Israel Story show

Israel Story

Summary: Israel Story is a bi-weekly podcast, hosted by Mishy Harman and distributed by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange. It tells modern tales from an ancient land – the kind of stories you’d share with a friend over a plate of hummus on a Friday afternoon, or with your partner at the end of a long day. These are everyday stories, told by, and about, regular Israelis. The award-winning show is one of the most popular programs in Israel, where it is aired nationally, on prime-time.

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Podcasts:

 21: 68 and Counting- Part II | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 49:33

In the second installment of this two-part series (and our season two finale), we pick up where we left off last week: Presenting small stories – one per decade – that took place on Israel’s Independence Day, Yom Ha’Atzmaut, and that, in some way, reflect their era. Part I, took us from 1948 to 1978. … Continue reading 21: 68 and Counting- Part II

 20: 68 and Counting- Part I | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 52:10

This is the first in a two-part series that takes us through Israel’s short but dramatic history. Over the last few months, we’ve spent many hours, in all kinds of archives, learning all we could about Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. The result is a mosaic of stories that took place on Yom Ha’Atzmaut itself, … Continue reading 20: 68 and Counting- Part I

 19: Of Numbers and Names | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 48:42

This Thursday, May 5th, Israelis observe Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day.  At 10 a.m., according to custom, an air raid will sound and the country will fall quiet for two long minutes.  Silence won’t do for a podcast, so instead we bring you two stories. Act I, “B-1367,” is about an elderly father and … Continue reading 19: Of Numbers and Names

 18: Thicker Than Water | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 1:00:24

On Today’s show, we delve into the messy territory of family bonds—how they’re formed, challenged, and change over time. We’ll meet three families who are all, at the end of the day, happy, but are not (contrary to Tolstoy’s claim) in any way alike. First we hear from Mishy’s family—Dorothy, David, Danna and Oren—who like … Continue reading 18: Thicker Than Water

 17: Stop That Bus! | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 54:13

Israeli buses regularly make international headlines, be it for suicide bombings, fights over gender segregation or clashes concerning Shabbat schedules. On today’s episode of Israel Story, we delve into the world of lesser known bus-related conflicts. In Act I, “The White Elephant,” Yochai Maital walks us through the history of Tel Aviv’s ‘New’ Central Bus Station — a derelict eight-story behemoth and modern day Tower of Babel — which mirrors much of modern Israeli history, with its grand vision and messy implementation. Act II, “The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God,” is adapted from Etgar Keret’s short story collection of the same name, and performed by Keret himself. In it, we meet—yes—a bus driver whose deeply held belief in equity and fairness flies right smack in the face of Eddie, an assistant cook who has a problem getting places on time.

 16: Over and Out | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 1:11:19

In the last episode of Israel Story, we met couples in love. But for every story of love found, there are, of course, piles and piles of broken hearts. And today, we’ve got the tales of three of the crazy things people do when they no longer see eye to eye. So today on Israel Story, “Over and Out.” We’ve got three stories of relationships that have ended, and the things (the often slightly nutty things) that people do once they have. We’ll journey back to the early days of the State of Israel, and then travel all around the world, to London and New York, even to Beijing.

 15: Love, Revisited | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 45:48

The stories in today’s episode come from our most recent live show, “Israel in Love.” We'll meet three couples looking back at their love affairs from very different vantage points. Zvi and Regina Steinitz’s romance has been going on the longest—in fact, it's been going on since the very birth of the state of Israel. Danna Harman shares their story in Act I, “Like A Stone.” Act II, “There’s a Wall Between Us,” began as a radio piece called “Checkpoints and Secrets," by Daniel Estrin, which aired in last year's Valentine's Day special. Daniel's piece followed the winding love affair of two men, an Israeli Jew from Jerusalem and a Palestinian Muslim from the West Bank, as it unfolded over a long time. We then gave Daniel's original recordings, so the actual words the two men had told him, over to composer Or Matias— the Musical Director of the electro-pop opera "Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812," which will go up on Broadway this coming fall. Or, in turn, adapted the piece into a mini-musical, with entirely original music, performed here by Alaa Daka and Eyal Sherf, with Mike Cohen on flute, Dillon Condor on guitar and mandolin, and Dan Weiner on percussion. Our final story, “When Time Will Fold Over,” takes place in a tiny village, midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, called Mevo Modi’im. The 254 people who live there look like a cross between the Lubavitch Rebbe and Jerry Garcia. This is the story of two of them, Michael and Leah Golomb, and their 37-year marriage. It is an updated version of a piece that we aired exactly a year ago, and is produced by Benny Becker and Yochai Maital, with original music by Collin Oldham.

 14: Besties | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 44:06

When Raymonda Tawil met Ruth Dayan in 1970, they seemed well-primed to be enemies. Ruth, the then wife of Israeli war hero and Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan, was visiting a hospital in the Palestinian city of Nablus to deliver dolls to children. Tawil, of Palestinian aristocracy, was there to witness this exercise in diplomacy. She was not impressed. Today, these elder stateswomen are dear friends. From Malta, where they most recently met up, they share the story of how they won each other over in “R&R,” Act I of this week’s episode. Anthony David told the story of these two grand ladies in his recent book, "An Improbable Friendship."

 13: Sacred Plants | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 54:34

There have already been a few sightings of anemones in Israel, and that means it's the start of wildflower season. Many Israelis track wildflowers with a passion. There are traffic jams near popular flower-carpeted hills and even websites that tell you what’s popped up where. But what Israelis (or at least the vast majority of them) don't do is pick those flowers. That restraint does not stem from any particular zeal for following the law that forbids such picking. Rather, it is the product of a fantastically successful public service campaign that began back in the early 1960s. Daniel Estrin brings us that story in “Act I: Flower Power.” In Act II, we switch gears, locales, and just about everything else to follow the journey of Nathan Ehrlich, a Brooklyn-based reporter. For the past few years, Nathan has sought the help of Peruvian shamans (including one kindred spirit, Sergey, who came to Peru from Ukraine by way of Israel), whose work with ayahuasca, huachuma, and other sacred plants has helped him break through emotional and physical barriers. His story is “Where the Wild Things Grow.”

 11: Herzl 48 Live | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 37:16

There is nothing inherently special about the people who live at 48 Herzl Street, an address that shows up in big cities, small outposts, and everything in between throughout Israel. But symbolically, it’s about as freighted an address as they come. Theodore Herzl was the father of modern Zionism, and there are 54 streets named after him in Israel—more than any other national figure. And 48 comes from 1948, the year the country was founded. For this episode, which was commissioned by the Manhattan JCC and has been performed before live audiences across the U.S. and Israel, Israel Story producers crisscrossed the small country, knocking on doors at every Herzl 48 they could reach and collecting stories from whomever they encountered. Today’s episode, culled from the live show, features seven different characters, including a butcher in Akko, a stoner in Tel Aviv, and a young couple whose very dramatic tale is told in song. For information on future live tours, go to israelstory.org/en/tours.

 10: Birthstory | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 1:05:55

How many people does it take to start a family? Well, if you are a gay Israeli couple, both men, and you’d like your children to be biologically related to you, it may take the two of you, plus a Ukrainian egg donor, an Indian woman to serve as the surrogate, and a Nepali safe house to shelter the surrogate, who is not allowed to perform this service in her home country. Sound complicated? It is. It’s also very, very expensive and raises sticky questions about the complex relationship between a paid surrogate and the people who hire her services. In this very special episode of Israel Story, producers Yochai Maital and Maya Kosover team up with Radiolab’s Molly Webster, Jad Abumrad, and Robert Krulwich, and reporters Nilanjana Bhowmick in India and Bhrikuti Rai in Nepal, to tell the story of Tal and Amir. The two are an Israeli couple who went to Nepal to pick up their three babies from two surrogates and then discovered that the transaction is not as straightforward as they’d believed. The journey is further complicated by the terrible earthquake that struck Nepal during the weeks that Tal and Amir were living there, learning to care for their infants. Here’s how it all went down.

 8: Rabin Is… | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Who is Yitzhak Rabin today, twenty years after his murder? In this episode, we discover that for many Israelis, he represents completely different - and often conflicting - things: Rachel Rabin remembers her older brother as a shy kid, who forced her to be the goalie in neighborhood soccer games. His 'fixer,' Me'ir Palevsky, tells how a crude joke might have saved Rabin's political career. Aliza Goren, the woman closest to the scene of the assassination, talks about standing in the operating room, looking at a dead prime minister. For Etgar Keret, Rabin is a cat, and maybe that's not so strange, when we hear how others - filmmakers, educators and politicians - take Rabin's legacy in all kinds of other - no less bizarre - directions. Lastly, Naomi Chazan reads the very last note she got from Rabin - a letter from the grave.

 7: Out of Africa… And Back Again | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Israel is embroiled in Middle Eastern geopolitics. That, at least, everyone knows. We also aspire to be part of Europe, and never miss a chance to reiterate our "special relationship" with the US. But what about Africa, our next door neighbors? Our history stretches all the way back to the earliest hominids leaving Africa and marching through what is today Israel. Since then there's been an endless stream of people crisscrossing between the two regions. And on today's show, we bring you the stories of two of them: Journeying in very different directions, and for very different reasons, out of – and then into – Africa.

 Promo | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 1:53

A look back and peek ahead-- starting October 21st, we'll release a new episode of Israel Story every two weeks. A new reason to love Wednesdays!

 6: What’s Love Got To Do With It? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 57:06

Valentine’s Day is not native to Israel, but the country does not lack for tales of love, romance, and the pursuit thereof. In this, our sixth episode, we bring you stories of love and all the ways it’s got to do, got to do with it.

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