Don't Know Much About with Naya Lekht
Don't Know Much About is a podcast hosted by Dr. Naya Lekht, a scholar and educator with a PhD from UCLA in Russian Literature. Each episode unpacks a contentious topic — from antizionism and Soviet history to Jewish identity and contemporary geopolitics — through rigorous research, personal stories, and candid conversations with leading thinkers. Clarifying the complex, one conversation at a time.
Don't Know Much About with Naya Lekht
Arrivederci Italy: Monica Osborne on Italy's Jews
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On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, award-winning journalist and storyteller Monica Osborne joins Naya to discuss the difficult decision she’s had to make: leaving Italy amid the alarming rise of antizionism. This conversation was inspired by Monica’s recent piece in the Times of Israel, "Italy's Jews are in Danger," in which she chronicles how quickly Italy has changed and how the normalization of antizionism has placed its Jewish community at risk.
On this episode, Monica recounts what she’s seen firsthand: the sweeping spread of antizionist ideology across Italy and, more distressingly, its impact on Jewish children in schools. Drawing parallels to developments in the United States, Monica and Naya explore how the Jewish community can respond, not by retreating, but by exposing antizionism for what it truly is.
History leaves no ambiguity: wherever antizionism takes root, Jewish life deteriorates. From the mass exodus of Jews from the Soviet Union and MENA countries to the growing unease among Jews in Western democracies today, the pattern is tragically familiar and urgently demands our attention.
Read Monica's piece here.
Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.