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Israel's Sophie's Choice - with Haviv Rettig Gur May 02, 2024

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There are two major decisions Israel is contending with right now: I) proceed with the military operation in Rafah; or II) pause the fighting, perhaps for an extended period of time, in service of a hostage deal. Of course a hostage deal would also most likely include the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. These decisions are coming to a head right now for Israel and for Hamas. All while Secretary of State Blinken is in the Middle East. All while Riyadh is working on some kind of defense pact with the U.S. and the possibility of normalization with Israel. And all against the backdrop of Hamas and Hezbollah issuing statements of solidarity with American college kids. Fortunately, we’ve got Haviv Rettig Gur back, as we resume our regular check-ins.

Proof of Life - with Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin Apr 30, 2024

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Share on Twitter: https://tinyurl.com/4ku8n3r3 After over 200 days, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin saw proof of life of their son Hersh Goldberg-Polin for the first time, who was severely wounded in the October 7th massacre and taken hostage by Hamas. Just last Wednesday, a video surfaced — which was produced by Hamas — of Hersh speaking to camera. In short, in the video, Hersh describes the he was taken hostage, he criticizes the Israeli Government, and he expresses love for his parents, Jon and Rachel and his two sisters. He addresses his severe wound from October 7th, in which his left hand — his dominant hand — was blown off. When I was in Israel,I visited with Rachel and Jon and we recorded a conversation for this podcast about the video, as well as what else they had learned from it, especially about Hersh’s severe wound — he continues to be medically fragile. Jon and Rachel discussed why they decided to approve media release and coverage of the video. Rachel and Jon also reacted to the shocking protests on US campuses — they are both from the US, as is Hersh, and they reflected on what they regarded as some encouraging news about a statement on the hostages, which was signed by 18 countries. They also addressed the possibility of Israeli elections in the midst of this ongoing hostage crisis and war. Follow “Bring Hersh Home” on Instagram: bring.hersh.home Hersh Goldberg Polin video: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/hostage-hersh-goldberg-polins-family-approves-publication-of-hamas-propaganda-video/ Column by William McGurn of the WSJ: “Hamas’s American Hostages” — https://tinyurl.com/ymraw2yv

Bonus Episode: Diary from Columbia’s ‘Liberated Zone’ - with Michael Powell Apr 30, 2024

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Michael Powell has been covering New York City life and politics for decades, as a long-time reporter for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and now the Atlantic. He recently was on Columbia’s campus to try to better understand the encampment movement that has taken over the campus. He joins us to report what he saw and learned. Article discussed in this episode: The Unreality of Columbia’s ‘Liberated Zone’ — https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/columbia-university-protests-palestine/678159/

An Insider's Account of Columbia's Pro-Hamas Protests - with Shai Davidai Apr 26, 2024

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Share on Twitter: tinyurl.com/5n6bswst Since 10/07, no faculty member at Columbia University (or any university for that matter) has been more outspoken about the shocking and staggering rise in antisemitism than Shai Davidai. He brings his first-hand accounts to our conversation today. Shai is Assistant Professor in the Management Division of Columbia Business School. He received his PhD from Cornell University in 2015. Prior to joining Columbia Business School, Shai spent a year as a post-doctoral fellow at Princeton University and 3 years as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at The New School for Social Research. Since Columbia students established the most recent pro-Hamas encampment on the Columbia campus days ago, Israeli-born and raised Shai Davidai has been barred from campus. Having just now arrived in Israel, Shai joins us in Tel Aviv today to describe what exactly has been happening since 10/07, the early signs of antisemitism he identified at Columbia well before 10/07, and the common misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the rhetoric and incitement being used by a number of Columbia student organizations and faculty. You can follow Shai on X here: @ShaiDavidai

A lot is happening in the Middle East... and nothing at all - with Nadav Eyal Apr 22, 2024

Show notes

Share on Twitter: https://tinyurl.com/3wv3d77z As we try to make sense of the past two weeks, consider this: 1. IDF withdraws from most of the Gaza Strip while it now also appears increasingly likely that the IDF will conduct an operation in Rafah. 2. An historic Iranian attack of 300 ballistic missiles, UAVs and cruise missiles, and an historic coalition force that includes Israel, the US, UK, France, Saudi Arabia and Jordan that shot down almost all of the projectiles. 3. A week later, Israel attacks Iran. 4. A widely backed U.N. security council resolution recognizing a Palestinian state, which the US vetoed. So a lot is happening, but is Israel closer to achieving the war's objectives? To help us understand what’s going on, our guest today is NADAV EYAL, who returns to the podcast. He is a columnist for Yediot. Eyal has been covering Middle-Eastern and international politics for the last two decades for Israeli radio, print and television news.

How Israel Lost The Story - with Scott Galloway Apr 17, 2024

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Share the episode on Twitter: https://tinyurl.com/yc2yfbmz Just about every day we’re asked: how did Israel lose the story?We wanted to put this question to an expert in marketing and storytelling, but could come at Israel’s story with some distance. Someone who wasn’t inherently hostile to Israel but also wasn’t a cheerleader. Scott Galloway is a Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business where he teaches Brand Strategy and Digital Marketing. He’s the host of the Prof G Podcast and the Pivot podcast, which he co-hosts with Kara Swisher. He is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books ,including “The Four”, “The Algebra of Happiness”, and “Adrift: America in 100 Charts”. He has a new book coming out, which you can pre-order, called “The Algebra of Wealth: A Simple Formula for Financial Security.” Scott has served on the board of directors of Eddie Bauer, The New York Times Company and the Berkeley School of Business. In this episode, Scott talks for the first time in an extended conversation about his observations from Israel. We also discuss the future of higher education, and we talk about his new book and comparisons between the experiences of young Israelis and young Americans during their formative years. Pre-order Scott Galloway’s new book: “The Algebra of Wealth” — https://tinyurl.com/2s38vxpb Follow Scott at: ProfGMedia.com

Special Episode: Did Iran Miscalculate? - with Nadav Eyal Apr 14, 2024

Show notes

Share the episode on Twitter: tinyurl.com/yc3rjw6y To help us understand what happened overnight in Israel, ourguest today is NADAV EYAL, who returns to the podcast. He is a columnist for Yediot. Eyal has been covering Middle-Eastern and international politics for the last two decades for Israeli radio, print and television news.

What it’s like to fight for your (captive) family - with Maya Roman Apr 12, 2024

Show notes

There has been growing tension within Israeli society over where to prioritize a hostage deal – at what cost (in terms of how many and which Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons should be part of the deal and the length of any temporary ceasefire). At the same time, the sense of urgency behind Israel's hostage cause in capitals around the world is…drifting. Not disappearing, but drifting. A turning point seemed to be when the UN Security Council passed a resolution – 14-0 (made possible by a US decision not to veto) – that, for the first time, did not call for a ceasefire that was conditioned on the return of the hostages. It’s a sense we get from families of hostages, who are in regular contact with media, NGOs and governments around the world. It’s against that backdrop, that we sat down in person with Maya Roman, who was in New York and Washington, DC. Maya Roman is an Israeli journalist from Tel Aviv. On October 7th, Maya’s cousin, Yarden Roman-Gat, was visiting her husband’s parents in Kibbutz Beeri along with other family members. Yarden and her sister in law, Carmel, were taken hostage. Yarden’s mother-in-law (and Carmel’s mother), Kinneret, was murdered. Yarden was released as part of the hostage deal last November. Carmel is still being held. Since 10/07, Maya has not stopped organizing or advocating for the release of her family. When we hear of the hostage families movement, Maya is the kind of person who has been in the middle of it. In our conversation, Maya talks about what they have learned from Yarden since her return from captivity, and where the hostage movement may go from here, at this crucial and very raw phase. "Bring Carmel Back" on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bringcarmelback?igsh=MTBkaGlsd3JtbXI4eQ==

Data Science Vs Hamas Math - with Abraham Wyner Apr 10, 2024

Show notes

30,000. You hear that number and you already know exactly what we are referring to. It’s 30,000 casualties. That’s the number of Palestinians that have been killed in Gaza as a result of the IDF response to the October 7th invasion of Israel, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Of course, we don’t know how the Gaza Health Ministry arrived at that number. How does it collect this data, analyze it, and how does it account for civilian casualties versus Hamas terrorists? It’s a big round number that everyone - from news reporters, to aid organizations to governments - mindlessly repeat. Well, a data scientist at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania has taken the time to try to understand how these numbers are computed. He published his study in a piece in Tablet Magazine — it’s called “How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers”. You can find it here: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/how-gaza-health-ministry-fakes-casualty-numbers Abraham Wyner is Professor of Statistics and Data Science at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Faculty Co-Director of the Wharton Sports Analytics and Business Initiative. Professor Wyner received his Bachelor's degrees in Mathematics from Yale University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with distinction in his major. He was the recipient of the Stanley Prize for excellence in Mathematics. His PhD in Statistics is from Stanford University.

Is the war in Gaza over? With Nadav Eyal Apr 08, 2024

Show notes

There have been two major developments in the past few days. First, the IDF has announced it is withdrawing much of its ground force presence from Gaza, at the same time that Iran is threatening a direct military hit against Israel or Israeli assets globally. The Iranian threat is in response to the IDF operation that destroyed Iran’s Consulate in Damascus one week ago. To help us understand whether we are at a truly new stage (or late stage) of the war, our guest today is NADAV EYAL, who returns to the podcast. He is a columnist for Yediot. Eyal has been covering Middle-Eastern and international politics for the last two decades for Israeli radio, print and television news.

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