New Books Network Podcast

Middle Eastern Studies September 19, 2023

In the Shadow of the Wall

The Life and Death of Jerusalem's Maghrebi Quarter, 1187-1967

Vincent Lemire

Hosted by Roberto Mazza

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The Maghrebi Quarter of Jerusalem long sat in the shadow of the Western Wall, the last vestige of the Second Temple. Three days after the June '67 War, Israeli forces …

Jewish Studies September 15, 2023

Under a Bloodred Sky

Avigdor Hameiri’s War Stories and Poetry

Avigdor Hameiri

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

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Under a Bloodred Sky: Avigdor Hameiri’s War Stories and Poetry (Academic Studies Press, 2023) represents an anthology of Avigdor Hameiri’s ten most compelling war stories and poetry. His war stories …

Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel August 13, 2023

Jewish Blues

A History of a Color in Judaism

Gadi Sagiv

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Gadi Sagiv's book Jewish Blues: A History of a Color in Judaism (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023) presents a broad cultural, social, and intellectual history of the color blue in Jewish …

Critical Theory August 11, 2023

Solidarity and the Palestinian Cause

Indigeneity, Blackness, and the Promise of Universality

Zahi Zalloua

Hosted by Reuben Niewenhuis

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Zahi Zalloua provides the first examination of Palestinian identity from the perspective of Indigeneity and Critical Black Studies. Examining the Palestinian question through the lens of settler colonialism and Indigeneity …

Biblical Studies August 8, 2023

The Future Restoration of Israel

A Response to Supersessionism

Stanley E. Porter and Alan E. Kurschner

Hosted by Michael Morales

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In The Future Restoration of Israel: A Response to Supersessionism (Pickwick, 2023)., a wide range of scholars write on the question of the promises of God to Israel. These essays put forward …

Middle Eastern Studies August 7, 2023

Educating Palestine

Teaching and Learning History Under the Mandate

Yoni Furas

Hosted by Roberto Mazza

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Through the story of education and the teaching of history in Mandate Palestine, Yoni Furas reframes our understanding of the Palestinian and Zionist national movements. Educating Palestine: Teaching and Learning History …

Recall This Book August 3, 2023

Joshua Cohen’s "The Netanyahus" (JP, Eugene Sheppard)

Novel Dialogue Crossover

Joshua Cohen

Hosted by Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz

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In this episode (originally aired by our partner Novel Dialogue) John and his Brandeis colleague Eugene Sheppard speak with Joshua Cohen about The Netanyahus. Is the 2021 novel a Pulitzer-winning …

Israel Studies July 24, 2023

The State of Desire

Religion and Reproductive Politics in the Promised Land

Lea Taragin-Zeller

Hosted by Zalman Newfield

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In recent years, Israeli state policies have attempted to dissuade Orthodox Jews from creating large families, an objective that flies in the face of traditional practices in their community. As …

Israel Studies July 12, 2023

Mandate

The Palestine Crucible, 1919-1939

Leslie Turnberg

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

The twenty years between the World Wars saw remarkable changes in the Middle East. In Palestine, Britain struggled to maintain its Mandatory Authority as Arabs and Jews fought not only …

Jewish Studies July 7, 2023

The No-State Solution

A Jewish Manifesto

Daniel Boyarin

Hosted by Miriam Schulz

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Daniel Boyarin's new book The No-State Solution: A Jewish Manifesto (Yale University Press, 2023) is a provocative anti-Zionist manifesto pleading for a new understanding of Jewish peoplehood and sketching an alternative vision …

Middle Eastern Studies June 24, 2023

Refuge and Resistance

Palestinians and the International Refugee System

Anne Irfan

Hosted by Roberto Mazza

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In the decades after World War II, the United Nations established a global refugee regime that became central to the lives of displaced people around the world. This regime has …

On Religion June 18, 2023

Queer Judaism

LGBT Activism and the Remaking of Jewish Orthodoxy in Israel

Orit Avishai

Hosted by Gregory Soden

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Until fairly recently, Orthodox people in Israel could not imagine embracing their LGBT sexual or gender identity and staying within the Orthodox fold. But within the span of about a …

Middle Eastern Studies June 17, 2023

Dwelling on the Green Line

Gabriel Schwake

Hosted by Roberto Mazza

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Today I talked to Gabriel Schwake about his book Dwelling on the Green Line (Cambridge UP, 2022). Concealed within the walls of settlements along the Green-Line, the border between Israel and …

Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel June 14, 2023

Housing Insecurity and Homelessness: A Nonprofit Approach

A Discussion with Efrat Altshul Schorr of Tenufa Bakihilla

Efrat Altshul Schorr

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

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The problem of housing insecurity and homelessness consumes the resources of many of the world’s major cities. Homelessness undermines urban cultures, exacerbates social and health problems for those directly affected …

Israel Studies June 8, 2023

This Labyrinth of Darkness and Light

Henrietta Szold, the Rescue of Children from Hitler's Europe and Her Palestine Experience

Randy Grigsby

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

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Drawing on Henrietta Szold's letters and diary, extensive research, and historical sources of that time in Germany and Palestine, Randy Grigsby's book This Labyrinth of Darkness and Light: Henrietta Szold …

Israel Studies June 6, 2023

A Train to Palestine

The Tehran Children, Anders' Army and Their Escape from Stalin's Siberia, 1939-1943

Randy Grigsby

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

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In October 1938, eight-year-old Josef Rosenbaum, his mother, and his younger sister set out from Germany on a cruel odyssey, fleeing into eastern Europe along with thousands of other refugees …

British Studies May 30, 2023

Friends of Israel

The Backlash Against Palestine Solidarity

Hilary Frances Aked

Hosted by Roberto Mazza

Is there such a thing as “the Israel lobby,” and how powerful is it really? Hilary Frances Aked's book Friends of Israel: The Backlash Against Palestine Solidarity (Verso, 2023) provides a forensically researched …

Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel May 17, 2023

Impossible Takes Longer

75 Years After Its Creation, Has Israel Fulfilled Its Founders' Dreams?

Daniel Gordis

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

In 1948, Israel’s founders had much more in mind than the creation of a state. They sought not mere sovereignty but also a “national home for the Jewish people,” where …

Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel May 3, 2023

Third-party Peacemakers in Judaism

Text, Theory, and Practice

Daniel Roth

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

In the race to discover real solutions for the conflicts that plague contemporary society, it is essential that we look to precedent. Many of today's conflicts involve ethno-religious tensions that …

Middle Eastern Studies April 23, 2023

Palestinian Rituals of Identity

The Prophet Moses Festival in Jerusalem, 1850-1948

Awad Halabi

Hosted by Roberto Mazza

Members of Palestine's Muslim community have long honored al-Nabi Musa, or the Prophet Moses. Since the thirteenth century, they have celebrated at a shrine near Jericho believed to be the …