The Promised Podcast

01:29:19

The "The Case for Netanyahu" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/10/08

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

en

01:47:39

The "Denominators, Common & Otherwise, are Hard!"...

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/10/01

Tehila Wenger, Rotem Ur Soco and Noah Efron talk about (1) The so-called "Statement of Principles" signed this week by the leaders of the so-called "Parties of Repair & Hope", and why it left us so-called "unimpressed", and (2) How schools ought to mark the third anniversary of October 7. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Third anniversary of October 7, and things make only less sense now than they did before. Plus: Remembering a

en

50:26

The "Fruit of the Beautiful Tree" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/09/24

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.)

en

01:54:58

The "Screenings" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/09/17

Tehila Wenger, deputy director of the Israeli branch of the Geneva Initiative, and Noah talk about why so many Jewish-Israeli politicians and parties rule out joining a coalition with Palestinian-Israeli politicians and parties. Then Hannah Brown, film critic for the Jerusalem Post, joins to talk about the eventful week in Israeli cinema, starting with the Ophir Award Best-Picture winner Tell Me Everything, and continuing with the controversial new documentary about the IDF's policy on civilian

en

01:38:13

The "New Beginnings & Grisly Ends" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/09/10

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

en

01:22:18

The "Two Years of Mourning Hersh" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/09/03

Two years ago, this week, Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin and Libi & Orly Goldberg-Polin buried their son and brother Hersh. The rest of us did, too. In this episode, we hear Rachel Goldberg-Polin during those 328 days when Hersh was in those tunnels alive, until he wasn't.

en

01:38:42

The "New-Fangled Marranos" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/08/27

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

en

01:36:46

The "Allison's Girl Makes Good!!!" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/08/20

The Jerusalem Post's Hannah Brown and Noah Efron talk about (1) the criminal harassment of Abu Rida and the Hassan families in Qusra, (2) the surprising results of the Likud primaries and what they augur, and (3) Avi Nesher's profound and affecting new movie, "Our Loves," about October 7th, and the day that came before and the day that came after. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: We've always suspected that "movie reviewer" is the

en

01:30:42

The "Elections Inflections & Insurrections" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/08/13

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

en

01:09:26

The "Love and the City" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/08/06

In this very special episode, Noah shares love letters he heard walking the streets of Tel Aviv with Lucy the Dog, on a new "Love Letters" app made by genius Russian-Israeli director Semyon Alexandrovsky.

en

01:18:53

The "The Other Guys" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/07/30

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

en

02:00:41

The "Picking Sides" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/07/23

On Tisha B'Av, Allison Kaplan Sommer, Judah Ari Gross, and Noah Efron talk about (1) this week's primaries in the "Democrats Party" and what they say about Israel's only leftist Zionist party going forward, and (2) whether or not (on this day when we commemorate the laying waste of ancient Israel on account of all the "baseless hatred" people had one for the other back then) our contemporary politics are infected by the same sort of ugly and gratuitous enmity. For our most unreasonably generous

en

01:38:36

The "Blitzed!" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/07/16

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

en

01:36:02

The "Basketball Courts & the Other Kind" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/07/09

Geneva Initiative Deputy Director Tehila Wenger, Miriam Herschlag and Noah Efron talk about: 1) The Cabinet's dramatic statement implying that the government may not comply with a Supreme Court ruling, and whether it signal a constitutional crisis, and 2) The meaning of the Maccabiah, the "Jewish Olympics" underway now, with more than 8,000 competitors from around the world: What should we make today of this remnant from centuries past? For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our

en

01:47:21

The "One Thousand Days" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/07/02

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,

en

01:37:07

The "Winners & Losers" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/06/25

Linda and Noah talk about: 1) a Hebrew University poll finding that eleven out of twelve Israelis think that Iran "won the war", and 2) the eviscerating new movie, "Yes", by Israeli director-in-self-imposed-exile Nadav Lapid, who despite his criticism of Israel and Israelis was BDSedly hounded out of next week's Marseille International Film Festival (for which discussion we were joined by novelist and Jerusalem Post film critic Hannah Brown!). For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters,

en

01:46:53

The "Great Things" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/06/18

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

en

01:23:35

The "Linkages" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/06/11

Allison and Noah talk about: 1) Our strange, short, truncated warlet with Iran this week, and 2) New findings that point to a weird entanglement between Israeli attitudes towards climate change and our attitudes towards Netanyahu, the courts, the ultra-orthodox and most everything else we argue about here. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Sam Harris makes waves by saying there's no point in even debating enemies of Israel. Might

en

01:14:02

The "Saw It on YouTube!" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/06/04

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

en

01:28:22

The "Fronts" Edition

The Promised Podcast ·

2026/05/28

Linda, Noah and Judah Ari Gross talk about the war with Iran and the peace with Gaza, and how US President Donald Trump's diplomatic ADD makes it close to impossible for anything good to come of our miserable wars. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: The last time our dollars bought so few shekels (and our shekels bought so many dollars), it was before we could dial up the internet, and around the time Mario first got his Kart

en

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

UsmanGee Islamic Universe | Quran: Tilawat & Tarjuma

usmangee-productions

Noches Con Dios

Leonardo

SunWest Church Weekly Sermon Podcast

SunWest Church

Quilcene Bible Church

Quilcene Bible Church

Patchogue United Methodist Church

Jaqueline Santos