Best Haviv Rettig Gur Podcasts (2025)

Trump's peace plan explicitly calls for deradicalization of the Gazan population. Countries like Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are hoping to take part in Gaza's rebuilding in part so they can help push back against the radical Islamism of Hamas, which those countries see as a larger threat to themselves as well. Can Palestinian society be deradicalize…

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Eli Sharabi: Surviving Hamas and Choosing Life (Special Crossover) 30:25

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3d ago30:25

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BOOK NOW FOR UNPACKING ISRAELI HISTORY LIVE IN LA - Nov 12 at Sinai Temple with special guest Ronen Bergman. Last stop for 2025! Use the coupon code UIH20 to get a discount on your tickets: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://unpacked.bio/UIHLA25 In this special crossover episode, host Noam Weissman shares one of the most powerful conversations he’s ever had—an interview …

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What Matters Now to Eli Sharabi: Life after trauma and mourning 17:50

3d ago17:50

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Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Jessica Steinberg speaking with former hostage Eli Sharabi. Sharabi, whose bestselling book, "Hostage," was recently translated into English, spoke to What Matters Now a few days before burying his brother, Yossi Sharabi, whos…

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A Mind-Blowing Way of Looking at Math (with David Bessis) 1:21:53

5d ago1:21:53

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What if math isn't about grinding through equations, but about training your intuition and changing how your brain works? Mathematician and author David Bessis tells EconTalk's Russ Roberts that the secret of mathematics isn't logic--it's the way we learn to see. He explains why math books aren't meant to be read like novels, how great mathematicia…

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Episode 54: Can Israel be both Sparta and Athens? With Dan Schueftan 1:26:43

8d ago1:26:43

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The Gaza war may now be over. But Hamas remains entrenched in the half of Gaza from which the IDF has withdrawn. Many are hopeful that this marks a new and better day for Gaza, but it's hard to see how Gaza moves forward to the better future envisioned in the Trump peace plan as long as Hamas continues to rule there. Prof. Dan Schueftan, a preemine…

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How It Feels to be Israeli Right Now: A Conversation with Sarah Tuttle-Singer (Special Crossover) 45:12

10d ago45:12

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BOOK NOW FOR UNPACKING ISRAELI HISTORY LIVE IN LA - Nov 12 at Sinai Temple with special guest Ronen Bergman. Last stop for 2025! Use the coupon code UIH20 to get a discount on your tickets: ⁠⁠⁠https://unpacked.bio/UIHLA25 In this special crossover episode, Noam Weissman explores what it feels like to live through this moment in Israel. Mijal is awa…

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What Matters Now to Orna and Ronen Neutra: Their son is still in Gaza 28:06

10d ago28:06

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Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Jessica Steinberg speaking with Orna and Ronen Neutra, parents of Omer Neutra, a tank platoon commander who was killed on October 7, 2023, his body taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. The Neutras, Israeli-born Americans who hav…

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Episode 53: Telling the Jewish story to the Arab world, with Elhanan Miller 1:02:44

10d ago1:02:44

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Rabbi Elhanan Miller has half a million online followers, and almost all of them are Arabs. They tune in to his "People of the Book" project on YouTube and other platforms to learn in Arabic about Jewish ideas, customs and holidays, and to hear the testimonies of Jews from the Arab and Muslim worlds who now live in Israel or the West. Elhanan has a…

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Twenty Years of Freakonomics (with Stephen Dubner) 1:42:44

11d ago1:42:44

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Quantitative, contrarian, and nuanced: these are the hallmarks of the Freakonomics approach. Hear journalist and podcaster Stephen Dubner speak with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the 20th anniversary of the popular-economics book Dubner co-authored with Steven Levitt. They discuss how the book came to be, how the journey changed Dubner's life, and …

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Episode 52: Why do people hate Jews, with Dara Horn 1:11:43

14d ago1:11:43

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Dr. Dara Horn, award-winning novelist and scholar of Yiddish and Hebrew literature, joins the podcast to help us dig deep into the Jewish bookshelf, the whirlwind of antisemitism in which so many Jews find themselves, and, unavoidably, into Judaism’s most successful go-to solution for seemingly every problem: Education. We talk about Jewish “anti-l…

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What Matters Now to Micah Goodman: End of Gaza war heralds a tectonic shift in Israel 38:54

17d ago38:54

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Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with author and public intellectual Micah Goodman. Looking to the French for historical framing, Goodman proposes that Israel is on the brink of a new epoch -- the third Israeli republic. The autho…

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The Magic of Tokyo (with Joe McReynolds) 1:09:23

18d ago1:09:23

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What drives the seeming relentless dynamism of Tokyo? Is there something special about Japanese culture? Joe McReynolds, co-author of Emergent Tokyo, argues that the secret to Tokyo's energy and attractiveness as a place to live and visit comes from policies that allow Tokyo to emerge from the bottom up. Post-war black markets evolved into today's …

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Episode 51: Antisemitism and the Black experience 1:04:43

20d ago1:04:43

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Coleman Hughes is an American writer, host of the podcast Conversations with Coleman, a visiting professor at the University of Austin, and the author of The End of Race Politics. He joins the podcast to talk about America, the Gaza war and the standing of American Jews in American society. A prominent Black thinker who has written and spoken a gre…

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Episode 50: Hostage Deal - A new day for Gaza, a bad day for Hamas 23:22

23d ago23:22

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On October 8, President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to his peace and hostage release deal. Israel's tormented hostages will soon be home. The agreement delivers almost everything the pro-Palestinian campaign claimed to want. No Israeli annexation, no Gazans have to leave and any who do can return, and a full rebuilding a…

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Episode 49: Finding hope in the tunnel of Hamas, with Eli Sharabi 52:17

24d ago52:17

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On October 7, 2023, Eli Sharabi's home was surrounded by Hamas terrorists. As he was dragged into Gaza, he shouted to his wife Leanna and two daughters Noiya and Yahel that "no matter what they do to me, I'll be back." It was only in February 2025, as he arrived back in Israel after enduring 491 days of physical and psychological torture at the han…

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Episode 48: Two years to October 7 25:16

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The two-year anniversary of the October 7 massacre falls on the joyous holiday of Sukkot. The Hebrew calendar anniversary will fall on the holiday of Simchat Torah, literally "the Joy of Torah." How do we deal with the juxtaposition of these painful anniversaries, of wounds and anxieties and pain that are very much still with us, and the demand to …

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The Invisible Hierarchies that Rule Our World (with Toby Stuart) 1:13:15

26d ago1:13:15

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Status isn't fixed; it's transferred and "bestowed," shaping who gets resources, attention, and opportunity. So argues author Toby Stuart of UC Berkeley in his book, Anointed. He and EconTalk's Russ Roberts explore why hierarchies persist--reducing conflict, allocating scarce resources, and curating our overwhelming choices--and how endorsements, b…

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Sukkot: Finding Joy in Uncertain Times (Re-release) 23:52

26d ago23:52

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As Sukkot begins, Mijal and Noam revisit a favorite episode about what it really means to live with fragility and joy. From stepping into temporary huts to Rabbi Nachman’s teaching to “always be in a state of joy,” they explore how Judaism reframes happiness—not as comfort or control, but as presence, purpose, and connection. Mijal Bitton: ⁠Committ…

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Episode 47: Building a new Gaza, with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib 1:09:28

29d ago1:09:28

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The day after Trump's release of his 20-point plan for an end to the Gaza war, Haviv sat down with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, Palestinian-American analyst and director of the Atlantic Council's Realign for Palestine project, to discuss what it means. Can Hamas really be disarmed and removed from power in Gaza, as the plan envisions? Can an international…

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What Matters Now to Rachel Goldberg-Polin: A deep hope for repair and relief 45:37

1M ago45:37

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Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Jessica Steinberg speaking with Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of murdered hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. Goldberg-Polin, who has become a well-known voice in the Jewish and Israeli world since October 7, 2023, when Hersh was ta…

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Episode 46: The Trump Plan - Hope for Israel and Gaza 25:41

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Trump's 20-point grand bargain to end the Gaza war is a remarkable document. It offers Israel much of the Israeli cabinet's formally declared war goals, not least the summary release of Israeli hostages from Hamas hands. It seems to enjoy broad Arab backing, and it puts Hamas in the position of having to refuse not merely an end to war, but the beg…

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Episode 45: 48 hours in Syria, with David Horovitz 47:01

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Earlier this month, Times of Israel editor David Horovitz became one of only two or three Israeli journalists to have ever walked the streets of Damascus, Syria’s capital. But he was the very first to be welcomed there with open arms by the Syrian government. His visit with a group of American Jews led by Michigan Rabbi Asher Lopatin was part of th…

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Eating with Intelligence (with Julia Belluz) 1:05:49

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Losing weight should be simple: eat less, exercise more. But according to author and health journalist Julia Belluz, it's complicated. Listen as Belluz talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about her new book, Food Intelligence. Belluz argues that a calorie is pretty much a calorie whether it's carbs or fat. Keeping calories under control is often har…

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Shabbat and the Radical Idea of Rest 33:36

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BOOK NOW FOR UNPACKING ISRAELI HISTORY LIVE IN LA - Nov 12 at Sinai Temple with special guest Ronen Bergman. Last stop for 2025! Use the coupon code UIH20 to get a discount on your tickets: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://unpacked.bio/UIHLA25⁠ What is Shabbat -- really? Mijal Bitton and Noam Weissman go beyond the long list of “don’ts” to uncover the deeper joy and pu…

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The Art of Forgiveness with Professor Moshe Halbertal 51:17

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BOOK NOW FOR UNPACKING ISRAELI HISTORY LIVE IN LA - Nov 12 at Sinai Temple with special guest Ronen Bergman. Last stop for 2025! Use the coupon code UIH20 to get a discount on your tickets: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://unpacked.bio/UIHLA25⁠ In this special episode of Wondering Jews, Mijal Bitton and Noam Weissman sit down with Prof. Moshe Halbertal to reflect on th…

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Episode 44: Fateful choices to make in the new year, a comment for Rosh Hashanah 40:42

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Rosh Hashanah is the only Jewish holiday that falls on the first day of the lunar month - that begins in darkness. It is also the holiday most associated in Jewish tradition with great turning-points and new beginnings. The coming year will be a time of great change and momentous decisions. Israel will have some fundamental choices to make. This is…

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Steven Pinker on Common Knowledge 1:23:20

1M ago1:23:20

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Why are Super Bowl ads so good for launching certain kinds of new products? Why do we all drive on the same side of the road? And why, despite laughing and crying together, do we often misread what others think? According to bestselling author and Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, it all comes down to common knowledge, or the phenomenon that happ…

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What Matters Now to Yossi Klein Halevi: Struggling to make moral sense of the Gaza war 51:28

1M ago51:28

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Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with Yossi Klein Halevi. This week, we speak with Hartman Institute senior fellow, author and thinker Yossi Klein Halevi from his Jerusalem home overlooking the back of the Mount Herz…

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Jewish Lifecyle 101 48:46

2M ago48:46

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BOOK NOW FOR UNPACKING ISRAELI HISTORY LIVE IN LA - Nov 12 at Sinai Temple with special guest Ronen Bergman. Last stop for 2025! Use the coupon code UIH20 to get a discount on your tickets: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://unpacked.bio/UIHLA25⁠ Why do Jews mark life’s biggest moments with rituals—and what happens when those rituals clash with modern life? In this rich,…

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What Matters Now to Daniel Gordis: The lonely man of Zionism 35:26

2M ago35:26

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Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with Daniel Gordis. Gordis, an author, scholar, rabbi, activist and sometime Times of Israel blogger, is the creator of the popular Substack blog and podcast, "Israel from the Inside.…

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How Did America Build the Arsenal of Democracy? (with Brian Potter) 1:05:05

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American manufacturing of aircraft during WWII dwarfed that of its enemies. By the end of the war, an American assembly line was producing a B-24 bomber in less than an hour. But that success was far from inevitable. Structural engineer and writer Brian Potter speaks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the logistical challenges of ramping up product…

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Episode 43: After Doha, Israel needs a new story 50:10

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On September 9, Israel tried but failed to kill Hamas leaders in Qatar. The regional blowback surprised the Israelis. Emirati and Saudi leaders, who have long seen Qatar as a foe in the region, visited Doha to express solidarity. Criticism of Israel came not only from the usual suspects, but even from Trump administration officials. Israel, many re…

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Episode 42: Why is Egypt so scared to open its border with Gaza? with Mariam Wahba 56:02

2M ago56:02

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Events move fast in the Middle East. This episode was recorded before the Israeli strike in Qatar. We believed this episode was an important one because the world should be paying more attention to the deteriorating situation in Egypt. The attack on Hamas leaders in Doha did indeed grab the headlines. It's a dramatic development Haviv addressed in …

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What Matters Now to Haviv Rettig Gur: Did Israel 'break the rules' in Qatar strike? 22:24

2M ago22:24

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Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur. There are still lots of questions and not a lot of answers after a bold Israeli airstrike targeted a meeting of Hamas’s top leaders in Qatar’s ca…