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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

NBN Episodes hosted by Renee:

Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel September 19, 2022

Queering Anti-Zionism

Academic Freedom, LGBTQ Intellectuals, and Israel/Palestine Campus Activism

Corinne E. Blackmer

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Why do some scholars sacrifice truth and logic to political ideology and peer acceptance? With courage and intellectual integrity, queer scholar-activist Corinne Blackmer stages a pointed critique of scholars whose …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel August 30, 2022

Minority Of One

The Unchaining of an Arab Mind

Hussein Aboubakr Mansour

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
“Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel August 25, 2022

Addressing Hunger, Food Insecurity--Local Solutions to a Global Problem

A Conversation with Joseph Gitler of Leket, Israel’s Largest Food Rescue Organization

Joseph Gitler

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
We live in a time of food paradox. In a world of historically unprecedented abundance, many don’t have enough to eat. Life-limiting obesity coexists with malnutrition - at the same …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel July 15, 2022

The New Science of Narcissism

Understanding One of the Greatest Psychological Challenges of Our Time—and What You Can Do About It

Keith W. Campbell

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
“Narcissism” is truly one of the most important words of our time―ceaselessly discussed in the media, the subject of millions of online search queries, and at the center of serious …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel July 7, 2022

How Religion Evolved

And Why It Endures

Robin Dunbar

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
What is the evolutionary purpose of religion, and are some individuals more inclined than others to be religious? Our species diverged from the great apes six to eight million years …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel June 27, 2022

Culturally Competent Health Care, Equality in Health Care

The Case of Muslims and Jews in the UK

Ben Kasstan

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
The health care sector frequently emphasizes “Cultural competence”, an elastic concept that stretches from the simplest recognition of diversity of patient populations, to include policy implications of patients’ overall worldviews …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel June 20, 2022

Professor of Apocalypse

The Many Lives of Jacob Taubes

Jerry Z. Muller

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Genius or Charlatan? This is the story of Jacob Taubes, the controversial Jewish thinker whose tortured path led him into the heart of twentieth-century intellectual life Scion of a distinguished …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel June 6, 2022

Red Carpet

Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy

Erich Schwartzel

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
From trade to technology to military might, competition between the United States and China dominates the foreign policy landscape. But this battle for global influence is also playing out in …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel May 30, 2022

The Israeli Druze Community in Transition

Between Tradition and Modernity

Randa Khair Abbas and Deborah Court

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Randa Khair Abbas and Deborah Court's book The Israeli Druze Community in Transition: Between Tradition and Modernity (Cambridge Scholars, 2021) gives voice to the Israeli Druze through in-depth interviews with 12 …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel April 27, 2022

Ramadan Violence

A Conversation with Ambassador Dore Gold

Dore Gold

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
A hilltop at the heart of Jerusalem, Israel, is known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. It has been the site …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel April 14, 2022

Agnon’s Tales of the Land of Israel

Jeffrey Saks and Shalom Carmy

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
"As a result of the historic catastrophe in which Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel March 28, 2022

Under Jerusalem

The Buried History of the World's Most Contested City

Andrew Lawler

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World's Most Contested City (Doubleday, 2021) takes readers into the tombs, tunnels, and trenches of the Holy City. It brings to life the …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel March 11, 2022

Islam and Politics

3rd Edition

Peter Mandaville

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Peter Mandaville's Islam and Politics (3rd Edition; Routledge, 2020) is a basic and comprehensive account of political Islam in the contemporary world. It provides a broad introduction to all major aspects of …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel February 25, 2022

Esther

Power, Fate and Fragility in Exile

Erica Brown

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
The Biblical Book of Esther reads like a classic fable, a drama of actors who are recognizable archetypes. There is Esther, the beautiful orphan who becomes queen, Ahasuerus, the buffoon …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel February 15, 2022

In Science We Trust?

An insider Conversation with Health Policy Reporter, Fran Kritz

Fran Kritz

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Americans are deeply polarized on many issues, including science and medicine. Where once was widespread agreement, today the differences are sharp: on one hand, posters announce, “I believe in science!” …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel January 31, 2022

The New Librarianship Field Guide

R. David Lankes

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Can libraries be radical positive change agents in their communities? R. David Lenkes offers a guide for librarians who see their profession as a chance to make a positive difference …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel January 11, 2022

State and Religion in Israel

A Philosophical-Legal Inquiry

Gideon Sapir and Daniel Statman

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Mahatma Gandhi said, “Those who believe religion and politics aren't connected don't understand either.” The relationship between religion and state presents complex challenges to liberal democracies around the world. In …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel January 5, 2022

Gaza Conflict 2021

Jonathan Schanzer

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Today I talked to Jonathan Schanzer about his new book Gaza Conflict 2021 (Foundation for Defense of Democracies, 2021). The May 2021 conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas generated …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel December 29, 2021

American Schism

How the Two Enlightenments Hold the Secret to Healing our Nation

Seth David Radwell

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Why are Americans so angry? American Schism: How the Two Enlightenments Hold the Secret to Healing our Nation (Greenleaf, 2021) explores history to find the answer to a divided America …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel December 17, 2021

Abraham Joshua Heschel

A Life of Radical Amazement

Julian E. Zelizer

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
“When I marched in Selma, I felt my legs were praying.” So said Polish-born American rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972) of his involvement in the 1965 Selma civil rights march …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel November 17, 2021

The Armenians of Aintab

The Economics of Genocide in an Ottoman Province

Ümit Kurt

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Ümit Kurt, born and raised in Gaziantep, Turkey, was astonished to learn that his hometown once had a large and active Armenian community. The Armenian presence in Aintab, the city’s …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel November 10, 2021

Drunk

How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization

Edward Slingerland

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Ever since Noah exited the ark, human beings have been wanting to get drunk and high. Why? Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization (Hachette, 2021) …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel October 21, 2021

Why Learn History (When It's Already on Your Phone)

Sam Wineburg

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
We are surrounded by more readily available information than ever before. And a huge percentage of it is inaccurate. Some of the bad info is well-meaning but ignorant. Some of …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel October 18, 2021

Troubled Water

What's Wrong with What We Drink

Seth M. Siegel

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
There’s nothing more vital to survival than water. “Water water everywhere, and not a drop to drink!”, said the Ancient Mariner, in the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Besides widespread …