Don't Know Much About with Naya Lekht

Naya Lekht

Don't Know Much About is a podcast hosted by Dr. Naya Lekht, a scholar and educator with a PhD from UCLA in Russian Literature. Each episode unpacks a contentious topic — from antizionism and Soviet history to Jewish identity and contemporary geopolitics — through rigorous research, personal stories, and candid conversations with leading thinkers. Clarifying the complex, one conversation at a time.

  1. MAY 12

    Stop Antizionism with Ben Shapiro and Natasha Pein

    In this special segment of Don't Know Much About, Naya Lekht is joined by Ben Shapiro, co-founder of The Daily Wire, and Natasha Pein, Naya's partner and co-founder of Stop Antizionism, just one week before the inaugural World Symposium Against Antizionism, taking place in Toronto on May 17, 2026. Ben will deliver the keynote address. Tickets are still available at stopaz.org/symposium. The conversation covers the fundamental failure of the Jewish establishment to name today's Jew-hatred accurately, and what it costs to keep fighting the last war. What you'll learn: Why the term "antisemitism" has been stretched to the point of meaninglessness, and why arguing "antizionism = antisemitism" is a losing strategyHow Soviet antizionist propaganda, launched in the aftermath of the Six-Day War, seeded Western universities and never leftThe two distinct brands of antizionism emerging on the American right, and why they require different responsesWhy the Thomas Sowell framing holds: the surest path to antisemitism is Jewish successHow Jewish kids are losing their Zionist identity, and Ben's unsparing diagnosis of where that failure actually beginsThe "strange new respect" dynamic: why being a Jewish critic of Israel is such a "sexy pitch"The Yevsektsiya parallel: a history of Jews used to advance anti-Jewish agendas, from the Soviet Communist Party to today's campusesBen's three specific pieces of advice, for Jewish schools, Jewish organizations, and Jewish parentsGuest Bios: Ben Shapiro is the co-founder and editor emeritus of The Daily Wire, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, and one of the most listened-to political commentators in America. He is the author of The Right Side of History, How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps, and numerous other books. He will deliver the keynote address at the World Symposium Against Antizionism on May 17, 2026, in Toronto. Natasha Pein co-founded Stop Antizionism with Naya Lekht. It is a US-based educational initiative that frames antizionism as the third era of Jew-hatred. Born in the Soviet Union, she draws on firsthand experience of Soviet antizionist campaigns to illuminate the roots of today's ideological landscape. She is also a co-organizer of the World Symposium Against Antizionism. Resources & Links:  World Symposium Against Antizionism (Toronto, May 17, 2026): stopaz.org/symposium  Stop Antizionism: stopaz.org  The Right Side of History by Ben Shapiro The Daily Wire: dailywire.com Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

    28 min

  2. MAY 11

    The UN's Antizionist Machine: 50 Years of Institutional Bias with Ben Cohen

    In this episode, Naya Lekht is joined by Ben Cohen, Director of Rapid Response at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), journalist, and one of the foremost researchers on global antisemitism and antizionism. Ben's work spans the Wall Street Journal, Commentary, Tablet, the Jewish News Syndicate, and his book Some of My Best Friends: A Journey Through 21st Century Antisemitism. Together, Naya and Ben trace the deep roots of the United Nations' institutionalized hostility toward Israel, from the passage of Resolution 3379 ("Zionism is Racism") in 1975, to the simultaneous creation of CEIRPP (the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People), and how that Soviet-engineered infrastructure has outlasted the USSR itself. They discuss: The origins and mechanics of CEIRPP: What it does, what it costs taxpayers, and why it's still operating 50 years laterHow UNRWA's unique definition of refugee status, inheritable across generations, differs fundamentally from every other refugee agency in the world, and why that distinction is politically explosiveThe 1991 rescission of "Zionism is Racism" and why, despite being formally repealed, it functionally never went awayThe Durban conference of 2001 as a turning point that revived and radicalized UN antizionismCountries that have resigned from the committee - Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Ecuador — and the political dynamics that drive those decisionsWhether the UN is irredeemable on the question of IsraelThe intellectual history of antizionism: from the Soviet antizionist campaign, to Edward Said, to today's TikTok-era influencers, and how the discourse has shifted from "bistro antisemitism" to open, unashamed hatredBen's concept of "Bierkeller vs. bistro antisemitism," crude versus sophisticated Jew-hatred, and whether the distinction still holdsThe upcoming Stop Antizionism symposium in Toronto, the first conference ever dedicated explicitly to confronting antizionism as a distinct and lethal form of Jew hatredBen Cohen can be found at fdd.org and writes a weekly column for the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS). Don't Know Much About is hosted by Naya Lekht. It always starts with a question.  Like, subscribe, and share on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

    1h 12m

  3. APR 27

    "Zionophobia, AI, and A Life of Inquiry" with Judea Pearl

    Dr. Judea Pearl is a Turing Award-winning computer scientist, UCLA professor, and father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. He joins Naya for a sweeping conversation that moves from his 1936 childhood in B'nei Brak to the word he coined to fight back against the moral inversion on today's college campuses. Pearl was raised to be what early Zionists called "the New Jew", a child born free in the land of Israel, shielded from the weight of diaspora persecution. He remembers playing with Arab children from the neighboring village, screaming slogans against the British White Paper on the school bus, dancing in the streets the night the UN partition vote passed, and a moment of reckoning with his father when he realized, at eleven years old, that he had grown up without ever understanding what antisemitism actually meant. Decades later, as a professor at UCLA, he watched that same word, Zionism, become contaminated on the very campuses that had been built, in part, by the sacrifices of his generation. So he coined a new one: "Zionophobia". In this conversation, he explains why the old vocabulary failed, why administrators kept reaching for "antisemitism" as a way to avoid dealing with the real problem, and why he believes the only effective response is to put antizionists in the accusatory chair. The conversation closes with something unexpected: a reflection from one of the founding fathers of artificial intelligence on whether AI will take us over ("Yes, we will be taken over"), and why the very traits that make AI useful, curiosity and autonomy, are the traits that make it dangerous. This episode is a rare portrait of a man who has spent his life in the pursuit of inquiry, across computer science, Jewish identity, and what it means to be a free people in our own land. Guest Bio **Dr. Judea Pearl** is Chancellor's Professor of Computer Science and Statistics at UCLA and Director of the UCLA Cognitive Systems Laboratory. He is internationally recognized for his foundational contributions to artificial intelligence, human reasoning, and the philosophy of science. He is the recipient of the **Turing Award** — widely regarded as the Nobel Prize of Computing — for work that transformed how machines handle probability and causal inference. He is also the father of **Daniel Pearl**, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002. In Daniel's memory, he and his wife Ruth co-founded the **Daniel Pearl Foundation**, which works to promote cross-cultural understanding through journalism, music, and dialogue. Pearl has written and lectured prolifically on Jewish identity, Zionism, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and campus antisemitism. Forty-five of his essays on these subjects are collected in his recent book, ***Coexistence and Other Fighting Words: Selected Writings of Judea Pearl, 2002–2023***. Resources & Further Reading - **Book:** *Coexistence and Other Fighting Words: Selected Writings of Judea Pearl* — available on Amazon - **The Daniel Pearl Foundation** — danielpearl.org - **Pearl's original essay on Zionophobia** — Ha'Am (UCLA's Jewish Newsmagazine) - **Martha Pollack's 2019 BDS statement** — Cornell University (March 1, 2019) - **Azzam Pasha's 1947 interview** — *Akhbar al-Yom*, October 11, 1947 (the "war of extermination" quote referenced in the episode) Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

    55 min

  4. APR 15

    "Canada's Polite Pogrom" with Jesse Brown

    What happened to Canada? Once known as one of the most peaceful, multicultural countries in the world, Canada has become the epicenter of a disturbing wave of anti-Jewish violence: weekly synagogue shootings, a Jewish girls' school in Toronto shot at three separate times, a Jewish grandmother stabbed in an Ottawa kosher supermarket, and 14 shots fired at a Jewish-owned restaurant on the second night of Passover. In this episode, Naya Lekht sits down with Jesse Brown — founder and publisher of CanadaLand, Canada's largest podcast network, winner of the Hillman Prize for Investigative Reporting, and author of the viral Atlantic piece "Canada's Polite Pogrom" — to investigate how this happened, why it's still happening, and what the rest of the world needs to understand before it's too late. Jesse doesn't offer easy answers. He traces the roots of the anti-Zionist hate movement from Nazi Germany through the Soviet Union into today's post-colonial academy, explains why Canada's multicultural identity left its institutions uniquely unprepared to recognize anti-Jewish hatred disguised as political activism, and argues that pleas for sympathy are a dead end. Instead, he makes the case for naming what we're actually up against: a radicalized ideology that believes what it says. This is one of the most honest conversations about Jewish life in the diaspora you'll hear this year. About the Guest Jesse Brown is the founder and publisher of CanadaLand, the first and largest podcast network in Canada. He is the winner of the Hillman Prize for Investigative Reporting and the National Magazine Award for Humor. CanadaLand's podcasts have won gold awards from the Signal Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. As a journalist, Jesse focuses on Canadian media — reporting and analysis of what the press gets right and what it gets wrong. Since October 7th, he has devoted his work to documenting anti-Jewish discrimination and the anti-Zionist hate movement in Canada, a focus that led to his recent limited audio series What Is Happening Here? and his viral Atlantic essay Canada's Polite Pogrom. Jesse will be joining Naya on stage May 17th at the first-ever World Symposium Against Anti-Zionism in Toronto. Listen & Follow 🎙️ Jesse's limited series: What Is Happening Here? — available wherever you get your podcasts 📰 Read: "Canada's Polite Pogrom" in The Atlantic 🎟️ World Symposium Against Anti-Zionism — Toronto, May 17, 2026 Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

    41 min
  5. From Law to Culture: Where the Real Battle Is Being Fought

    MAR 22

    From Law to Culture: Where the Real Battle Is Being Fought

    On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht shifts the conversation from law to culture, arguing that while legal frameworks may lag behind, culture is where meaning is made, narratives are shaped, and ultimately, where battles over truth are won or lost. She is joined by journalist and columnist David C. Kaufman, whose work has appeared in Tablet, The New York Times, Commentary, The Wall Street Journal, and Telegraph. Together, they confront the alarming normalization of anti-Jewish rhetoric in public discourse—from the use of “Zionist” as a slur to the growing acceptance of October 7 denialism and justification. They explore why antizionism is increasingly functioning as a socially acceptable form of Jew-hatred, the difficulties of Jewish leadership to clearly name and confront ideological threats, the role identity politics may play in distorting reality, and how the embrace of Palestinianism within parts of the African American community has had serious consequences for its well-being. Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

    1h 1m
  6. 'You Started With a Tough Case:" Jews and Anti-Discrimination Law with Rona Kaufman

    MAR 15

    'You Started With a Tough Case:" Jews and Anti-Discrimination Law with Rona Kaufman

    On this episode of Don't Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht sits down with Professor Rona Kaufman, co-founder of the Center for Jewish Legal Studies. Naya opens with a case study: a campus speaker who deploys libels against Israel. Is that legal? “Oof,” says Professor Kaufman, “you started with a tough case.” From there, the conversation moves into the basics of anti-discrimination law and free speech protections. To explain the difficulty of securing Jewish civil rights, Rona takes listeners and viewers on a historical journey, showing how women fought to define and expose discrimination in the workplace—and how naming what discrimination looks like was itself a crucial step in gaining legal protection. Throughout the episode, Naya presents a series of real-world scenarios for Rona to analyze, leading to a deeper question: what ultimately drives change—law or culture? Many behaviors we now recognize as unacceptable were once entirely legal. Did the law lead cultural change, or did culture push the law to evolve? This and more in a thought-provoking episode of Don't Know Much About. Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

    1h 7m
  7. Propaganda in the USSR, Virtue in the USA: Antizionism

    MAR 14

    Propaganda in the USSR, Virtue in the USA: Antizionism

    On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht examines a troubling paradox: why is antizionism in the West more dangerous than in the Soviet Union, the regime that invented it? Beginning with a personal observation from her mother, the episode traces how Soviet antizionist propaganda, once widely recognized as cynical state messaging, was transformed in Western universities into a moral cause. While the Soviet Union imposed antizionism from above through state propaganda, in the West, the same framework was repackaged through postcolonial theory, anti-imperialism, and academic scholarship, eventually embedding itself within university departments and activist culture. The episode explores how this transformation, from propaganda no one believed to an ideology many now embrace as virtue, creates a far more dangerous dynamic. When antizionism becomes framed as a moral duty rather than a political claim, dissent is treated as immorality and violence can appear justified in the name of justice. The result, Dr. Lekht argues, is a disturbing irony: ideas that required authoritarian enforcement in the Soviet Union now thrive organically within free societies. Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

    12 min
  8. 25 Years of Campus Antizionism: An Investigative Report

    MAR 8

    25 Years of Campus Antizionism: An Investigative Report

    On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht traces how antizionism took root on American campuses, beginning with student activism in the early 2000s and becoming institutionalized through recurring campaigns such as Israel Apartheid Week and the BDS movement. By the time the campus encampments of 2023–2024 emerged, the movement had matured into something far more aggressive, raising urgent questions about how this ideological framework spread so widely across universities. The episode then turns to a deeper question: how did Jewish institutions respond as this movement developed? For years, antizionism was largely treated as political criticism rather than as an organized ideological campaign targeting Jewish collective legitimacy. Campus organizations often encouraged avoidance rather than confrontation, while major institutions framed the issue cautiously, focusing on when criticism of Israel might “cross the line” into antisemitism. Dr. Lekht argues that this conceptual hesitation limited the communal response and left antizionism largely unchallenged for years—raising the strategic question of whether confronting the movement will ultimately require grassroots mobilization before institutions fully recognize the scale of the challenge. Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

    18 min
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About

Don't Know Much About is a podcast hosted by Dr. Naya Lekht, a scholar and educator with a PhD from UCLA in Russian Literature. Each episode unpacks a contentious topic — from antizionism and Soviet history to Jewish identity and contemporary geopolitics — through rigorous research, personal stories, and candid conversations with leading thinkers. Clarifying the complex, one conversation at a time.

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