LET’S GET LIT: Madame Ambassador

Tova Herzl, a former Israeli ambassador, joins host Ilene Prusher in the TLV1 studio to talk about her new book Madame Ambassador: Behind the Scenes with a Candid Israeli Diplomat. It’s not all fun and cocktail parties...

ILENE IN: On New Year's in Israel

New Year’s is a bit tricky in Israel, where it’s called Sylvester - a Christian religious holiday rather than a secular one. Ilene posits that we need secular holidays where we can connect with friends or family without the need to cook, clean, and shop till you drop.

The BDS bugaboo

TLV1 speaks to Prof. Cary Nelson, co-editor of The Case Against Academic Boycotts of Israel, about academic boycotts on campuses across America. We then get an opposing view from Raphael Margarik, a student at UC Berkeley, where tensions are high.

StreetWise Hebrew on how not to be a sucker

Guy Sharrett, host of TLV1's StreetWise Hebrew, joins host Ilene Prusher in the studio to talk about the thing Israelis really fear most – being a fraier ('sucker'). Where does the word come from and why is it so important to Israelis?

Retro, with a 4,000-year-old twist

London-based singer Stef Conner talks to about the music of ancient Mesopotamia featured in her CD, 'The Flood.' She and other musicians have recreated the sounds of Sumerian music from over 4,000 years ago, based on researchers' knowledge of instruments and lyrics.

On film: Manning the mikveh

Filmmaker Nurit Jacobs Yinon, speaking from Limmud UK, talks about her latest work of video-art, 'A Tale of a Woman and a Robe,' which explores the feelings of women taking the plunge in a mikveh to convert to Judaism under the watchful eye of the male rabbis.

To be, or not to be? Hamlet is coming to town

Shakespeare’s timeless 'Hamlet' is coming to Israel. Judy Kleinman of TNT Britain, the play's producer, talks about why it remains so compelling for contemporary audiences. The challenge, she says, is getting the word out that Shakespeare is for everyone.

Sex, sandwiches, and Talmud

Whoever said Yiddish was a dying language hasn't seen the new web series YidLife Crisis. The show's creators, Montreal natives Eli Batalion and Jamie Elman, talk to TLV1's Shoshi Shmuluvitz about their earnest exploration of Jewish identity.

Music:

The Clash - Rock The Casbah
ABBA - Happy New Year
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home
The Lyre Ensemble - The Flood
Avraham Tal - Hazman Ose et Shelo
Russo & Weinberg - Bringing You Down
So Called - (Rock the) Belz
Amy Winehouse - Rehab