The Promised Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The "Pandemic & Patriarchy" Edition Apr 30, 2020

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and Wunderkind critic Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

--Gradually, and then Suddenly --

Who killed Israel's Labor Party?

--Art or Death --

Should the government support the arts like it supports the hospitals and the army, because art is an existential need no less important than health and defense?

--Pandemic & Patriarchy --

Is the pandemic the best thing ever for patriarchy? Has the time come for "feminist civil disobedience"?

--What's It Like Celebrating Memorial Day and Independence Day Under Corona-Lockdown --

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we talk about what it was like to celebrate memorial day and independence day, under corona-lockdown. Hint: kind of delightful, and weirder than weird!

All this and Adi Shaham!

The "What is Israeli?" Edition Apr 23, 2020

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

--The Coalition Proposition: A Road to Perdition?--

Is the coalition agreement that PM Netanyahu and Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz just signed the end of democracy as we know it, the salvation of Israel, or maybe, just maybe, something in between?

--Timor Mortis-est?--

Is it true what the director of Israel's Ministry of Health just said, that Israelis have less of a stomach for COVID-19 deaths than folks in other countries, and that that's a problem?

--What is Israeli?--

Israel's celebrating our 72nd birthday, and still we've gotta aske: What is Israeli?

--Preparing for Civil Unrest?--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we talk about a just-leaked National Security Council report setting out a strategy for dealing with civil insurrection (!), as might break out in response to the coronavirus restrictions. Are corona-frustrations mounting here, like they seem to be in America?

All that and songs by Romy Hanoch (the brilliant daughter of Shalom Hanoch, the godfather of Israeli rock'n'roll).

The "Still Wandering the Desert" Edition Apr 16, 2020

Show notes

--No Go Tiations--

Why, O Why, can't Israel form a friggin' government?

--Six Physicists, Two Computer Scientists, an Engineer, an Economist and a Psychologist--

Coronavirus doesn't distinguish by sex, religion or profession. But should that be true, too, of the committee tasked with devising our "exit strategy"?

--Zionormativity (and the Queering of Yiddish)--

Do Israel and Zionism need to be "queered," now more than ever?

--After We're Told That We Can Go Out, Do We Just Abide and Go Out?--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we talk about whether, when the government says it's o.k. to go out to restaurants and send our kids to school, and take in a movie at the multiplex, we're going to feel comfortable doing it.

All this and the smoky and ethereal moodiness of Bela Tar!

The "Dialectics of Dayenu" Edition Apr 08, 2020

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

--Not With a Bang, but With a Tweet--

Labor head Amir Peretz tweets that he's merging his party into Blue & White, killing off once and for all the party of David Ben Gurion, Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin. Should we mourn the loss?

--What's Wrong with Bnei Brak?!?--

Why are most Israeli COVID-19 victims Ultra-Orthodox? Are all the others here who are outraged at Haredim justified in their anger?

--The Dialectics of Dayenu--

Does the Passover Seder song, Dayenu, explain the difference between Israel's right and left?

--How Is the Coronavirus Leaving Its Imprint on Our Passover?--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we talk about how the coronavirus is leaving its imprint on Passover, from how to prepare for it, to how we celebrate, to the new meaning it's come to hold for us.

All that and songs by Israel's greatest polymath musician, Eli Dray.

The "What Gantz Wants" Edition Apr 02, 2020

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and Wunderkind critic Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida discuss two topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

--What Gantz Wants, or Is Gantz a Shvantz?--

Benny Gantz promised one thing -- ONE THING! -- in the last election campaign: that he would never, ever join a government under Prime Minister Netanyahu. So why'd he change his mind, at the cost of losing his allies, angering his voters, and leaving the center-left in splinters?

--Econoclasm--

Israel's most venerable political scientist says that the coronavirus will kill off the country's neo-liberal economic policy and nudge us towards social democracy. Does he have a point?

--Our Favorite Funny, Creative Posts & Tweets at this Moment of Crisis--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we talk about our favorite posts and tweets, as this moment of crisis releases a flood of humor, creativity and heart.

All that and the rhythm and blues of Roee Lavan!

The "Chair Today, Gone Tomorrow" Edition Mar 26, 2020

Show notes

--Chair Today, Gone Tomorrow--

While we were washing our hands and not touching our face, did Israeli democracy just almost shatter into pieces?

--Too Loyal Opposition?--

Most politicians, journalists, professors and other professional gadflies are acting like an "Amen corner" as Prime Minister Netanyahu steers the country through the crisis. Has the time come to be more critical?

--The Nice Side of Forced Isolation--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we talk about some of the surprising nice things to come out of our forced incarceration under scary circumstances. The worst of times, like these, always seems to bring out the best in people, and we're seeing it.

And the lovely harmonies of Yonina!

The "Don't Kiss the Wailing Wall!" Edition Mar 19, 2020

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman 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 this week's extra segment

--An Astonishing Thing Happened This Week (When We Were Mostly Paying Attention to Other Things)--

Blue-&-White leader Benny Gantz is given the "mandate" to form Israel's government. Now what?

--Keeping Tabs--

At 1 a.m., Netanyahu's cabinet decides to grant the Shin Bet, Israel's secret service, the power to track COVID-19 sufferers and, along the way, the rest of us, too. Do desperate times demand such desperate measures, or is this a step (way) too far?

--"Torah Protects and Saves"?!?--

A revered 92 year old rabbi to keep ultra-Orthodox schools open, in defiance of the Prime Minister and Health Minister, because studying Torah is our best protection from the coronavirus. Now what?

--Corona: Up Close and Personal (Part 2)--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we (once again) discuss how the coronavirus is affecting us personally, changing our lives, and inhabiting our dreams and nightmares, as the country slouches towards total lock-down.

All that and the long-awaited come-back of Vered Klepter!

The "Love in the Time of Corona" Edition Mar 12, 2020

Show notes

--My Corona!--

Nowhere in the world responded quicker and more forcefully to the coronavirus than Israel. What's that tell us about Israel's political culture?

--Minority is the New Majority?--

Is Benny Gantz right to try to form a "minority government" coalition that would be eleven (count 'em!) votes smaller than the opposition?

--Corona: Up Close and Personal--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we discuss how the coronavirus is affecting us personally: How it has changed our day-to-day lives, and what anxieties it is dredging up.

All that and the ingenious indie of Feldy!

The "Take a Deep Breath" Edition Mar 05, 2020

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss two topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

--What the Hell Just Happened?--

What, if anything, can we learn from this week's elections about the hearts and minds, hopes and dreams, of Israeli voters?

--What the Hell Happens Next?--

Has the time come for Israel's center-left to accept that Benjamin Netanyahu is going to continue as Israel's Prime Minister, even as he's tried for bribery, fraud and corruption?

--Still More About the Elections--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we talk still more about the elections, and the important things that happened at the edges of the very biggest stories, things like the great successes of the Joint List and of Shas, and other crucial marginalia.

All this and the crazy-brilliant singing of our 19-year-old, Ethiopian-Israeli representative to the 2020 Eurovision Contest, Eden Alene!

The "Crickets" Edition Feb 27, 2020

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and award-winning roving freelance journalist Naomi Zeveloff discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

--Crickets--

Just days before we vote, the last thing most Israelis want to hear about are the elections? Why?

--Tibi in TLV--

Tens of thousands of Jewish Israelis tell pollsters that they'll vote, for the first time, for the mostly Arab-Israeli Joint List. Why?

--Regular Yossls--

Ultra-Orthodox politicians say secular and modern-Orthodox folks should vote for them, because they're the only ones really fighting for what everyone wants: good health care, good transportation, an end to poverty, and such. Can ultra-Orthodox politicians break through to the mainstream?

--What Does the U.S. Peace Proposal Mean for Israeli Settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank?--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, Naomi Zeveloff tells us more about her poignant, remarkable trip (reported on NPR) to the neighboring Palestinian and Jewish west bank villages of Atara and Ateret, and what they tell us about the Trump peace plan, and about our inter-tangled lives here in the Holy Land.

All this and the brilliant retro-soul of Uzi Navon & Acquaintances!