Julie Szego is a writer of the popular Substack blog Szego Unplugged, and a former senior journalist at The Age and other major Australian publications. She has authored a book titled The Tainted Trial of Farah Jama which was shortlisted for both the VIC and NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.

Our conversation spans a number of topics including taking risks, activist journalism, liberals versus progressives, Islamism, Jewish identity, the state of liberal Jewry today, advice for writing and more.

Julie’s Substack: Szego Unplugged

Buy Julie’s book today: The Tainted Trial of Farah Jama

Articles and other resources mentioned in today’s conversation:

• Matti Friedman: An Insider’s Guide to the Most Important Story on Earth

• RAND Corporation think-tank report on journalism

• The Cass Review (UK) on gender identity services

• Tom Holland interview on the relationship between Wokeism and Christianity

• Jeremy Corbyn speech describing “friends from Hezbollah and friends from Hamas”

• Julie’s article on the “bikini ban” at a public swimming pool in Dandenong

• Julie’s article on wearing the Star of David as battle gear

• Call Me Back podcast by Dan Senor

Podcast Info:

Instagram

YouTube

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To support this podcast, please head over to Buy Me A Coffee where you can pledge a one-off payment of as little as $5.

Nathan Wolski is a lecturer in the Australian Centre of Jewish Civilisation at Monash University who has a special interest in the Zohar and Yiddish. He’s an author, translator and member of Di Farborgene Khalyastre (“The Hidden Group”).

Our conversation meanders through a range of topics including reality and the mystical experience, professional dreamers, Kabbalistic conceptions of God, rationalism vs mysticism, Aaron and Hillel Zeitlin, the overlap between physics and the Zohar, and more.

Books and concepts mentioned in today’s conversation:

• Esh Kodesh

• Midrash Tanchuma

• Menachem Mendel of Kotzh

• Mah (What) vs Mi (Who) in the Hakdama (Introduction) to the Zohar

• Wallace Stevens: Notes Towards a Supreme Fiction

• Encounters at the End of the World (A Werner Herzog film)

• Tetragrammaton

• Blue Octavo Notebooks by Franz Kafka

• A River Flows from Eden: The Language of Mystical Experience in the Zohar by Melila Hellner-Eshed

• Seekers of the Face Secrets of the Idra Rabba (The Great Assembly) of the Zohar by Melila Hellner-Eshed

• God and the Big Bang by Daniel C. Matt

• “Revenge of Myth” from Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism by Gershom Scholem

• Biblical Myth and Rabbinic Mythmaking by Michael Fishbane

Podcast Info:

Instagram

YouTube

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This episode has been proudly supported by Beit Midrash Oz.

Ghil'ad Zuckermann is a professor of linguistics who invented the field of revivalistics, a trans-disciplinary field of enquiry exploring "the dynamics and problematics inherent in spoken language reclamation, revitalization, and reinvigoration". He was named in 2024 as one of Australia’s Top 30 “Living Legends of Research” by The Australian newspaper.

This conversation spans a number of topics including hyperpolyglotism, revivalistics, his classification of Modern Hebrew as Israeli, reviving the ancient Aboriginal language of Barngarla, the future of language in an increasingly globalised and online world, and much more. Buy Ghil'ad's book today using promo code AAFLYG6 to receive a 30% discount

Link to Ghil'ad's resources:

• Website
• MOOC

Books and concepts mentioned in this conversation:

• Revivalistics
• Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry
• Ladino
• Bourekas film
• Barngarla
• The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig
• Adam Jacot de Boinod

Podcast Info:

• Instagram
• Website
• YouTube

Raphael Dascalu is a quirky scholar with a special interest in Judeo-Arabic thought and literature. Currently serving as an Adjunct Research Associate at Monash University, he is starting Beit Midrash Oz (a House of Study) which is due to officially open in 2024.

Our conversation covers a range of topics including the vibe of the new Beit Midrash, conceptions of the Divine, ritual, revelation, the indigeneity question, the Jewish Diaspora, and more.

Books and concepts mentioned in this conversation:

• Link to Raf’s new Beit Midrash website
• Transformative Experience by L.A. Paul
• Zhuangzi by Zhuang Zhou
• The Cambridge Ritualists
• Pirkei Avot excerpt (Ben Bag Bag commentary)
• Ghil'ad Zuckermann description of 'Israeli' as distinct from Modern Hebrew
• Negation of the Diaspora
• Religious underpinnings for Zionist and anti-Zionist positions from the Talmud (Ketubot 110b)

Podcast Info:

• Instagram
• Website
• YouTube

David Solomon is a scholar and educator who holds a doctorate in translation studies from Monash University. His latest work, a monumental seven volume translation of the Tikunei haZohar, one of the Kabbalah's most famous texts, has been a decade in the making and is due for release next year.

This conversation spans a number of topics including David's translation project, the Zohar, the Kabbalistic mindset, Jewish eschatology, "pseudepigrapha", Hasidism, the nature of truth, and more.

David's YouTube channel Podcast Info: Instagram Website YouTube ---------------------------------- Supporters of this episode: Vofsi Films: Get in touch with the award-winning artist and filmmaker today! Jewish Museum of Australia

Simon Holloway is the Melbourne Holocaust Museum's Manager of Adult Education and Academic Engagement. He holds a PhD from the University of Sydney in Classical Hebrew and Biblical Studies, and a Masters in Ancient History.

This conversation spans a number of topics including how the Nazis used their interpretations of the Talmud to fuel their propaganda, antisemitism, anti-Zionism, Schrodinger's Whites, academic Biblical studies, truth, circumcision, and what Simon wishes to persist beyond his death.

Books mentioned in today's conversation:

• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
• People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present by Dara Horn
• Anti-Semite and Jew by Jean-Paul Sartre (essay)
• Concerning The Jews by Mark Twain (essay)
• Torah From Heaven: The Reconstruction of Faith by Norman Solomon

Podcast Info:

• Instagram
• Website
• YouTube

---------------------------------- Supporters of this episode:

• The Archive. Capture your family's stories today with a video-biography.
• Jewish Museum of Australia

Zach Gomo is studying for his PhD in Education, and is currently serving as a Victoria Police Chaplain. He's been a Teacher and Assistant Principal, as well as a former Sergeant in the Israeli Defence Force.

This conversation spans a number of topics including the modern social and political movements replacing religion, the missing "third space", Judaism in modern times, the strengths and weaknesses of the Melbourne Jewish community, three qualities every good teacher must have, and why Zach believes his wife is more important than his kids.

Books mentioned in today's conversation:

• Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland

Podcast Info:

• Instagram
• Website
• YouTube

---------------------------------- This episode is supported by The Archive. Capture your family's stories today with a video-biography.