Just discovered this recently. I have only listened to the most recent podcast on Israeli Exceptionalism. Many interesting/t, houghtful observations. I have tried to interest others I know here in America with an interest in Israel today/now. Regrettably, most are persuaded that they already know enough. …ª

What I love about the show is the amount of space given to the guests to unfurl their thoughts ... this is slow dialogue that goes in depth ... a wonderful relief from caffeinated combat journalism.

Covers a lot of topics that you don’t usually hear about and does it in an intelligent and interesting way.

Always insightful about one of the thorniest regions in the world.

Really excellent. Sophisticated discussions on history, culture, politics, religion and more. Sober and respectful, not polemical. And the episodes age well, meaning a dive through the archive is well-rewarded. Five stars without a doubt.

Podcast exploring wide ranging issues and ideas. The hosts are engaging and I find myself drawn into pretty much any topic. Discussions are at high, thoughtful, and stimulating level - including a little touch of humor which helps me feel I am in the room, participating in the conversations. I have learnt from the podcast a great deal about Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish world. Much grist for lunch and dinner table conversations. Gilad Halpern, who started the show, I think, is a great host - well prepared for his interviews. Dahlia Scheindlin the former co-host was also excellent. Her replacement is getting her feet wet, but shows great promise.

So glad you are back with new episodes. You have been missed!

This is a fantastic podcast. I find myself binge listening a number of ‘episodes’ in a row for an intellectual vacation - a wide range of interesting topics covered at a depth we rarely get to see and in an honest and thoughtful way. This level of thinking seems so absent from many other sources: At a time when we can find a perspective on almost anything, it’s great to hear from academics, writers and thinkers (and more) who are genuinely keen to bring you into their world, their work, and their insights so that you may have a glimpse - from a guide who has thought deeply. This podcast is a wonderful treasure.

I look forward to hearing it each week; the guests are always interesting and informative and the hosts ask very incisive questions.

Tel Aviv Review has really blown me away. I was looking for a decent podcast Jewish culture and history, including antisemitism, and was having trouble finding one that wasn’t boring, pedantic or superficial. Then I stumbled on TAR. I must say it is simply among the most engaging interview podcasts I have found, period, in any field. It is rigorous and academic in the best sense. I hope to find more such podcasts but am happy to have 600 episodes of this one ahead of me. (My one complaint? Please get rid of that obnoxious intro in the first 5 seconds that says “this is TLV1” - I am sure you lose some listeners w that bc it does not match the style of the show at all - it sounds like an AM talk radio intro.)

This is an excellent podcast, with hosts who can navigate conversations with intellectuals across a wide array of topics. If you have not heard Dr. Sheindlin’s discussion with Ann Applebaum about her new book - Twilight of Democracy; start there. It’s an opportunity we don’t often get any more — two people on different sides of the political spectrum thinking about how to move forward together

What wonderful interview of Ms. Bandak and Mr. Berman regarding the value of learning Arab idioms as an essential means of truly understanding the other. It is Street Food for thought. I was especially taken by the Arabic idiom that basically translates to screaming words to disappear. I can only think of Bibi and Trump: I now have created a new expression: He uses a Megaphone as a Magic Wand...to disappear.

Excellent discussion with Mr Benkler. You guys crushed it as always!

Intelligent and engaging! Remarkable choice of interviewees with thoughtful engagement that goes well beyond the surface.

The topics, guests and interviewers are all brilliant. This podcast is as good as anything available on iTunes . . . or anywhere. It is thought-provoking and unique.

Serious thought articulated by serious, informed people who wish to go beyond the facile theories, dogmas, and headlines.

I am a regular listener. Tel Aviv Review is one of my “go-tos” for new ideas/books/thoughtful discussion modern Israel. Dahlia and Gidon are terrific interviewers. NBS

Very good discussions. Topical. High quality. I’m a regular listener.

Great well balanced and in depths interviews, covering many interesting points of views from israel and the diaspora.

One of my favorite weekly podcasts!

I strongly recommend The Tel Aviv Review. Scheindlinn & Halpern are outstanding interviewers. Over the years they managed to curate a rich collection composed of a wide range of authors, researchers, and journalists, for in-depth discussions about their work and experiences. This podcast is not only the best English-language survey of the landscape of sharp thinking and probing ideas emerging from Israel, but also the best source of insight, analysis, and expert discussion about its multi-colored fabric.

I really like this podcast. Lots of high-quality discussion of interesting topics, many of which not touched upon by the media in my country (us). Only flaw is the tendency of the female host to interrupt the guest, often while they are making an interesting point. Recommend highly

This podcast is one of the best short-interview programs on Israeli, Jewish, and generally broader concerns in politics and literature.

The hosts are extremely professional and the subject material can be very interesting. However, I prefer when there is more fact of the subject rather than trying to persuade listeners towards a liberal ideology. Information is great, but cutting others in the tribe down is not the way to do it. I just finished listening to the 12/31/18 podcast regarding Ultra Orthodox habits and their guest was very enlightening.

I listened to The Hackers Are Coming/March 25, 2019

A well put together podcast, with high intellectual standards while remaining highly accessible. Gilad, who first started the show, is wonderful and Dahlia is excellent addition. Along with the Promised Podcast (which Gilad sometimes fills in on), it is my facorite podcast on things Jewish and Israeli.

This is a very good in-depth discussion of “ideas that make up the debate in and about Israel.” The hosts are well prepared and facilitate a discussion that goes beyond the typical Q&A you might find in other promotional book tour interviews. There is, however, one glaring flaw and it is not with the topics covered or the liberal bias. It’s with the topics they don’t cover. One can listen to a year of this podcast and not know anything about the majority of the country that is Sephardic or non-Ashkenazi. None of those ideas are ever explored.

The Tel Aviv Review is a gem! Each episode involves a thoughtful and highly informed discussion between the hosts, Dahlia and Gilad, and an author of an interesting book or sometimes other cultural/political figure. Dahlia and Gilad are well-versed in numerous areas of social science, history, politics and the humanities, and they ask excellent questions, sometimes productively disagree with each other, and always ensure that the academic analysis is clear and multi-faceted. This is my favorite podcast!

The Tel Aviv Review (TLVR) is the most sophisticated English-language podcast about (mostly) the Jewish world, Israel, and the broader Middle East. As an avid listener since the beginning, I have learned quite a lot from TLVR, and read many a book after hearing its author interviewed here. Dahlia and Gilad’s thoughtful questions effectively bring out the points of greatest interest in their interlocutor’s position. Their insightful commentary has even led me to revise some of my political views. While Dahlia and Gilad maintain a careful scholarly neutrality, in subtle ways it eventually emerges that both come from the political left. (Not saying that’s a bad thing.) The podcast is at its best when the hosts engage with smart positions that fall to their right—the recent discussions with Einat Wilf and Matthew Goodman are excellent cases in point—or interview others on the left without being afraid to press them with potentially uncomfortable questions. In such moments, they really do succeed in “promoting democratic and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel,” and, I’d add, the Jewish diaspora. Dahlia and Gilad responded graciously to my special request for a certain topic (the notion of indigeneity, in general or as it relates to The Conflict and Jewish history), and to my suggestions for interviewees (Nuseir Yassin or Bashar Al Masri). Both were tall orders, but I still look forward to hearing the indigeneity episode if it ever becomes feasible—this is an important issue that needs further discussion from voices like theirs. In the meantime, I’ve appreciated their noting the issue in passing as it arose. The one thing that TLVR doesn’t really do is cover current events in Israel. (Though they put out a great episode on the nation-state law.) TLVR is more of a scholarly venue. For an excellent Israel-current-events podcast I recommend my other favorite, The Promised Podcast. TLVR surely deserves the financial support of all of its listeners. Anyone who can give should do so generously.

One of the best podcasts discussing Israeli issues.

I love listening to the Tel Aviv Review! Smart analysis, great guests, bringing me perspectives on Israeli society and culture I would never find on my own.

I am preparing to teach Israel-palestine to undergraduates next year, and this podcast is invaluable. Nuanced, multiple perspectives, well produced. Dahlia Scheindlin is a gem of coherent analysis, curiosity, tolerance, and professionalism. Bravo!

I listen to these regularly. The interviewing pair work beautifully together as they interview guests who always offer interesting perspectives on an immense variety of topics. Highly recommended.

Very informative, enlightening, intellectually challenging. The episode of the history of Jews of South Africa was positively thrilling. I didn’t know a thing about that community so everything was wonderfully interesting and illuminating. I will definitely keep listening to this podcast and turn others on to it. The Best! So interesting. What else canI say? Just this: A MUST LISTENING! Love the interviews, interviewers and interviewees. Fascinating, enlightening and very engaging topics. So much learning.

Founding host Gilad Halpern and co-host Dahlia Scheindlin, affectionately known to fans as Israel's original "pod couple," are as good as it gets anywhere (but especially Kikar Hamedina, where the competition is fierce) when it comes to thoughtful dialogue concerning topics of genuine intellectual interest. With goodwill, dignity and aplomb, appropriate seriousness of purpose and a leavening sense of humor, these charming chatterers present what you need to know about serious books having to do with Israel and their authors. To listen regularly (I never miss an episode, and relisten to certain shows when I want to brush up) is to earn your PhD in Israeli culture, in all its variety, at the highest level. Truly remarkable is the breadth of who they have on (all the best people doing the most remarkable work), which is matched only by the depth of their probing inquiry (these deeply educated folks wear their erudition lightly, so their incisive queries lead the listener willingly to the heart of things). The show's genuine ecumenism is a model of robust civility, in the finest sense. Just what we need in these polarized times! I can only compare the real commitment to ideas and urbane sensibility of the hosts to that of the original William F. Buckley show, "Firing Line," with a side order of hummus. The Abba Eban and Golda Meir of contemporary Israeli podcasting!

Phenomenal podcast. Insightful, thoughtful, informative. Real conversations with extraordinarily interesting guests. Dalia particularly is a delight to listen to. Her intelligence, eloquence, and sensibility make the series addictive.

I was drawn into The Tel Aviv Review after listening to their episode with the author of “City on a Hilltop”, Sara Yael Hirschhorn. The conversation was accessible yet in-depth and I immediately fell in love with the hosts discerning style. I now listen to every new episode. The wide range of topics are seemingly un-categorizable, yet all somehow connect to or touch on Israeli and Jewish studies. I highly recommend this podcast and thank the hosts for their hard work.

So grateful for this podcast. This is one of the very few places that I can find a nuanced discussion of Jewish and philosophical topics from both a calm and a liberal humanistic point of view. The hosts are well-prepared, the topics informative, and the discussion is professional and lively. Highly recommended.

Always learn about something or something about someone I didn’t know before. I do think sometimes that a subject deserves more time than the podcast allows. Also, at times I wish the hosts would refrain from interrupting or talking over an interviewee who hasn’t completed expressing or explaining a point. Overall , I find this to be a very illuminating podcast.

Best podcast to keep current on liberal leftist progressive intersectional jargon. If you love The Land of Israel network you’ll have little love for this. If Israel News network is your favorite this may make your head explode.

Not your normal podcast or show on Israel, its vibrant intellectual look at Israel, Judaism and the Middle East. In depth discussion with authors of their works.

Just stared listening to the TLV Review and really love it. It’s thoughtful, informative and covers subjects way beyond what’s covered in the media outside Israel. Highly recommended!!!

The variety of topics and guests make this a very interesting podcast. The episodes are well produced, and interviewers generally do a great job at keeping conversation flowing while allowing space for substantive discourse. The “myth of the cultural Jew,” episode was a little frustrating.

I just finished listening to pride and prejudice, Israel at 70. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed at the intellectual fire power and the extraordinary honesty that I thought all three people, the interviewers and the interview, brought to this podcast. Thank you so much for informing and stimulating.

Great overview of literature related to Israel, Judaism and issues that close to me

I struggled to find a good title. This is a program for intellectuals of all stripes. For those interested in the Big Questions (what is God?) to interesting little questions (was John Adams a small d Democrat?) Sometimes Israel/Judaism/Middle East feature largely in the topic; often not at all. The hosts come well prepared and don’t hesistate to challenge the guests in the most professional, respectful manner. Rarely do I finish an episode thinking “I wish they would have asked...” The best part is that no question is off limits. Stay away if you’ve got your mind made up and don’t want to be challenged. Indulge and wrestle if reason and logic are your guides. I have simply relished many episodes including Nathan Thrall, Palestinian society in Israel, history of the international justice system, John Adams views on democracy, and others.

Compelling content

At first I thought I had found a great podcast but I have successively fallen out of love with this one and its sister podcast the Promised Podcast. What broke the camels back was the latest episode featuring Rashid Kalidi who is an anti Israel/pro Arab polemicist in the USA. I brief YT search and a view/listen of his talks and lectures will show that this man agitates against Israel in the crassest terms. It is shocking to find the creeping anti zionism being mainstreamed by Tel Avis's "thinkers". The first red flag regarding this podcast was the introdcution of co-host Dahlia Sheindlin of 972 mag infamy. And it has gone down hill ever since. This is a very biased view of the world. It is a shame NGO money's are being spent on this twisted view of the world. Shame on them.

I listen to a lot of podcasts about Israel -- it's a passion of mine -- and this is the best of the lot. Its range is vast, the guests are fascinating and often off-beat, the discussions go deeper here than anywhere else I know, it's smart (and takes its listeners seriously, assuming that we are smart, too), and it's entertaining. Both hosts are brilliant, but in different ways, so you come away with insights of different sorts. This is a spectacular show.

I feel like I'm listening to a British intellectual, which is fine, but where is the authentic Jewish perspective? The host comes off as clueless toward Jewish thought, identity, and Torah. This show does not need to be based in Israel. What happened to our early Zionists like Israel Eldad, M Begin, and Ben Gurion, none of whom were religious but commanded a deep knowledge and appreciation and perspective on Jewish traditions, philosophy, and the writings of our sages.