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Unholy: Two Jews on the News

Unholy Media
  • 4.8 (298)
  • NEWS COMMENTARY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Yonit Levi of Israel's Channel 12 News and Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian are two of the most prominent journalists in the world today. They are also Jews. Each week, join what MSNBC's Rachel Maddow calls "two great, smart smart smart hosts" as they dissect and debate current events shaping Israel, Jewish life - and the wider world. Their blend of nuanced discussion and sparkling conversation, featuring a dazzling range of guests, is why New Yorker editor David Remnick calls himself a “proud, avid listener," why Ira Glass says he "completely enjoys this show" and why Malcolm Gladwell calls it an "incredibly fun podcast". For a weekly fix of globally informed talk – including nominations for the greatest act of chutzpah and outstanding mensch of the previous seven days – there’s only one destination. Make every Friday morning Unholy.  Contact us via: unholy@unholy-media.com

  1. Ceasefire on day 40 - with Bret Stephens and Amir Fuchs

    1 DAY AGO

    Ceasefire on day 40 - with Bret Stephens and Amir Fuchs

    Follow Unholy and learn more about the pod: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ Join our Patreon community to get access to bonus episodes: https://bit.ly/UnholyPatreon Day 40 of the US-Israel war on Iran — and it's ceasefire. But the relief is complicated: Israeli bombardment of Hezbollah in Lebanon has already shifted the world's anger from Washington back to Jerusalem. Bret Stephens, opinion columnist at the New York Times and one of the conflict's most prominent intellectual defenders, joins Yonit and Jonathan to take stock — was it worth it, what was actually achieved, and what does an inconclusive ending mean for Israel's standing with a younger American generation that's turning away. Then: the death penalty bill that slipped through the Knesset on Erev Pesach. Dr. Amir Fuchs of the Israeli Democracy Institute was inside those committee rooms. He explains what passed and who it targets. ⏱ CHAPTERS:  [00:00] Ceasefire — Yonit wakes up after 40 nights of sirens in Tel Aviv  [02:10] Kids, lunchboxes, and parenting during wartime  [05:45] Why Israel is now the global target instead of Trump [19:24] Bret Stephens: Was the Iran war worth it?  [23:11] Senior Israeli official admits objectives weren't achieved  [26:23] Iran's nuclear program — degraded, not destroyed  [29:52] The Strait of Hormuz: Iran's trump card  [34:08] Israel's American support — how worried should we be?  [37:07] Israel's intelligence credibility post-October 7th  [40:33] Young Americans and the erosion of support for Israel  [54:28] Dr. Amir Fuchs — inside the Knesset committee rooms What the death penalty bill actually says  [1:02:30] Will the Supreme Court strike it down?  [1:06:42] Ben-Gvir's trap — win-win by design  [1:10:36] Yonit: Judaism doesn't celebrate death  [1:11:53] Jonathan: the synagogue sermon about spilling wine on Passover  [1:14:38] Hungary elections — Orban vs. Magyar  [1:16:52] Chutzpah Award: Kanye West banned from Britain  [1:21:25] Mensch: Colette Avital, 86-year-old Holocaust survivor, still protesting  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    1hr 21min

  2. 4 DAYS AGO

    Books special: conversations with Daniel Taub and Yardena Schwartz

    Watch us on Youtube and follow Unholy on social media: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ Day 39 of the war. Pesach. Instead of news, we brought you books — two of them, both essential. Jonathan speaks with Daniel Taub, former Israeli ambassador to the UK and author of Beyond Dispute: Rediscovering the Jewish Art of Constructive Disagreement — about why Jewish argument culture might be the most relevant thing in the world right now, and how families torn apart over Gaza might actually talk to each other. Yonit speaks with Yardena Schwartz, award-winning journalist and Emmy-nominated producer, author of Ghosts of a Holy War — about the 1929 Hebron massacre, and why this nearly-forgotten event explains almost everything about the conflict today. Two books. Two conversations. One mid-week treat while we wait for whatever comes next.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    51 min

  3. 6 DAYS AGO ·  BONUS • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Bonus episode: The Hidden Links Between Pesach and Easter

    This episode explores the fascinating convergence of Pesach and Easter, their historical and cultural connections, and their impact on Jewish and Christian communities. Join Yonit and Jonathan as they delve into religious narratives, historical tensions, and modern incidents that highlight the intertwined histories of these two major festivals.

    14 min
  4. Middle East Past and Present: A deep dive into history with Tom Holland

    1 APR

    Middle East Past and Present: A deep dive into history with Tom Holland

    Get more out of Unholy: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/   In this special Pesach episode, Yonit and Jonathan discuss seder traditions and those who had to change due to the war. They are joined by Tom Holland — historian and co-host of The Rest Is History and author of landmark books on Rome, Persia, and the roots of Western civilization — to explain why the Romans were wrong about the Jews, why the West fundamentally misunderstands Iran, and why secularism is itself a religious inheritance. From Cyrus the Great to the Iranian Revolution to Donald Trump, this is the episode that puts the present moment in full historical context. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    1hr 1min

  5. 30 MAR • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Bonus episode: The History (and Politics) of Israeli Bomb Shelters

    Visit's Unholy's website to get more content https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ Every Israeli knows the drill. The alert, the seconds, the sprint to the shelter — or the paralysed realisation there isn't one nearby. In this bonus episode, Yonit Levi and Jonathan Freedland take a deep dive into something that has quietly shaped Israeli life for decades: the politics, history, and daily reality of safe rooms and bomb shelters. From Saddam's Scuds in 1991 — when Israelis taped plastic sheets over their windows and waited for chemical weapons that never came — to the legal overhaul that made the mamad a fixture of every new apartment, this is the story of how a country built its home front from scratch. And how, 30 years later, a third of Israelis still have nowhere to go when the siren sounds. Chapters: [00:00] Why we made this episode — the listener response that started it all [01:13] 1991: Saddam's Scuds, gas masks, and the moment everything changed [03:58] Scud FM and Israel's decision not to hit back [05:30] The law that changed everything: every new apartment must have a mamad [07:54] A country divided — who has a safe room and who doesn't [09:57] The numbers: 33% of Israelis have no nearby shelter [11:32] The political divide in alert zones — settlements vs. cities [13:30] The 33% living in parking lots and railway stations for 30+ days [14:01] Polling surprise: shelter access predicts support for the war [15:10] Palestinians, Druze, Bedouin — who the sirens don't protect [16:08] Israeli resilience: Pilates, Zoom classes, and weddings underground

    16 min
  6. Talking peace, making war - with Jake Sullivan

    26 MAR

    Talking peace, making war - with Jake Sullivan

    Please note that an (authentic!) alert sound is heard twice throughout the episode. Watch us on Youtube: https://youtu.be/UdhHLAquwgs Follow Unholy and learn more about the pod: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ The fourth week of the war with Iran finds both sides insisting—loudly and contradictorily—that peace talks are either underway or nowhere in sight. In the meantime, Iranian missiles continue to hit civilian neighbourhoods across Israel, while rolling news blurs day into night, tracking both the war itself and the political manoeuvres that show little sign of slowing down. And in London, another antisemitic attack raises uncomfortable questions about double standards when it comes to hatred directed at Israel. This week, Yonit and Jonathan sit down with Jake Sullivan, who puts it bluntly: this war should not have started. Sullivan lays out three reasons why the decision was flawed, argues that Donald Trump’s “appetite grew with the eating” from the 12-day war to the current escalation, and offers an alternative path—a renewed nuclear deal backed by long-term deterrence. He also raises a troubling possibility: could this conflict increase the likelihood of Chinese action against Taiwan?   Plus: a rare look behind the scenes of Israel’s most-watched news broadcast, as Yonit reflects on what it means to sit in the anchor’s chair for hours on end—and the personal toll it takes.   00:00 Day 27 — Cluster bomb near Yonit's house  03:00 Life under sirens: sheltering in Tel Aviv  19:48 The Rubio remark: did Israel drag America into war? 23:28 Yonit on anchoring Israel's news during a war she's living 31:23 Jonathan: global antisemitic attacks since the war began  42:06 Jake Sullivan: deal or escalation? 1:15:16 Chutzpah & Mensch Awards Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    1hr 20min
  7. War with Iran Update: Trump Hits the Pause Button

    23 MAR

    War with Iran Update: Trump Hits the Pause Button

    Watch us on Youtube: https://youtu.be/dhvM7lnkO88 Follow us on social media and get more Unholy content: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/   This morning, Donald Trump posted something that might — or might not — mean the US-Israeli war on Iran is coming to an end. A five-day pause on strikes. Secret talks via Pakistan and Turkey. Kushner and Witkoff on the American side. A shadowy Iranian speaker being cast as the pragmatist the US has been searching for. This is a special emergency episode of Unholy, recorded on 23 March 2026, as events were still unfolding. Jonathan and Yonit break down the two scenarios — deal or larger war — and why Trump's exit ramp looks nothing like Netanyahu's. They also turn to the daily wave of antisemitic attacks across Europe and North America since this war began, including last night's arson on four Hatzalah ambulances in Golders Green, London.   Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Update Episode 01:02 Trump's Social Media Post and Its Implications 03:40 Negotiations and Mediating Efforts 08:29 The Role of Iran and Potential Outcomes 13:30 Israel's Position and Concerns 16:26 Rising Anti-Semitism and Community Safety   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    21 min
  8. Day 20 of the Iran war - with Amos Harel. Plus: Shelter Q&A

    19 MAR

    Day 20 of the Iran war - with Amos Harel. Plus: Shelter Q&A

    Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HeoVvd294Ww Follow us on social media and join Patreon to get more of Unholy: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ Day 20 of the US-Israeli war on Iran — and it's becoming a war of attrition.  In the meantime, Europe refuses to lend its ships, daylight emerges between Trump and Netanyahu, and Joe Kent's antisemitic conspiracy theory gets the full debunking it deserves. Amos Harel, Haaretz's military affairs correspondent, joins Yonit and Jonathan for a deep dive. What does the assassination of Ali Larijani — Khamenei's right-hand man — actually achieve? Is the war drifting from plan A toward something no one planned at all? And why is Netanyahu now talking less about regime change and more about Israel as a "world superpower"? And we turn to you, our listeners, with your most pressing questions about anything between life and war. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    1hr 17min
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Hosts & Guests

4.8
out of 5
298 Ratings

About

Yonit Levi of Israel's Channel 12 News and Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian are two of the most prominent journalists in the world today. They are also Jews. Each week, join what MSNBC's Rachel Maddow calls "two great, smart smart smart hosts" as they dissect and debate current events shaping Israel, Jewish life - and the wider world. Their blend of nuanced discussion and sparkling conversation, featuring a dazzling range of guests, is why New Yorker editor David Remnick calls himself a “proud, avid listener," why Ira Glass says he "completely enjoys this show" and why Malcolm Gladwell calls it an "incredibly fun podcast". For a weekly fix of globally informed talk – including nominations for the greatest act of chutzpah and outstanding mensch of the previous seven days – there’s only one destination. Make every Friday morning Unholy.  Contact us via: unholy@unholy-media.com

Information

  • Creator
    Unholy Media
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    312
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Unholy Media
  • Show Website
    Unholy: Two Jews on the News
  • Provider
    Unholy Media LTD

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