Épisodes

  • Cancelled over one email: Yohay Sponder on comedy after Oct 7

    Cancelled over one email: Yohay Sponder on comedy after Oct 7
    Aug 18 2026
    Israeli comedian Yohay Sponder had a sold-out Amsterdam show cancelled because one person sent the venue a threatening email. His answer: "You got an email and you're scared?" Sponder has spent more than 20 years doing stand-up, but since October 7 his English-language act has become something else entirely, part comedy, part argument. In this interview with Ruth Marks Eglash, the Report editor-in-chief, he describes promoters who suddenly have no dates available six months out, protests in Europe, and a rescheduled Amsterdam show that sold a thousand tickets in about a minute once the story broke. What makes this conversation unusual is how personal it gets. Sponder lost a cousin at a kibbutz on October 7, buried his father four months later, and became a father himself, the trilogy of losses and beginnings behind his new show "Genesis," which followed his sold-out "Self Loving Jew" world tour.
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    29 min
  • How does an Israeli kids' star sell out Denver's Red Rocks? | DJ Raphi

    How does an Israeli kids' star sell out Denver's Red Rocks? | DJ Raphi
    Aug 18 2026
    A talent agency advised DJ Raphi to hide that he's Israeli. He refused, then told WME he wouldn't perform a single Friday night or Saturday. They signed him anyway.

    Raphael Nathan, the Israeli entertainer known to more than a billion YouTube viewers as DJ Raphi, sits down with Chani Kaplan for the Jerusalem Report podcast. He describes the Zoom call where a WME agent warned him that weekends are where kids' shows make their money, and his answer: "You've never seen a harder working Jew between Sunday and Thursday." The agent's reply revealed that only one shomer Shabbat artist had signed with the agency before him. Raphi also tells the story of a six-year-old boy who danced to his cleaning song between surgeries, and of a mother at Red Rocks who grabbed both his hands and told him her daughter had watched his videos through a fourth round of chemotherapy. "It's not entertainment. It's not dancing," she told him. "You're changing people's lives."

    What makes this voice unusual: a South African-born, Jerusalem-based performer with severe ADHD and a childhood of bullying, who now sells out one of America's most storied amphitheatres for an audience of children, and who does it under his own Israeli name, at a moment when other creators are being told to hide theirs. He also speaks, for the first time in detail, about his mother, who cleaned his community's synagogue while raising four sons and was killed by a bus four years ago on her way to a shiva call.

    Produced and edited by Gadi Zaig and Shifra Jacobs.
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    43 min
  • What the antisemitism emergency means for UK Jews

    What the antisemitism emergency means for UK Jews
    May 15 2026
    The CEO of the Board of Deputies of British Jewry, Michael Weiger, the 265-year-old representative body of Britain's 275,000 Jews, gives a frank assessment of a community living through what the UK government has now officially declared an antisemitism emergency. Wegier sat down with Jerusalem Report Editor-in-Chief Ruth Marks Eglash as the UK responds to a wave of attacks on Jewish targets.
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    27 min
  • Lihi Lapid: How October 7 changed the literary world for Israeli authors

    Lihi Lapid: How October 7 changed the literary world for Israeli authors
    May 10 2026
    Israeli author and journalist Lihi Lapid discussed the challenges Israeli writers have faced in the international literary world since the October 7 attacks during a recent episode of The Jerusalem Report podcast, describing how politics and war shaped the release of her books abroad.

    Speaking with The Jerusalem Report editor-in-chief Ruth Marks Eglash, Lapid reflected on the publication of her novel On Her Own, which was released by HarperCollins during the height of the Israel-Hamas war. She said the publishing experience became increasingly difficult as bookstores in Manhattan hesitated to host events featuring an Israeli author.
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    28 min
  • How does the Dead Sea’s collapse draw tourists in Israel?

    How does the Dead Sea’s collapse draw tourists in Israel?
    Feb 3 2026
    The Jerusalem Report's Editor-in-Chief Ruth Marks Eglash speaks on her time researching the environmental changes happening in the Dead Sea. Bordered by Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank, the sea is also caught in the midst of geopolitical tensions, meaning that on a global level, the environmental dangers of the disappearing Dead Sea, one of the world’s natural wonders, have not been adequately addressed by the parties that might be able to help.
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    17 min
  • Bring Them Light: Honoring the victims of October 7

    Bring Them Light: Honoring the victims of October 7
    Dec 21 2025
    Lihie Gilhar sits with JPost's Batsheva Shulman to discuss her inspiring project, Bring Them Light. Born in Israel and raised in South Africa from the age of two, Gilhar returned to Israel 18 years ago. A clinical psychologist with a private practice, Gilhar is familiar with trauma. However, nothing could have prepared her (or anyone) for the Oct. 7 massacre.

    Read the full article here: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-847859
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    23 min
  • Peter Beinart: 'I don't support a Jewish state'

    Peter Beinart: 'I don't support a Jewish state'
    Dec 17 2025
    In this compelling conversation, Peter Beinart, journalist and author, delves into his controversial views on Israel, Zionism, and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He shares his thoughts on the idea of a one-state solution, the political and cultural implications of Israel’s future, and how both Palestinians and Jews can achieve safety and equality. Beinart also reflects on the impact of October 7 and how it shapes his views on the ongoing conflict. Is there room for a binational state, and what does a peaceful future look like for both Israelis and Palestinians? Join us for this thought-provoking discussion.
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    39 min
  • Ahmad Fouad Al-Khatib: A radical pragmatist for peace

    Ahmad Fouad Al-Khatib: A radical pragmatist for peace
    Nov 22 2025
    Palestinian peace advocate Ahmad Fouad Al-Khatib lost over 30 family members to Israeli airstrikes, yet faces death threats from pro-Palestine activists for condemning Hamas and advocating coexistence with Israel.

    In this Jerusalem Report interview, the Atlantic Council fellow and Gaza native reveals why he's attacked as a "Zionist shill" by his own community while channeling personal tragedy into what he calls "radical pragmatism." Despite losing family in the war, Al-Khatib argues Hamas's control is "deeply destructive" to Palestinians and that October 7th was "always doomed to fail."

    "There are many Palestinians who support me behind the scenes but can't say so publicly," Al-Khatib explains, discussing the fear Hamas maintains through executions and violence, why many Gazans who celebrated October 7th quickly changed their tone, and how UNRWA is "compromised by Hamas to the bone."
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    59 min