
Episode 68: Ali Michael, Ph.D., on Whiteness, Race and Antisemitism
From Evolve by Reconstructing Judaism
June 19, 2025 · 59 min · Season 1 · Episode 68
About this episode
Ali Michael, Ph.D. discusses Whiteness, race, antisemitism, and the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on personal relationships and education.
Researcher-educator Ali Michael, Ph.D., who has written about concepts such as Whiteness and White Privilege, unpacks what they mean, responding to common critiques. Michael defends educational investment in DEI programs as the U.S. federal government has actively sought to dismantle this work. Also, after spending more than a year meeting with American educators who whose work was impacted by the Oct. 7 attacks and the war in Gaza, she shares some surprising themes that emerged. She also shares how differences over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict surfaced in the early years of her marriage and how she and her partner managed to work through disagreement. Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1 This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org . Special Guest: Ali…
People in this episode
Guest: Ali Michael, Ph.D.
Topics covered
- Whiteness
- Race
- Antisemitism
- DEI programs
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- Education
- Cultural disagreement
Keywords
- Whiteness
- White Privilege
- DEI programs
- Antisemitism
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- education
- cultural disagreement
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Reconstructing Judaism
Books & works: Ilu Finu, This is the Day
Places: Gaza, Israel, Palestine
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