Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast

Roberto Mazza

I am Roberto Mazza and this is Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast. Jerusalem Unplugged is the only podcast dedicated exclusively to Jerusalem, its rich history, and its diverse people. Through in-depth conversations with scholars, activists, politicians, artists, journalists, religious figures, and community members, the podcast explores the complex layers of one of the world's most significant cities. Our conversations are designed to be intellectually challenging, moving beyond surface narratives to examine the nuanced realities of Jerusalem's past and present. Each episode provides substantive material for serious discussion, encouraging listeners to engage with the city's multifaceted stories from historical, political, cultural, and social perspectives. From archaeological discoveries and urban development to religious practices and daily life, Jerusalem Unplugged uncovers the Jerusalem you may never have heard of—offering fresh insights into a city where ancient history and contemporary life intersect in extraordinary ways. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. Photographing Biblical Modernity with Sary Zananiri

    FEB 10

    Photographing Biblical Modernity with Sary Zananiri

    In this first episode of 2026, the opener for season 7, I had the pleasure to interview my good friend and friend of the podcast Sary Zananiri about his latest book. This open access book offers the first in-depth appraisal of the photographic archive of Frank Scholten (1881–1942), a queer Dutch photographer and Catholic convert whose work in Palestine between 1921 and 1923 provides a remarkable lens on the intersecting dynamics of modernity, religion, colonialism, and visual culture. Drawing on over 26,000 photographs, it situates Scholten's work within transnational religious, colonial, and nationalist networks. Employing a relational methodology, Photographing Biblical Modernity treats photography not merely as visual documentation but as a site of layered cultural encounters shaped by the movements of people, ideas, and ideologies. It interrogates biblical visuality, the performance of indigeneity, intercommunal relations, and the gendered politics of labour and nationalism. Through interdisciplinary engagement with visual culture, Middle East studies, and gender theory, this book considers how Scholten's positionality offers insights into both the granular details of Palestinian society and broader macro-historical shifts during a period of profound transition. Rather than framing Palestine as a biblical relic, Scholten's photographs reveal a socially and politically complex society under early British Mandate rule. Ultimately, this book positions Scholten's archive as a vital historical source for understanding the layered and contested narratives that have defined Palestine's modern history. Welcome to Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast. This is the new link and home of Jerusalem Unplugged, all old and new interviews will be published through the new link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 12m
  2. Uncertain Empire with Elizabeth Imber

    10/16/2025

    Uncertain Empire with Elizabeth Imber

    Following the British conquest of Ottoman Palestine, Jews across the British Empire—from Jerusalem to Johannesburg, London to Calcutta—found themselves at the heart of global Jewish political discourse. As these intellectuals, politicians, activists, and communal elites navigated shifting political landscapes, some envisioned Palestine as a British dominion, leveraging imperial power for Jewish state-building, while others fostered ties with anticolonial movements, contemplating independent national aspirations. Uncertain Empire considers this intricate interplay between British imperialism, Zionism, and anticolonial movements from the 1917 British conquest of Palestine to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. My guest highlights diverse and sometimes conflicting visions of Jewish political futures, offering detailed case studies of key figures including Chaim Arlosoroff, Moshe Shertok, Helen Bentwich, Rachel Ezra, and Hermann Kallenbach. She explores a "politics of uncertainty" in which Jews engaged with both imperial stability and the rise of anticolonial mobilization, when many were likewise forced to reconsider Palestine as a viable refuge and political solution.  Welcome to Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast. This is the new link and home of Jerusalem Unplugged, all old and new interviews will be published through the new link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 9m
  3. Fiction and Jerusalem with Michael Kinnamon and Philip Graubart

    10/02/2025

    Fiction and Jerusalem with Michael Kinnamon and Philip Graubart

    Today I had the pleasure to interview two wonderful writers, Michael Kinnamon and Philip Graubart. Michael is the author of A Rooftop in Jerusalem: When Daniel Jacobs decides to spend his junior year abroad in Israel, he never dreams he'll fall in love with both Jerusalem's Old City and an Israeli woman, Shoshana. It's the year religion becomes a part of his identity, from the heights of a simple rooftop. A year he encounters the tragic complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. A year that begins a four-decade-long love affair, as complicated and heartbreaking as the political conflict with which it's intertwined. As Daniel moves through life-through marriage and divorce, career and travel-he returns periodically to Jerusalem, where his heart faithfully remains. Philip is the author of Here There is No Why: Did Chaim Lerner, acclaimed Israeli author and Holocaust survivor, kill himself in 1983, thirty-eight years after surviving Auschwitz? If so, was it traumatic memories finally catching up to him? Or despair over Holocaust denialism? Or ordinary, difficult health issues-an aching hip, a damaged knee? Or simply a deadly episode of depression? Enjoy the conversation. Or was it murder? In 2005, Judah Loeb, Lerner's former student and now a struggling American journalist and single father, travels to Jerusalem to investigate Lerner's death. He drags along his fifteen-year-old daughter, Hannah, and they team up with Charlie, Judah's former Hebrew University roommate, now a Jerusalem homicide detective. Their investigation takes them through the darker corners of the Israeli psyche, where they uncover secrets that threaten to destroy Lerner's reputation and alter Jewish history. While probing the mysteries of Israel's past, they encounter personal betrayal, heartbreak, and the fragile possibilities of forgiveness and redemption. Welcome to Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast. This is the new link and home of Jerusalem Unplugged, all old and new interviews will be published through the new link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 8m
  4. Orthodox Choreographies with Georgios Tsourous

    09/25/2025

    Orthodox Choreographies with Georgios Tsourous

    With George we discuss his latest book that offers a comprehensive anthropological study of lived Christianity in Jerusalem’s Old City, with a special focus on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the Church of the Anastasis. Based on in-depth ethnographic fieldwork, the study explores the experiences of the Rum Orthodox community, examining their internal dynamics and relationships with other Christian groups. Within the Church of the Anastasis, complex interplays emerge, as fragile legal agreements intermingle with ethnic and theological considerations, resulting in a complex reality of shared spaces and coexistence. A materialist lens is employed to study these dynamics, suggesting that the material aspects of religious practices play a crucial role in shaping borders and influencing perceptions of similarities and differences across them. Outside the Church's confines, in the Old City of Jerusalem, lay Christians, especially the local Palestinian Orthodox, engage in 'border-crossing practices', which often deviate from the Orthodox Church's approved practice. These practices reflect the flexible strategies local Christians adopt in their everyday lives in Israel, challenging established norms and boundaries. By capturing these dynamics, the book provides valuable insights into shared sacred spaces and offers a significant contribution to debates in the anthropology of Christianity and its material culture. Welcome to Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast. This is the new link and home of Jerusalem Unplugged, all old and new interviews will be published through the new link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 2m
  5. Find me at the Jaffa Gate with Micaela Sahhar

    09/04/2025

    Find me at the Jaffa Gate with Micaela Sahhar

    I had the pleasure to engage in a very interesting conversation with Micaela Sahhar while we were sitting at the opposite end of the world. What does the daughter of a Nakba survivor inherit? It is not property or tangible heirlooms, nor the streets and neighbourhoods of a father’s childhood and the deep roots of family who have lived in one place, Jerusalem, for generation upon generation. Fixing her gaze on moments, places and objects – from the streets of Bethlehem to the Palestinian neighbourhoods of the New Jerusalem – Micaela Sahhar assembles a story of Palestinian diaspora. Find Me at the Jaffa Gate is a book about the gaps and blank spaces that cannot be easily recounted, but which insists on the vibrant reality of chance, fragments and memory to reclaim a place called home. Welcome to Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast. This is the new link and home of Jerusalem Unplugged, all old and new interviews will be published through the new link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 3m
  6. The Birthplace of Jesus Is in Palestine: A Memoir with Toine van Teeffelen

    08/28/2025

    The Birthplace of Jesus Is in Palestine: A Memoir with Toine van Teeffelen

    Here we are, the first episode after the long break. The first interview is with Toine van Teeffelen, a Dutch anthropologist and a Bethlehem resident. The Birthplace of Jesus Is in Palestine is a narrative of a Christian family in Bethlehem in the West Bank. Based on diary entries and interviews from 2000 to 2023, the Dutch author--an anthropologist and peace activist--chronicles the spontaneous reactions of his Palestinian children and wife navigating the challenges posed by curfews and checkpoints. Problems of Palestinian school life are shown from the perspective of teachers and students. Against the background of Israeli occupation and settlement building, the intricacies of Palestinian culture in its daily rhythms and domestic spaces come to life. Throughout the pages, the key Palestinian concept of sumud, or steadfastness, is explored. The memoir details acts of creative nonviolent resistance, individual protests, affirmations of cultural identity, and inspiring examples of Muslim-Christian community. The book also reveals unexpected connections between Palestinian culture in the Bethlehem area and broader Christian values and traditions. An afterword reflects upon implications of Israel's war in Gaza. Welcome to Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast. This is the new link and home of Jerusalem Unplugged, all old and new interviews will be published through the new link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    59 min
  7. The Dead Sea 10,000 Years of History with Nir Arielli

    08/08/2025

    The Dead Sea 10,000 Years of History with Nir Arielli

    The Dead Sea is a place of many contradictions. Hot springs around the lake are famed for their healing properties, though its own waters are deadly to most lifeforms—even so, civilizations have built ancient cities and hilltop fortresses around its shores for centuries. The protagonists in its story are not only Jews and Arabs, but also Greeks, Nabataeans, Romans, Crusaders and Mamluks. Today it has become a tourist hotspot, but its drying basin is increasingly under threat.   In this panoramic account, Nir Arielli explores the history of the Dead Sea from the first Neolithic settlements to the present day. Moving through the ages, Arielli reveals the religious, economic, military, and scientific importance of the lake, which has been both a source of great wealth and a site of war. *The Dead Sea *weaves together a tapestry of the lake’s human stories—and amidst environmental degradation and renewed conflict, makes a powerful case for why it should be saved. Originally published on 04/03/2025 Welcome to Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast. This is the new link and home of Jerusalem Unplugged, all old and new interviews will be published through the new link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr
  8. Late Ottoman Gaza with Yuval Ben Bassat

    08/08/2025

    Late Ottoman Gaza with Yuval Ben Bassat

    Until recently, Gaza attracted little attention in historical scholarship. This book innovates by examining late Ottoman Gaza’s diverse society, its built environment, and its political dynamics. The introduction sets the stage to better understand the vital contexts impacting the role and status of Gaza as compared to other cities in the Eastern Mediterranean, provides analyses and new resources for the study of late Ottoman Gaza, and presents state-of-the-art methodology in urban history as applied to Gaza. Enjoy the interview with Yuval Ben Bassat. Originally published on 03/20/2025 Welcome to Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast. This is the new link and home of Jerusalem Unplugged, all old and new interviews will be published through the new link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    57 min
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About

I am Roberto Mazza and this is Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast. Jerusalem Unplugged is the only podcast dedicated exclusively to Jerusalem, its rich history, and its diverse people. Through in-depth conversations with scholars, activists, politicians, artists, journalists, religious figures, and community members, the podcast explores the complex layers of one of the world's most significant cities. Our conversations are designed to be intellectually challenging, moving beyond surface narratives to examine the nuanced realities of Jerusalem's past and present. Each episode provides substantive material for serious discussion, encouraging listeners to engage with the city's multifaceted stories from historical, political, cultural, and social perspectives. From archaeological discoveries and urban development to religious practices and daily life, Jerusalem Unplugged uncovers the Jerusalem you may never have heard of—offering fresh insights into a city where ancient history and contemporary life intersect in extraordinary ways. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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