The Promised Podcast

Linda, Judah and Noah discuss three highly improbable scenarios for what happens next after last week's elections, one highly-improbable scenario of which will probably happen. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Noah worries about war with Iran, like this week; Linda and Judah say, lighten up.

Linda Gradstein, Judah Ari Gross and Noah Efron ask, for each of the 13 parties that are most likely going to be in the next Knesset, why for their voters, they are just the party they want. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: In elections that matter so much, should we be gaming out my vote, or just voting our hearts? Plus: Beagles and other breeds, the National Library, dancing for peace, and how, now, there are mohalot in Jerusalem!

Allison, Judah and Noah talk about (1) Why, despite all the hardships and miseries of the past three years, Benjamin Netanyahu is still a viable candidate for prime minister, and (2) What the hell are these elections about again?, as we seem to have lost the plot. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: What, if anything, does flydubai tell us about the souls of Israelis? Plus: Providence & flydubai, Shul dinners in the shadow of the war, staying at the Tel Aviv hotel where Eichman stayed, and crying on a plane with a charismatic Pentecostal named "Mama Moses."

In a very special episode in celebration of the holiday of Sukkot, Noah goes on about the etrog, its complicated past, and the hope it holds for the futures of all of us. (With two versions of Naomi Shemer's canonical Sukkot song, "Shlomit Bonah Sukkat Shalom", the one by Mashina, and the other by Ash&Buzi.)

Linda, Judah and Noah talk about (1) the weird party mergers and odd-couples running together for Knesset in the upcoming elections, and what these strange bedfellows say about the state of Israeli politics, and (2) the "Nili force" which, we recently learned, was started just after October 7, dedicated to capturing or killing every last one of the 5,000-odd Gazans who poured over the border on that day, to pillage, plunder, rape and murder. Is this sort of vengeance-to-the-last-man,-no-matter-how-long-it-takes what we want from our army and security forces? For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: What do we expect from 5787? Plus: Yossi Sarid as we never knew him when he was alive, Selichot in Zikhron Yaakov, and big slabs of meat in Jerusalem. Plus, new music with a New Year's vibe.

Linda Gradstein and Noah Efron talk about (1) a new "working man's ultra-Orthodox party" that wants science in the classroom and Haredim in the boardroom and the barracks, and (2) a new poll showing that most Israelis feel like they need to hide who we are when we travel abroad. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: The Prime Minister's son, Yair Netanyahu, was spirited out of Miami, where he lives, after the Mossad learned that Iranian agents had planned to assassinate him. Well, what can you say to that?!? Plus: the rediscovery of the Altalena after 78 years in the briney deep, and the memories likely to get dredged up with the ship, and wine and gifts, and branch new breezy summer music for the late-summer heat.

Linda, Judah, and Noah talk about (1) The new parties springing up in the "middle" of Israel's electoral map, between the Netanyahu bloc and the anti-Netanyahu bloc: What do they augur?, and (2) The likely addition as number two on the "United Arab List" party of Yoav Segelovitz, a Jew who made his name in the army and police: What's it mean and what's it, too, augur? (So much auguring!) For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: A right wing newspaper editor writes that maybe we shouldn't let people who don't live in the country fly in to vote, and gets shouted down. But maybe he has a point? Plus: What happens after you win twelve and a half million in the lotto, a day in Sderot, and what to do with the kids in the dog-days of August. Plus one of the all-time great punk albums about being pregnant in wartime!

Linda and Noah talk about (1) What has become of the "Religious Zionism Party," after its sort-of primaries made it a settler-only affair?, and (2) What are the ties that bind the different sorts of people who hope to give Benjamin Netanyahu four more years in office? For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Challenger for the premiership Gadi Eisenkot buys campaign billboards in Cyprus, and lots of people cry foul. Can the election be won by persuading ex-pats to fly to what was once their home to cast a vote? Also, why is the adjective "Cypriot" so very appealing? Plus: Expecting a baby grandchild that they never expected when they were hostages in Gaza, a millennia-old edition of the Book of Isaiah, and young girls praying under trees in a park in Tel Aviv. Plus, an astonishing new record of heartbreak and loss by Netta Barzilai.

Star teacher and activist Rotem Ur-Soco, Linda Gradstein and Noah Efron talk about what to make of 1) The "blitz" of legislation passed by the government in the fading days of the 25th Knesset and 2) A hauntingly beautiful essay in The Atlantic by former Prime Minister and head of the opposition Yair Lapid, which he calls "a love letter to America", and what it maybe says about how many of us Israelis regard the 250 year old democracy across the sea. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: It may be that one of every twenty residents of Tel Aviv-Yafo was born in an English speaking land, and the city today is lousy with young "Anglos". What is this strange hyphenate: American-Israeli? Plus: Books and papers representing a man's life's work dumped onto Dizengoff, collected by rubbish trucks and taken to landfill, plus a bunch of things that made our lives worth living over the last little while. And, of course, some new music of our unsettled times.

Linda, Judah and Noah talk about: 1) The grim milestone marking one thousand awful days since October 7, and what these one thousand days have been for us, and 2) The emergence of a new joint Jewish-Arab political party, A Place for Us All, that unapologetically puts peace at the center of their agenda, along with increasing wages, lowering prices, equality for women and everyone else, and all sorts of other things that people like us admire. The new party gets a harsh reception on the left, especially on the pages of Haaretz, and we try to puzzle out why. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Shani Gabbai, who was killed at the Nova festival on October 7, returns via AI to speak movingly at her kid sister's wedding. What do we learn, if anything, about the states of our souls from that sad, fragile, strange thing? Plus: Fifty years since the Entebbe rescue mission, the start of the Maccabiah "Jewish Olympics", some great music and lots more.

Miriam and Noah talk about: 1) The "great deal" that US President Donald Trump struck with Iran, being a Memorandum of Understanding that does what now?, and (2) The resurgence of "communal singing" in Israel, and what it says about the state of our souls, and how nostalgia ain't what it used to be. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Have we exaggerated how divided we Jews are? Plus: Old books, young love and memories on the highest rooftop in Tel Aviv!

Allison and Noah talk about President Yitzhak Herzog's alarmed warning that we are turning into animals, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's very viral election ad, about how leftist-wing sorts make right-wing sorts feel like less. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: I.D.O.5., or Israel Day on Fifth (a.k.a, the Israel Soliidarity Parade) in Manhattan used to be about unity. Now it's about controversy. Plus: Remembering our friend, the ain't-no-one-like-her, poet-painter-peace-activist-therapist-story-teller Lisa Fliegel. Plus the good karma of Yonatan Razel as he convalesces in Shaarei Tzedek hospital.

Linda Gradstein and Noah Efron try to make sense of why long-time allies and fellow-travelers of former Alternate Prime Minister and former IDF Chief-of-Staff Benny Gantz have lately left the Blue & White Party, wondering if it is the man or what he stands for. Then they are joined by special guest star Rabbi Joe Wolfson of JLIC-TLV to try and make sense of the many secular and egalitarian Tikkunei Leil Shavuot, all night sessions of study, song, discussion and meditation that have become so popular over the past years asking, what exactly are those things about? For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Everyone said no one would ever vote for Noam Bettan, the Israeli singing in the Eurovision Song Contest, yet he finished in second place. How? Why? Plus the changing face of Shavuot over the years and a few things that moved us over the week. And some great new music.