Home Podcasts Unholy: Two Jews on the News
Unholy: Two Jews on the News

Unholy: Two Jews on the News

Unholy Media 310 Episodes Jul 23, 2026

Yonit Levi of Israel's Channel 12 News and Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian, two prominent journalists who are also Jewish, host this weekly podcast. They dissect and debate current events shaping Israel, Jewish life, and the wider world, featuring a range of guests. The show is praised by figures like Rachel Maddow, David Remnick, Ira Glass, and Malcolm Gladwell for its nuanced discussion and sparkling conversation. Each episode includes nominations for the greatest act of chutzpah and outstanding mensch of the week.

Episodes

Trump’s Saudi nuclear deal, Israeli elections get real
Trump’s Saudi nuclear deal, Israeli elections get real Jul 23, 2026 00:40:45 A nuclear deal between Washington and Riyadh breaks overnight — and Israel learns the terms from the same press release as everyone else. This week, Yonit and Jonathan dig into what the US–Saudi agreement does and doesn't include, why the normalization clause that was supposed to be attached appeared to be missing - before it was hastily added by Donald Trump, after the event - and what a nuclear-
First Time Voters in Israel
First Time Voters in Israel Jul 21, 2026 00:43:43 This week, Yonit and Jonathan sit down with three first-time voters — Aviv, Yael and Dror — to talk about the topics that will shape these election - the judicial overhaul, whether Arab parties belong in a coalition, and the draft bill. October 7th moved each of them, but not the same way — one drifted toward the center, another sharply to the right. What they do agree on might be the most interes
Espionage in Iran, election manoeuvres in Israel - and unlikely football glory
Espionage in Iran, election manoeuvres in Israel - and unlikely football glory Jul 16, 2026 00:48:06 The US-Iran war is back on. The ceasefire has collapsed, the naval blockade is reimposed, and Israel is asking if a moment is coming when the missiles turn its way. With Yonit away, Jonathan is joined by New Yorker writer Ruth Margalit to make sense of a dizzying week: a jaw-dropping report that the Mossad cultivated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — yes, that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — as an asset in a failed plo
Jews and Football: a forgotten story - with David Bolchover
Jews and Football: a forgotten story - with David Bolchover Jul 14, 2026 00:35:14 As football fans across the globe gear up for the World Cup final on Sunday, Jonathan talks to the author of a new book that uncovers a hidden story: the Jewish players who were once football’s biggest stars. David Bolchover reveals how it was Jewish footballers that dominated some of Europe’s best teams, reinventing much of the way the game is played - until they were brutally murdered in the Hol
Bibi’s dash to remake Israel, Rahm Emanuel’s warning and a wedding to beat the odds
Bibi’s dash to remake Israel, Rahm Emanuel’s warning and a wedding to beat the odds Jul 9, 2026 00:44:23 Donald Trump declares the Iran ceasefire dead, while a new poll has alarming news for Benjamin Netanyahu: New York's trenchantly anti-Israel mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is more popular with American Jews than he is.   This week, Yonit and Jonathan break down the collapse of the fragile Iran deal and why "amateur hour" US negotiators may have doomed it from the start. They unpack the Knesset's last-minu
Danielle Haas on NGOs, Antisemitism & Institutional Bias
Danielle Haas on NGOs, Antisemitism & Institutional Bias Jul 7, 2026 00:33:16 A new report accuses the world's most trusted human rights organizations of a problem that goes far beyond anti-Israel bias: antisemitism, and a culture that pushes out Jewish staff for naming it. This week, Yonit and Jonathan talk to Danielle Haas, a former senior editor at Human Rights Watch who spent 14 years inside the organization before co-founding EiGHT, a watchdog created to scrutinize the
1,000 Days, Election Maneuvers & America at 250
1,000 Days, Election Maneuvers & America at 250 Jul 2, 2026 00:40:26 A thousand days after October 7th — and Benjamin Netanyahu wants to talk about unity. This week, as Israel edges closer toward elections, Yonit and Jonathan discuss a prime minister campaigning on togetherness after- say his critics- a long career spent dividing Israelis against each other, and trace the strange alliance between Israel's nationalist right and the ultra-Orthodox parties who for the
Jason Burke on Iran, Entebbe - and how to fight global terror
Jason Burke on Iran, Entebbe - and how to fight global terror Jun 30, 2026 00:39:05 A wave of antisemitic terror swept across Western Europe this spring — and one man appears to have been behind it all. This week, Yonit and Jonathan hear the full, remarkable story as they sit down with Jason Burke, The Guardian's international security correspondent and terrorism expert. He describes how a single Iraqi-Iranian dual national is accused of leveraging both social media and teenage c
Reality bites: Trump, Bibi and the Mamdani Effect
Reality bites: Trump, Bibi and the Mamdani Effect Jun 25, 2026 00:45:19 The new reality of Washington’s relationship with Israel is slowly sinking in — and it’s not pretty. As JD Vance grows visibly chummier with Qatar and Pakistan than with Israeli officials, Yonit and Jonathan discuss the likely impact of the shift and whether Israel’s old assumption — that an American president will always have its back — has to be discarded for good. Then: as the Mamdani effect ri
Naftali Bennett
Naftali Bennett Jun 22, 2026 00:54:58 Israel just learned that the US and Iran have agreed to a deconfliction cell with Lebanon — and Israel wasn't in the room. As the dust settles on a war whose outcome is, at best, ambiguous, Yonit and Jonathan sit down with former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who wants his old job back. Bennett doesn't hold back: on why he believes this government dragged out a war Israel was never built to figh
E-Signed, Sealed, Delivered
E-Signed, Sealed, Delivered Jun 18, 2026 00:39:18 As the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding is signed in Versailles — covering a ceasefire, sanctions relief, and billions in unfrozen assets, but saying nothing about uranium enrichment, centrifuges, ballistic missiles, or Iran's proxies — Israel is left reading a deal it wasn't part of and only received hours before Trump's signature. Yonit is joined this week by CNN senior global affairs analy
Nir Bar Dea on the New World Order, AI, and Israel's Risks
Nir Bar Dea on the New World Order, AI, and Israel's Risks Jun 16, 2026 00:42:06 This week’s Unholy conversations is a rare interview with Nir Bar Dea, CEO of Bridgewater—the world's largest hedge fund. Bar Dea moves beyond market trends, framing our current moment as a volatile collision between a changing world order, and an unprecedented technological revolution fueled by AI. He offers a sobering perspective on why the comfort of the last several decades has perhaps left us

Recommended