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On the Nose

On the Nose

Auteur(s): Jewish Currents
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 On the Nose is a biweekly podcast by Jewish Currents, a magazine of the Jewish left founded in 1946. The editorial staff discusses the politics, culture, and questions that animate today’s Jewish left.Copyright 2026 Jewish Currents Judaïsme Politique Sciences politiques Sciences sociales Spiritualité
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  • Who’s Afraid of the Z-Word

    Who’s Afraid of the Z-Word
    Feb 26 2026

    Recently, the Jewish Federation of North America released a poll they conducted last year that shows that while 88% of respondents said they “believe Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish, democratic state,” only 37% identified as “Zionist.” A small number identified as “anti-Zionist” and “non-Zionist,” 7% and 8% respectively, with a plurality answering “not sure” (18%) or “none of these” (30%). These numbers are confusing; they seem to indicate that while Zionist identification is waning—perhaps due to the stink of the term amid the genocide—the underlying commitment to a Jewish state, albeit one paradoxically imagined as “democratic,” is not.

    At the recent Conference on the Jewish Left at Boston University, nearly every presentation discussed or confronted questions about the terms “Zionist” and “anti-Zionist,” and whether they had enough of an agreed-upon meaning within the community to be useful terms to organize around. On this episode of On the Nose, editor-in-chief Arielle Angel speaks with Ari Lev Fornari, senior rabbi at Kol Tzedek in Philadelphia; Dove Kent, interim executive director of Diaspora Alliance and former executive director of Jews For Racial and Economic Justice; and Fadi Quran, the senior director at Avaaz and a Ramallah-based strategist and organizer. They try to make sense of the recent polling numbers and discuss different strategic considerations about using the Z-word in organizing contexts, including how to welcome newcomers to the Palestine liberation movement without coddling them.

    Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

    Media Mentioned and Further Reading

    JFNA Survey of Jewish Life since October 7 – Zionism Findings

    “The ‘Zionism’ gap: What JFNA data really shows about Jews, Israel and Zionism today,” Mimi Kravetz, JTA

    Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ 2025 Greater Boston Jewish Community Study

    “Do American Jews Really Know What ‘Zionism’ Means?,” Mira Sucharov, Haaretz

    Jewish Electorate Institute July 2021 National Survey of Jewish Voters

    Synagogues Rising

    2026 Conference on the Jewish Left sessions on YouTube

    Transcript forthcoming.

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    1 h et 1 min
  • Epstein and the Capitalist Conspiracy

    Epstein and the Capitalist Conspiracy
    Feb 12 2026
    Recently, the Department of Justice released millions of files from disgraced financier and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Since their release, part of the discussion has revolved around the way Jewishness appears in the files. Epstein and his friends make clannish jokes about Jews and “goyim,” many of them simultaneously self-deprecating and chauvinistic. Epstein himself is extremely interested in genetics, sending out a number of DNA Kits to Jews and non-Jews alike, and referencing a natural Ashkenazi intelligence. The files also show close—and sometimes criminal—relationships to a number of prominent Jewish men. These details, along with information about Epstein’s role as fixer for former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, have fueled conspiracy theories about Jewish power. But what do we do with a story whose real-life details are so fitted to antisemitic conspiracy? In this episode of On the Nose, editor-in-chief Arielle Angel speaks with author, thinker, and activist Naomi Klein about how to make sense of the capitalist conspiracy outlined in the files, and the grave importance of holding our depraved elites accountable.Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further ReadingDoppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi KleinHarsha Walia on Epstein and sexual violenceA collection of Epstein’s comments on “Jews” and “goyim” from Tikkun Olam“Eugenics Isn’t Dead—It’s Thriving in Tech,” Julia Métraux, Mother Jones“Jeffrey Epstein’s assistant ordered so many 23andMe kits, the company asked why,” Ariana Bindman, SFGate“The Myth of the Chosen Nation: The Colonial Period,” Richard T. Hughes“The crisis in modern masculinity,” Pankaj Mishra, The GuardianEpstein in China“Epstein tells ex-Israeli PM Ehud Barak to speak with Palantir founder Peter Thiel in released audio,” Middle East Eye“Epstein celebrated Brexit and ‘return to tribalism’, newly released emails suggest,” Millie Cooke, Independent“Jewish Moneylending,” Norman Roth, My Jewish LearningHere Where We Live Is Our Country by Molly Crabapple“Latest Epstein files release unleashes wave of antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media,” Grace Gilson, JTA“Epstein trained as an Israeli spy, FBI document says,” Peter McNamara, Middle East Eye“How the men in the Epstein files defeated #MeToo,” Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge“The Right Kind of Continuity,” Ari Brostoff and Noah Kulwin, Jewish CurrentsOrigins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt“DOJ Files Contain Alleged Epstein-Gates Discussion on 'Getting Rid of Poor People,'” National Today“Peter Thiel and the Antichrist,” Ross Douthat, The New York Times“What Barak-Epstein audio says about Israeli controlling demographics,” Al Jazeera“U.N. Says It’s in Danger of Financial Collapse Because of Unpaid Dues,” Farnaz Fassihi, The New York Times“Why would Elon Musk pivot from Mars to the Moon all of a sudden?” Eric Berger, Ars Technica“New data reveals how Jewish neighborhoods split between Cuomo and Mamdani,” Jacob Kornbluh, The Forward
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    41 min
  • Fighting the ICE Occupation of Minnesota

    Fighting the ICE Occupation of Minnesota
    Jan 29 2026
    In December, ICE agents began arriving in Minneapolis under the Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge.” As of late January, 3,000 agents are on the ground in the city, outnumbering local police officers three-to-one, pursuing a campaign defined by its cruelty: ICE has abducted children as young as two, and agents have used those children as bait to draw out and arrest their families. To counter these efforts, locals have organized vast mutual aid and rapid response operations, with block-by-block networks mobilizing to deliver supplies and run errands for undocumented people who can’t leave their homes without fear of detention. These locals have been met with violence. On January 7th, Renee Good, a mother and poet, was shot in the face by an ICE agent while she attempted to turn her car around. On Saturday—one day after a general strike brought tens of thousands to the streets in subzero temperatures—Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, was murdered while observing ICE, with agents firing at least ten shots at close range.On this episode of On the Nose, Jewish Currents editor-in-chief Arielle Angel speaks with three organizers on the ground in Minneapolis: Lily Cooper from UNIDOS’s rapid response team, which has conducted legal observer trainings for almost 30,000 people across Minnesota; Kandace Montgomery, a local organizer, trainer, and movement strategist who co-founded Black Visions in 2017; and Jesse Meisenhelter, an organizer with Minneapolis Families for Public Schools, whose current campaign aims to build sanctuary school teams across the state. They discuss the legacies of local organizing since George Floyd’s murder in 2020, the opportunities for the left-liberal coalition in this moment, and navigating the steep risks involved in this resistance work.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“Organizing for Abolition in the Spotlight,” Kandance Montgomery and Hahrie Hahn, Hammer & Hope“Ten years ago, killing of Jamar Clark prompted wave of Twin Cities activism,” Danny Spewak, Kare11The St. Paul PrinciplesMinneapolis Families for Public SchoolsICE OUT OF MN Toolkit UNIDOS MN and Monarca“ICE Is a Virtual Secret Police,” Jamelle Bouie, The New York Times“Minnesota National Guard mobilizes around Minneapolis following fatal shooting,” Jonathan Limehouse, USA Today“Minneapolis City Council votes unanimously to strengthen separation ordinance,” MPRnews“Minneapolis schools cancel classes after Border Patrol clash disrupts dismissal at Roosevelt,” Elizabeth Shockman, MPRnews“How Should Activists Relate to Risk?” Aryeh Bernstein and Maya Rosen, Jewish Currents“‘I heard screaming, I heard crying:’ Inside ICE detainment at the Whipple Building,” Katelyn Vue, Sahan Journal“ICE Making List of Anyone Who Films Them,” Ken Klippenstein, Substack“‘Trumped-Up Charges’: Out of Jail, Nekima Levy Armstrong Faces Prosecution for Anti-ICE Church Protest,” Democracy Now!“Whose Concentration Camps?” Noah Kulwin, Jewish CurrentsUS Holocaust Museum tweet about Minneapolis“Trump ousts Biden-appointed Holocaust Museum board members, including Doug Emhoff,” Ed O’Keefe and Kathryn Watson, CBS News“Walz Invokes Holocaust, Calls ICE Agents ‘Modern-Day Gestapo,’” Lonny Goldsmith, TC JewfolkAn Open Letter from Catholic, Evangelical, and Jewish Community Leaders to Minnesota’s Federal, State, and Local Elected OfficialsTranscript forthcoming.
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    1 h et 7 min
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