Jonny Gould's Jewish State

Help Jonny continues to make his podcasts by ⁠supporting him here⁠. Born to a family who lived in a one-bedroom basement apartment in Soviet Ukraine, denied opportunity because he was Jewish, and starting out at the bottom of a steel mill, Eduard Shyfrin went on to build a vast business empire — but that’s only part of his story. In this episode, he takes us from Soviet hardship and discrimination to music, memory, reinvention and Jewish identity, revealing how a boy shaped by love, discipline and adversity became a profound Jewish thinker and entrepreneur. He's also a musician and a determined smoker! Don't miss this out-of-the-box conversation on kabbalah, data and philosophy with Eduard Shifryn. Help Jonny continues to make his podcasts by supporting him here. Jonny Gould's Jewish State is supported by Dangoor Education and UK Toremet, promoting philanthropy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Find all of Jonny's podcasts and writings on his Substack pages. The October 7th War aka the 47 year long Iran Israel War is reaching a head. The head of the snake is being cut off. This is a collage of soundbites, news conferences and parliamentary statements which tell the story of how this decisive leg of the war started in the early hours of Saturday morning, the 28th February 2026. It also underscores the ideological schism that exists between Britain and Europe and on the other hand the United States. In this episode, we'll hear from Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, British opposition leader of the Conservatives Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK party leader, Nigel Farage. Think about supporting Jonny's work and find all his episodes and appearances on TV at buymeacoffee. Jonny Gould's Jewish State is supported by Dangoor Education and UK Toremet, supporting philanthropy. Learn more about you

Find all of Jonny's podcasts and writings on my Substack and help me by buying a coffee. In this conversation, we meet Rawan Osman - a woman of Syrian and Lebanese heritage who grew up in a world where the "Jew" was the ultimate, untouchable enemy. Rawan’s worldview shattered during an everyday trip to a grocery store in Strasbourg. What started as a visceral panic attack at the sight of Hebrew turned into a life-altering epiphany. "That gentleman converted me from an enemy to an ally simply by deciding to be kind," she says. It wasn’t just a change of heart; it was a total identity reset. From the discovery of her Mizrahi Jewish blood to the "chutzpah" of a tradition that encourages you to argue with God, Rawan deconstructs the patterns of prejudice with unflinching clarity. But what is the personal cost of choosing conviction over comfort? How do you rebuild an identity when your family and friends remove themselves from your world? Rawan offers a roadmap for finding truth in a region defined by sh

Find all of Jonny's podcasts, personal appearances and writing on Substack and support him with a coffee here. Parents, if you're about to send your child to university, how are you preparing them for it? Western campuses aren't all what they used to be. In this powerful conversation, I meet the brilliant Izabella Tabarovsky — a leading scholar on Soviet antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and author of Be a Refusenik: A Jewish Student’s Survival Guide. Izabella grew up under the Soviet system, where 'anti-Zionism' was the official line — and it quickly turned into suspicion of all Jews, Zionist or not. "Jews who grew up in the Soviet Union know well their copybook is being repeated here", says Izabella. And Israel hate doesn’t distinguish between the Jewish State or its diaspora or your child, the institutions become anti-Zionist, so all Jews are suspect. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Zionist or not. They don’t even understand what Zionists are. When they speak about Zionists they mean you

Help support Jonny by buying him a coffee and find his Substack feed with all his podcasts and articles. What you’ll hear now in this short interview is a headline masterclass in defining and tackling antisemitism. If only I had longer, but our guest filled the room with shorthand wisdom of the deepest kind when we met during an antisemitism conference in Vienna where I was presented with a plethora of brilliant and courageous people. Vienna, the scene of my own family’s escape to Birmingham in 1938 and 1939 from Hitler’s European tyranny. Join us for a compelling conversation with Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israel's former Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism, ex-Knesset member, and leading voice on the "oldest hatred" in its modern form. Born in Jerusalem, raised in Canada as stepdaughter to renowned human rights advocate Irwin Cotler, she returned to Israel for military service, law studies, and a career bridging academia, policy, and politics. Her PhD probed free speech limits on campuses—eerily presc

What’s it really like in Iran - for its citizens and the Jews who still live there?  Iran’s major cities, Tehran and Isfahan still have functioning synagogues, but the communities have declined sharply since the Islamist revolution which shapes the world today.  Let’s discuss today's Iran with someone who really knows it. This is an interview conducted in Israel just a matter of weeks before October 7th.  During the heady late summer days of weekly judicial reform rallies, this is Dr Meir Javedanfar. He was born in Tehran to a family from the city of Isfahan. Meir Javedanfar is an Iranian-Israeli lecturer, author, and commentator. He's taught Iranian politics at Reichman University in Israel since 2012.  He is the coauthor of Ahmadinejad’s biography, “The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran". He has published many articles on Iran and Iran-related matters for Foreign Affairs, Al-Monitor, The Diplomat, The Guardian and others. He's guest lectured at more than 20 universities and his Ph.D dealt with Mohammad Reza Shah’s s

Help Jonny's worldwide coverage of Jewish and Israeli stories. Buy him a morale boosting coffee here. And so it’s happened. There’s now a piece of Palestine on British soil. In Galena Road, a back street of Hammersmith. An interesting name for a Palestinian address. It’s a Sephardi Jewish surname for one. And archaeologists discovered a prehistoric trench under the modern office building on which this embassy now stands - the remnants of a Roman road. The Romans,conquerors of Jerusalem, destroyers of the Second Temple, which forced most of the indigenous Jews into exile. You decide if G-d has a sense of humour. Keir Starmer’s ill-conceived declaration of Palestine, which has led to this embassy and described by former prime minister Boris Johnson as a “fart in a gale” amounts to a staging post in the Palestinian pursuit to destroy the Jewish State. Starmer’s unleashed a persistent stink on the British people rather than a momentary pong. As the continuing Hamas protests ruin London’s premier shoppi

Find Jonny's articles and all of his podcasts here. Support Jonny's efforts by buying him a coffee or two! The world moves on fast. The headline ticker keeps rolling, attention shifts, and even the most brutal moments are softened by the relentless pace of the news cycle. But for those left to mourn — and for Jewish communities across the global diaspora — the shock of Bondi has not faded. It’s hardened into fear. Fear driven by the perceived lack of action by western leaders against creeping Islamist incursions into the West, attacks that target Jews and threaten the very foundations of open societies themselves. This episode is an attempt to bottle that shock. To take you back to the moment you first heard the news — whether you woke up to it, saw it break during your day, or learned of it whichever time zone you’re in. To remind you how it felt as you lit your own Chanukah lights on day one. You’ll hear from eyewitnesses there as it unfolded collected from Sky News Australia. From a docto

Find all of my podcasts, TV appearances and writing at my Substack. As westerners, as Jews, as supporters of Israel, we should know more about the Kabyle people, the largest of North Africa’s indigenous Amazigh (Berber) groups. On December 14th 2025, Kabylia declared independence from Algeria. With their own language, culture, and a centuries-long tradition of autonomy, the Kabyle have maintained a distinct identity despite repeated periods of foreign rule and the oppression which always follows. Is there future at a turning point. Rogue state Algeria has sharply escalated its repression of the Kabyle people’s political, cultural, and religious life with churches forcibly closed and leaders in civil society facing escalating intimidation. Many detained without due process, and political expression increasingly criminalized. And now, in the midst of this pressure, Kabylia’s leaders are preparing for the Kabylia Declaration of Independence. They believe in Britain’s moral authority and so a delegatio

Follow all of Jonny's podcasts and latest writing in his Substack. Today we explore the legacy of Joe Lieberman and the documentary movie Centered about his life. He remains to this day the only orthodox Jew to stand for vice president of the United States, on the ticket with fellow Democrat Al Gore, losing by the narrowest and most controversial of margins to George W. Bush. And how he may have stood again as a Republican candidate alongside John McCain later in his career. Centered, directed by Jonathan Gruber, who also made the brilliant Upheaval, the story of Menachem Begin, captures Joe Lieberman’s lifelong devotion to public service, moral conviction, and pragmatic leadership. I was delighted to meet Rob Schwartz in London as the movie was screened here for the first time, a close friend of Joe Lieberman and a trusted partner through decades of public life. Rob’s insider’s perspective as Senator Lieberman’s chief of staff, bring depth, warmth, and intimate understanding to his legacy celebrated

Help support Jonny's independent journalism by supporting him on Substack. The BBC's top brass have lost their jobs over the institutionalised bias of their news coverage. But their news output which made them so famous and trusted around the world has let the rest of the corporation down for a very long time. Director-General Tim Davie and CEO of News, Deborah Turness resigned over a series of scandals exposed by a memo written by Michael Prescott and leaked to the Daily Telegraph. As a supporter of Israel, you'll have known for a long, long time how their news produced hostile output about the Jewish State - and today we meet a man who has dedicated his career to listening, watching and reading BBC Arabic's astonishingly antisemitic output. He's CAMERA's Senior Arabic Researcher and he goes by an alias, "David Grom". CAMERA is The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis. I have bleeped out his real name both for his own protection and for the sad reality that we live in an incessan

Find Jonny's writing and other podcasts on his Substack. Buy him a coffee here. A chunk of my background, both personal and professional, has been washed away. I didn’t think football was supposed to hurt like this. Banning a mere thousand or less Israeli football fans from Villa Park for a Europa League tie is a cause for deep sorrow. But not just for me, an Aston Villa fan through my Holocaust-surviving grandfather who setup his typewriter shop bang next to Aston Station on the Lichfield Road, but for this generation of Villa fans and those to come. Because football is supposed to be a thrilling, entertaining source of pride. Not a dispensary for anger and shame, of imported hate and community breakdown. Is the Beautiful Game still beautiful? My generation and those that came before had the best of it. We enjoyed league title wins, European glory and trips to Wembley. But it would have meant nothing without the communal joy and camaraderie it spawned. And for this Jewish kid, it was a high volta

Find my writing and podcasts on Substack. The anger we feel as British Jews has reached a head as we mourn the two congregants from Heaton Park, who were killed on Yom Kippur inside the synagogue. This episode also includes the regrettable appearance of David Lammy, the deputy prime minister in front of a furious community in north Manchester. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Help Jonny and buy him a coffee here. Benjamin Netanyahu has called the recognition of a Palestinian state led by western nations 'sheer madness' - it shows 'murdering Jews pays off.' he added in defiant disgust. All this as the United Nations General Assembly disgraced itself again as scores of so-called diplomats walked out en masse jeering, sounding more like a wrestling match than the highest chamber of world diplomacy - as Mr. Netanyahu began his address. As you’ll hear Israel’s Prime Minister took apart the cowardice and appeasement which lies behind western leader’s recognition of Palestine. Meanwhile, President Trump's 21-point peace plan for Gaza, unveiled at the UN to Arab and Muslim leaders, seeks a swift end to the October 7th war. Listen to his first reaction to its unveiling and the Prime Minister's tough and uncompromising speech in front of the UNGA. Jonny Gould’s Jewish State is supported by Dangoor Education and UK Toremet, promoting philanthropy. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi

Subscribe to Jonny's writing and podcasts on his Substack As Jews prepared for Rosh Hashanah around the world, the leaders of the UK, Canada and Australia declared for Palestine. Rounding up the reaction from London and Jerusalem on a day millions feared would come, here's a bonus episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Jonny's podcasts and writings on his Substack. Tanya Gold’s provocative essay, Shameless: Exploiting the Holocaust is in the Autumn 2025 edition of the Jewish Quarterly, the magazine of stories, ideas, and debates shaping Jewish culture and history. Tanya takes aim at the state of Holocaust fiction — think Schindler’s List, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Tattooist of Auschwitz.  She passionately argues these stories push Jewish victims to the margins all too often, centering on non-Jewish heroes or romanticized narratives that soften the Shoah’s brutal reality.  Why do these polished, mainstream tales dominate the raw, firsthand accounts of survivors like Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi, or Zalmen Gradowski?  And with antisemitism surging and Holocaust education under revisionist pressure from social media, what does it mean when these works are staples in UK classrooms?  Let’s explore the ethics of Holocaust storytelling, and ask: are we remembering the past—or rewriting it? Follow Jonny's podc

Sign up to Jonny's substack. The Labour government has a super majority in Britain’s House of Commons, the sixth biggest of all time, similar to Tony Blair’s in 1997 - but that makes it prone to backbench rebellion. Even within its first year of government. As we’ve seen. And as Sir Keir Starmer failed to win support to get his original welfare bill over the line, with big U turns on an inquiry into grooming gangs and winter fuel payments to the elderly, there’s also that queasy feeling when it comes to his government and Israel. When Bob Vylan’s murderous chanting live on stage at Glastonbury was transmitted on the BBC, Wes Streeting’s shock reaction was that Israel’s embassy should get its house in order. And now the Prime Minister has declared that Britain will recognise a Palestinian State unless Israel ceases its war on terror in Gaza. That Starmer is trying to use recognition as a blackmail tool is not just monstrous - but from a parallel world to reality. Hamas are delighted, they describe it

Jonny's podcasts rely entirely on your generous support. Buy Jonny a coffee, so he can keep making them. Thank you. Today, we’re honoured to share the agonising recollections of Keith and Aviva Siegel, survivors of Hamas captivity in Gaza. They came to London and addressed the media at the Israeli Embassy in Kensington. Abducted from their Kibbutz Kfar Aza home on October 7, 2023, Aviva endured 51 days, Keith 484, facing starvation, abuse, and torture, even attempts to force conversion to Islam. Now reunited, they talk tirelessly for hostages still held. I won’t sugar coat or redact any of what they said. It’s most distressing in places. It brought me to tears when they talked about the Bibas family. But please don’t turn off, don’t look away. Share with as many as you can because as Aviva says, if Hamas are allowed to do this, a worldwide tyranny becomes allowed and tolerated. This is their mission to bring every hostage home. Jonny's podcasts rely entirely on your generous support.⁠ Buy Jonny

Find all of Jonny's podcasts, recorded since 2018 and his writing by following his Substack. You can help support him with a coffee here! It's the third year of Jonny Gould's Jewish State Schools Podcaster of the Year, presented with Dangoor Education. Our winner from Year 6 is 10-year-old Meira Masher from Independent Jewish Day School in Hendon, London and she secured time for us with an international cricketer with an extraordinary story. Mandy Yachad wore tzitzit at the crease while batting for South Africa. They’re on display at Lords, the Home of Cricket, in a permanent exhibition. Of course he played at Lord’s - wearing them! And Mandy was no ordinary player. He was an opening batsman who scored 14 centuries and 32 fifties in his 16-year first class career, spanning 109 matches - mostly during the apartheid era. With much of his career falling during the international sporting boycott of South Africa in the 1980s and early 1990s, Mandy was denied the opportunity during the prime of his career

Follow Jonny's writing and podcasts on his Substack. Buy him a coffee in support here. The United States struck three Iranian nuclear sites - with President Donald Trump hailing it a 'spectacular military success'. In this episode, listen to announcements by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a momentous night of aerial attacks over Iran. And coming up a fascinating listen in hindsight as Mr Trump speculated over the original two weeks he had given Tehran - with an abrupt and stinging dismissal of his European allies over the Iran crisis. Mr Trump says the facilities were 'totally obliterated' and warned Tehran it 'must now make peace’. Follow Jonny's writing and podcasts on his ⁠Substack⁠. Buy him a ⁠coffee in support here⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices