Episodes

  • How To Do Activism Right, with Jay Ruderman, Tuly Weiss, and Pesach Woliki

    How To Do Activism Right, with Jay Ruderman, Tuly Weiss, and Pesach Woliki
    May 1 2025
    These days, it seems like everyone is a so-called activist. Activism itself seems to have morphed into something different; it’s not about organizing communities or advocating for legislation, it’s about blocking roads and intimidating anyone with a different opinion. This week on Rootless, Liel talks with three different activists, with two very different causes, who are doing activism right. First, he talks with Jay Ruderman, author of the new book Find Your Fight, who advocates for disability rights. Then he talks with Tuly Weiss and Pesach Woliki of Israel365, who will tell us about a little-known election, coming up in a few days and that we’re all eligible to vote in, which is far more influential than most realize.
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    47 mins
  • Israel’s Most Controversial Politician, with Itamar Ben-Gvir

    Israel’s Most Controversial Politician, with Itamar Ben-Gvir
    Apr 24 2025
    There’s no more divisive Israeli public figure than Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir. Starting out his career as a Kahanist firebrand known for his controversial stances—like decorating his living room with a photograph of Baruch Goldstein, or working to free Yigal Amir, Yitzhak Rabin’s assassin—Ben-Gvir evolved from a political sideshow to kingmaker, winning several Knesset seats and joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition. For some Israelis, he’s the strong-willed, strong-armed course correction after too many years of being too soft on terror. To many others, he’s an abomination, subverting the nation’s democratic values. Visiting New York this week, Ben-Gvir attended a live event moderated by Liel to talk about his past, his actions in office, and his vision for the future of the war against Hamas. Sponsor: SAPIR, the quarterly journal edited by Bret Stephens is currently offering free, one-year print subscriptions. Go to sapirjournal.org/rootless to sign up for your free subscription today!
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    45 mins
  • Passover Crossover - How to Be a Jew ... Like Dara Horn

    Passover Crossover - How to Be a Jew ... Like Dara Horn
    Apr 17 2025
    Rootless is off this week for Passover, but we wanted to bring you an episode of How to Be a Jew we think you'll like. Like most Jews, the news of the murder of the Bibas children not only saddened us, but it also made us ANGRY. How do we deal with our own thoughts about the event, and the greater world’s response as well? Dara Horn, a prolific author known for her book People Love Dead Jews (and the podcast Adventures with Dead Jews) as well as her work fighting antisemitism, joins us to deal with our anger and provide context for why we should be optimistic about the future of Jews. We also talk about her new Passover-themed graphic novel for kids, One Little Goat. How does a seder that won’t end lead to a time-traveling adventure? Have a listen.
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    51 mins
  • Why Oct. 7 Victims Are Suing a Palestinian Mogul, with Gary Osen

    Why Oct. 7 Victims Are Suing a Palestinian Mogul, with Gary Osen
    Apr 10 2025
    When people concerned with the future of the Palestinian people talk about the future, they often say, hopefully, that change will come only once we can replace Hamas and other terror groups with entrepreneurial technocrats more interested in building projects than in starting wars. They’re talking, in short, about men like Bashar Masri, a Palestinian-American mogul who developed some of the best known and most lucrative real estate projects in Gaza, including luxury hotels and thriving industrial zones. But as a new bombshell lawsuit argues, Masri’s properties were all used as launching pads for Hamas attacks, including on October 7, 2023, and Masri himself knowingly collaborated with individuals closely tied to the terror group. Gary Osen, one of the attorneys representing October 7 victims in the lawsuit, joins Liel to talk about how Hamas’s terror infrastructure dominates everything in Gaza, and about how the UN and other international aid groups gave millions to support projects that did little more than give terrorists better cover.
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    45 mins
  • Why God Was Right, with Mark Gerson

    Why God Was Right, with Mark Gerson
    Apr 3 2025
    Like most highly successful entrepreneurs, Mark Gerson likes things he can measure, quantify, and know for certain. So as a student of the Torah, a question came to mind: If the Torah is supposed to be a guide to life, can we prove that its claims are true? In his epic new book, God Was Right, Gerson examined each and every single one of the Torah’s prescriptions on anything from what to wear to who to marry, and compared them to contemporary scientific research to prove that the ancient wisdom is as true and as urgently relevant as always. He joins Liel to discuss why the cure to depression may be in your closet, the biggest mistake you’re making while dating, and why we need less victim culture and more dignity culture.
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    53 mins
  • How Israel Will Save Western Civilization, with Josh Hammer

    How Israel Will Save Western Civilization, with Josh Hammer
    Mar 27 2025
    In his new and best-selling book, Israel and Civilization, Josh Hammer makes a bold claim: the future of Western civilization depends on the State of Israel and the Jewish people thriving. He joins Liel to talk about the dangers of the Neo-Nietzschean right, about why liberal Jews have lost the historical plot, and about how only a Jewish-Christian coalition can make the West overcome its moment of tumult.
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    45 mins
  • How Universities Lost Their Way, With Cary Nelson

    How Universities Lost Their Way, With Cary Nelson
    Mar 20 2025
    Universities are meant to be spaces of free inquiry, knowledge, and rigorous debate. But according to academic and writer Cary Nelson, they’ve instead become hotbeds of ideological conformity—long before October 7. In his new essay Mindless, published in the Jewish Quarterly, Nelson traces how universities abandoned shared intellectual principles, paving the way for the antisemitism and misinformation now taking hold on campuses worldwide. He joins Liel to discuss the forces that led to this institutional failure, the consequences for Jewish students and faculty, and what must happen to restore true academic freedom.
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    41 mins
  • Why Dual Loyalty is Good for the Jews, with Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz

    Why Dual Loyalty is Good for the Jews, with Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz
    Mar 13 2025
    The charge of dual loyalty has long been a key weapon in the arsenal of anti-Semites everywhere. But in his new book, The Case for Dual Loyalty: Healing the Divided Soul of American Jews, Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz of Los Angeles’ Valley Beth Shalom argues that it’s time to embrace the idea. He joins Liel to talk about why American Jews should be loyal to Israel and the United States alike, why that is a complimentary rather than contradictory idea, and why it’s time, in the aftermath of October 7th, for Jews to reconsider the way they view their identities
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    47 mins