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About Renee Garfinkel

Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network’s Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at reneeg@vanleer.org.il. She's on Twitter @embracingwisdom. She blogs here.

NBN Episodes hosted by Renee:

Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel December 4, 2023

The Forest Journey

The Story of Trees and Civilization

John Perlin

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
A Foundational Conservation Story Revived. Ancient writers observed that forests always recede as civilizations develop and grow. The great Roman poet Ovid wrote that before civilization began, “even the pine …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel November 26, 2023

The Genius of Israel

The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World

Dan Senor and Saul Singer

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
How has a small nation of 9 million people, forced to fight for its existence and security since its founding and riven by ethnic, religious, and economic divides, proven resistant …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel November 22, 2023

The Enlightened Donor

How to Give Charity Wisely

Arnie Draiman

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Motivated by compassion and hope, and the shared desire to make the world a better place, the immense amount of charitable giving stands as a testament to the humanity's collective …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel November 5, 2023

The Power of Placebos

Unlocking Their Potential to Improve Health Care

Jeremy Howick

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Should your doctor prescribe a placebo for you, instead of conventional medicine? And if she did, would it work? Is the double-blind placebo-controlled paradigm really the gold standard for medical …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel October 25, 2023

Middle Eastern Maze

Israel, the Arabs and the Region

Itamar Rabinovich

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Listen:
Navigating through the intricate web of Middle Eastern geopolitics, few are better equipped to provide insights than Itamar Rabinovich in his compelling book, Middle Eastern Maze: Israel, The Arabs, and …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel September 23, 2023

The Engaged Scholar

Expanding the Impact of Academic Research in Today’s World

Andrew J. Hoffman

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Society and democracy are ever threatened by the fall of fact. Rigorous analysis of facts, the hard boundary between truth and opinion, and fidelity to reputable sources of factual information …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel August 27, 2023

Distrust

Big Data, Data-Torturing, and the Assault on Science

Gary Smith

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
There is no doubt science is currently suffering from a credibility crisis. Gary Smith's book Distrust: Big Data, Data-Torturing, and the Assault on Science (Oxford UP, 2023) argues that, ironically, science's …
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 …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel July 27, 2023

Self-Made

Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians

Tara Isabella Burton

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Listen:
In a technologically-saturated era where nearly everything can be effortlessly and digitally reproduced, we're all hungry to carve out our own unique personalities, our own bespoke personae, to stand out …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel July 22, 2023

The Art of Translation

A Discussion with Anne Birkenhauer Molad

Anne Birkenhauer Molad

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Translation is a mysterious process that combines the elements of writing – rhythm and voice, meaning, structure and nuance – with the challenge of problem-solving. The American writer Harry Mathews …
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
Listen:
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 …
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 10, 2023

Bruno Schulz

An Artist, a Murder, and the Hijacking of History

Benjamin Balint

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
The twentieth-century artist Bruno Schulz was born an Austrian, lived as a Pole, and died a Jew. First a citizen of the Habsburg monarchy, he would, without moving, become the …
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 …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel April 26, 2023

The Transcendent Brain

Spirituality in the Age of Science

Alan Lightman

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Are science and spirituality incompatible? From the acclaimed author of Einstein’s Dreams comes a rich, fascinating answer to that question... Gazing at the stars, falling in love, or listening to …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel April 10, 2023

Ritual

How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living

Dimitris Xygalatas

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Ritual is one of the oldest, and certainly most enigmatic, threads in the history of human culture. It presents a profound paradox: people ascribe the utmost importance to their rituals …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel April 6, 2023

The Pope at War

The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler

David I. Kertzer

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
When Pope Pius XII died in 1958, his papers were sealed in the Vatican Secret Archives, leaving unanswered questions about what he knew and did during World War II. Those …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel March 15, 2023

Wild Problems

A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us

Russ Roberts

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Algorithms and apps analyze data and tell you how to beat the traffic, what books to buy, what music to listen to, and even who to date—often with great results …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel February 26, 2023

Time and Beauty

Why Time Flies and Beauty Never Dies

Adrian Bejan

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Poets and philosophers are fascinated by time and beauty. They are two of our most visceral perceptions. In Time and Beauty: Why Time Flies and Beauty Never Dies (World Scientific …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel January 31, 2023

Ecclesiastes and the Meaning of Life in the Ancient World

Arthur Keefer

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Is the search for meaning a luxury of the modern world or have human beings always struggled to find meaning in the human condition – in the face of suffering …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel January 27, 2023

The Aryan Jesus

Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany

Susannah Heschel

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany (Princeton UP, 2010) documents the process, and relative ease, with which institutions of higher learning and the religious establishment …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel December 20, 2022

The Political Economy of Organ Transplantation

Where Do Organs Come From?

Hagai Boas

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
This is the story of organ transplantation, told from the organ’s point of view. Organs for transplantations come from two sources: living or post-mortem organ donations. These sources set different …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel December 5, 2022

The Grieving Brain

The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss

Mary-Frances O'Connor

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
For as long as humans have existed, we have struggled when a loved one dies. Poets and playwrights have written about the dark cloak of grief, the deep yearning, how …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel November 22, 2022

Seek and Hide

The Tangled History of the Right to Privacy

Amy Gajda

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Should everyone have privacy in their personal lives? Can privacy exist in a public place? Is there a right to be left alone, even in the United States? The battle …