The Promised Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The "Keeva & Us" Edition May 16, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, 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.

Looking for the extra segment?

"Natural Partners"

How are pork-loving former Soviets and God-fearing ultra-Orthodox Jews "natural partners" in a Netanyahu government?

Credit where Credit is Due

Starting now, every Israeli will have an official credit rating. Is this a way to catch deadbeats or a way for the rich to f*ck the poor?

Raising the Aufruf?

Shtisel is coming back for a third season! Why do we love those zany ultra-Orthodox so damn much? And will Keeva ever find true love?!?

Ixnay Ethay Elf-Hatingsay

For our most extremely generous Patreon supporters, we discuss in our extra-special, special extra segment a much-maligned Eurovision promotion video produced by the national broadcast corporation that includes the line, "most of us are Jews, but only some of us are greedy / and you might notice people here are very very needy." Are we doing the work of the anti-Semites for them?

Music

Israeli Eurovision Classics, Performed Unclassically:

Natati la hayaii, performed by Elad Koren (lead singer, Onoma); Kobi Farhi, (lead singer Orphaned Land), Alex Zevulun, (Guitar, The Fading); Erez Yohanan, (Drums, Amaseffer)
"Abanibi," performed by Netta Barzilai
"HaLaila," performed by Daniel Rubin
"Toy," performed by Aveva

The "Songs of Innocence and Experience" Edition May 09, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, 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.

Looking for the extra segment?

Your Services are No Longer Needed

More than 40% of Knesset representatives are new to the job, and turnover among legislators is at an all-time high. Why? What does this augur for Israeli politics?

For a Song

New regulations will prevent Israeli mayors from paying more than 20,000 bucks to pop stars to perform at gala Independence Day celebrations. A blessed return to sanity, or government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong?

What's a Good Book Good For?

Secular Israelis used to love the Independence Day Bible Contest, and religious ones hated it. Now religious Israelis dominate the Bible Contest, and secular ones ignore it. What does the odd career of the Annual Bible Contest tell us about the changing nature of the Israeli soul?

This War Stuff Takes a Real Toll on Us

For our most extremely generous Patreon supporters, we discuss in our extra-special, special extra segment what the hell just happened between us and Hamas in Gaza, and why it leaves us dazed, confused and sad.

Music

All this and the IsraEthiopian genius of Ground Heights:

Yehiyot Nuro
Hiola
Sun is High
Aynoche

The "Simulacrum and Dissimulation" Edition May 02, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, 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.

Looking for the extra segment?

The Holocaust Will Not Be Tweeted

Dramatizing the Holocaust on Instagram so phone-addicted kids will pay attention? Seriously?

Sins of the Fathers' Grocer

When a supermarket chain uses a made-up story about Ashkenazi wholesalers exploiting and insulting Mizrahi shoppers four decades ago, is that a bigger insult to Ashkenazim or Mizrahim?

Lights Unto the Nation

What do the people chosen to light torches at the national Independence Day say about the state of our national soul?

Really NYTimes? Really?

For our most extravagantly generous Patreon patrons, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we discuss the caricature in the New York Times of a big-nosed dachshund Netanyahu with a Jewish star on his collar, leading a blind, yarmulka-ed Trump. Wha?!?

Music

Songs of Remembrance, for Yom Ha-Shoah:

Halom, by Ohad Kostki (with lyrics by Abramek Koplowitz, who perished at 14 in Auschwitz)
Beautiful that way, by Achinoam Nini (Noa)
Mi ba-Esh, by Shanty Kadar
Afar ve-Avak, by Yehuda Poliker

The "What, We Worry?" Edition Apr 25, 2019

Show notes

Noah Efron, Don Futterman 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.

Looking for the extra segment?

The Solidarity Singularity

Has the time come for Israel's Jewish (and Zionist) left to join forces with Israel's Arab (and anti-Zionist) left? If so, how?

Scholars' Dolour

The Association for Israel Studies is in a tizzy about an academic journal issue that some think crosses the line from scholarship to propaganda. Is "pro-Israel scholarship" an oxymoron?

What, We Worry?

Israelis worry less about global threats – from climate change to cyberattack and beyond – than anyone else in the world. How come?

Left Wing or Right Wing?

For our most extremely generous Patreon supporters, we discuss in our extra-special, special extra segment a new web series about the differences between left-wingers and right-wingers. It's all in good fun, but is it also saying something serious about the state of our politics and our collective soul?

Music

All this and the impressive, transgressive, expressive hip-hop collective, Hulon Imperia:

From Here to There / Mipo Lesham
Bahur Ragish
Ze Loop
Hulon is Atlanta

"The Young and the Feckless" Edition Apr 18, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, 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.

The Kids are All Right

It's accepted wisdom that Israeli young people are more right-wing than their older sisters and brothers, parents and grandparents. But are they really? And if they are, why?

What We Learned at the Polls

Peter Beinart writes that the lesson of the last election is that the time has come to make Israelis suffer for our sins. That so?

"And You Shall Tell Your Child"

On Passover, we're supposed to tell our kids the story of the Exodus and what it means to us today. But what does it mean to us today?

Enjoying Others' Misfortune Cookie

For our most extremely generous Patreon supporters, we discuss in our extra-special, special extra segment the dark pleasures of political schadenfreude. Why was the best thing about our recent elections the misfortunes they brought to some of our most stalwart politicians?

Music

The very happy sounds of Miki G & Tzemer:

Sababa
Kadima
Yom Ehad
Lo Levad

Extra: Is Israel Experiencing a Decline in the Quality of Its Democracy? Apr 12, 2019

Show notes

In a moment of I-happen-to-have-Marshall-Mcluhan-right-here, Mizrahi-Arnaud joins us to say, "You understand nothing of our work, how you ever got a podcast is beyond me!"

The "Deep Breath" Edition Apr 10, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, 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.

What Just Happened?!?

The votes are counted. What the hell just happened?

The Via Media

Given the alternative, is a coalition of the center and the Likud really such a bad idea after all?

Getting Out of Bed in the Morning

The Likud has led Israel for 30 of the past 42 years, and more are ahead. What reason does an Israeli leftist have to get out of bed?

Is Israel Experiencing a Decline in the Quality of Its Democracy?

For our most extremely generous Patreon supporters, we discuss in our extra-special, special extra segment a remarkable new Brookings Institute Policy Brief called "Is Israel in Democratic Decline?" by Tamara Cofman Wittes and Yael Mizrahi-Arnaud. In a moment of I-happen-to-have-Marshall-Mcluhan-right-here, Mizrahi-Arnaud joins us to say, "You understand nothing of our work, how you ever got a podcast is beyond me!"

Music

The viral positivity of Tazazo:

Kuli Ahava, with Mazzal Damsia
Mona Lisa, with Tzemer
Insomnia
Halivai Ani

The "Bullets, Ballots and Breastbeating" Edition Apr 04, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, 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.

The War that Wasn't

We almost stumbled into war with Gaza last week, just ahead of crucial elections. Why didn't we?

Election Reflection

After three intensive months of campaign, we look back and wonder, what the f*ck was that?

Shame!

Why does Israel's Right hold the patent on pride, and our Left on shame?

The Israeli Campaign Ads We Loved, Hated, or Were Mystified By

For our most extremely generous Patreon supporters, we discuss in our extra-special, special extra segment the election ads that captured our attention over the past weeks, and why we loved, hated, or were mystified by them.

Music

Ron Cohen:

Yehefim
Yehiye Besder
Stam Yom
Mehapeset

The "Crossing Lines" Edition Mar 28, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, 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.

Looking for the extra segment?

Heights and Rights

U.S. President Donald Trump declares that the Golan belongs to Israel, after three decades of Israel trying to negotiate it back into Syrian hands. Will history remember this as something that matters, like PM Netanyahu says, or is it destined to be a forgotten footnote?

Scorched by the Bern

Bernie Sanders speaks out against "apartheid-like conditions in Palestine." Just after we got used to millennial democrats harshly criticizing Israel, do we need also to get used to nearly octogenarian democrats harshly criticizing Israel?

The Feynman-Levy Conjecture

A feminist, social-democratic party with no position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may emerge from upcoming elections as king-makers. Is that a good thing?

Can AIPAC Save America From Itself?

For our most extremely generous Patreon supporters, we discuss in our extra-special, special extra segment the big AIPAC cotillion, paying special attention to three remarkable essays about it, one in the Times, one in the Forward, and the third in Haaretz (by our own Allison Kaplan-Sommer).

Music

Post-punk, power pop by The Driers:

Porchlight
Contagious
Delayed
Sad Party

The "Château Latour" Edition Mar 21, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and Wunderkind Haaretz book reviewer (and so much more) Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Leftier than Thou

Instead of attacking Netanyahu, the Labor Party decides to attack his centrist opponent, Benny Gantz, as knock-off Netanyahu and right-wing stooges. Has the center-left gone Hobbesian?

Not Not-Religious

A scholar argues that religion has osmotically entered so much of Israeli society, that it is no longer secular. Are we entering a "post-secular" age?

Diverticality

A proposed Jerusalem Cable Car will allow tourists and residents to go from Jewish West Jerusalem to the Wailing Wall without seeing a Moslem or Christian, except from an air conditioned cabin many meters above. Can transportation technology be politics by other means?

FASCISM. By Shaked

For our most extremely generous Patreon supporters, we discuss in our extra-special, special extra segment a new election ad that has new-right minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked misting herself with perfume labeled "fascism." Provocative, yes, but to what end?

Music

The great Brazilian-Israeli drummer, composer and singer, Joca Perpignan:

Arrancada
A Vida Que a Gente Levar, with Rotem Cohen
Jogo do Viver
Los Van Van, with Amir Gwirtzman

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected