The Promised Podcast

Allison, Don and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Repealing Godwin's Law: How Do We Know When That "Again" We Never Want to See Has Arrived? We ask whether we owe it to our ancestors who were swallowed by the Holocaust to decry Trump, Bannon, et. al., as shoving us down the slippery slope into the territory of Never-Again, or whether we owe it to them to not besmirch their tragedy by comparing it to the world's present political woes. Rabbinic Baskets of Deplorables & Baskets of Rabbinic Deplorables We reflect on how to respond to the most recent Rabbi on the government payroll to unleash inane bigotries in an interview, once we admit that the guy's done some admirable things alongside this icky one. Post-Mortem & Pre-Natal We discuss our mixed feelings over the court's decision to allow the parents of a dead naval officer to use his sperm and a surrogate to create a kid whom they will raise as their own child, though he would be their biological grandchild. All songs by Tamir Grinberg: Something Telephone Blues I Was Made to Love Her Take a Look Around

Allison, Noah and Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. The Odeum and the Odium: Israel's National Theater Live in the Settlements! We discuss the controversy over Israel's national theater company, Habima, performing in the most settlement-y of all the settlements, Kiryat Arba. Citizens Disunited: Reflections on the Rejection of Election Collections We reflect on a new law regulating how much Israeli NGOs can spend on election campaigns, like the failed, big "dump Netanyahu" campaign of the last election. Gimme that ol' time consumption! We ask whether the rest of us have something to learn from the ways that stuff is advertised to the ultra-orthodox in Israel, which lack the employment of sex, longing and insecurity to make the sale. All songs by Ha-Peel ha-Kachol (The Blue Elephant): 24/7 Ha-Kol Yehiyeh Ugiot Tiyul

Allison, Noah and Tel Aviv Review host Gilad Halpern discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Lessons of the Trumpocalypse In what may be a historic first of an entire podcast episode recorded in fetal position, we wonder what we Israeli leftists can learn from the painful, frightening and massive defeat of the American left this week at the polls. Rabin Rousing We discuss politicization of the annual Rabin Memorial Demonstration, a new phenomenon, and ask what these politics mean. Beat the Press We try to understand PM Netanyahu's invective-filled tirade on a respected Israeli investigative journalist. He impugned her motives, her talents, her integrity and her suitability for her job. All songs by the Panic Ensemble: Every Night Spring in Your Heart Flying How Many Ways

Allison, Noah and Don discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Jailing for the "Hate Wedding"? We ask whether the revelers at a settler wedding who were filmed waving guns, stabbing a picture of a murdered Palestinian baby, and singing incendiary songs should be prosecuted for their loathsome display, or instead simply subject to the court of public opinion. Too much political common ground? We mull over a charge by a retired Labor Party leader to stop trying to find common ground with the right. What are the most effective levels of partisanship and partnership today? Our daughters: The state of the patriarchy We consider new research that found girls and women in Israel are better off than almost anywhere else in the world: What is the state of the patriarchy in Israel, 2016? All songs by Gimzu Blues Band on their album Me'ever le-kav ha-eruv : Halichot Mephuzarot Em Sisra A Sukhla a kleine Ha-Balada al Rav Rahumi ve-Ishto

Allison, Noah and Tel Aviv Review host Gilad Halpern discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Saving us from ourselves? We ponder with angst the decision of the director of human rights group B'Tselem to implore the UN Security Council to act forcefully against Israel, in order to bring about an end to the Occupation. Women's ways of protest The Women Wage Peace organization just finished their spectacular two-week "March of Hope." We consider the notion, put forth by some of the leaders of the march, that women seek peace in ways likely to be more effective than men. On the internet, everyone knows you're a d*ck! Why did so many Israelis "unfriend" compatriots on Facebook during the 2014 Gaza War? A new study attempts to answer this by claiming that the social network forces us to present our authentic selves on line, letting folks know we hold views they find abhorrent. All songs by Deaf Chonky: Social Security Gozalim Shirley Kontrol

Allison, Noah and Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. You say, "Al Aqsa," I say, "The Temple" Wonder what to make of the recent resolution by UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – chastising Israel for its treatment of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, while ignoring Jewish affinities to the same sites? We deliberate. BDS and the Dream of Nuance A major new initiative "Israel and the Academy" aims to help folks think about Israel "in a much more nuanced way" than the BDS wars presently allow. But is the lovely dream of nuance too naive an ambition to truly attain? The Museum of Jewish Awesomeness We ponder the fact that $30 million dollars have already been raised (of an eventual $450 million) to build a Frank Gehry "World's Jewish Museum" in Tel Aviv dedicated to the Einsteins, the Spielbergs, the Streisands and the Dylans. Is this the kind of museum we want and need at this fraught moment in our history? All songs by Ha-Pussy shelLucy: Ghetto Lech Lecha Le-Heros et ha-Knesset Rak Lo Etzleinu Ba-Shechunah

Allison, Don and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. The Triumphs of Benjamin Netanyahu A recent essay asserted that PM Netanyahu's foreign policy has been much more successful than most Israelis realize, and that Bibi has guided Israel with a sure hand in tumultuous times. Could the Israeli Left be wrong about Bibi? Barack Obama's Zionist Idea A vision worth adopting? We discuss whether exiting US President Barak Obama is, as one journalist recently suggested, "the most impressive exponent of liberal Zionism today." The 'G' Word Haaretz polled Knesset members, asking whether or not each of the 120 lawmakers believes in God. The results differed from a similar survey taken in 1996, but not how you might expect. All songs by Michelle Rosen: Give it to the Beat In the Sun My Boy Love We Shall Find

Allison, Don and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Show me a dreamer: The legacy of Shimon Peres, z"l We ponder the complicated legacy of Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres - for the country and, especially, for the left. Not being there The head of the Arab Joint List in the Knesset, Ayman Odeh, didn't attend Shimon Peres' funeral. What statement was he making and what do we learn from it? For the sins Every year on Yom Kippur, Jews chant the "Al Heyt" prayer, a list of sins we've committed over the previous year. We search our souls and discuss what our sins were - as Israelis and leftists - over the past year. All songs by supergroup Armon: Kayitz Ham Halom Bi At Be-Tokh Kuftzah

Allison, Don and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Netanyahu to the UN: "You like us! You really like us!" In his startling speech at the UN, Prime Minister Netanyahu argued that the nations of the world really love us, even if they haven't noticed yet. Might he have a point? Shuttling Hassids for free! Some Knesset members have cried foul over the government's decision to provide VIP services to Hassids travelling to the Ukraine to be with a beloved rabbi who sadly died in 1810. Is this the kind of culture the Jewish state should be supporting? The year that was As we approach Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year: What were the most important things that happened in Israel over the last year, or the things that we overlooked? All songs by Shai Tzabari: Avo Be-Gevurot Me-Alai Demama Shemesh (with Hadag Nahash) Tfillat Ha-Derekh

Don, Noah and journalist-extraordinaire Naomi Zeveloff discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. 38 billion bucks A $38 billion, ten-year military aid agreement has just been reached by Israel and the US. We discuss whether or not, in the long run, it makes Israel stronger - does more money really buy more security? Ehud Barak 2.0 Mysterious billboards have started appearing in Israel, prodding former Prime Minister Ehud Barak to run again. He ruined the labor party and wrecked the Left, but is he now the best hope we've got? Homogenizing Israelis for justice! Should government economic reports slice and dice people by their ethnic identity, or should they just focus on salaries and spending? If the gears of capitalism are greased by the blood of the workers, does it matter whether those workers have Moroccan, Ethiopian or French backgrounds? All songs by Adir L.C., mostly off his newest album Oceanside Cities: Dinosaur Hung Over Same Big Ring Buyer's Instinct