On the Nose
Jewish Currents
2 Listeners
All episodes
Best episodes
Top 10 On the Nose Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best On the Nose episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to On the Nose for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite On the Nose episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
J.D. Vance’s Foreign Policy Vision
On the Nose
07/25/24 • 40 min
Donald Trump’s decision to tap Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate marks the culmination of a Republican foreign policy transformation. While some aspects of Trump’s foreign policy choices in his first term alienated neoconservatives, other elements aligned with their views—and his previous vice presidential pick, Mike Pence, hailed from the interventionist wing of the party. By contrast, Vance has stridently denounced the Iraq War and criticized US funding for Ukraine. His selection suggests that a second Trump term could represent a sharper break from GOP orthodoxy on foreign policy and heralds the rise of a realist nationalist vision for how the US should conduct itself around the world.
On this episode of On the Nose, senior reporter Alex Kane speaks with historian Suzanne Schneider and political analyst Matt Duss about the ideology driving Vance’s agenda, his argument that “America First” foreign policy must include US support for Israel, and how a second Trump administration would differ from the Biden administration on international affairs.
Thanks to guest producer Will Smith and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”
Articles Mentioned and Further Reading:
“Light Among The Nations,” Suzanne Schneider, Jewish Currents
“Vance on Iran: ‘If You’re Going to Punch the Iranians, You Punch Them Hard,’” Matthew Kassel, Jewish Insider
Vance’s Keynote Speech at Quincy Institute/The American Conservative Conference
“Trump taps Vance as Running Mate, Anointing Ideological Successor,” Matthew Kassel, Jewish Insider
"Leaked Memo Shows J.D. Vance's Anti-Woke Ideology on Foreign Affairs," John Hudson, The Washington Post
“Harris Candidacy Gives Democrats a Chance to Pivot on Gaza,” Matt Duss, Foreign Policy
2 Listeners
Volatile Emotions
On the Nose
11/14/24 • 48 min
On this episode of On the Nose—recorded at an online event on October 30th—editor-in-chief Arielle Angel speaks with author Naomi Klein and writer and clinical psychologist Hala Alyan about the place of feelings and affect in the movement for Palestinian liberation. They discuss the role of grief and rage, how movements can accommodate affective diversity, and what it means to channel emotions politically.
Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).
Texts Mentioned and Further Resources:
“How Israel has made trauma a weapon of war,” Naomi Klein, The Guardian
The Generation of Postmemory: Writing and Visual Culture After the Holocaust by Marianne Hirsch
Prosthetic Memory: The Transformation of American Remembrance in the Age of Mass Culture by Alison Landsberg
“‘Chronic traumatic stress disorder’: the Palestinian psychiatrist challenging western definitions of trauma,” Bethan McKernan, The Guardian
“Can the Palestinian Mourn?,” Abdaljawad Omar, Rusted Radishes
“‘Resistance Through a Realist Lens,’” Arielle Angel in conversation with Abdaljawad Omar, Jewish Currents
“Mourning and Melancholia,” Sigmund Freud
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein
“One Year,” Palestinian Youth Movement, The New Inquiry (originally published in The New York War Crimes)
Recognizing the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative by Isabella Hammad
“A Surge in American Jewish Left Organizing,” On the Nose, Jewish Currents
“Gaza and the Coming Age of the ‘Warrior,’” Ghassan Hage, Allegra
“One Year,” Arielle Angel, Jewish Currents newsletter
The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist by Emile Habibi
“Theses on the Philosophy of History,” Walter Benjamin
Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein
“Naomi Klein on Israel’s ‘Doppelganger Politics,’” On the Nose, Jewish Currents
“Unpacking the Campus Antisemitism Narrative,” On the Nose, Jewish Currents
“The Power of Changing Your Mind,” Hala Alyan, Time
2 Listeners
Jesse Eisenberg's Holocaust Road Trip
On the Nose
12/05/24 • 39 min
A Real Pain is a film starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Kulkin as two American Jewish cousins who take a trip to Poland to visit the childhood home of their grandmother. In this episode of On the Nose, editor-in-chief Arielle Angel, contributing editor Maia Ipp, and author Menachem Kaiser—all of whom are grandchildren of Holocaust survivors—dissect the movie’s depiction of millennial neuroses, its relationship to other Holocaust films, and its grappling with the question of how to make meaning out of inherited memory.
Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”
Texts Mentioned and Further Resources:
“Selling the Holocaust,” Arielle Angel, Menachem Kaiser, and Maia Ipp, Jewish Currents
“(Re)Writing Remembrance,” Arielle Angel and Maia Ipp, Jewish Currents
Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure, Menachem Kaiser
“If I were a Zionist, I'd be Z: How Generations of Jews have Abandoned their Children to Face the Reckoning Alone,” Natasha Gill, Substack
2 Listeners
Assessing Trump’s Gaza Expulsion Fantasy
On the Nose
03/06/25 • 41 min
On February 4th, President Donald Trump said that all Palestinians in Gaza should leave the coastal enclave and go to other Arab countries such as Egypt or Jordan—a move that, if actualized, would mark a drastic chapter in the Palestinians’ history of being ethnically cleansed. Israel immediately embraced the idea, with the country’s war minister ordering the military to draft plans to facilitate a mass exodus of Palestinians from Gaza. Palestinian groups as well as Egypt, Jordan, and many other countries have roundly rejected the idea, but Trump and his foreign policy team continue to insist that they will carry out the plan which would end in a US takeover of Gaza.
On this episode of On the Nose, Jewish Currents senior reporter Alex Kane spoke to Mouin Rabbani, a co-editor of Jadaliyya, and Tariq Kenney-Shawa, US policy fellow at Al-Shabaka, about situating this moment in the long history of Palestinians displacement, whether and how a Trump ethnic cleansing plan is likely to unfold, and how it will impact the ceasefire in Gaza.
Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”
Further Reading
“With No Buy-in From Egypt or Jordan, Trump Appears to Back Away From His Gaza Plan,” Michael Shear, The New York Times
“‘Trump Gaza is finally here!’: US president promotes Gaza plan in AI video,” Mick Krever and Mostafa Salem, CNN
“Palestinians in Paraguay,” Hadeel Assali, London Review of Books
“Trump Revives Biden's Failed Proposal To Remove Palestinians From Gaza,” Matthew Petti, Reason
“Netanyahu’s Goal for Gaza: ‘Thin’ Population ‘to a Minimum,’” Ryan Grim, The Intercept
“WikiLeaks: Israel Intentionally Kept Gaza on Brink of Economic Collapse,” Joshua Norman, CBS News
“Exclusive: Egypt's alternative to Trump's 'Gaza Riviera' aims to sideline Hamas,” Andrew Mills, Reuters
“Trump wants Palestinians out of Gaza. Here are Egypt's plans to keep them there,” Aya Batrawy, NPR
“Israel has cut off all supplies to Gaza. Here’s what that means,” Cara Anna, Associated Press
1 Listener
Israel’s Ever-Expanding War on the West Bank
On the Nose
02/06/25 • 38 min
Israeli warplanes have stopped dropping bombs on Gaza, at least for now, but there’s no ceasefire in the occupied West Bank. Since October 2023, and especially since this January, the intensity of Israeli military operations in the West Bank has escalated to a degree unseen since the Second Intifada. On January 21st, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “Operation Iron Wall”—a bombing campaign and ground invasion centered on the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. Jenin houses a large Palestinian refugee camp populated by families expelled by Israeli forces in 1948. As such, it has long been an epicenter of Palestinian militancy, and has faced waves of Israeli ground invasions and sieges for decades. Now, Israel’s defense minister has said that the army is returning to Jenin to apply the “lessons” it learned in Gaza—which have included the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, the siege of a hospital, and, in a particularly brazen act, the simultaneous blowing up of 23 buildings on February 2nd.
To discuss Israel’s application of the “Gaza model” in the West Bank and its impact on Palestinians, Jewish Currents senior reporter Alex Kane spoke with journalist Azmat Khan and analyst Tahani Mustafa.
Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”
Articles Mentioned and Further Reading
“Israeli military operation turns Jenin refugee camp into 'ghost town,'” Ali Sawafta, Reuters
“Demolitions in Jenin signal Israel’s new approach in the West Bank,” Marcus Walker, The Wall Street Journal
“In West Bank raids, Palestinians see echoes of Israel’s Gaza war,” Raja Abdulrahim and Azmat Khan, The New York Times
“Two young children were getting ready for school. An IDF drone killed them,” Hagar Shezaf, Haaretz
“The civilian casualty files,” The New York Times
“Palestinian Authority’s raid on Jenin appeals to Israeli, Western interests,” Mat Nashed, Al Jazeera English
“Palestinian gunman kills Israeli soldiers as UN warns over W Bank operation,” David Gritten, BBC News
“The settler strategy accelerating Palestinian dispossession,” Dalia Hatuqa, Jewish Currents
1 Listener
Higher Ed Under Attack
On the Nose
03/27/25 • 39 min
Last week, Columbia capitulated to Trump’s extensive demands on the university, in hopes of recovering $400 million in government funding that was revoked by the Trump administration. Almost a week later, there is still no indication that Columbia will get the money back. The university has agreed to a long list of changes, among them the creation of a new 36-officer campus police force with the power to arrest students; the adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which conflates anti-Zionism and antisemitism; broad commitments to disciplinary action for student protesters; and even the advancement of Columbia’s Tel Aviv Center. Strikingly, the university has placed the Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies department into what the Trump administration is referring to as “receivership,” appointing a new senior vice provost to exert control over the teaching of Israel/Palestine in particular, starting with the Center for Palestine Studies. Meanwhile, the university committed to “the expansion of intellectual diversity among faculty,” indicating that they are going to hire more Zionists to teach in the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies and in the School for International and Public Affairs. All of this follows the targeting and abduction of Columbia students, including Palestinian green card holder and student activist Mahmoud Khalil, who remains in ICE detention, and Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian student who was not significantly involved in protests and who fled to Canada to avoid detention after her visa was revoked.
It’s hard to overstate the significance of Columbia’s surrender, at a moment when the US appears to be in democratic freefall, and when academic freedom and the fundamental right to free speech hangs in the balance. Editor-at-large Peter Beinart and Columbia professor Nadia Abu El-Haj, who also serves as the co-director of the Center for Palestine Studies, spoke just hours before this shocking development, but their conversation probes what’s been happening at Columbia and Barnard, and what’s at stake—both for the study of Israel/Palestine and for the future of higher ed. This conversation first appeared in the Beinart Notebook on Substack.
Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”
ARTICLES MENTIONED AND FURTHER READING:
“‘Mahmoud Is Not Safe,’” Nadia Abu El-Haj, New York Review of Books
“The Columbia Network Pushing Behind the Scenes to Deport and Arrest Student Protesters,” Natasha Lennard and Akela Lacy, The Intercept
Letter from Mahmoud Khalil from ICE detention in Louisiana
“The Perils of Universities’ Unscholarly Antisemitism Reports,” Peter Beinart, Jewish Currents
“The new definition of antisemitism is transforming America – and serving a Christian nationalist plan,” Itamar Mann and Lihi Yona, The Guardian
“The Fight for the Future of Israel Studies,” Mari Cohen, Jewish Currents
“The Civil Rights Law Shutting Down Pro-Palestine Speech,” Alex Kane, Jewish Currents
Letters from Columbia journalism alumni and from 1 Listener
The Killing of Ismail Haniyeh
On the Nose
08/09/24 • 31 min
On July 31st, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s top political leader, was killed in Iran. Haniyeh came to the capital city of Tehran for the presidential inauguration; an explosive device went off in the guest house where he was staying. Just hours before, Haniyeh had met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel hasn’t taken responsibility for the attack, but they’re widely believed to be responsible—especially given their history of targeted political assassinations. Indeed, Haniyeh’s killing followed Israel assassination of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Lebanon one day earlier.
Haniyeh was killed in the middle of ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel. With the death toll in Gaza nearing 40,000, and the family members of Israeli hostages desperately calling for a prisoner exchange, the pressure to come to an agreement has been mounting. But Haniyeh was a chief negotiator in those talks, and now, the chances of arriving at a deal seem further than ever.
Meanwhile, Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel for the attack on their soil. As of Thursday, August 8th, that hasn’t happened yet, but many now fear that tensions could lead to a wider regional war.
In this collaboration between Unsettled Podcast and On the Nose, Unsettled producer Ilana Levinson interviews Tareq Baconi, author of Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance, to make sense of these developments and what Haniyeh’s assassination means for the future of the region.
This episode was produced by Ilana Levinson with Emily Bell. Music in this episode from Blue Dot Sessions. Thanks to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”
Further Reading:
“Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance,” Tareq Baconi
“Hamas: Gaza (Ep 3),” Unsettled Podcast
“Tareq Baconi: ‘There’s no going back,’” Unsettled Podcast
“Regional War: An Explainer,” Alex Kane and Jonathan Shamir, Jewish Currents
1 Listener
Voices from Gaza
On the Nose
01/10/25 • 41 min
On this episode of On the Nose—a recording of an online event for Jewish Currents members, co-sponsored by the Beinart Notebook—editor-at-large Peter Beinart speaks with Mahmoud Muna, Matthew Teller, and Juliette Touma, three of the editors of the new anthology Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Culture. This volume includes nearly 100 stories from people in Gaza, recorded both before and amidst Israel’s ongoing assault. In this conversation, the editors discuss the collection and the process of compiling it, and read some of the powerful testimonies it contains.
Thanks to Daniel Kaufman and Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).
Texts Mentioned and Further Reading:
Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Culture, ed. Mahmoud Muna and Matthew Teller with Juliette Touma and Jayyab Abusafia
“Letter from Gaza” by Ghassan Kanafani, Marxists Internet Archive
“The Only Refuge I Could Offer” by Anonymous, Jewish Currents
“Exile from Gaza” by Zak Hania, Safa Al-Majdalawi, Amal Al-Majdalawi, and Mohammed Ghalayni (as told to Jonathan Shamir), Jewish Currents
“The Scenes in Rafah Are Straight From a Nightmare” by Zak Hania, Ahmed Totah, and Sameera Wafi (as told to Jonathan Shamir), Jewish Currents
“Even as We Are Trying to Help, We Are Being Attacked” by Jameel, Juliette Touma, and Mohammed Al Khatib (as told to Jonathan Shamir and Aparna Gopalan), Jewish Currents
“We Have Lost the Ability to Provide True Care” by Hammam Alloh, Yousef Al-Akkad, and Reda Abu Assi (as told to Maya Rosen), Jewish Currents
“Dispatches from Gaza” by Mohammed Zraiy, Khalil Abuy Yahia, and Rania Hussein (as told to Alain Alameddine, Maya Rosen, and Julia), Jewish Currents
1 Listener
Zohran Mamdani’s Moral Stand
On the Nose
04/23/25 • 38 min
In October 2024, Zohran Mamdani launched his New York City mayoral campaign in relative obscurity. Half a year later, excitement about the state assemblymember from Queens is palpable. Mamdani, whose campaign is focused on housing justice and transit affordability, is the first in the race to hit its fundraising cap, raising $8 million dollars from more than 17,000 donors. A member of the Democratic Socialist of America, he boasts over 15,000 volunteer canvassers. Mamadani is now polling in second place, behind Andrew Cuomo, former New York governor who resigned in disgrace following sexual harassment allegations.
Meanwhile, Cuomo, who began a lackluster second act in Israel advocacy following his resignation from office, is attempting to make Israel and antisemitism central issues in the campaign. In a speech earlier this month at a Modern Orthodox synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, he blasted Mamdani, as well as fellow competitors Brad Lander and Adrienne Adams, for being insufficiently supportive of Israel, while asserting that anti-Zionism is unequivocally antisemitism. He also zeroed in on Mamdani’s “Not On Our Dime” legislation, which targets charities funding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Mamdani has continued to stress an adherence to international law, and a commitment to the principle of the equality of all human life.
As the mayoral race enters its final months, Jewish Currents editor-at-large Peter Beinart interviewed Mamdani in a conversation that first appeared in the Beinart Notebook on Substack. They discussed how Israel/Palestine is making its way into New York politics, how Mamdani would stand up to President Trump, and his detailed plan for public safety. Jewish Currents is a non-profit organization and does not endorse candidates for office. We hope that our listeners in New York City will vote in the primary on June 24th.
Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”
FURTHER READING:
“Cuomo’s ‘most important issue,’” Jeff Coltin, Nick Reisman, and Emily Ngo, Politico
“Cuomo and Mamdani gain ground as Democratic primary turns into two-person race,” Adam Daly, amNY
“Socialist Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani Wants to End Columbia and NYU’s Tax-Exempt Status,” Sarah Wexler, Jacobin
“Feds seized $80 million in FEMA funds given to NYC to house migrants, city comptroller says,” Jennifer Bisram, CBS News
“Migrant family swept up by ICE allowed to return home,” Brian Mann, NPR
1 Listener
09/26/24 • 91 min
In this live taping of Jacobin’s podcast The Dig—recorded at Jewish Currents’s recent daylong event and presented in partnership with On the Nose—host Daniel Denvir convened a conversation with scholars Aslı Bâli and Aziz Rana on the past and present of left internationalism. Placing the current eruption of solidarity with Palestine in the context of the rise and fall of Third Worldism, they discuss the history and legacy of that project, the lasting structures of neocolonialism, and the challenge of contesting empire from the heart of empire.
This episode was produced by Alex Lewis and Jackson Roach, with music by Jeffrey Brodsky. Thanks also to Jesse Brenneman for additional editing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).
Texts Mentioned and Further Reading:
“Left Internationalism in the Heart of Empire,” Aziz Rana, Dissent
“Reviving the Language of Empire,” Aziz Rana in conversation with Nora Caplan-Bricker, Jewish Currents
“The Disastrous Relationship Among Israel, Palestinians and the U.N.,” Aslı Bâli on The Ezra Klein Show, The New York Times
Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism by Kwame Nkrumah
“What We Did: How the Jewish Communist Left Failed the Palestinian Cause,” Dorothy M. Zellner, Jewish Currents
Empire As a Way of Life by William Appleman Williams
Discourse on Colonialism by Aimé Césaire
“From Minneapolis to Jerusalem,” Hannah Black, Jewish Currents
“Charging Israel with Genocide,” On the Nose, Jewish Currents
1 Listener
Show more best episodes
Show more best episodes
FAQ
How many episodes does On the Nose have?
On the Nose currently has 104 episodes available.
What topics does On the Nose cover?
The podcast is about News, Religion & Spirituality, Podcasts, Judaism and Politics.
What is the most popular episode on On the Nose?
The episode title 'J.D. Vance’s Foreign Policy Vision' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on On the Nose?
The average episode length on On the Nose is 46 minutes.
How often are episodes of On the Nose released?
Episodes of On the Nose are typically released every 14 days.
When was the first episode of On the Nose?
The first episode of On the Nose was released on Apr 9, 2021.
Show more FAQ
Show more FAQ