The Squirrel News Podcast Ed Crasnick, Jonathan Widder

Prejudices about Jews are still widespread today. Yet many young people in Germany have never consciously met a Jew. The project ‘Meet a Jew’ aims to change this by bringing Jewish volunteers together with school classes and clubs. In this episode, project coordinator Masha explains what the encounters achieve and why many participants are amazed by them.

Hosted by Ed Crasnick and Jonathan Widder; edited by Leon Wolf

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Links

Project website: https://www.meetajew.de/en/

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Please donate now to help us continue our work: https://squirrel-news.net/support-us/

In this special, personal episode, we continue our conversation about history with a special guest and a special project in which Jonathan's father recently rediscovered the story of Kurt Klein and Gerda Weissmann Klein: two Jews who left Germany during and after World War II, married and became very well-known in the US due to Gerda's book "All but my life" – but remained almost unknown in Germany. In this episode, we speak with their son Jim Klein about how his father Kurt saved Oskar Schindler, lessons from his mother for politics today, and the meaning of re-establishing contact with a left-behind part of family history.

Hosted by Ed Crasnick and Jonathan Widder; edited by Leon Wolf

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Links
Gerda Weissmann Klein: All But My Life: https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/0809016532

Project Website "Kurt Klein" (in German): https://kurt-klein.de/

Gerda und Kurt (Graphic Novel, German): https://verlag-regionalkultur.de/buecher/juedische-geschichte/gerda-und-kurt


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Squirrel News is a free, curated news service. Check out our website to find our more, download our app or subscribe to our newsletter: https://squirrel-news.net/

Please donate now to help us continue our work: https://squirrel-news.net/support-us/

In this episode, Ed and Jonathan, a Jew in LA and Jonathan a German in Berlin, reflect on current political events and their personal relation and experience with it: The rise of the far-right AfD in Germany, mass protests against it, and how Germany deals with the past in general; and on the other hand, the possible comeback of Donald Trump, racism and antisemitism in US history.

By the way, we’re just getting started. Much more to come in our next episodes.

Hosted by Ed Crasnick and Jonathan Widder; edited by Leon Wolf

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Squirrel News is a free, curated news service. Check out our website to find our more, download our app or subscribe to our newsletter: https://squirrel-news.net/

Please donate now to help us continue our work: https://squirrel-news.net/support-us/

Can psychedelics like MDMA drive positive social change? Journalist Rachel Nuwer wrote a book on "MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World", and in one chapter she describes how taking the drug in a scientific study seems to have helped a former white nationalist leader change his extremist beliefs. In this episode, Rachel explains how this could be possible, how MDMA could have similar effects on others and where the limits are.

Hosted by Ed Crasnick and Jonathan Widder; edited by Leon Wolf

Photo: Gil Gonzalez

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Stories discussed

How a dose of MDMA transformed a white supremacist, BBC, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230614-how-a-dose-of-mdma-transformed-a-white-supremacist

Rachel Nuwer, I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/i-feel-love-9781635579581/

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Squirrel News is a free, curated news service. Check out our website to find our more, download our app or subscribe to our newsletter: https://squirrel-news.net/

Please donate now to help us continue our work: https://squirrel-news.net/support-us/

When thinking about global development, toilets are not the first thing that comes to mind. But facilitating access to toilets for everyone has surprising benefits for health, nutrition, safety, education and the economy. In this episode, Sarika Saluja, General Manager of the World Toilet Organisation, explains why universal access to toilets is more important than we'd think, why even governments are not sufficiently aware of that and how the situation has been improving over the last years.

Hosted by Ed Crasnick and Jonathan Widder; edited by Mathias Warzecha

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Stories discussed

Half of India couldn’t access a toilet 5 years ago. Modi built 110M latrines – but will people use them? CNN, https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/05/asia/india-modi-open-defecation-free-intl-hnk-scli/index.html

World Toilet Organisation - Website: https://worldtoilet.org/

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Squirrel News is a free, curated news service. Check out our website to find our more, download our app or subscribe to our newsletter: https://squirrel-news.net/

Please donate now to help us continue our work: https://squirrel-news.net/support-us/

A popular saying goes: “nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come,” and the four-day work week (without any salary cuts) seems to be exactly such an idea. More and more companies around the globe are introducing it. In the UK, the world's largest trial so far has just ended with positive outcomes regarding health, productivity, revenues, job satisfaction and more. In this episode, Dale Whelehan, a behavioural scientist and the new CEO of the NGO 4 Day Week Global, tells us why he wasn't surprised about the results and how the positive outcomes are interconnected.


Hosted by Ed Crasnick and Jonathan Widder; edited by Mathias Warzecha

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Stories discussed

Four-day week: ‘major breakthrough’ as most UK firms in trial extend changes, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/feb/21/four-day-week-uk-trial-success-pattern

A hundred UK companies sign up for four-day week with no loss of pay, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/nov/27/a-hundred-uk-companies-sign-up-for-four-day-week-with-no-loss-of-pay

Four-day week 'an overwhelming success' in Iceland, BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57724779

4 Day Week Global Websit: https://www.4dayweek.com/

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Squirrel News is a free, curated news service. Check out our website to find our more, download our app or subscribe to our newsletter: https://squirrel-news.net/

Please donate now to help us continue our work: https://squirrel-news.net/support-us/