex with underaged girls in icky and abusive circumstances. Many protest, but is there racism and hypocrisy in their ostensible, Me-Too-ish feminism? Advancing the Secular Lifestyle, One City at a Time Do we need "secular politics" that advance "secular identity" and a "secular agenda" in Israel's upcoming local elections? Music Pinhas Uvanav Mahol ha-Teiruf Ani Eshtagea Shekufah Ken Zeh Hasar Sikui Akh Beini Le-Vein Atzmi Ha-Kol Mutar

Noah Efron, Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, and Ha'aretz columnist Bradley Burston discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to this week's extra segment. Cabel News A Labor Party stalwart breaks ranks and says that some of the settlements should be annexed to Israel, as a first step to an eventual peace. His colleagues on the left call him nuts, but is he maybe nutty like a fox? Messi Politics Football great Lionel Messi and the Argentinian National Team cancel a friendly match against Israel after it was moved from Haifa to Jerusalem. Is this a turning point in Israeli attitudes about BDS? To the Class of 2018 Michael Chabon tells newly ordained Rabbis to end their fetishist obsession with keeping Jews Jews, and tells Israelis to stop their us-vs.-them exclusionary wall-building. Mightn't he have a point? Music Hadar Maoz Lali Lavat Azizam Halleluyah Anar Anar

Noah Efron, Allison Kaplan Sommer, and Don Futterman discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Junior Partners in the Jewish People? Israelis tell pollsters that the opinions of American Jews about what happens here matter, but not too much. What does this say about relations between the two biggest Jewish communities on earth? Toying with Anti-Semitism A Dutch parody of Israel's Eurovision song includes lyrics about how Israelis control the world and love money. What do we do when legitimate criticism of Israel gets all jumbled up with old-fashioned anti-semitism? The Sheep Goes Baaah, the Cow Goes Moooo, the Trident Missile Goes Whoosh-Boom! Should the folks who sell us our trident missiles and F-35 stealth bombers be allowed to donate to us us the schools that shape our children (like so much plastic explosive)? Music Bones Garage Equals Seasons Break Great Rift The New Religion