Events & Conversations

Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens interviews Andrew Roberts about his SAPIR article, “What Britain Can Learn from Israel.” This recording is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

Being a proud Zionist seems more daunting than ever. Supporters of Israel must often reckon with the possible repercussions of expressing this part of their identity, especially on college campuses and in young-adult circles. In honor of Yom HaAtzma’ut, Blake Flayton and Kylie Unell discuss navigating these complexities and share insights on how the next generation is paving the way to be loudly and proudly Zionist.

Check out the video of our discussion with Ruth Wisse and Dara Horn about their SAPIR contributions and heterodox views on Holocaust commemoration on the eve of Yom HaShoah at Park Avenue Synagogue (free registration required).

Jeff Jacoby joined The Biblical Mind podcast to discuss his essay in SAPIR, “Jewish Study for Non-Jewish Clergy.” He proposes a project of study with deep historical roots that would benefit clergy and anyone who takes religion seriously, not just as an abstract intellectual exercise. This interview is available as a podcast on Spotify,  Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

How do we ensure that Judaism is carried on from generation to generation? In his article for the third issue of SAPIR, Rabbi Cosgrove identified a path forward aimed at reinvigorating a searching American Jewry. “It is only by way of mitzvot, the positive acts of Jewish identification, the language and behaviors of the Jewish religion, that Judaism will survive,” he writes. “Mitzvot are the mystic chords, the commitments and commandments by which one Jew connects to another–and, belief permitting, to God.” Cosgrove and SAPIR Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens discussed this article and the ways the American Jewish community intersects with today’s cultural, social, and political issues in a live event at Park Avenue Synagogue. This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

In this fascinating conversation, Yossi Klein Halevi, Chloe Valdary, and Blake Flayton discuss the future of Zionism and the Jewish relationship with other communities. This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

In this especially timely discussion, Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former Iranian-targets officer in the Central Intelligence Agency and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies discusses his contribution to SAPIR, which examines how Iran’s path toward nuclear weapons might ultimately be stopped (and whether Israeli military action may be necessary). This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

Natan Sharansky, Gil Troy, and our Editor in Chief, Bret Stephens, take a deeper dive into their SAPIR contribution on reimagining a gap year program in Israel for every young Jew. This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

Dara Horn and Bret Stephens discuss Horn’s contribution to our fourth issue – “Dreams for Living Jews.” This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

Anti-semitism was tragically back in the news in recent days with the hostage-taking at the Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. But was this event covered the way it should have been? Barely. SAPIR Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens joins Dan Senor on this episode of his podcast, Call Me Back.

In this episode of the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Identity/Crisis podcast, Yehuda Kurtzer chats with SAPIR Journal Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens about the power of ideas to spark change. They examine topics in the US public discourse: meritocracy, wokeness, cancel culture, and antisemitism.

Jonathan Rosenblum and Bret Stephens discuss Rosenblum’s contribution to our third issue – “More Unites Us Than Divides us: A Haredi perspective.” We explore ideas that are already bringing Jews from a wide variety of backgrounds together in Israel, and whether some of those lessons might translate in America. This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens interviews Annika Hernroth-Rothstein and Josef Joffe about Hernroth-Rothstein’s piece in SAPIR, Two Weddings and a Sorrowful Wife, Joffe’s piece in Commentary, American Jews: A Threat Report, and Stephens’ piece in SAPIR, Is There a Future for American Jews? This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts

Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens interviews Howard Jacobson about his SAPIR article, “Advice to a Jewish Freshman.” This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens interviews Liel Leibovitz about his SAPIR article, Seven Pillars of Wisdom for 21st Century Jews. This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

This program, hosted by our friends at the Jewish Funders Network and facilitated by our Managing Editor Felicia Herman, explores the perils of looking at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a purely Western lens, particularly in the media and on college campuses. Speakers include author and former Knesset Member Einat Wilf, Leah Soibel of Fuente Latina, and Rabbi Mike Uram of Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies.

Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens interviews James Kirchick about his article from Issue 1 of SAPIR. This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens interviews Thane Rosenbaum about his article and the role of Jews in American culture. This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens interviews Ambassador Gold about his article, the power and limits of diplomacy, and new opportunities for Israel in the Middle East. This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

Editor-in-Chief, Bret Stephens, interviews Professor Ruth Wisse about her contribution to SAPIR’s second issue, The Allure of Powerlessness. Prof. Wisse’s memoir, FREE AS A JEW: A Personal Memoir of National Liberation, will be released in September. This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

NYU Professor and Author of Coddling of the American Mind, Jonathan Haidt interviews psychologist and writer Pamela Paresky about her article, debates about the role of critical race theory, and the implications for Jews and antisemitism. This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

SAPIR Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens interviews Rabbi David Wolpe about his article, recent events in Israel, our current discourse on social media and elsewhere, and what it portends for the future. This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

SAPIR Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens interviews Matti Friedman about his article and and how we can consume news about Israel critically. This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify,  Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

SAPIR Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens interviews Dr. Einat Wilf about her article and the dangers of mapping our own analogies onto Israelis and Palestinians. This interview is also available as a podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

Matti Friedman, Israeli journalist and author of the SAPIR article, “Eight Tips for Reading About Israel,” highlights the gap between the outward narrative of conflict and the more cohesive day-to-day reality on the ground in Jerusalem on Tablet’s Unorthodox podcast.

Rabbi Shlomo Brody discusses his SAPIR article “Reclaiming Biblical Social Justice” with Mosaic editor, Jonathan Silver, on The Tikvah Podcast.