Don't Know Much About with Naya Lekht
Don't Know Much About is a show devoted to unpacking contentious topics--to clarify the complex and empower people to understand historical and political events.
Episodes
25 episodes
My Family Read That Too! The Soviet Jewish Bookshelf
On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Naya Lekht sits down with Professor of Jewish Literature Marat Grinberg to discuss his book The Soviet Jewish Bookshelf: Jewish Culture and Identity Between the Lines. The conversation...
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1:30:09
Inside the Anti-Israel Cult: Michael's Story
On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht sits down with Michael. His story is gripping, urgent, and, quite frankly, one that must be told. Michael was born in the United States to a Coptic Christian family, but he struggled deep...
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1:01:12
Beware Those Who Condemn Antisemitism: The Relationship between Antizionism and Antisemitism
On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht leads a critical conversation on how public condemnation of antisemitism often functions as cover for antizionism, the latest mutation of Jew-hatred.Drawing on her framewo...
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12:52
When the State Took the Classroom: The Story Behind 15 Days
At the crossroads of expanding teachers’ unions, the infiltration of anti-American curricula, and the silencing of dissenting scientists and doctors lies a story that now feels distant but urgent: the closure of schools during COVID. On this ep...
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59:26
Illegal on Paper, Ignored in Practice: Jews and the Enforcement Gap
As anti-Jewish violence continues to rise, Jews are increasingly forced to confront a troubling question: how effective are existing laws at protecting them when the community seeks protection and finds few willing to provide it? Against this b...
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1:23:23
Heroes, Villains, and Speaking for a Nation with Eylon Levy
In this episode, I sit down with Eylon Levy, former spokesman for the State of Israel, to ask, what is the role of a government spokesman, and does every country have one? We begin by examining the function of state advocacy, public diplomacy, ...
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44:45
Born in the West: The Hidden Origins of Today’s Anti-Western Movements
On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht is joined by Samuel J. Hyde, a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) and a columnist for The Jerusalem Post. Born in South Africa, Sam recounts his firstha...
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1:29:42
Antisemitism Was Illegal and Poland Purged Its Jews: The 1967 Story
Top-down history often fails to capture the lived experience of individuals, and Naya has long been committed to telling history through personal stories. On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht sits down with Leyb Ejd...
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1:16:28
Arrivederci Italy: Monica Osborne on Italy's Jews
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 wa...
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1:08:29
This Far, No Further: On the Need for Jewish Rebels
On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Naya speaks with Israeli-American writer and award-winning journalist Benjamin Kerstein about his new book, Self Defense: A Jewish Manifesto. The thesis of the book can be summed up in...
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1:08:29
The Courage to Name It: Andrew Pessin's Journey Confronting Antizionism
On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht sits down with philosopher, professor, and author Andrew Pessin, one of the earliest Jewish academics to warn about the rise of antizionism within higher education. Pessin re...
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1:08:29
Reevaluating Jewish Advocacy Against Antizionism
On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht asks, Why have so many Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy groups failed to counter the antizionist narrative? While antizionism evolved into a sophisticated campaign of disinformatio...
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18:53
Armed and Jewish: The Case forJewish Gun Ownership
On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht sits down with Adam L. Fuller, Professor of Political Science at Youngstown State University, to discuss his new book, "The Armed Jew: The Case for Jewish Gun Ownership." While the title ...
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58:06
Bye, Bye Miss American Pie? A Schism on the Right
On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht is joined by James Lindsay, a leading voice on the rise of the “woke right.” Together, they unpack the origins of this movement, examine who may be driving it, and, most alarming...
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1:08:29
Why Gen Z Shrugs at Making the "Case" for Israel
On this special episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht is joined by two of her former students, Shaya and Misha Keyvanfar. Shaya is a junior at UC Berkeley, majoring in Global Studies, while Misha is a senior in high school. ...
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58:06
When Israel Becomes the Whole Story: The Dilemma of a Partial Jewish Identity
On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht speaks with Daniel Levine, Rabbi of Orange County Hillel, Lecturer in Jewish Studies at UC Irvine, and host of the Rabbi Daniel Levine YouTube podcast. Drawing on h...
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1:09:11
We Always Danced Again: Hillel Fuld Urges Jews to Keep on Shining
On this episode of Don't Know Much About, blogger, marketer, and journalist Hillel Fuld joins Dr. Naya Lekht to reflect on the unique moment facing the Jewish people in the aftermath of the greatest tragedy since the Holocaust: October...
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1:11:30
When Diversity is a Fig Leaf: The Case for Bold Jewish Leadership
On this episode of Don't Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht speaks with Dillon Hosier, Chief Executive Officer of the Israeli-American Civic Action Network (ICAN), about how California lawmakers, legislators, and advocacy groups have been unprepar...
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52:08
America First, Antisemitism Last: The Case for Neoconservatism
On this episode, Dr. Naya Lekht sits down with Freedom Foundation litigator, Shella Alcabes, to discuss the case for being a proud, unapologetic neoconservative in an era where ‘America First’ too often turns into Jews last. We unpack the rise ...
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58:06
Surviving Antizionism: Natasha's Story
What if everything you thought you knew about history, education, and Israel was built on a lie? On this episode of Don't Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht sits down with Natasha H. Pein, a Soviet-born survivor of state-sponsored antizio...
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1:06:26
When the Right Got a Makeover—and a Jewish Problem
In this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht sits down with Sharon Nik for a timely conversation about the rise of antisemitism on the political right. Together, they trace the emergence of the "woke right" and explore how ...
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46:59
Should the Jews Play Dodgeball? An Honest Conversation on Jewish Advocacy
What does Theodor Herzl have to do with dodgeball, and why does it matter for Jewish advocacy today?In this thought-provoking episode, Dr. Naya Lekht sits down with Nicole Bernstein, co-founder of PeerK12, to explore the state of Jewish...
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55:05
They Hate the Left, Love America, and Blame the Jews: How the Woke Right Mirrors the Left
In this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht explores how modern antisemitism on the "woke right" resembles left-wing conspiracy frameworks—despite often being cloaked in patriotism and Judeo‑Christian rhetoric—and challeng...
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14:00
Life is Short, Tell Good Stories: Iranian and Russian Jewish Perspectives
In this powerful and deeply personal episode of Don’t Know Much About, award-winning journalist, writer, and speaker Tabby Refael joins host Dr. Naya Lekht to explore how stories shaped her identity as a Jewish Iranian refugee and colu...
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56:57
