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Unholy Media

Yonit Levi of Israel's Channel 12 News and Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian are two of the most prominent journalists in the world today. They are also Jews. Each week, join what MSNBC's Rachel Maddow calls "two great, smart smart smart hosts" as they dissect and debate current events shaping Israel, Jewish life - and the wider world.
Their blend of nuanced discussion and sparkling conversation, featuring a dazzling range of guests, is why New Yorker editor David Remnick calls himself a “proud, avid listener," why Ira Glass says he "completely enjoys this show" and why Malcolm Gladwell calls it an "incredibly fun podcast".
For a weekly fix of globally informed talk – including nominations for the greatest act of chutzpah and outstanding mensch of the previous seven days – there’s only one destination. Make every Friday morning Unholy. 
Contact us via: unholy@unholy-media.com

Unholy: Two Jews on the News

Please note that an (authentic!) alert sound is heard twice throughout the episode.

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The fourth week of the war with Iran finds both sides insisting—loudly and contradictorily—that peace talks are either underway or nowhere in sight. In the meantime, Iranian missiles continue to hit civilian neighbourhoods across Israel, while rolling news blurs day into night, tracking both the war itself and the political manoeuvres that show little sign of slowing down. And in London, another antisemitic attack raises uncomfortable questions about double standards when it comes to hatred directed at Israel.

This week, Yonit and Jonathan sit down with Jake Sullivan, who puts it bluntly: this war should not have started. Sullivan lays out three reasons why the decision was flawed, argues that Donald Trump’s “appetite grew with the eating” from the 12-day war to the current escalation, and offers an alternative path—a renewed nuclear deal backed by long-term deterrence. He also raises a troubling possibility: could this conflict increase the likelihood of Chinese action against Taiwan?

 

Plus: a rare look behind the scenes of Israel’s most-watched news broadcast, as Yonit reflects on what it means to sit in the anchor’s chair for hours on end—and the personal toll it takes.

 

00:00 Day 27 — Cluster bomb near Yonit's house

 03:00 Life under sirens: sheltering in Tel Aviv 

19:48 The Rubio remark: did Israel drag America into war?

23:28 Yonit on anchoring Israel's news during a war she's living

31:23 Jonathan: global antisemitic attacks since the war began 

42:06 Jake Sullivan: deal or escalation?

1:15:16 Chutzpah & Mensch Awards

 
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Talking peace, making war - with Jake Sullivan

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This morning, Donald Trump posted something that might — or might not — mean the US-Israeli war on Iran is coming to an end.

A five-day pause on strikes. Secret talks via Pakistan and Turkey. Kushner and Witkoff on the American side. A shadowy Iranian speaker being cast as the pragmatist the US has been searching for. This is a special emergency episode of Unholy, recorded on 23 March 2026, as events were still unfolding.

Jonathan and Yonit break down the two scenarios — deal or larger war — and why Trump's exit ramp looks nothing like Netanyahu's. They also turn to the daily wave of antisemitic attacks across Europe and North America since this war began, including last night's arson on four Hatzalah ambulances in Golders Green, London.

 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Update Episode

01:02 Trump's Social Media Post and Its Implications

03:40 Negotiations and Mediating Efforts

08:29 The Role of Iran and Potential Outcomes

13:30 Israel's Position and Concerns

16:26 Rising Anti-Semitism and Community Safety

 

 
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War with Iran Update: Trump Hits the Pause Button

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Day 20 of the US-Israeli war on Iran — and it's becoming a war of attrition. In the meantime, Europe refuses to lend its ships, daylight emerges between Trump and Netanyahu, and Joe Kent's antisemitic conspiracy theory gets the full debunking it deserves.

Amos Harel, Haaretz's military affairs correspondent, joins Yonit and Jonathan for a deep dive. What does the assassination of Ali Larijani — Khamenei's right-hand man — actually achieve? Is the war drifting from plan A toward something no one planned at all? And why is Netanyahu now talking less about regime change and more about Israel as a "world superpower"?

And we turn to you, our listeners, with your most pressing questions about anything between life and war.

 
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Day 20 of the Iran war - with Amos Harel. Plus: Shelter Q&A

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Naomi Alderman on Substack: look at me. I’m here. I’m the ultimate product of Hitler’s defeat: https://naomialderman.substack.com/p/look-at-me-im-here-im-the-ultimate

Day 13 of the war with Iran — and the conflict just got bigger. Overnight, 200 rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon. Hezbollah, which many believed had been neutered, is back. 

This week, Yonit and Jonathan take stock of a war that is growing, not winding down. They're joined by General David Petraeus — former CIA Director, commander of coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and one of the most clear-eyed voices on American military strategy. Petraeus breaks down what the US and Israel have actually achieved so far: missile launches are down over 90%, air defenses have been dismantled, and over 6,000 targets hit. But the new Khamenei? "We wanted a Delcy Rodriguez," he says. "We got a young Kim Jong-un." And he's blunt about what comes next: Iran's a million men under arms, and nobody has a clean exit.

Then: a very different conversation. Jonathan talks to novelist and broadcaster Naomi Alderman about why she thinks Marty Supreme is the most intensely Jewish movie she's ever seen. 

Plus: the Mensch and Chutzpah awards return. The Academy of Hebrew Language gets hacked by Iranians. Their response? Perfect.

 
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Iran with General David Petraeus, Oscars with Naomi Alderman - plus: can Jewish life thrive under fire?

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As the war between Israel and Iran enters its second week, daily life in Israel has settled into a strange and exhausting rhythm.

Yonit describe what it means to live under constant missile alerts: sleepless nights, families moving between shelters, and a country running on collective exhaustion. They also unpack two major developments shaping the conflict. First, the mixed and sometimes contradictory signals coming from Donald Trump about how long the war will last. And second, the sudden leadership change in Iran, with Mojtaba Khamenei emerging as the successor to his father.

To make sense of it all, they speak with Professor Ali Ansari of the University of St Andrews, one of the world’s leading historians of Iran. Ansari challenges much of the conventional analysis around the war and the future of the Iranian regime.

Could the Islamic Republic actually be weaker than many assume? Is regime change truly impossible—or simply unpredictable? And if change does come, what might it look like?

 
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War with Iran Week II: can the regime actually fall? With Ali Ansari

Watch us on Youtube: https://youtu.be/zNwIQcrIMDs

Recent update episodes:

War with Iran day 4 - Living under fire (March 3)

Khamenei Is Dead. What Now for Iran? - with Dr. Suzanne Maloney (March 1)

US and Israel strike Iran; Khamenei reported dead - with Amos Harel (Feb 28)

America and Israel are at war with Iran. non-stop sirens in Tel Aviv, the Gulf states are under fire, and the Trump administration is hit by a barrage of tough questions in Washington.

This week, Yonit and Jonathan take stock of a historic and disorienting first week. Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times, joins to assess the war from the outside: Trump shifting justifications for war, Israel's military logic-- and who will fill the regional power vacuum if Iran is weakened.

And: Jonathan reports from Sydney, where he visited Bondi Beach and spoke to a Jewish community still shaken by the shooting in December — and Yonit, running on five nights of no sleep, describes what it's actually like to stop your car on the side of a highway when the sirens go off. Also: a wedding in a shelter, four floors underground.

0:00.000 Chapter: US & Israel war against Iran - day 6

22:31.671 Chapter: Shifting Justifications for War

25:22.534 Chapter: Israel's Strategic Calculus

28:27.274 Chapter: Changing Dynamics in American Support

31:12.981Chapter: The Role of Allies in a New World Order

34:19.257 Chapter: Future of Regional Powers in the Middle East

37:16.299 Chapter: The Complexity of Regime Change

40:07.423 Chapter: Responses from Gulf States and the Path Forward

42:47.830 Chapter: Understanding the Iranian Threat

42:56.867 Chapter: Current Events in the Middle East

43:59.964 Chapter: Reflections on the Conversation and Future Outlook

 

 

 
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War with Iran Day 6: The Gulf Under Fire, Tough Questions for Trump - With Gideon Rachman

Watch us on Youtube: https://youtu.be/hcbffED7ISw

Recent update episodes:

Khamenei Is Dead. What Now for Iran? - with Dr. Suzanne Maloney (March 1)

US and Israel strike Iran; Khamenei reported dead - with Amos Harel (Feb 28)

 

Day 4 of the Israel–Iran war: What does life look like inside Israel right now?

Yonit and Jonathan reconnect for the first time since the beginning of the war with Iran.

What does war feel like minute-by-minute?

What does it mean when sirens sound every hour and a half — day and night?

What happens to a society when workplaces close, schools shut, airports empty, and families move between safe rooms and bomb shelters as routine?

 Yonit describes the exhausting rhythm of preliminary alerts, the psychological strain of constant disruption, and the quiet resilience of Israeli civilians navigating a conflict that feels both immediate and existential.

They discuss:

▶︎ The difference between June’s confrontation and this new phase

▶︎ The strategy behind Iran’s high-frequency missile fire

▶︎ The role of deterrence — and whether this is the beginning of the end for the Iranian regime

▶︎ The balance between exhaustion and resolve inside Israel

▶︎ And ultimately: who decides when this ends?

 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Context of the Conflict

00:43 Living Under Fire: Daily Life in Israel

04:10 The Psychological Impact of Constant Alerts

10:29 Public Sentiment and Resilience Amidst Conflict

15:28 The Role of Leadership and External Influences

22:29 Looking Ahead: The Future of the Conflict

 
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War with Iran - Day 4 - Living Under Fire

As reports confirm that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead, Yonit is joined by Dr. Suzanne Maloney for a searching conversation about what this moment means for Iran and the wider Middle East. They examine Khamenei’s worldview in the years leading up to his death, the ideological roots of the regime’s hostility toward the West, and the deep divisions within Iranian society. The discussion turns to the question now confronting Tehran — who can succeed a figure so central to the system — and to the profound uncertainty facing Iran as it enters a post-Khamenei era with no clear path forward.

 

Chapters

00:00 The Legacy of Khamenei

02:54 Post-Khamenei Iran: What Lies Ahead?

05:42 The Future of the Islamic Republic

08:23 Regional Implications of Khamenei's Assassination

10:59 The Divided Iranian Society

13:58 Transitioning to a New Era

 

 
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Emergency update: Khamenei Is Dead. What Now for Iran? - with Dr. Suzanne Maloney

Jonathan is joined by military analyst Amos Harel to assess the latest Israeli and US strikes against Iran — and what may come next. Together they examine the logic behind the operations, the degree of coordination between Jerusalem and Washington, and how Iran is likely to respond next. They also ask the harder questions now hanging over the region: whether this marks a turning point for the Iranian regime itself, how far escalation could go, and what the strikes reveal about the shifting balance of power in the Middle East.

 
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Emergency update: US and Israel strike Iran; Khamenei reported dead - with Amos Harel

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As the US–Iran talks in Geneva keep the region on edge, Yonit is joined by journalist Matti Friedman, to make sense of Israel’s uneasy calm — daily life continuing under the knowledge that everything could change in minutes. They reflect on Purim anxiety, old antisemitic tropes resurfacing, and Narendra Modi’s unusually warm visit to Israel, set against Knesset infighting. 

They also dive deep into the evolving India–Israel relationship with former ambassador Alon Ushpiz: affection, technology, security interests, and how much (or little) Islam really drives the alignment. Plus: the backlash to Hugh Laurie’s mourning of Tehran producer Dana Eden, a Chutzpah award for Tucker Carlson and Mike Huckabee, and a Mensch salute to Israel’s women’s hockey team.

 
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Day 20 of the Iran war - with Amos Harel. Plus: Shelter Q&A

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