Search Results

87 items found:

• Episode 172 - It’s a Date! - Act author: Mishy Harman
  Today is Tu Be’Av, the Jewish calendar’s version of Valentine’s Day. And, after a long hiatus in releasing new English...
• Short Episode - Bonus: The Broadcast - Act author: Mishy Harman
  “Signed, Sealed, Delivered?” introduces us to all 37 signatories of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, through the recollections of their closest...
• Episode 80 - Introducing “Signed, Sealed, Delivered?” - Act author: Mishy Harman
  Israel’s Declaration of Independence was forged amid strife and turmoil. It was a birth that, everyone knew, would trigger war....
• Episode 79 - My Dad, David - Act author: Mishy Harman
  David taught his son, Mishy, life’s most fundamental lesson – one that is also the deep premise of Israel Story:...
• Episode 77 - Free as a Bird - Act author: Mishy Harman
  These are – it goes without saying – tumultuous times here in Israel. But especially now, we believe it is...
• Episode 76 - Going, Going, Gone - Act author: Mishy Harman
  This is our final episode of the season, and it has been quite a journey. We began with our day...
• Episode 75 - Sbarro – Twenty Years Later - Act author: Mishy Harman
  Israel has, unfortunately, witnessed many terror attacks throughout its history. But few are as memorable as the Sbarro suicide bombing....
• Episode 74 - Shatnez - Act author: Mishy Harman
  Israeli society is often described as a collection of demographic bubbles – self-contained ecosystems, each with its own population, its...
• Episode 73 - DIY - Act author: Mishy Harman
  People often say that there is something particularly Israeli about the concept of ‘doing it yourself.’ And that makes sense....
• Episode 72 - Lost and Found – Part II - Act author: Mishy Harman
  In Part I of our ‘Lost and Found’ double-hitter, we heard how Steve Gray and Anat Harrel of Kibbutz Hanaton...
• Episode 71 - Lost and Found – Part I - Act author: Mishy Harman
  We all know that sinking feeling of having lost something dear to our heart. Sometimes these things are gone for...
• Short Episode - Bonus: Behind the Scenes of “Soul Food” - Act author: Mishy Harman
  When we decide to pursue a story, we identify the relevant characters, reach out to them and go interview them....
• Episode 70 - Soul Food - Act author: Mishy Harman
  While “soul food” has come to mean a specific type of cuisine, for the women we encounter in today’s episode,...
• Short Episode - Bonus: Behind the Scenes of “Pigging Out” - Act author: Mishy Harman
  Pigging Out was supposed to come out long ago: The stories had been recorded, drafts had been written and we...
• Episode 69 - Pigging Out - Act author: Mishy Harman
  Not once, but twice, does the Bible admonish us to abstain from eating the flesh of the pig. And though...
• Episode 68 - No Place Like Home - Act author: Mishy Harman
  In different ways, we are all constantly searching for a place to call home. For some that home is physical,...
• Episode 66 - Game Changer - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Bonus Episode - Bonus: The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God, Revisited - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Short Episode - Bonus: The Most Beautiful Book Ever Written, Revisited - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Episode 62 - Round Trip - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Bonus Episode - Bonus: The Pitcher, Revisited - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Bonus Episode - Bonus: Man, I Feel Like A Woman, Revisited - Act author: Mishy Harman
  On April 13, 2020 – in the middle of our first pandemic Passover – Israel Story fans from around the...
• Episode 60 - Horsing Around - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Bonus Episode - Bonus: Love Syndrome, Revisited - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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."
• Episode 57 - “Alone, Together” Part VII – Something Like A Brother - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Episode 56 - “Alone, Together” Part VI – Six Feet (Under) - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Episode 55 - “Alone, Together” Part V – Enjoy Your Stay - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Episode 54 - “Alone, Together” Part IV – The Lifesavers - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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?
• Episode 53 - “Alone, Together” Part III – Gevalt - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Episode 52 - “Alone, Together” Part II – In the Beginning - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Episode 51 - “Alone, Together” Part I – Mazal Tov! - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 50 - Keep Calm and Carry On - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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 ...
• Episode 48 - “Achi” - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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 ...
• Episode 47 - By the Rivers of Babylon - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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 ...
• Episode 42 - “The Wall” Part III – The Invisibles - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 41 - “The Wall” Part II – The Other Side - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 40 - “The Wall” Part I – Operation Hulda - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 39 - “Mixtape” Part IV – War, Peace and Bumper Stickers - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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, ...
• Episode 38 - “Mixtape” Part III – Eastward Bound - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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, ...
• Episode 37 - “Mixtape” Part II – Iron and Gold - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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 ...
• Episode 36 - “Mixtape” Part I – Our Hope? - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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. ...
• Episode 35 - Whither Thou Goest - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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 ...
• Episode 34 - Coming Out, Getting In - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 33 - Milk, Honey and Sweet Mary Jane - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 32 - King of the Hill - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 31 - Dear Lord Rothschild - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 30 - Food Fight - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 29 - A Better Place? - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 28 - On the Outs - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 27 - Jarab - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 26 - Oath of Blood - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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 ...
• Episode 25 - Peace Now. Almost. - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 24 - Losing My Religion - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.”...
• Episode 23 - A Severe Case of Second Generation - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 22 - And in the End… - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 21 - 68 and Counting – Part II - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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...
• Episode 20 - 68 and Counting – Part I - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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 ...
• Episode 19 - Of Numbers and Names - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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 ...
• Episode 18 - Thicker Than Water - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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 ...
• Episode 17 - Stop That Bus! - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Episode 16 - Over and Out - Act author: Mishy Harman
  Stories of relationships that have ended, and the things (the often slightly nutty things) that people do in the aftermath.
• Episode 14 - Besties - Act author: Mishy Harman
  How Moshe Dayan’s wife and Yasser Arafat’s mother-in-law became bosom buddies, and other tales of unlikely friendships.
• Episode 13 - Sacred Plants - Act author: Mishy Harman
  How we change nature and nature changes us, from wildflower picking in Israel to ayahuasca retreats in Peru.
• Episode 12 - Now Boarding - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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?
• Episode 8 - Rabin Is… - Act author: Mishy Harman
  Rabin is a symbol. An icon. Twenty years later, it isn't so simple to understand what he truly stands for anymore.
• Episode 7 - Out of Africa…And Back Again - Act author: Mishy Harman
  Two journeys - in very different directions, and taken for very different reasons - out of, and then into, Africa.
• Episode 6 - What’s Love Got to Do With It? - Act author: Mishy Harman
  Valentine’s Day is not native to Israel, but the country does not lack for tales of love, romance, and the pursuit thereof.
• Episode 5 - Holy Cow! - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Episode 4 - A Man on A Mission - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Episode 3 - People of the Book - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Episode 2 - Love Syndrome - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• Episode 1 - Faking It - Act author: Mishy Harman
  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.
• 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...
• Blog - “Conversations with Friends” Zoom Series
  November 19, 2020: Mishy Harman and Yochai Maital in conversation with Etgar Keret. This is a closed event.
• 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...
• 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...
• 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...
• Episode 125 - 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...
• Press Coverage - Thoughts On Translation: Mishy Harman
  
• Press Coverage - Meet Mishy Harman, Israel’s Ira Glass
  
• Press Coverage - Mishy Harman of Israel Story
  
• Press Coverage - Israel Story: Ancient Land, Modern Tales, with Mishy Harman
  
• Press Coverage - Mishy Harman tells Boaz and Blakely about his favorite sandwic
  
• Press Coverage - Q&A WITH MISHY HARMAN: CAPTURING ISRAELI LIFE ON THE RADIO
  
• Press Coverage - The Israel Story With Mishy Harman
  
• Press Coverage - Israel Story with Mishy Harman, master podcast storyteller
  
• 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."