When Deborah Friedell and Adam Thirlwell met twenty years ago, they started a discussion about Jewish identity they are still puzzling over today. Revisiting Philip Roth’s The Counterlife (1986), an American take on British antisemitism and the escapist allure of aliyah, Adam and Deborah discuss the nuances of Jewish experience and novel-writing across the A ... Show More
Sep 10
On Politics: Germany's Far-Right Future?
On Sunday, the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) won the state election in Saxony-Anhalt with 44 per cent of the vote, the highest share for any far-right party in post-1945 Germany. Among the many surprising aspects of the result was the broad, multigenerational ... Show More
1h 4m
Sep 6
The Romantic History of the Bayeux Tapestry
The story of why, and how, an arrow ended up in Harold's eye in the Bayeux Tapestry is tied to the politics of the early 19th century, to Napoleon's ambitions and Britain's national pride, and the work of two antiquaries, Anne and Charles Stothard, who travelled to northern Franc ... Show More
59m 54s
Jul 2015
#3 - Fear & Loathing in the New Jerusalem - Nostalgia and Naivety in Honor Culture
We’re halfway through Fear & Loathing in the New Jerusalem, the history of Zionism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (If you haven’t listened to the first two episodes, you might want to do that for background, but this episode is an exploratory aside that can stand on its ow ... Show More
1h 45m
May 2024
The Emotional Legacy of the Holocaust with Judy Batalion
In this episode of Just the Right Book, Judy Batalion joins Roxanne to discuss her book, The Light of Days, out now from William Morrow & Company.
Buy the book from RJ Julia:The Light of Days - Judy BatalionSign up for our podcast newsletterJust The Right Book SubscriptionPromo C ... Show More
56m 33s
Aug 2022
HOW NATHANIEL DREW REINVENTS HIS CULTURAL IDENTITY (JUDAISM)
In episode #14 of Roots of Humanity, Nathaniel Drew, a 24-year-old YouTuber with Jewish ancestry, defines cultural identity as a living thing that shapeshifts over time. Drew questions his friend about cultural immersion, an intergenerational drive for them both, and about how Je ... Show More
39m 21s