Unholy: Two Jews on the News

The Jewish new year arrives with the word ‘Zionist’ deemed an insult and a technology that never forgets anything that anyone has ever said or done. Following Unholy tradition, Yonit and Jonathan usher in the season of awe and the High Holydays with Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, who leads New York’s Central Synagogue and whose congregation was rushed by an intruder during a packed Friday night service weeks before this conversation. She walks through what repentance actually demands — a real apology, a change of action as well as heart, and three attempts — and why she thinks Abraham, the first Jew, failed the test we remember on Rosh Hashanah. Plus: the sermon she is dreading, why she calls the coming Israeli election existential for Jews everywhere, and, as ever, the music.

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Yonit Levi
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Seven weeks out from an election that in many ways is a referendum on culpability for October 7th, Benjamin Netanyahu tells Channel 14 that if only they had woken him earlier that fateful day, everything would have been different — and his wife goes considerably further about Yair Golan, a man who drove towards the gunfire that morning and saved lives. Yonit and Jonathan take Mrs Netanyahu’s accusation apart, then turn to the week's most improbable story: Yoav Segalovich, a Jewish former police commander, joining Mansour Abbas's Islamist party - because the crime wave destroying Israel’s Arab communities needs someone with a proven ability to fix it. Plus a Channel 13 poll that should worry the anti-Netanyahu bloc; Britain's expected ban on trade in goods linked to the West Bank - and why Greece and Finland moved in the other direction.
Our Chutzpah award goes to a perennial winner with a new map, and the Mensch of the Week award is split three ways between brothers.

00:00:00 a US-Iran war nobody is calling a war
00:03:39 Netanyahu on Channel 14: if only they had woken me up
00:08:03 Yair Golan, October 7th, and a smear the hosts reject
00:14:26 Netanyahu's advisors, the pool party and the Qatar accusations
00:17:50 The Channel 13 poll and the shape of the Israeli right
00:22:54 Yoav Segalovich joins Mansour Abbas and Ra'am
00:30:27 Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Ron Dermer and the hostage families
00:35:39 Britain, the E1 corridor, and why Greece and Finland moved
00:39:09 Chutzpah of the Week and Mensch of the Week

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Yonit Levi
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Jonathan Freedland
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The former UK Prime Minister and Chancellor joins Yonit and Jonathan for the latest of our Unholy Conversations — on the void populist nationalists have moved into, on the difference between hope and optimism, on the father whose projector slides taught him the kings of Israel before the kings of England, and on the Middle East peace deal he watched come apart in 2009.

Chapters:

00:06 Introduction to Gordon Brown and His New Book

05:48 The Connection Between Nationalism and Community Decline

12:46 Personal Responsibility and Moral Leadership

17:23 Addressing Anti-Semitism and Global Issues

22:41 Hope vs. Optimism in Times of Crisis

30:13 Britain's Role in Global Peace Efforts

32:27 Personal Reflections and Motivations of Gordon Brown



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🎙️ THE HOSTS
Yonit Levi
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Jonathan Freedland
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With sixty days to go until the Israeli elections, the political jockeying enters into overdrive. Yonit and Jonathan break down the high-stakes coalition arithmetic facing both Benjamin Netanyahu and Gadi Eisenkot, from the crowded field of small right-wing parties—including the entrance of retired general Ofer Winter—to the battle on the center ground. Meanwhile, alarming footage of settler violence in the West Bank and provocative stunts by far-right lawmakers raise hard questions and trigger fierce international blowback from London to Washington.

Plus: an election ad pulled on grounds of chutzpah so extreme, even its own party couldn't defend it, and a Mensch of the Week whose Jewish connection nobody saw coming.





0:00 End-of-Summer Chaos 1:50 Sixty Days to Israel's Election: Eisenkot vs Netanyahu 11:56 Lieberman Scenarios and Ben Gvir's TikTok Rise 16:06 Mansour Abbas and the Two-State Question 20:58 E1 Construction and the Wave of Settler Violence 31:10 The Case for Releasing Marwan Barghouti 35:12 Chutzpah of the Week: Aryeh Deri's Shas Ad 36:36 Mensch of the Week: Dolly Parton



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Yonit Levi
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Jonathan Freedland
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It's the end of summer, and Yonit and Jonathan are taking a break from the news with a nugget of pure Jewish joy. Andy Nyman — the West End actor, writer, director and magician currently starring as Max Bialystock in The Producers, and previously as an acclaimed Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof — joins the show for an Unholy Conversation. Why does Mel Brooks' nearly-60-year-old joke about Hitler still land? What makes Max Bialystock - who could have been Tevye’s grandson - so beloved, even in his desperation? And is the Broadway musical, as a form, secretly a Jewish one? Andy answers the question by giving a rare performance of a musical classic — rendered in Yiddish. You won’t want to miss it.

In this episode:

The Genius of Mel Brooks: How The Producers transforms satire into an act of healing and an uncompromising "fuck you" to history.

From Tevye to Bialystock: Exploring the thread connecting the working-class milkman of Anatevka to the scheming, desperate, yet deeply human Broadway hustler.

Art in Times of Darkness: A rare behind-the-scenes look at performing comedic Jewish art—and deciding to keep a daring scene in the show—in the wake of global tragedy.

Exclusive Live Performances: Andy delivers three bespoke, stripped-back performances directly in the studio:

"We Can Do It" (The Producers)

"If I Were a Rich Man" (Fiddler on the Roof)

A haunting, tender Yiddish translation of "Hushabye Mountain" (originally by the Sherman Brothers).

 

00:06 Introduction to Unholy Conversations

00:09 Introduction to Andy Nyman

01:57 The Enduring Appeal of The Producers

05:50 Mel Brooks and Jewish Healing through Humor

08:29 Defiance in Comedy: Pulling Down Pants

09:59 Exploring Max Bialystok's Character

17:30 Max Bialystok and Tevye: A Generational Connection

18:23 The Complexity of Tevye

22:58 The Essence of Fiddler on the Roof

30:44 The Current Jewish Climate

35:40 The Jewish Influence in Musical Theatre

42:32 A Yiddish Lullaby: Bridging Cultures

44:24 The Importance of Representation

44:25 Personal Connections and Impact

 

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🎙️ THE HOSTS
Yonit Levi
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Jonathan Freedland
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📩 Contact: unholy@unholy-media.com
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