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276 items found:
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Press Coverage - If That NPR Guy Moved to Israel and Knew Hebrew …
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Press Coverage - Love Syndrome
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Press Coverage - Finding the descendants of Israel’s founding fathers
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Press Coverage - Telling Israel’s war story, one voice at a time
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Press Coverage - Podcasts for Peace: Six Shows That Feature Nuanced Conversations about Israel/Palestine
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Press Coverage - Birthstory
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Press Coverage - A PSA campaign got Israelis to stop picking flowers in order to preserve them
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Press Coverage - 37 people signed Israel’s Declaration of Independence. A new podcast explores their legacy.
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Press Coverage - ‘This American Life’ Makes Aliyah
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Press Coverage - ‘Signed, sealed, delivered?’
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Press Coverage - What would Israel’s founding parents think about it at 75?
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Press Coverage - The founders and living memory
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Press Coverage - מישי הרמן מדבר על פרויקט ״החותמים״ של סיפור ישראלי
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Meet the Team - Mishy Harman
Mishy is a Jerusalemite, through and through. Following his military service, he studied history at Harvard, archeology at Cambridge and...
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Meet the Team - Yochai Maital
Yochai grew up in Haifa, but now can’t imagine calling anywhere but Tel Aviv his home. After eight years as...
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Meet the Team - Zev Levi
Zev grew up in Perth, Australia, and started out as a mechatronics engineer. Having lived and worked in Perth’s music...
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Meet the Team - Adina Karpuj
Adina is a Chilean native who grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. After traveling the world for a year, she moved...
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Recommended - Wartime Diaries
Everything in this corner of the world changed on Saturday, October 7, 2023. All around us, friends, family, colleagues, people...
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Meet the Team - Mitch Ginsburg
Mitch Ginsburg, a reporter, editor, writer, and literary translator, grew up in Queens, NY and has lived in Jerusalem since...
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Press Coverage - Times of Israel announces partnership with podcast Israel Story
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Press Coverage - This week in Jerusalem: Let us part
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Press Coverage - לשוחח עם משפחת המחבל מסבארו
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Recommended - Signed, Sealed, Delivered?
Thirty-seven people signed Megillat Ha’Atzmaut. There were no Arabs, and for that matter no non-Jews, among them. But the group...
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Episode 1 - Faking It
From our relationship with Ira Glass to priceless antiquities all the way to coveted sick passes – Israeli stories that are anything but real. In our very first episode, the Israel Story team delves into the realm of fakes, forgeries, and mimicry.
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Episode 2 - Love Syndrome
For Enid, the birth of her sixth child—born with Down syndrome, started her and her family on an incredible journey—to Tzfat, Israel, and from there to court rooms, hospitals, ultra-Orthodox yeshivas, and wedding halls, all so she could do right by her child and the other special-needs children she picked up along the way.
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Episode 3 - People of the Book
Three stories that all revolve around people who rescue books, chase after books, or otherwise allow books to determine their destiny—from a Yiddish book collector based in the Tel Aviv central bus station to a lonely college student to bibliophiles in search of the lost fragments of the Aleppo Codex.
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Episode 4 - A Man on A Mission
Three Israelis who are not religious but have pursued unusual hobbies with missionary zeal. One is a hitman-for-hire, another collects a highly specific classification of autographs, and the third is a professional whistler.
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Episode 5 - Holy Cow!
We’ve got four featured moo-ers: a red heifer that some think will bring the messiah, a cow that’s become the symbol of radical Israeli veganism, buffalos that hold the future for a self-described “Israeli redneck,” and the golden calf that was biblical big-business.
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Episode 6 - What’s Love Got to Do With It?
Valentine’s Day is not native to Israel, but the country does not lack for tales of love, romance, and the pursuit thereof.
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Episode 7 - Out of Africa…And Back Again
Two journeys - in very different directions, and taken for very different reasons - out of, and then into, Africa.
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Episode 8 - Rabin Is…
Rabin is a symbol. An icon. Twenty years later, it isn't so simple to understand what he truly stands for anymore.
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Episode 9 - Man, I Feel Like a Woman
What do you do when you realize that in order to be true to yourself, you have to shatter everything around you, including the lives of those you love most?
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Episode 10 - Birthstory
An Israeli couple flies to Nepal to pick up their three babies from two surrogate mothers and discover that the transaction is not as straightforward as it seems.
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Episode 11 - Herzl 48 Live
Israel Story producers crisscrossed the small country, visiting every 48 Herzl Street and collecting stories from whomever they encountered.
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Episode 12 - Now Boarding
The first place travelers to Israel encounter is usually Ben Gurion Airport. What they’ll remember of that experience depends in part on their relationship to the country. Are they coming home? Arriving to a place they’ve always dreamed of visiting? Passing through, with fear or wariness, en route to someplace else?
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Episode 13 - Sacred Plants
How we change nature and nature changes us, from wildflower picking in Israel to ayahuasca retreats in Peru.
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Episode 14 - Besties
How Moshe Dayan’s wife and Yasser Arafat’s mother-in-law became bosom buddies, and other tales of unlikely friendships.
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Episode 15 - Love, Revisited
The stories in today’s episode come from our most recent live show, “Israel in Love.” We’ll meet three couples looking back at their love affairs from very different vantage points.
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Episode 16 - Over and Out
Stories of relationships that have ended, and the things (the often slightly nutty things) that people do in the aftermath.
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Episode 17 - Stop That Bus!
Israeli buses regularly make international headlines, be it for suicide bombings, fights over gender segregation or clashes concerning Shabbat schedules. On this week’s episode, we delve into the world of lesser known bus-related conflicts.
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Episode 18 - Thicker Than Water
On today’s show, we delve into the world of family bonds. We’ll ask how they’re formed, and how they change over time, and are challenged in a bunch of different ...
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Episode 19 - Of Numbers and Names
This Thursday, May 5th, Israelis observe Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. At 10 a.m., according to custom, an air raid will sound and the country will fall quiet for ...
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Episode 20 - 68 and Counting- Part I
This is the first in a two-part series that takes us through Israel’s short but dramatic history. Over the last few months, we’ve spent many hours, in all kinds of ...
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Episode 21 - 68 and Counting – Part II
In the second installment of this two-part series (and our season two finale), we pick up where we left off last week: Presenting small stories – one per decade...
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Episode 22 - And in the End…
It’s springtime in Israel and renewal is in the air: Wildflowers are blooming, short pants make their first appearances of the year, and – most importantly – we are back...
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Episode 23 - A Severe Case of Second Generation
Early next week we will mark Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. There are just about 160,000 Holocaust survivors still living in Israel, but they are rapidly vanishing. More than forty...
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Episode 24 - Losing My Religion
In 1991, REM’s Michael Stipe famously sang, “That’s me in the spotlight, losing my religion, trying to keep up with you, and I don’t know if I can do it.”...
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Episode 25 - Peace Now. Almost.
Though few people grasped it at the time, the Six-Day War put the young state of Israel on an entirely new trajectory. Some see the war’s outcome as a historic...
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Episode 26 - Oath of Blood
In the early summer of 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon. The First Lebanon War — as it would later be called — would ultimately lead to thousands of casualties, an eighteen-year-long ...
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Episode 27 - Jarab
More often than not, we think of Jewish-Arab relations in Israel as being adversarial. We frequently hear tales of hatred, violence, animosity and discrimination. But reality is, of course, much...
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Episode 28 - On the Outs
Eli Amir, Eliyahu Rips and Eliezer Sonnenschein couldn’t be more different: the first is a celebrated Baghdad-born author, the second is a brilliant mathematician from Latvia, and the third is...
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Episode 29 - A Better Place?
In 2007, long before Tesla and Elon Musk became household names, a thirty-nine-year-old Israeli tech entrepreneur by the name of Shai Agassi came out with an announcement that rattled the...
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Episode 30 - Food Fight
Food, it turns out, is a serious business. And as we recently came to appreciate, it can lead folks to embark on all kinds of unlikely crusades. In today’s episode...
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Episode 31 - Dear Lord Rothschild
On November 2, 1917, Arthur James Balfour – Britain’s mustached Foreign Secretary – signed his name at the bottom of a short, typed letter addressed to a shy banker-turned-zoologist by...
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Short Episode - Short: Fed-Ex Over Your Snow
People in one-hundred-and-eighty-seven countries around the world – including Iran, Iraq and Papua New Guinea – tune in to Israel Story. And today, we went out to talk to...
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Episode 32 - King of the Hill
Imagine an abandoned White House, covered with graffiti, open to the winds, full of trash, broken bottles and condom wrappers. Now go a step further and picture it against...
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Episode 33 - Milk, Honey and Sweet Mary Jane
According to a recent study conducted by the Israeli Anti-Drug Authority, the Holy Land might as well be rebranded as a ‘Weedtopia.’ More than a quarter of adults aged 18...
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Episode 34 - Coming Out, Getting In
Tonight, Jews around the world will gather together at their seder tables. They will drink wine, ask questions, search for the Afikoman and recite the obligation to see themselves as if they...
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Episode 35 - Whither Thou Goest
Somewhere between post-Passover fatigue and summer-is-around-the-corner excitement, Shavout tends to be overlooked. But in reality, it is the secret gem of the Jewish calendar: A festival that’s all about strong women, wheat ...
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Episode 36 - “Mixtape” Part I – Our Hope?
Let’s face it – when it comes to Israel, everything is complicated. Politics are complicated, religion is complicated, democracy is complicated, the conflict is complicated. Even our complications are complicated. ...
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Episode 37 - “Mixtape” Part II – Iron and Gold
In 1968, an up-and-coming left-wing politician by the name of Uri Avnery brazenly suggested replacing Israel’s national anthem, HaTikvah. His proposal was surprising, given the fact that the would-be replacement was the unequivocal ...
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Episode 38 - “Mixtape” Part III – Eastward Bound
In Israel today, Mizrahi – or “Eastern” – music is ubiquitous. In fact, to many, it is practically synonymous with Israeli music. But that wasn’t always the case. For decades, ...
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Episode 39 - “Mixtape” Part IV – War, Peace and Bumper Stickers
Over the last four episodes, we’ve told the stories behind some of Israel’s most iconic songs. When we set off on this musical journey, we hoped to find a unicorn, ...
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Episode 40 - “The Wall” Part I – Operation Hulda
Everywhere we turn these days, it seems as if walls are staring back at us. Their powers are magical: They protect and alienate; keep people both in and out...
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Episode 41 - “The Wall” Part II – The Other Side
For the last seventeen years, when people say “the wall’ and “Israel” in the same sentence, they’re usually referring to something very specific: A four-hundred-and-forty-mile-long barrier – some 95% of...
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Episode 42 - “The Wall” Part III – The Invisibles
Walls are something you can see. Something you can touch. Something you can run into and get a nasty bump on your head. Or… are they?! In our episode today...
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Episode 43 - “The Wall” Part IV – This Wall is My Wall
Walls can make us feel safe, warm and protected. But that’s also their greatest danger. After all, walls can cut us off from what is going on outside, and hiding...
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Episode 44 - Dear God – A Rosh HaShanah Special
For many folks, visiting the Kotel is emotional, meaningful and – more than anything – private. In fact, the single most common experience people have at the Western Wall is ...
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Episode 45 - Explosive Confession – A Yom Kippur Special
In 1989, Robby Berman – a recent Yeshiva University grad and enthusiastic Zionist – made aliyah and was drafted into the IDF. But nothing in his basic training prepared him ...
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Episode 46 - The Needle
Last month, the world marked the eightieth anniversary of Hitler’s invasion of Poland and the start of WWII. In Israel, too, this was a big milestone: Kids discussed it at ...
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Episode 47 - By the Rivers of Babylon
Jews first arrived in what is today Iraq in the 6th century BC, after the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar sacked Solomon’s Temple. It was from there that Ezra and Nehemiah led ...
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Short Episode - Short: The Last “Rabbi” of Baghdad – A Thanksgiving Special
It’s a busy week. Many of you will be traveling, and those of you staying put will probably be cooking turkeys and preparing cranberry sauce. And while you are doing ...
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Episode 48 - “Achi”
Growing up, Benjamin and Reuven Berger never imagined they’d be roommates well into their seventies. Nor did they imagine their lives would unfold as brothers in faith. But from their ...
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Short Episode - Short: “Achoti”
With the kind of storytelling we do, most of our interviews end up on the proverbial “editing room floor.” And we’re often sorry they do, since we’d like you to ...
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Episode 49 - We Share The Same Sky
Hana Dubova was born in Kolín, Czechoslovakia, in 1925. Her granddaughter Rachael Cerrotti was born in Boston in 1989. But the unusual bond they share transcends both time and space. ...
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Episode 50 - Keep Calm and Carry On
Some people operate within the confines of reality. Others don’t. Instead, they will things into existence. Today we’ll meet one such determined woman who – faced with countless obstacles ...
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Recommended - New to Israel Story?
If you’re not familiar with our show, get a taste by checking out the below episodes. We tell the extraordinary stories of everyday people.
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Recommended - Staff Picks
Listen to the team’s favorite episodes.
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Recommended - On Religion
Hear stories about the Search, and some of the answers.
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Recommended - On History
Browse through stories that bring the past to life.
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Episode 51 - “Alone, Together” Part I – Mazal Tov!
The global pandemic has—to state the obvious—reshaped our lives, refocused our priorities, and forced us to reevaluate countless things we’ve long taken for granted...
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Episode 52 - “Alone, Together” Part II – In the Beginning
Six months ago, very few people knew what ‘sheltering in place’ or ‘flattening the curve’ meant. Today, we live in a new world, and it’s often hard to remember what it was like at the beginning.
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Episode 53 - “Alone, Together” Part III – Gevalt
Israel’s ultra-orthodox community was hit twice during COVID-19: First, and in disproportionate numbers, by the virus itself, and then by a wave of anti-Haredi sentiment that pervaded the country. Here’s what it looked like from their perspective.
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Short Episode - Introducing Our New Miniseries – “Alone, Together”
Like the rest of the world, Israel experienced curfews and lockdowns, shifting social distancing guidelines, layoffs, economic hardship, illness and...
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Episode 58 - The Dreamer
David Ben Shabat hates being called a prophet. As he sees it, he’s just a guy who stumbled upon a deep truth and wants to share it with the people. But, come to think of it, isn’t that precisely the definition of a prophet?
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Blog - Radio Workshop: Seattle
October 30, 2020: Seattle Central Synagogue is hosting an Israel Story Workshop. For tickets see the SCS website.
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Blog - Don’t miss us!
If you want to bring Israel Story to your community, email us at live@israelstory.org!
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Blog - Stay connected!
To get news, photos, recommendations, and announcements right in your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter.
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Episode 59 - The Last Laugh
Forty years after Carl Sagan’s ‘Golden Records’ began their long voyage into the depths of outer space, Eyal Gever - an Israeli high-tech-wunderkind-turned-conceptual-artist - received an unusual call: NASA asked him to create the first artwork to be printed in space. What, he now had to decide, truly captured the essence of humanity?
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Blog - Now Open: Internship Applications
November 13, 2020: Applications will close for our internship cohort starting in January 2021. For info, click here.
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Blog - “Conversations with Friends” Zoom Series
November 19, 2020: Mishy Harman and Yochai Maital in conversation with Etgar Keret. This is a closed event.
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Blog - “Conversations with Friends” Zoom Series
December 8, 2020: Yochai Maital in conversation with Ala Dakka. This is a closed event.
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Blog - “Conversations with Friends” Zoom Series
January 27, 2021: Shlomo Maital in conversation with Israel Story founders. This is a closed event.
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Episode 60 - Horsing Around
Cowgirls with oversized belt buckles and horse breeders fantasizing about producing world champions are not exactly what come to mind when you think of Israel. But today we take you into arenas, rings, and stables around the country to uncover a surprising subculture of equine enthusiasts.
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Bonus Episode - Bonus: Man, I Feel Like A Woman, Revisited
On April 13, 2020 – in the middle of our first pandemic Passover – Israel Story fans from around the...
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Episode 61 - The Princess
Most Israelis remember the 2005 disengagement from Gaza as a dramatic moment of national upheaval. But for Hodaya Azulay of the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, the drama was of a different nature altogether - it marked a traumatic turning point in her relationship with her favorite mare, Sheleg.
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Bonus Episode - Bonus: The Pitcher, Revisited
In celebration of Hanukkah, we revisit - and update - one of our fan favorites. An episode that - much like the tale of Hanukkah itself - is all about a miraculous jug of liquid.
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Bonus Episode - Bonus: The Queen Rania Tree, Revisited
On March 29, 2020 – during the very early days of the pandemic – Israel Story fans from around the...
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Episode 62 - Round Trip
Many of us would normally be on the move around this time of year. But 2020 has, of course, been everything but normal. So in our episode today, we bring you two less-than-normal travel stories about people going back home - but doing so having gained a new understanding of the place from which they come.
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Short Episode - Bonus: The Most Beautiful Book Ever Written, Revisited
On the very first day of 2021, when so many of us are busy making New Year’s resolutions and embarking on new and hopeful journeys, we re-air one of our favorite stories, all about a quixotic, improbable, yet inherently optimistic, search for love.
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Episode 63 - Tell Saki – Part I
We embark on a two-episode journey back to the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and specifically to one small hill - a dormant volcanic tell - in the southern Golan Heights. There, we follow a group of young IDF soldiers who, trapped in a small bunker for thirty-six hours, went to hell and back.
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Short Episode - Bonus: The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God, Revisited
As a little respite from the intensity of war explored in our two-part Tell Saki series, we replay a short piece of fiction by our beloved Etgar Keret. And, as a special bonus, we include highlights of a conversation we held with Etgar during lockdown.
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Episode 64 - Tell Saki – Part II
We conclude our two-part Tell Saki story by returning to the soldiers after the battle and following their respective journeys - full of pain and regret, but also full of longing and camaraderie - in the years since the Yom Kippur War.
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Episode 65 - The Stories We Killed
Like everything else in life, stories die. And, more often than not, we are the killers. Today we give you a behind-the-scenes peek into some of the stories you didn't get to hear this year.
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Episode 66 - Game Changer
With the fate of the 2020 - now 2021 - Tokyo Olympic Games still up in the air, our season finale tells the story of a dream to introduce a sport to a nation, and a nation to a sport. But it is a dream made up of as many tears of pain and disappointment as it is of joy and triumph.
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Recommended - Alone Together
Hear all about Israel (and Israelis) in the time of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Recommended - The Wall
Check out stories of the barriers that separate us and those that bring us closer together.
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Recommended - Mixtape
Hear the stories behind Israel’s most iconic tunes.
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Recommended - Tell Saki
Follow a group of young soldiers who, trapped in a small bunker for thirty-six hours, went to hell and back.
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Press Coverage - Essential Podcasts about Israel for 2021
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Press Coverage - How an expat’s road trip across the U.S. sparked the idea for Israel’s most intriguing podcast
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Press Coverage - ‘Israel Story’ Podcast Premieres Human Interest Tales for Pandemic Times
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Blog - “Sipur Yerushalmi” – A Jerusalem Rooftop Hebrew Storytelling Evening
August 25, 2021 at 20:00: An evening of Hebrew stories about Summer in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Foundation rooftop (11 Rivka...
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Episode 67 - A Day at the Y
On June 7, 2021 the entire Israel Story team – nine radio producers – descended upon the Jerusalem International YMCA....
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Episode 68 - No Place Like Home
In different ways, we are all constantly searching for a place to call home. For some that home is physical,...
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Episode 69 - Pigging Out
Not once, but twice, does the Bible admonish us to abstain from eating the flesh of the pig. And though...
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Blog - “Sipur Yerushalmi” – A Jerusalem Hebrew Storytelling Evening
November 4, 2021 at 20:00: An evening of Hebrew stories about Secrets in Jerusalem. Muslala Balcony (97 Jaffa Street, Clal...
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Short Episode - Bonus: Behind the Scenes of “Pigging Out”
Pigging Out was supposed to come out long ago: The stories had been recorded, drafts had been written and we...
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Episode 70 - Soul Food
While “soul food” has come to mean a specific type of cuisine, for the women we encounter in today’s episode,...
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Short Episode - Bonus: Behind the Scenes of “Soul Food”
When we decide to pursue a story, we identify the relevant characters, reach out to them and go interview them....
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Episode 71 - Lost and Found – Part I
We all know that sinking feeling of having lost something dear to our heart. Sometimes these things are gone for...
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Episode 72 - Lost and Found – Part II
In Part I of our ‘Lost and Found’ double-hitter, we heard how Steve Gray and Anat Harrel of Kibbutz Hanaton...
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Bonus Episode - Bonus: Turkey Time!
As many of us celebrate the holiday and think about all that we are thankful for, we hope you will...
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Bonus Episode - Bonus: Yalla Banaat
The only way we manage to survive, the only way we’re able to produce season after season, is with your...
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Episode 73 - DIY
People often say that there is something particularly Israeli about the concept of ‘doing it yourself.’ And that makes sense....
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Episode 74 - Shatnez
Israeli society is often described as a collection of demographic bubbles – self-contained ecosystems, each with its own population, its...
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Episode 75 - Sbarro – Twenty Years Later
Israel has, unfortunately, witnessed many terror attacks throughout its history. But few are as memorable as the Sbarro suicide bombing....
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Blog - Take the Listener Survey!
Your feedback helps us continue bringing you episodes for free. So please take the survey at israelstory.org/survey.
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Episode 76 - Going, Going, Gone
This is our final episode of the season, and it has been quite a journey. We began with our day...
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Recommended - Jerusalem
Stories from the Holy City
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Recommended - Jewish Holidays
Stories to explore the themes of the Jewish calendar
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Press Coverage - “From Fauda to Shtisel: Holy Land Goes to Hollywood”
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Press Coverage - בשורת ענק: אולפן הפודקאסטים המתקדם בישראל הושק בבניין הקרן לירושלים בתלפיות
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Press Coverage - 專訪「以色列故事」創辦人:以色列最受歡迎的Podcast,全球聽眾普及率甚至超越COVID-19
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Episode 77 - Free as a Bird
These are – it goes without saying – tumultuous times here in Israel. But especially now, we believe it is...
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Episode 78 - Hello Operator
On June 29, 2007, Apple released its first iPhone. Less than sixteen years later, our world is an entirely altered...
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Episode 79 - My Dad, David
David taught his son, Mishy, life’s most fundamental lesson – one that is also the deep premise of Israel Story:...
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Episode 80 - Introducing “Signed, Sealed, Delivered?”
Israel’s Declaration of Independence was forged amid strife and turmoil. It was a birth that, everyone knew, would trigger war....
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Episode 81 - David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion, perhaps the most influential Jewish leader since Moses, needs no introduction. Here though are a few facts about...
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Episode 82 - Zorach Warhaftig
Warhaftig was an important leader of the Mafdal – the National Religious Party. During WWII, he saved the lives of...
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Episode 83 - Mordechai Schattner
Mordechai Schattner was born in Eastern Galicia – then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – in 1904. He was a...
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Short Episode - We Hereby Declare
“Signed, Sealed, Delivered?” looks at our founding moral compass – Megillat Ha’Atzmaut, or the Declaration of Independence. Through the descendants...
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Episode 84 - Rachel Cohen-Kagan
Rachel Cohen-Kagan was born in 1888 into the Zionist Lubarsky family of Odessa. Her father, Ya’akov, was one of the...
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Short Episode - Bonus: The Broadcast
“Signed, Sealed, Delivered?” introduces us to all 37 signatories of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, through the recollections of their closest...
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Episode 85 - David Remez
David Remez was born as Moshe David Drabkin in what is today Belarus, in 1886. As a boy he studied...
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Episode 86 - Daniel Auster
Daniel Auster was born in Galicia in 1893 and earned a law degree from the University of Vienna before making...
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Episode 87 - Sa’adia Kobashi
Sa’adia Kobashi was born in the small village of Khubesh, Yemen, in 1902. During Passover of 1909 his father Yihye,...
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Episode 88 - Pinchas Rosen
Pinchas Rosen, or Felix Rosenblüth (as he was called in his youth), was born in Berlin in 1887, and grew...
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Press Coverage - Telling the stories of Israel and Jerusalem
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Press Coverage - What Matters Now to veteran journalist Biranit Goren: Media-made parallel universes
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Episode 89 - Moshe Kol
Moshe Kolodny, who’d later on change his surname to Kol, was born in 1911 in the heart of the Pale...
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Episode 90 - Yitzhak Meir Levin
Rabbi Yitzhak Meir Levin was – in every way possible – Hasidic royalty. He was born in 1893 in the...
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Episode 91 - Herzl Rosenblum
Herzl Rosenblum was born in 1903, a year before the death of his namesake, Theodor Herzl, who – of course...
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Episode 92 - Meir Argov
Meir Argov was born as Meir Grabovsky in Rîbnița, Bessarabia, in 1905. At the age of 14, while his family...
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Episode 93 - A Life After Death – Part I
In a series of heartwrenching essays, told over the course of two episodes, Gal Zaychner returns to the most painful...
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Episode 94 - A Life After Death – Part II
“When someone dies,” Gal Zaychner writes, “there are all kinds of things you have to take care of: You have...
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Short Episode - Sasha Ariev
Everything in this corner of the world has changed since Saturday, October 7. All around us, friends, family, colleagues, people...
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Short Episode - Ariel Markose
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been called up to reserve duty. But what about the families they leave behind?...
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Short Episode - Itai Kramer
At age 50, Itai Kramer is no longer obligated to serve in the reserve forces, yet he volunteered anyway. Itai...
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Short Episode - Katherine Leff
Despite everything, life continues amid the horror. For Katherine Leff, this meant going ahead with the day she’d been dreaming...
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Short Episode - The Eulogy for Roi Rotberg
In 1956, Moshe Dayan – then the IDF’s Chief of Staff – delivered a eulogy for a fallen member of...
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Short Episode - Ofer Tamir
After the entire team of Kibbutz Kissufim’s dairy farm was murdered, Ofer Tamir from Nahalal rushed down south to rescue...
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Short Episode - Hedai Offaim
During this dark time, Israeli civil society has risen to the occasion. Hedai Offaim – a chef, farmer and social...
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Short Episode - Mor Maisel
This war has forced many people to reevaluate their identities and political sensibilities—not an easy task during these shocking and...
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Short Episode - Yarnin Peled
Wars are often told through numbers – of the dead, the wounded, the missing, the misplaced. But behind each one...
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Short Episode - David Broza
There’s a long tradition of musicians and entertainers performing on the frontlines during times of war. And, indeed, almost immediately,...
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Short Episode - Sivan Avnery
For months Sivan Avnery – a physical therapist from Kfar Shmaryahu – was active in the demonstrations against the judicial...
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Short Episode - Raz Newman
Israel has, of course, branded itself as the Start-Up Nation. And in many ways, Raz Newman is the classic Israeli...
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Short Episode - Adva Gutman Tirosh
Even today, nearly three weeks after the devastating attacks of October 7th, there are still hundreds of people who are...
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Short Episode - Tomer Oshri
During normal times Tomer Oshri – a 48-year-old history teacher from Jerusalem – works at JDC-Israel and runs an educational...
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Short Episode - Alon Shalev
Many people sprung into action since October 7th. And yet, at the very same time, many Israelis feel… lost. Not...
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Short Episode - Matti Friedman
The war caught everyone by surprise, of course, and since it broke out at the tail end of the chagim,...
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Short Episode - Noga Friedman
45-year-old Ido Rosenthal from Moshav Ben Shemen served in an elite commando unit and was killed on the first day...
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Short Episode - Gidon Lev
There’s a lot of Holocaust rhetoric in the air. ‘Never Again’ slogans have resurfaced, Netanyahu has said – on several...
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Short Episode - Angela Buchdahl and Shlomo Nisanov
The nature of the attacks on October 7th, together with certain subsequent reactions around the world, have blurred the lines...
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Short Episode - Louish Rijal
Among the thousands of people who had the terrible misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...
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Short Episode - Sahar Vardi
Israel is in the midst of a brutal war it didn’t want and didn’t initiate. And here at Israel Story...
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Short Episode - Agi Mishol
77-year-old Agi Mishol is one of Israel’s most prominent, beloved and widely-read poets. Over the years she’s won practically every...
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Short Episode - Mishka Ben-David
Mishka Ben-David might seem – at first – like a harmless and cuddly grandpa, but the truth is that he’s...
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Short Episode - Faiz Abu Sabehan
Over the last five weeks we’ve spoken to many families of hostages. That’s how we met Faiz Abu Sabehan, whose...
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Short Episode - Chaya Gilboa
Chaya Gilboa is a Talmud teacher, an activist, a flaming redhead, and was – for the last three years –...
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Short Episode - Ronit Farm
Normally Chavat Ronit – or Ronit Farm – is a high-end event venue north of Herzliya. Ra’anan Arizon’s seventy dunams...
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Short Episode - Hai Ashkenazi
53-year-old Hai Ashkenazi from Tel Aviv is an archeologist, but never imagined he would find himself excavating a 21st-century Kibbutz....
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Short Episode - Datya Itzhaki
In the summer of 2005, the government of Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza. The roughly 8,000 residents of the 21...
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Short Episode - Hagit Maoz
Almost immediately after the start of the attack of October 7th, as rockets were being launched at Jerusalem, and sirens...
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Short Episode - Doron Krakow
This war is a humbling experience for us all. People — no matter who they are or what they normally...
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Short Episode - Elliot Cosgrove and Mishy Harman
Last week, our host Mishy Harman was interviewed by Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove for the Park Avenue Synagogue Podcast. And as...
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Short Episode - Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin
Many of you have probably heard, or read about, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, the parents of 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin,...
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Short Episode - Shalom Weil
As of today, more than 400 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the war. Each one of those deaths, of...
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Short Episode - Adam Ben Shabath
As has been said many times in the past, identity is like an onion: There are layers of family and...
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Short Episode - Riyad Ali
Since the start of the military operation in Gaza, countless reports by journalists embedded with the IDF troops have appeared...
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Short Episode - Shira Masami
More than 200,000 Israelis – from both the South and the North – have been forced to leave their homes...
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Short Episode - Issa Kassissieh
It’s a sad Christmas Eve in Jesus’ homeland. The alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City, the streets of Nazareth, the churches...
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Short Episode - Omer Ohana
The war has brought many new people into the limelight: For nearly three months we’ve been hearing countless stories of...
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Short Episode - Charlene Seidle
Upwards of $1 billion in donations have been sent to Israel since the start of the war. For years Charlene...
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Short Episode - 100 Days
Today is the hundredth day of the war. And, though our Wartime Diaries series continues, we want to stop, mark...
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Short Episode - Hugo (Uri) Wolaj
The war has been going on for over three months, and many of us have settled into some sort of...
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Short Episode - Maya German and Benjamin Fainsod
Today’s “Wartime Diary” takes us to a place that is, under normal circumstances, one of the most visited sites in...
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Short Episode - Noam Tsuriely
Some 350,000 Israelis have been called up to reserve duty since the start of the war, in what has been...
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Short Episode - Aliza Raz-Melzer
There has been endless talk of the “Home Front” during this war. The “Home Front,” as in what goes on...
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Press Coverage - This American Life’s Gratuitous Swipe at Israel
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Short Episode - Sharon Gutman Gilor
One of very few positive outcomes of this war is that the ongoing debate surrounding the participation of female soldiers...
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Short Episode - Idit Ohel
Alon Ohel – a talented young jazz pianist – was kidnapped from the Nova party on October 7th, and has...
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Short Episode - Shai Davidai
In the immediate aftermath of October 7th, Shai Davidai – an Assistant Professor at Columbia University – became an unlikely...
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Short Episode - Walter Bingham
The horrific events of October 7th reminded many people of the darkest chapter in Jewish history – the Holocaust. And...
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Short Episode - Mishael Zion
Next week, millions of Jews around the world will sit down at their Passover tables, for what will invariably be...
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Meet the Team - Yael Ben Horin
Yael grew up in Madrid, Spain, where she developed an obsession with libraries and people-watching. She recently acquired her MSc...
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Press Coverage - The 50 Best Podcast Episodes of 2015
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Press Coverage - What Matters Now to ToI analyst Haviv Rettig Gur: The political perils of conflict
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Meet the Team - Jennifer Cutler
Born in Philadelphia, Jennifer moved to Jerusalem in 2018 to study at the Hebrew University and by the time she...
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Meet the Team - Alexandra Moller
Alexandra (Ali) hails from the Big Apple. Her journalism experience includes stints in broadcast news at ABC News, and at...
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Meet the Team - Husam Abu Diab
Husam is a Jerusalemite. He studied Acting and Video Art/Documentary Production at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and likes...
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Press Coverage - What People Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Israel
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Press Coverage - Israeli Podcast Stages Live Shows in New York, Miami
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Meet the Team - Rotem Zin
Rotem was Born in Seattle, Washington, and lives in Haifa with his wife, four kids, and their dog Billie. He...
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Press Coverage - Why Spielberg Is All Ears for This Israeli Podcast
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Press Coverage - Episode 32: Love and distance
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Press Coverage - Thoughts On Translation: Mishy Harman
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Press Coverage - POPULAR ISRAELI PODCAST COMES TO THE STAGE
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Press Coverage - Travel podcasts to fuel your wanderlust
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Press Coverage - Meet Mishy Harman, Israel’s Ira Glass
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Press Coverage - US immigration to Israel holds up in 2020 despite pandemic, and interest is surging
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Press Coverage - Yom Kippur War- The tragedy and triumph of Tel Saki
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Press Coverage - Celebrate Shavuot with the JCC!
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Press Coverage - Celebrating with Israel in a special way
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Press Coverage - Natan’s 2018-19 Grants: What We’re Learning
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Press Coverage - Joanne Palmer – The Blogs
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Press Coverage - Live From New York, it’s ‘Israel Story!’
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Press Coverage - 7 Jewish podcasts you should add to your rotation
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Press Coverage - Looking for the Ultimate Israeli Story
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Press Coverage - Podcast Craze for Lazy Days (and Long Drives, too)
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Press Coverage - The Israeli story of ‘Sipur Yisraeli’
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Press Coverage - Latest shows inspired by ‘TAL’ speak in foreign tongues
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Press Coverage - ‘This American Life,’ Israel-Style
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Press Coverage - The Best Jewish Podcasts Right Now
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Press Coverage - Getting lost and found in translation
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Press Coverage - Mishy Harman of Israel Story
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Press Coverage - Israel Story: Ancient Land, Modern Tales, with Mishy Harman
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Press Coverage - AN ISRAELI “THIS AMERICAN LIFE”
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Press Coverage - Seven Jewish podcasts to add to your rotation
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Press Coverage - Israel Story Splices a Country Together
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Press Coverage - The Podcast: an accidental pulpit for a new Jewish conversation
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Press Coverage - Mishy Harman tells Boaz and Blakely about his favorite sandwic
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Press Coverage - Israel Story
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Press Coverage - Israel: The Land of Promise… and Podcasts?
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Press Coverage - Top 7 Jewish podcasts
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Press Coverage - Telling Israel’s Story in a Weekly Podcast
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Press Coverage - Natan Fund Unveils Newest ROI Entrepreneurs Grant Recipients
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Press Coverage - ”סיפור ישראלי” – הפודקאסט המומלץ של השבוע
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Press Coverage - The 10 Best Podcast Episodes of 2014 (Excluding Serial)
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Press Coverage - Q&A WITH MISHY HARMAN: CAPTURING ISRAELI LIFE ON THE RADIO
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Press Coverage - The Culture Show
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Press Coverage - Telling the ‘Israel Story’ beyond the usual cliches
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Press Coverage - News Programming Picks
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Press Coverage - “Israel Story” Returns For Fourth Season
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Press Coverage - La Jolla Light’s Best Bets for Events
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Press Coverage - NYC Jewish-y Events, May 10-19
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Press Coverage - Israel Story presents live podcast as part of Hillel’s NU Israel Week
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Press Coverage - Arts and Ideas: April 7th, 2019
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Press Coverage - Federation to host ‘Israel Story’ podcast troupe for live show
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Press Coverage - The Israel Story With Mishy Harman
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Press Coverage - La vittoria della piazza contro Netanyahu contiene il germe della sua sconfitta
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Press Coverage - A podcast turned live show that might change your view of Israel on Coast Live
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Press Coverage - Telling Israel’s story
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Press Coverage - The stories of our Jewish life through music
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Press Coverage - Spare Times for Feb. 5-11
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Press Coverage - Israel Story with Mishy Harman, master podcast storyteller
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Episode 54 - “Alone, Together” Part IV – The Lifesavers
The global pandemic has introduced us to many “lifesavers”—doctors, nurses, and medical staff who are on the frontlines day in and day out. But what happens when those ‘superheroes’ need to be saved themselves? And can saving a life end up saving your life, too?
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Press Coverage - Game changers from Syria to settlements: 9 things to know for November 19
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Episode 55 - “Alone, Together” Part V – Enjoy Your Stay
Around the world, the tourism industry essentially dried up during the pandemic. But in Israel there was one category of hotels - the so-called “Corona Hotels” - that actually thrived. And depending on whom you ask, they were either a post-apocalyptic heaven or an exit-less hell.
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Press Coverage - Hatikvah: The Lyrics, Meaning and History of Israel’s National Anthem
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Episode 56 - “Alone, Together” Part VI – Six Feet (Under)
Israel's one thousandth COVID-19 casualty passed away this weekend. And for all of us, death has sadly been an ever-present part of life over the past six months. In the penultimate episode of our "Alone, Together" series, we bring you two stories about dying in times of Corona.
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Episode 57 - “Alone, Together” Part VII – Something Like A Brother
Stories matter. They have the power of connecting us over time and space. And in the finale of our “Alone, Together” miniseries, we see how a podcast episode turned two strangers - a man from Migdal HaEmek, Israel, and a woman from Porto Alegre, Brazil - into soulmates.
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Bonus Episode - Bonus: Love Syndrome, Revisited
Now that "Alone, Together" is over, and before we turn to stories that - gasp - have little to do with the virus, we revisit and update our most popular episode ever - "Love Syndrome."
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Press Coverage - Voci d’Israele, tutte da ascoltare for May 20
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Press Coverage - Finding our inner super power