Jewish Heretics Podcast UJPO / Winchevsky

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview celebrated journalist, filmmaker, professor, activist and Federal NDP candidate, Avi Lewis. We discuss his remarkable family legacy; how his Jewish upbringing has informed his politics and work; and how the horrors of the ongoing genocide in Gaza have created the potential for international solidarity and moral clarity.

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview celebrated Jewish, lesbian poet, academic, activist and author Irena Klepfisz, delving into her life-long journeys through language; the legacies of the Holocaust and the Labour Bund; and histories of queer and anti-Zionist activism. Along the way we learn about the challenges (and privileges) of coming out in the early 1970s in New York City; what it means to be an “authentic” Jew; and how children were taught Swedish in the 1940s.

 

Irena’s latest, award-winning book of poetry, Her Birth and Later Years; Poems new and collected, is now available in paperback, through Wesleyan University Press.

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview members of the Jews Say No to Genocide Coalition, a loose group of like-minded, Pro-Palestinian, anti-oppression organizations, formed in Toronto in the wake of the Hamas attack on Southern Israel on October 7 and the Israeli invasion of Gaza that followed. We discuss the coalition’s formation, its activities and the emotional toll taken on activists working to prevent genocide and fighting for a just future.

In this special, bonus installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview Eitan Bronstein Aparicio and Eléonore Merza Bronstein, who were both guest speakers at the upcoming Split Screens Film Festival, on Sunday, October 22 at OCAD University in Toronto. Eitan and Eléonore are activists, academics, writers and founders of organizations such as Zochrot, which seeks to educate about the Nakba and the legitimacy of the Palestinian right of return and De-colonizer, a research and art laboratory aimed at creating cultural tools that go beyond colonialist and racist imaginings of Israel/Palestine. Initially, we had planned to explore their newest, collaborative book, “Nakba: the Struggle to De-colonize Israel” but the recent, horrific Hamas attacks on Israel and the subsequent, ongoing and devastating invasion of Gaza necessitated a different discussion.The Split Screens Film Festival continues for 3 consecutive Sundays at OCAD University: Oct 29, Nov 5 & Nov 12.

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview Corey Balsam, activist, polyglot, Capoeira expert and National Coordinator of Canada’s Independent Jewish Voices. Corey has spent many years advocating for a just peace in Israel/Palestine and is excited to share his own transformational story, from fully engaged Zionist to tireless champion of Palestinian rights. One of the most illuminating parts of the interview is his description of what it was like for him, an Ashkenazi Jew, to live for almost 4 years in the West Bank.

Welcome to "Jewish Heretics," the podcast that delves into the lives of extraordinary individuals who challenged conventions in Jewish history.