In May, writer and activist Sarah Schulman published Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993 , to widespread acclaim. In a review for the Fall issue of Jewish Currents , Vicky Osterweil argued that the book, despite offering invaluable insight into the history of AIDS activism, is marred by structural elisions—especially of trans people—and is ultimately hagiographic rather than appropriately critical of the movement it chronicles. While Schulman’s response to the ...
Dec 02, 2021•57 min•Ep. 11
In October, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz declared six Palestinian human rights organizations to be “terrorist” groups. The targeted groups form the backbone of Palestinian civil society. Collectively, the organizations document Israeli human rights abuses and offer direct aid to Palestinians crushed by the Israeli occupation, whether it’s farmers facing Israeli settler land theft or children detained in Israel’s military court system. Gantz’s declaration placed the organizations at sever...
Nov 18, 2021•24 min•Ep. 10
Two weeks ago, Sunrise DC—a chapter of the climate action group Sunrise Movement—announced it would not participate in a voting rights rally because of the involvement of Zionist organizations, specifically naming three Jewish groups: the Jewish Council on Public Affairs, the National Council of Jewish Women, and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. This decision prompted immediate backlash and provoked a heated discussion: Some critics accused Sunrise of antisemitism for singling out ...
Nov 04, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 9
The past months have been tumultuous in the occupied West Bank. In April, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas cancelled parliamentary and presidential elections; in May, during protests following Israel’s assault on Gaza, Israeli soldiers killed dozens of Palestinians; in June, Palestinian Authority security forces killed Nizar Banat, a vocal critic of Abbas, setting off protests against the PA leader. To explore some of the recent developments in the region as well as their broader po...
Oct 22, 2021•52 min•Ep. 8
We recently published two pieces—” On Loving Jews ” by editor-in-chief Arielle Angel and “ Reclaiming the Covenant of Fate ” by editor-at-large Peter Beinart—investigating what, if anything, Jews owe one another, especially across fundamental political divides such as disputes over Zionism and Palestinian freedom. This episode features two conversations digging deeper into the question of Jewish solidarity. In the first, Angel and Beinart explore the places their pieces overlap and diverge; in t...
Oct 08, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 7
As climate change-induced flooding and wildfires wreak havoc across the globe, and the Delta variant brings us into another perilous phase of the pandemic, the Jewish Currents staff is thinking about political depression—and how to cope with it. What does it mean to bring political feelings into therapy? Editor-in-chief Arielle Angel, publisher Jacob Plitman, culture editor Ari M. Brostoff, and contributing editor Joshua Leifer discuss the relationship between melancholia and the left, the diffi...
Aug 10, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 6
It’s been a rough few weeks for the “pro-Israel” establishment, from a pitiful showing at the “No Fear” rally against antisemitism (whose “big tent” excluded non-Zionists), to the release of a Jewish Electorate Institute survey of American Jewish voters showing surprisingly prevelant left-wing attitudes about Israel, to last week’s announcement that Ben & Jerry’s will stop selling ice cream in the occupied Palestinian territories. Editor-in-chief Arielle Angel, culture editor Ari M. Brostoff...
Jul 27, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 5
The recent Jewish Currents staff roundtable on “intermarriage,” “Jewish continuity,” and the fraught institutional discourse on these topics occasioned a wide variety of responses, including the question: How might the conversation look different if it included non-Jewish partners of Jews? So we decided to find out! In the second episode of our new podcast, On the Nose , editor-in-chief Arielle Angel and her husband Michael M., managing editor Nathan Goldman and his wife Bridget Bergin, web edit...
Jul 13, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 4
Welcome to the first official episode of the Jewish Currents podcast, On the Nose . After a brief conversation about the show’s title, editor-in-chief Arielle Angel, publisher Jacob Plitman, managing editor Nathan Goldman, and assistant editor Mari Cohen discuss the Anti-Defamation League’s recent survey of American Jews about their perceptions and understanding of antisemitism, in the wake of a reported “uptick in antisemitic incidents.” We discuss what it means that the survey suggests America...
Jun 29, 2021•55 min•Ep. 3
Is it worthwhile to focus our organizing on moving Jewish American public opinion on Israel/Palestine? How effective is it really in shifting the dynamics on the ground? Jewish Currents staff members discuss these questions. Then, starting at 33:58, we discuss one of the main questions we’ve received in the last week: How do I talk to my family about what’s happening? We recount personal victories and failures, and explore how people actually change their mind. Reading & Resources Mentioned ...
May 20, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 2
The cover of the Spring 2021 issue of Jewish Currents features a photograph that has proven controversial, eliciting a wide array of reactions, from disgust to accusations of antisemitism to schnoz pride. Editor-in-Chief Arielle Angel, Publisher Jacob Plitman, and Managing Editor Nathan Goldman sat down with Rachel Stern, the artist behind the photograph, to discuss the image, the response, and what it all might mean. Thanks to Santiago Helou Quintero for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the...
Apr 09, 2021•41 min•Ep. 1
