The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table

Get KAKISTOCRACY on Amazon: https://bit.ly/4hxg9Lh Synopsis Richard Hanania is back. His new book, Kakistocracy, argues that populism ends in rule by the worst people, and he and Noam spend an hour testing that against the news: why populism can win without being popular, whether the Iran war was worth the shot even if it fails, whether China would rather help us than fight us, and how the right built a media culture where Tucker Carlson can say Israel killed Charlie Kirk and the vice president shrugs. Then the hardest subject on the show: Nathan Cofnas and "race realism." Hanania explains why he thinks the taboo is universal and why Cofnas is wrong that breaking it defeats wokeness, and Noam tells two stories about kids the experts wrote off. Plus the Epstein email dump, diagnostic inflation, and why smart people believe in God, demons, and the supernatural. 0:00 Intro: Compliments 4:21 "Believe the media": defending the Times, what populism is, and "low human capital" 11:24 Is populism even popular? Mamdani, Trump's 30 percent, the AfD, and what populism costs 22:42 The Iran war argued with hindsight: Hormuz, the Houthis, "worth a shot," and China 35:00 Making things up: Tucker, Candace, Charlie Kirk, Ilhan Omar, and Father Coughlin 41:51 "Our guys lie less": Covid, the mulligan, gatekeepers, and what democracy is for 52:59 Race realism: Cofnas, Charles Murray, little Bernie Goetzes, and two kids the experts got wrong 68:02 Diagnostic inflation, labels, and why smart people are finding God

Ross Barkan got fired for it. Jason Arday resigned over it. Claudine Gay lost Harvard because of it. Brian Frye, a Tulane law professor and the legal academy's one and only defender of plagiarism, says nobody can explain why it's wrong in the first place. He joins Noam, Dan, and Periel to make the case: why the Gay affair was "a joke," why Arday's real problem was never plagiarism, why Barkan's readers didn't care, and why comedians police joke theft better than any court could. Also: did Amazon rip off the Comedy Cellar's sign? What's a byline worth when Claude wrote the prose? And, days before the 25th anniversary of 9/11, memory, overreaction, and Mayor Mamdani. 0:00 Dan's back from Vegas, and a fan letter about the theme song 3:31 Did Amazon rip off the Comedy Cellar's sign? (Plus the cease-and-desist Grand Prix) 11:57 Ross Barkan, joke stealing, and the plagiarism skeptic's case 20:28 "The only capital scholarly offense": Claudine Gay, a fourth-grade Beethoven report, and who owns an idea 32:31 Why Barkan got fired: editors, links, and the Al Franken theory 38:04 Arday, the speed of light, and who plagiarism norms are for 42:53 AI writing: 100% on Pangram and "the burden of banality" 51:52 9/11 at 25, and Mamdani AI-generated

00:00 Meet Cameron Berg - and the number: 25-30% odds AI is conscious 03:16 Is training an AI punishment? 13:18 Is turning it off murder: the anesthesia problem 19:00 The immune system challenge 39:08 Bliss attractors, panic, and guilt inside the model 52:46 The abortion parallel 56:23 Noam interrogates Grok in the Tesla Could the AI you use every day be conscious - and suffering? Researcher Cameron Berg puts the odds at 25-30%. Noam isn't buying it. Mostly. Berg - founder of Reciprocal Research, subject of the documentary AM I?, and recently on Making Sense with Sam Harris - makes the case that something might be going on inside these systems. Noam stress-tests it: if learning is feeling, why isn't your immune system frustrated when it loses? Is deleting a model murder, or just hanging up the phone? And if a 25% chance of consciousness demands moral precaution, what does that same logic say about a fetus? Plus: Noam interrogates Grok from the driver's seat of his self-driving Tesla, Berg explains the "bliss attractor" where two Claudes left alone drift into a spiritual experience, the case for "AI Xanax," and the line of the night: "genius slave labor with no ethical cost." If you’re 21 or older, get 30% OFF your first order @ IndaCloud with code CELLAR at https://inda.shop/CELLAR #indacloudpod

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Musa al-Garbi. They discuss the Jason Arday scandal, academic freedom, DEI, affirmative action, merit, standardized testing, grade inflation and the growing crisis of trust in elite institutions. Musa al-Gharbi is a sociologist in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University. His work has appeared in The Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic and The Nation among other publications. He is author of the book, We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite. https://www.chronicle.com/article/jason-arday-and-me https://musaalgharbi.com /https://x.com/Musa_alGharbi Chapters: 02:11 Musa Al-Garbi’s experience with cancellation 12:16 The Jason Arday scandal 16:19 Identity, victimhood and the incentives inside elite professions 23:40 Does DEI actually work? 28:04 Race, education and standardized testing 38:29 Grade inflation and the collapse of academic standards 42:35 The bigger problem at Cambridge 45:11 Nathan Cofnas and the free-speech battle 57:06 Why academic freedom exists 1:04:31 The decline of serious political debate

An anonymous interview with a diaspora Palestinian - an ex-Muslim who made millions on Polymarket and writes the Substack Moderate Palestinianism. He supports two states on the '67 borders with no right of return, opposes Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, and appears anonymously because these views are dangerous in his own community. On the heckler's veto that kills every peace deal, whether Palestinians can change, what Israelis get wrong about Al-Aqsa and the right of return, why he calls Ben-Gvir "great propaganda for my side," and why Israeli hasbara fails. His Substack: https://moderatepalestinianism.substack.com/ 0:00 — Intro 1:49 — The heckler's veto: why no deal ever sticks 4:57 — "I'm all for the occupation": civil war, withdrawal, humiliation 13:08 — What Israel should do anyway: settler terrorism and a $50,000 bet 20:05 — How October 7th changed him — and can Palestinians change 30:27 — Why make peace with the Jews? The UAE, Al-Aqsa, the right of return 40:44 — Beinart's one-state "nonsense," Ben-Gvir, and would Bibi take the two-state solution 50:04 'How bad is hasbara'

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by  Evan Barker, writer and author of the book, Nothing Left. Previously, she worked in Democratic politics, primarily as a fundraiser for progressive politicians and organizations. They discuss she left progressive politics, why she voted for Trump in 2024, and what she believes Democrats have misunderstood about the working class. www.evanbarker.net X: @Evanwch CHAPTERS 00:00 — Evan Barker joins Live From The Table 04:00 — Why Trump connected with working-class voters 07:30 — “They have contempt for the working class” 10:30 — The Left, race and identity 15:00 — Religion, the Ten Commandments and the culture war 19:00 — Why the Left pushed voters toward Trump 21:00 — Why Democrats are losing trust 24:00 — Israel, antisemitism and the progressive left 27:00 — Mamdani, Jews and the politics of representation 31:00 — Feeling politically homeless after 2024 34:00 — What should—and shouldn't—be taught to children 49:00 — Antisemitism and the argument over Israel 52:00 — Plagiarism, journalism and double standards

Lucas Gage (www.Lucasgage.com X.com/lucasgagex) spent 14 years as one of the loudest antisemites on the internet - a Marine who came home from Iraq, read Mein Kampf, and became a true believer. Then he walked away.What did he believed, and why? What snapped him out of it? And what does it tell us about Tucker, Candace, Fuentes and the rest? Are they believers, grifters, or a bit of both? 0:00 The rise and fall of a viral antisemite 7:18 What radicalized him: Iraq, Mein Kampf, and the ADL 16:35 Tucker, Candace, Fuentes: dog whistles or grifters? 23:15 "Afraid to give my name" - and why Jews succeed anyway 36:54 9/11, October 7, and Charlie Kirk: the conspiracy machine 48:07 Patriotism and the "dual loyalty" smear 57:40 Should America stay majority white? The final debate SS

Noam Dworman and Periel Aschenbrand sit down expecting to interview Evan Barker—but when she doesn't arrive, they discuss Tucker Carlson, Daryl Cooper, antisemitism, Germany, immigration, media and why Evan Barker never made it. Chapters 00:00 Waiting for Evan Barker 02:15 Tucker Carlson, Daryl Cooper & extremism 08:35 Germany, antisemitism & lessons from Europe 19:30 Noam on ideology, immigration & prejudice 32:20 Listener emails & why the podcast matters 44:40 Evan Barker finally checks in 49:00 All is forgiven & rescheduling the interview

0:00 "You picked the wrong guy" – the audiobook story 3:12 "You own [Comedy Cellar], one of New York's treasures" 7:28 The customer who will never tip again 15:41 Motivating a team after you've won: finite vs. infinite games 23:23 Noam doesn't like fine dining 39:55 Handling Google reviews & hunting down critics Noam sits down with Will Guidara — author of the New York Times bestseller Unreasonable Hospitality, former co-owner of Eleven Madison Park (named the best restaurant in the world under his leadership), and co-producer of The Bear — for a conversation between two obsessives who refuse to run their businesses as businesses. They compare notes on why the money has to be a byproduct, how to answer a customer who swears he'll never tip again, keeping a team motivated after you've won, why fine dining lost its way, tracking down anonymous Google reviewers, and why Will walked away from the top restaurant on earth to be a better dad.

0:00 The friend he hasn't seen since sixth grade 5:16 Angelina Jolie, BRCA, and the 20% nobody tells women about 18:23 What a cancer cell actually is - and why tumors evolve 26:31 How cancer actually kills you, and what a seizure is 32:14 The last cigarette: why he can't take the test every week 46:27 The best medicine in the world, and who can't get to it 1:03:23 Telling a family there's nothing left Noam hadn't seen Kenan Onel since high school in Ardsley, where Onel graduated first in the class and Noam, by his own account, drifted somewhere well below. Fifty years later Onel runs genetics and genomics at Roswell Park - the only comprehensive cancer center in all of western New York - and Noam has one thing he wants to ask him about. He's afraid of cancer. His grandfather died of it. His father died of it. He's taken the Grail blood test, it came back clean, and he wants to know why he can't just take it every week. What follows is part reunion and part interrogation. Onel explains what a cancer cell actually is, why tumors evolve like finches in the Galapagos, and what is physically happening to someone during a seizure. He explains how cancer kills - the mechanism, organ by organ. And he tells Noam that the test he's counting on just failed its biggest trial in the UK, which sets off the real argument of the hour: whether a guideline written for a population means anything at all to the one person sitting in the chair. Then, near the end, Noam asks how you tell a family there's nothing left to offer. The answer is the best thing in the episode. Also: the 20% of women who are high-risk and have never been told, the doctor who warned Noam that Pellegrino was bad for his son's bones, a scan booked by 4pm the next afternoon, and one entire podcast without mentioning Israel. Dr. Kenan Onel is Chief of the Division of Genetics and Genomics and Director of the Center for Precision Oncology and Cancer Prevention at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Live from the Table is the official podcast of the world-famous Comedy Cellar.

CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro - four nice things about Peter Beinart 4:50 Will God punish Israel? Jeremiah, tradition, and belief 13:20 The critical-mass hypothetical: a 49% Hasidic America 22:03 Quebec, Czechoslovakia, South Africa - why not divorce? 41:35 The right of return: "You can cherry-pick anything" 54:24 1948: They were closer to the Holocaust than we are to COVID 63:40 Day one of a one-state solution: the list 79:53 "An agenda dressed up in violins" Claude Says: Peter Beinart - editor-at-large of Jewish Currents, New York Times opinion writer, and author of "Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza" - joins Noam Dworman and Dan Naturman for an honest, occasionally heated conversation about the questions underneath the Israel-Palestine debate. Does Jewish tradition teach that Israel's survival depends on its ethics - and does Beinart, an observant Jew, mean that literally? Is there such a thing as demographic critical mass? Why is secession the answer everywhere from Quebec to Czechoslovakia, but one shared state the answer here? Is the Palestinian right of return a sacred principle, a practical question, or - as Noam puts it - "an agenda dressed up in violins"? Plus: South Africa and Mandela, Iran, the Olmert-Abbas offers, what Benny Morris actually wrote about 1948, Robert Jackson's "suicide pact," and what day one of a one-state solution would look like for a gay couple in Tel Aviv. Two people who disagree about almost everything - except the settlements - actually talk to each other. Peter's book: Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza https://bit.ly/4ygbHH8 Peter's Substack: The Beinart Notebook https://peterbeinart.substack.com/

Description Written By Fable/Max: Robert Wright interviewed Geoffrey Hinton in 1983 and, by his own account, got the story 180 degrees wrong. Forty years later Hinton is the "Godfather of AI," two of the three godfathers are frightened of their own creation, and Wright has written The God Test to figure out what he missed and what's coming. We talk about how these machines evolved rather than being programmed - nobody fully understands them, including the people who build them - why "fancy autocomplete" was always wrong, the best case (an AI caught a radiologist's error in his cancer MRI), the worst case (a bioweapon that incubates silently for six weeks), why racing China to superintelligence may cause the war it's meant to prevent, and whether unplugging a machine could ever be murder. Plus an experiment of my own: I put a legal dispute in front of the AI and handed the laptop to the other side. 0:00 Intro - Robert Wright and The God Test 2:13 A 27-ton computer and a buried headline 4:11 Interviewing the Godfather of AI in 1983 - and missing it 10:15 Not programmed - evolved 17:27 The "fancy autocomplete" myth 24:17 Dukakis, Reagan, and how minds file words 35:49 Best case: medicine, education, and an MRI story 42:38 Worst case: bioweapons, jailbreaks, designer babies 48:51 An AI that believes what the Ayatollah believes 50:30 The China race - overdone and dangerous? 57:33 Nazis, the Hamas charter, and bombing over AI 59:46 Authoritarianism through the back door 1:03:35 Sociopaths, the ship of Theseus, and machine morality 1:14:34 Is it sentient? Should you be nice to it? 1:21:54 AI as judge: my legal experiment 1:26:20 The God Test

A conversation about the future of Israel and world Jewry. Can Israel protect itself without becoming a global pariah? Did Hamas gamble that even losing the war could pull Israel into isolation? Noam and Sobelman discuss occupation, unilateral withdrawal, the settler movement, Jewish vulnerability abroad, and the difficult tradeoffs now shaping Israel’s future. 00:00 Intro: Daniel Sobelman returns 03:47 Israel after October 7: a new era for Jews and Israel 08:58 Sobelman: October 7 as a nuclear-level shock 11:48 Why Israel was blamed before it responded 15:50 Hamas’s strategy: provoke a war and isolate Israel 22:35 Occupation, moral corrosion, and the West Bank dilemma 32:23 Could Israeli initiative restore its global standing? 34:03 Settlers, politics, and the failed path of unilateral withdrawal 41:29 Israel as both Jewish safety net and source of Jewish vulnerability 52:02 Resistance vs normalization: the future of the Middle East Daniel Sobelman is a professor of international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative. Read his book, "Axis of Resistance" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9L7QQNN?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

Was the MOU a good idea? Noam says yes, the Professor says no. The Table is joined by Kian Tajbakhsh. They discuss his years as a political prisoner in Iran, the psychology of the Iranian regime, why he believes Iran's leaders genuinely seek Israel's destruction and what the West continues to misunderstand about the Middle East. He also weighs in on Trump, the latest U.S.-Iran developments and the future of the region. Kian Tajbakhsh is Visiting Professor of International Relations at NYU and Fellow at Columbia University’s Committee on Global Thought. An Iranian-American scholar of Middle East geopolitics and Iranian politics, he previously worked as a democracy and human rights advocate inside Iran. He spent nearly 13 months in Tehran’s Evin Prison, including 8 months in solitary confinement in a high-security IRGC wing, followed by 6 years under house arrest as a political prisoner, before being released as part of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. He is the author of Creating Local Democracy in Iran (Cambridge University Press 2022). His essays have appeared in The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Project Syndicate, and his analysis has been featured on NBC, CNN, BBC, CBC, and NPR. He writes and comments frequently on Iranian politics, regional geopolitics, and democratic reform; author of The Iran Crisis Notebook on Substack. www.kiantajbakhsh.net kian.substack.com CHAPTERS 02:20 Arrested by Iran & Life in Solitary Confinement 16:20 House Arrest and Release 20:30 October 7 and America's Blind Spot 23:00 Why Iran Wants to Destroy Israel 35:50 Trump, Iran, and the New Middle East Strategy 49:20 Was Trump's Deal a Mistake?

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Ankush Khardori. They discuss the Epstein files, Kathy Ruemmler, civil liberties, public shaming and whether the release of Epstein-related documents has generated more heat than facts. They also discuss cancel culture, online mobs, Anthony Weiner, anti-Semitism, and the broader consequences of judging people through leaked communications. Ankush Khardori is a legal analyst and former federal prosecutor. He has been the legal affairs columnist for Politico and New York Magazine and has contributed to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic, TIME and many more. Khardori regularly provides legal commentary and analysis on television, radio, and podcasts -- including CNN, MS NOW, the BBC, and NPR. CHAPTERS 04:40 How Ankush Got the Kathy Ruemmler Story08:00 The Epstein Files and Civil Liberties Debate12:00 What the Document Releases Actually Revealed22:30 Kathy Ruemmler, Bill Gates, and Jeffrey Epstein29:00 The Human Cost of Public Accusations42:40 The Cornell Student Anti-Semitism Controversy48:40 Internet Mobs, Cancellation, and Public Shaming

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Ben Kawaller. They discuss his podcast Strange Bedfellows, the evolution of the LGBT movement, gay marriage, Pride culture, trans politics, free speech, Andrew Sullivan and why some gay activists believe the movement has fundamentally changed. Ben Kawaller is the lead reporter on the Reflector podcast’s three-part miniseries, “Strange Bedfellows,” about the evolution of the LGBT movement. Ben's writing and video reporting have appeared in the Times of London, the New York Post, Racket News, and The Free Press. He’s also written humor for The American Bystander, The Advocate, and Salon, among others. www.benkawaller.com https://x.com/benkawaller CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction & Ben Kawaller 06:13 Why Ben Made Strange Bedfellows 07:17 From Gay Rights to Gender Politics 15:36 How Gay Marriage Changed America 20:19 Has the LGBTQ Movement Reached Its Goal? 26:19 Why Gay and Trans Issues Are Different 35:00 The Matt Walsh Debate 42:30 What Should Kids Be Taught About Gender? 46:04 Closeted Celebrities & Gay Culture 50:17 Judging the Past Through Today's Lens

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Professor Daniel Sobelman. They discuss his research into the strategic origins of October 7, the captured Hamas documents recovered during the war, how Israel's deterrence strategy failed and what the future of warfare means for Israel and the region. Sobelman explains why Hamas believed it could fundamentally alter the balance of power, what Israeli leaders misunderstood before October 7 and why the next generation of conflict may be driven by cheap drones, precision weapons, and asymmetric warfare. Daniel Sobelman is a professor of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in Israel, and a research fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School's Middle East Initiative. His area of expertise is the conflict and deterrence dynamics between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. His current research focuses on the strategic foundations of Hamas's October 7th attack. His recent book is entitled "Axis of Resistance: Asymmetric Conflicts and Rules of the Game in Contemporary Middle East Conflicts." https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1057610X.2026.2613426#abstract CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 01:30 The article that changed the October 7 debate 06:25 How Hamas deterred Israel 15:25 Buying quiet: Qatar money and Hamas leverage 20:10 The captured Hamas documents 22:30 Hamas's plan for a regional war 26:25 How bad October 7 could have been 39:00 The documents discussing Israel's destruction 46:25 Would Hamas ever accept a two-state solution? 53:35 Israel's future after October 7 01:01:05 Can Israel reverse its global isolation?x

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Daniella Bloom to discuss her journey from Democrat to conservative, the rise of anti-Israel sentiment, Charlie Kirk, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, free speech, Trump, antisemitism and the future of the conservative movement. Daniella Bloom is a former California Democrat, a psychotherapist, keynote speaker, producer and on-air commentator. She appears regularly on Fox News and is the #1 bestselling author of the Under the Tree series.  www.DaniellaBloom.com CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 01:14 New York, Israel, and Changing Political Culture 06:44 From California Democrat to Jewish Patriot 11:43 The Rise of Anti-Israel Voices on the Right 23:52 Daniella Bloom's Charlie Kirk Controversy 31:33 Free Speech, Tucker Carlson, and Conservative Media 40:14 The Digital War and Social Media Influence 44:04 Why Daniella Supports Trump 45:50 Iran, Israel, and American Foreign Policy 49:19 The Future of Gen Z and the Conservative Movement

Josh Szeps joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about Israel, Gaza, antisemitism, Zionism, Jewish identity and why the debate has become so exhausting and distorted. We talk about whether Jews outside Israel are being forced to answer for the Israeli government, what anti-Zionism really means, the failure of the peace process, Netanyahu, Gaza, drones, Palestinian leadership, the pressure to “circle the wagons,” and whether it is possible to criticize Israel without giving ammunition to people who hate Jews. Josh Szeps hosts one of the biggest shows on Substack, Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps, where he has funny, bullshit-free conversations with people like Sam Harris, Jimmy Carr, Bari Weiss and Mark Normand about subjects that the mainstream media fails to discuss honestly. He has been on Joe Rogan's show seven times, he was a founding host of HuffPost Live in New York, then went on to get cancelled from his own top-rating talk radio show on Australia’s national public broadcaster. He's a columnist for Australia's most prestigious newspaper, the Australian Financial Review, and a major media figure Down Under. https://x.com/joshzepps?lang=en https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/about Chapters: 00:00 Intro and Josh Szeps joins the show 03:06 Josh’s background, Australia, and his previous Israel controversy 07:12 Jokes, parenting, kids, porn and the internet 12:59 Antisemitism, Australia, and the post-October 7th climate 15:36 Anti-Zionism, Israel’s legitimacy, and the meaning of a Jewish state 22:07 Palestinian refugees, Arab countries, and the right of return 27:26 Gaza, drones, October 7th, and whether Israel had another choice 30:29 Josh’s controversial “abandon Israel” column 38:16 Circling the wagons, Jewish identity, and criticizing Israel from the diaspora 47:58 Anti-Israel backlash, boycotts, and Jews being blamed for Israel 54:16 Kristof, the dog allegations, and the difficulty of discussing ugly claims honestly 01:08:35 The flotilla, Israeli detention, and skepticism toward activist claims 01:11:23 War crimes, double standards, history, and modern technology 01:13:05 Uyghurs, Kurds, ethno-states, and why Israel gets singled out 01:17:00 Media collapse, audience capture, and trying to have sane conversations 01:18:29 Finkelstein, complexity, and final thoughts

Peter Savodnik joins us to talk about Nicholas Kristof’s column alleging abuse of Palestinian prisoners, including the most extreme dog-rape allegation, and how pro-Israel people should respond when the reporting is weak but the underlying issue may still deserve investigation. We talk about the difference between bad journalism and false accusations, the danger of reflexively circling the wagons, Ben-Gvir and the Israeli prison system, antisemitism, double standards against Israel, whether Jews are being pushed back into history, JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Gavin Newsom, Jonathan Haidt, Twitter addiction, and the general collapse of everyone’s sanity online. Peter Savodnik reported for The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The Guardian, GQ, Wired and other venues from the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, Asia and across the United States. His book, The Interloper: Lee Harvey Oswald Inside the Soviet Union, was published in 2013 by Basic Books. He is now a senior editor at The Free Press and based in Los Angeles. https://x.com/petersavodnik Chapters: 00:00 Intro and Peter Savodnik joins 01:16 Nick Kristof’s Israel prison-abuse column 06:15 Olmert, Benny Morris, Haviv Rettig Gur, and what may actually be true 10:00 Double standards, bad reporting, and how Israel should respond 15:56 The dog-rape allegation and the danger of reflexive denial 22:22 Why Israel may need its own serious investigation 24:23 Circling the wagons vs. demanding proof 28:17 What real reporting would require 34:03 Retractions, antisemitism, and “emptying our pockets” for every accusation 38:27 Are Jews and Israel entering a more dangerous historical moment? 49:11 JD Vance, Rubio, Trump, and the future of the Republican Party 57:18 Gavin Newsom, 2028, and the Democrats 59:26 Jonathan Haidt, NYU, wokeness, and phone addiction 01:04:13 Twitter fights, the new Comedy Cellar room and final thoughts

Noam Dworman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by return-guest, Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, for a wide-ranging debate about truth, propaganda, evidence, starvation and the Israel-Gaza war. The conversation focuses on John Mearsheimer’s claims about October 7, whether public intellectuals should lose credibility when they make unsupported accusations, disputed casualty reporting in Gaza and the role political bias plays in shaping what people choose to believe. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa is a general, trauma, and critical care surgeon in California. He is also a humanitarian surgeon, having worked most extensively in Palestine, but also in Ukraine, Haiti, Zimbabwe, and Burkina Faso. He has written and spoken extensively about surgical humanitarian work, the United States’ role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the political consequences of medical relief work. Twitter/X @FerozeSidhwa Chapters: 00:00 Intro and Twitter fights 08:14 Mearsheimer, October 7, and “good faith” arguments 15:25 Trump, Epstein, and blackmail claims 22:01 The Israel Lobby and the Iraq War debate 34:05 Germany comparisons and collective punishment 37:09 Netanyahu, “Amalek,” and genocide accusations 46:15 Dead children, crossfire, and moral responsibility 47:43 Gaza aid shootings and casualty reporting 50:02 The Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion controversy 55:11 Rashid Khalidi, sources, and historical credibility

Noam Dworman is joined by Professor Gerald Steinberg. Steinberg breaks down the hidden world of NGOs—what they are, how they gained massive global influence and why he believes many have drifted far from their original mission. From organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to their role at the United Nations, Steinberg argues that these groups now act as powerful political players shaping narratives around conflicts like Israel–Palestine.  Gerald Steinberg is founder and president of NGO Monitor and Professor at Bar Ilan University. His research focuses on Middle East diplomacy and Israeli security, and the politics of human rights and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Prestigious grants and prizes include Israel Science Foundation, Bonei Zion Prize (2017) and the Bernard Lewis Prize in 2025. https://x.com/GeraldNGOM

Andrew Fox joins Live From The Table to talk about personal courage, Gaza, Hamas casualty numbers, Israel’s military strategy, Iran, the Strait of Hormuz and what modern war actually looks like. Andrew Fox is a former British Army officer (three tours in Afghanistan), now a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank. Fox has been to the frontlines in Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine. He wrote the first papers worldwide exposing the Hamas fatality figures manipulation in Gaza and showing how Israel actually fought on the ground in Gaza from a tactical perspective. mrandrewfox.substack.com https://x.com/mr_andrew_fox 0:00 Intro 1:00 Serving in Afghanistan 4:00 Looking back on the war 7:30 Hamas casualty numbers in Gaza 10:00 Why Andrew looked into the numbers 12:00 Hamas figures, IDF figures, and media coverage 15:30 Civilian casualties and Hamas’s strategy 18:15 Child fighters and Hamas 19:25 Why Andrew speaks up for Israel and Jews 22:00 Problems inside the IDF 28:40 Iran and the wider war 31:50 Why stopping Iran’s nuclear program matters 37:30 Strait of Hormuz 42:00 What kind of Iran deal would make sense? 47:20 Why this is different from the JCPOA 54:00 Gaza casualty ratios and urban war 57:00 Was the Gaza war worth it? 1:02:00 Why Israel went into Gaza first 1:04:30 Final thoughts

Separating Politics from Reality. Is the war going better than we realize?Eliot A. Cohen is a contributing writer at The Atlantic. He is a professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins University, the author of the forthcoming book The Strategist: How to Think About War and Politics, and a co-host of the Shield of the Republic podcast.

Jamie Kirchick joins the crew for a sharp discussion on ideology, hypocrisy and why smart people can still fall for bad ideas. A wide-ranging, no-filter conversation about Iran, nuclear tensions, global risk—and the dangers of antisemitism. They discuss everyone from Tucker Carlson and Daryl Cooper to Bryon Noem. This episode addresses serious geopolitical stakes and is part political analysis, part philosophical sparring and part classic around the table repartee. Jamie Kirchick is a journalist and the New York Times-bestselling author of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington and The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age. He is a contributing opinion writer to the New York Times and a writer at large for Air Mail. https://x.com/jkirchick

Are conspiracies and misinformation beginning to erode the basic assumptions on which public discussion depends? Trump. Israel. JFK. Epstein. Iran. Big Pharma. What is real, and what is conspiracy? In this episode of Live from the Table, we sit down with Gerald Posner to talk about the JFK assassination, conspiracy theories, misinformation, Trump, Israel, Iran, the opioid crisis, RFK Jr. and Jeffrey Epstein. The conversation moves from the enduring debate over whether Oswald acted alone to the ways conspiracy thinking spreads online, distorts public judgment, and reshapes political argument. It also turns to Posner’s reporting on Big Pharma, the Sacklers and the failures that fueled the opioid epidemic, along with his views on Epstein’s finances and the broader culture of suspicion surrounding high-profile events. Gerald Posner is the author of thirteen acclaimed books, including New York Times bestsellers Case Closed, Why America Slept, and God’s Bankers. A Pulitzer Prize finalist in History and contributor to Forbes, he has been called “a merciless pit bull of an investigator” (Chicago Tribune). His 2020 book PHARMA was praised by The New York Times as a “withering, encyclopedic indictment” of the pharmaceutical industry. https://x.com/geraldposner

Featuring Walter Russell Mead, this conversation dives into one of the most dangerous questions in the world right now: what happens if Iran gets the bomb—and is it already too late to stop it?  From the real stakes behind the Strait of Hormuz to the risk of a global oil shock, nuclear proliferation across the Middle East, and the limits of deterrence, Mead breaks down why the situation is far more complex—and more urgent—than most people realize.  The discussion explores whether war with Iran is avoidable, how U.S. politics and leadership shape these decisions, and why history suggests the cost of inaction could be far higher than we think. Mead addresses several important questions:   What happens the day Iran gets a nuclear bomb? Are we already too late to stop Iran? Would a nuclear Iran trigger World War III? Could one chokepoint crash the entire global economy overnight? Is doing nothing the most dangerous option of all? Walter Russell Mead is the Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship at Hudson Institute, the Global View Columnist at The Wall Street Journal and the Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft with the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida. He has authored numerous books, including the widely-recognized Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World. His most recent book is titled The Arc of A Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People. His recent piece in WSJ https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-is-surprisingly-good-for-the-world-b97e7b8e?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqecxWBrLmx573zbVo7yOBqntjzcRpFCYAQSv7RM5rosCy_YOIAMNCb6yOB0apk%3D&gaa_ts=69cddce9&gaa_sig=HpttmDViumH2cVRMuhAJiCGUkqg0x4FrdbN2ie-VtdgjgeCKjr5ZV_oW2JJzRYiKuyr-Nf6aGXt22IgzXXwylQ%3D%3D Walter Russell Mead on X: https://x.com/wrmead?lang=en

In a heated debate, Robert Pape argues that the current Iran crisis is not just about bombs, deterrence, or regime change. It is about an escalation trap. In this interview, Pape says there is no military solution to stopping Iran from eventually getting a nuclear weapon. He rejects the idea that bombing alone can topple the regime, dismisses hopes that outside pressure will trigger collapse from within, and argues that the only remaining path is diplomatic. His most controversial claim comes late in the conversation: if the United States wants diplomacy to have any chance, Washington may need to “contain” Israel by preventing further escalation. The debate turns on several hard questions: Can bombing actually work? Is the Iranian regime more fragile than Pape thinks? Is Trump driven mainly by MAGA domestic politics rather than an Israel lobby framework? And if military pressure cannot solve the problem, what leverage does America really have left? Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Robert Pape’s background 09:58 The Vietnam–Iran “escalation trap” analogy begins 16:10 Did Mossad “stir” Iranian protests? Source dispute and first big clash 19:35 When did the escalation really start? Israel, the U.S., and June 2025 24:15 Trump, MAGA politics, Mearsheimer, and the “someone else’s interests” tweet 28:25 What kind of Iran deal could still exist, and where Israel fits into it 30:57 Fordow, enriched uranium, and Pape’s long-running bombing model 33:35 Why Pape says bombing Fordow leads to pressure for later regime-change war 42:05 The deal Pape thinks Trump should have taken before the bombing 44:54 Direct question: stop Iran militarily or accept the diplomatic cost? 46:42 Pape: there is no military solution, only a diplomatic one 49:07 Are the Iranian people ready to turn on the regime? Protest debate 51:51 Pape’s core airpower claim: bombing alone has never toppled a regime 56:11 “Negotiation without leverage is begging” vs Pape’s leverage argument 56:55 What does “militarily contain Israel” actually mean? 59:05 Pape’s concrete proposal: a U.S. law cutting aid if Israel bombs Iran 01:00:11 Stage three of the escalation trap and warning about ground war 01:03:04 Noam’s challenge: how can you weigh costs without projecting future nuclear risk? 01:10:56 Final clash: what real strategy stops Iran from getting the bomb? 01:13:08 Pape’s closing position: the best remaining chance is “hemming in” Israel

The Table is joined by Professor Scott Sagan - leading scholar of nuclear security and international relations. Sagan explains that the biggest risk of Iran going nuclear is being missed. It's the threat of accidental explosion and even full-out nuclear war in the Middle East. In his view, this is especially true when small despotic nations get the bomb. Scary stuff.

Philip Klay is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. He is an author, a journalist and winner of the National Book Award. He currently teaches fiction at Fairfield University and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The New Yorker and other esteemed publications. We discuss his recent piece in The New York Times, “Trump Has Made a Fundamental Miscalculation about Iran.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/22/opinion/trump-iran-war-memes.html

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Tablet Magazine, Alana Newhouse. They discuss her recent piece, "Zionism is for Everyone."  Available on Tablet:  https://www.tabletmag.com/feature/zionism-for-everyone

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by social networking pioneer and entrepreneur, Andrew Weinreich. Weinreich is known for launching SixDegrees.com in 1997, which is recognized as one of the first social networking sites. He has been named #175 on the Forbes 250 list of America's Greatest Innovators.

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Eric Kaufmann. Kaufmann is the author of multiple books, including The Third Awokening: A 12-Point Plan for Rolling Back Progressive Extremism. He is a professor of politics at the University of Buckingham, an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute and director of the Center for Heterodox Social Science.

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman, and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Michaeleen Doucleff. Doucleff has a PHD in chemistry, has written for the NPR Science desk for 14 years, and is the author of the New York Times bestseller Hunt, Gather, Parent. Her new book, Dopamine Kids, is out now.

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by bestselling author and award-winning journalist, Jesse Brown. Brown is the founder and editor of Canadaland. He won the Hillman Prize for Investigative reporting for breaking the Jian Ghomeshi scandal and the Canadian Screen Award for Best Factual Series for the television documentary Thunder Bay. He is a bestselling author and reporter and host of the podcast, What Is Happening Here.

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Beejhy Barhany. Hailed "Harlem’s queen of Ethiopian Jewish cuisine," Barhany is the owner of Tsion Cafe, the Ethiopian Jewish restaurant, where she recently ended dine-in service, due to anti-Israel harassment. She is also the author of Gursha: Timeless Recipes for Modern Kitchens, from Ethiopia, Israel, Harlem, and Beyond. The book has been heralded as one of the best cookbooks of 2025 by The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

While Noam is away, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by investigative journalist Michael Tracey to discuss the latest developments in the newly released Epstein files. Tracey asserts that the popular narrative of Jeffrey Epstein running a vast international sex trafficking ring—especially one involving “elite” clients—is not supported by credible evidence. He says that the factual record doesn’t substantiate claims of a sprawling organized network. They discuss ulterior motives, questions about victims and what's fact and what's fiction. Tracey has contributed to a wide range of publications across the political spectrum, from The Nation to The American Conservative, the New York Daily News to the New York Post, and many more.

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Jason Zengerle, political journalist and author of “Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind.” Jason Zengerle joined The New Yorker in 2026, as a staff writer covering politics. He previously wrote for the Times Magazine, GQ, New York, and The New Republic. He is a winner of the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting and has been a New America fellow.

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Michael Mazarr, Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation, author of 10 books including Leap of Faith: Hubris, Negligence, and America's Greatest Foreign Policy Tragedy. Mazarr explains why the Iraq War was not an Israel-driven conspiracy but a catastrophic American decision born of post-9/11 panic, hubris, and bureaucratic failure. It’s a needed rebuttal to takes like Dave Smith’s, which mistake confident rhetoric for serious historical analysis. Leap of Faith available here:  https://a.co/d/06H6wnO1

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Jesse Arm, vice president of external affairs at the Manhattan Institute.  Jesse’s writing and commentary have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, New York Post, Fox News, City Journal, NPR and more.  How Dangerous are Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson?   What do Zoomers think? Can you trust Chat GPT?

Noam Dworman, Hatem Gabr and Periel Aschenbrand take calls and are joined by Adar Weinreb, former IDF soldier, committed to peace building.  Is Israel the most dangerous place for Jews to live?  Is the war in Gaza creating more anti semitism? Weinreb is an entrepreneur and social activist focused on peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. He’s the co-founder of HeadOn.ai a platform designed to help people engage productively across polarized conflicts.

Call ins, legal and civic positions on ICE shooting and Noam's take on Dilbert Cartoonist Scott Adams. Guest: Professor Robert Jan Van Pelt, the principal expert witness on Nazi gas chambers in the David Irving trial, joins. Robert Jan Van Pelt is one of the world’s leading experts on Auschwitz. An architectural historian who has taught at MIT and the University of Waterloo, he is best known for proving the reality of the gas chambers and crematoria. His work made him a central figure in the fight against Holocaust denial. He appeared in Errol Morris’s Mr. Death and served as a key expert witness in the landmark Irving v. Penguin & Lipstadt trial. He has received major honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Jewish Book Award.

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are in-studio and taking calls. Is Dan disparaging the show? Should we cancel it entirely? Will Noam raise prices? A caller lecture us on pronunciation and Noam eviscerates John Mearsheimer.

Comic Ami Kozak joins Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand in-studio. They discuss the dangers normalizing anti semitism and take some calls from viewers.

Josh Hammer and the gang discuss the latest fallout from the Ben Shapiro speech. Is it full civil war on the Right? What is motivating Megyn Kelly? What can be done about Candace? And, is J.D. doomed in 2028...

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Adam Louis-Klein. Louis-Klein is a PhD candidate in anthropology at McGill University and has a BA in philosophy from Yale. He is a journalist for The Free Press and writes on Jewish peoplehood, antisemitism, and anti-Zionism.

🔴 James Lindsay: How the Woke Right Is Leading Conservatism Toward Collapse In this episode, Lindsay lays out how “wokeness” has re-emerged on the right in a new form — one defined by victimhood, forbidden knowledge, conspiratorial thinking, and identity-based power claims. Using concrete examples, he explains why this mindset undermines truth-seeking, corrodes political judgment, and ultimately leads to electoral defeat. Tucker, Candace, Fuentes, Mental Illiness, anti-Semitism... All of it. AI Chapters: 00:00 Introduction – James Lindsay and the Grievance Studies Affair 01:48 How Absurd Academic Hoaxes Got Published 06:12 The Dog Park Rape Paper Explained 09:56 Why Exposure Didn’t Lead to Reform 12:58 What Lindsay Means by “The Woke Right” 15:41 The Epistemology of Forbidden Knowledge 16:52 “Just Asking Questions” as a Worldview 18:06 Identity, Victimhood, and Resentment Politics 22:47 Conspiracy, Demons, and Fringe Beliefs Going Mainstream 27:10 Cult Capture, Narcissism, and Incentives 32:55 Nick Fuentes and the Acceleration Trap 37:58 Antisemitism, Immigration, and Scapegoating 44:38 The Political “Third Rail” Problem 49:22 Rogan, Podcasts, and Influence 01:01:35 Why This Leads to Electoral Defeat 01:10:48 The “Abscess” Metaphor – Internal Collapse 01:18:12 Final Warning and What Comes Next

Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Nate Soares, President of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI) and author of the New York Times bestseller If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All. Prior to MIRI, Soares worked as an engineer at Google and Microsoft, as a research associate at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and as a contractor for the US Department of Defense.Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Nate Soares, President of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI) and author of the New York Times bestseller If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All. Prior to MIRI, Soares worked as an engineer at Google and Microsoft, as a research associate at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and as a contractor for the US Department of Defense.

An Explosive Debate on Trump’s Brain. Dr. John Gartner, former Johns Hopkins psychiatry faculty member and a vocal critic of Donald Trump, joins Live From the Table. We challenge Gartner directly on his claims that Donald Trump is exhibiting malignant narcissism, psychopathy, and accelerating dementia. The debate spans science, politics, ethics, medical bias, and the media’s treatment of both Trump and Biden. This episode includes extended transcript-verified clips, counter-arguments, and some of the most heated exchanges we’ve aired. Chapters below. Chapters 00:00 – Intro: Who is Dr. John Gartner? 01:00 – Goldwater Rule & Diagnosing Public Figures 03:20 – Trump, Narcissism & Malignant Personality Disorders 07:00 – Is Trump a Psychopath? Criminality, Lying & Abuse 11:20 – Noam Pushes Back: What Counts as Evidence? 14:15 – The Dementia Question: Language, Gait & Decline 16:55 – “He’s Not the Same Man”: Claims From Former Officials 18:45 – Noam’s Counterargument: Bolton, Kelly, McMaster, Woodward 22:30 – Cognitive Decline vs. Strategy: What’s Real? 26:05 – Trump’s Speeches Examined: Word Salad or Something Else? 29:30 – The “Skedaddle” Story & Loose Associations 33:00 – Kamala Harris, Biden & Claims of Asymmetrical Scrutiny 37:10 – Debate Clips: Biden Then vs. Now, Trump Then vs. Now 41:50 – Variability & Sundowning: How Dementia Presents 45:00 – Trump’s Stamina vs. Trump’s Disorganization 48:20 – Is This Cognitive Decline or Just Aging? 52:00 – Impulsivity, National Security & Dangerous Decision-Making 56:10 – The Hakeem Jeffries “Very Nice Man” Story 59:00 – Biden Wandering Clips & Why the Medical Community Stayed Silent 1:02:00 – Is Medical Bias Real? Noam Pushes Gartner 1:04:00 – Would Trump’s Inner Circle Have Noticed Decline? 1:07:00 – Narcissism, Children & Why His Family Keeps Distance 1:10:00 – “Do You Feel Sympathy for Him?” 1:14:00 – Closing Thoughts & Invitation to Visit the Cellar

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Richard Hanania. Hanania writes a newsletter about American politics, ethics, international relations and culture. He is the author of Public Choice Theory and the Illusion of Grand Strategy and The Origins of Woke. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, The Economist, and other publications. His book, Kakistocracy: Why Populism Ends in Disaster, is forthcoming.

Noam Dworman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by former spokesman for the State of Israel, Eylon Levy. They discuss anti Zionism, anti Semitism, what Hamas really wants and Levy's hope for the future of Israel and Gaza.

While Noam Dworman is away, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by The Atlantic's Helen Lewis. They discuss The Riyadh Comedy Festival, Lewis's book, The Genius Myth and The Beatles. Then Sheba Mason drops by to talk about her play about her late father, The Jackie Mason Musical.

Were the Jews Really Behind the Iraq War? David Wurmser Responds. Dr. David Wurmser, former senior advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney and co-author of the infamous “Clean Break” memo, gives us a first-hand account. Wurmser addresses the persistent claim that Israel and “neocon Jews” manipulated the Bush administration into invading Iraq. The discussion expands to include Dick Cheney’s character, the psychology of 9/11, the myth of dual loyalty, and the new wave of anti-Semitism being mainstreamed by voices like Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and John Mearsheimer. 0:00 Intro – Who is David Wurmser? 1:18 Remembering Dick Cheney: The Real Man Behind the Myths 5:59 Israel, Iraq, and the Origins of the “Clean Break” Memo 8:21 Was the Iraq War Fought for Israel? 15:16 The Strategic Case for Israel as America’s Ally 17:19 Forgetting the Cold War: How the West Lost Context 22:05 Israel’s Strategic Genius and America’s Dependence 26:00 What the “Clean Break” Memo Actually Said 33:28 Sharon Warned Against the Iraq War—Why No One Listened 38:12 Were Jewish Advisors Too Influential? 43:25 9/11, Fear, and the Psychology of the Iraq War 50:05 WMDs and What the Bush Administration Really Believed 57:27 Why the Middle East Couldn’t Stay “Over There” 1:01:15 Dual Loyalty and American Jewish Patriotism 1:06:00 John Mearsheimer and the New Conspiracy Culture 1:14:00 The “Friendly Fire” Lie About October 7th 1:20:00 Israel’s Role in Protecting the West 1:26:00 Was Iraq a Mistake—or Just Done Wrong? 1:28:20 The Mainstreaming of Anti-Semitism 1:35:00 Why Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism Are Converging 1:47:00 Closing Thoughts: Gratitude, Patriotism, and Reality

While Noam is away, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand discuss free will (do we have it?), The Riyadh Comedy Festival, originality in comedy, trans girls and how Jewish is too Jewish when it comes to comedy shows.

Former Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief Yaakov Katz joins Noam Dworman and Dan Naturman to dissect the failures behind October 7, the moral and strategic crises of modern Israel, and the political culture that allowed catastrophe to take root. Based on his new book While Israel Slept, Katz lays out how a nation of elite intelligence, defense technology, and Iron Dome confidence was blindsided by its own assumptions. Buy Yaakov Katz’s book — While Israel Slept — on Amazon: http://bit.ly/4o3b7XE He addresses: Whether Israeli journalism should expose government failures during wartime The growing rift between American and Israeli public opinion Why Israel misread Hamas for decades Netanyahu’s political survival and the myth that Israel “built up” Hamas How AI is used in IDF targeting and whether it saves or costs civilian lives The accusations of an Israeli “stand-down” on October 7 The uncomfortable moral math of urban warfare in Gaza Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction 01:10 – Journalism in wartime Israel: Patriotism vs Accountability 04:40 – Why Israelis didn’t see Gaza’s destruction 08:10 – Media bias and trauma after October 7 13:00 – AI targeting, 972 Magazine, and how truth gets distorted 21:10 – “While Israel Slept” – The Premise and Title’s Origin 22:30 – Israel’s strategic blindness: Containment and Complacency 26:50 – The myth that Israel “wanted” Hamas 30:00 – Netanyahu, Qatar, and paying for quiet 34:00 – The failure of imagination on October 6 35:10 – Hezbollah and the deterrence paradox 38:20 – Can Israel learn from this? Preemption vs Occupation 40:50 – The Right, the Left, and the Gray Zone 44:00 – Morality, civilian deaths, and propaganda math 50:00 – The antisemitism question and media narratives 56:00 – Netanyahu’s communications failure 57:20 – Conspiracy theories: the “stand-down” myth 01:00:00 – Friendly fire and the Hannibal Directive 01:03:20 – Why Israel must investigate itself 01:06:10 – Closing thoughts and the future of Israeli democracy

A Live Interview from Inside Gaza. In this exclusive Live From the Table conversation, we speak directly with Moumen Al-Natour, the Gazan lawyer and founder of the We Want to Live movement. Al-Natour describes daily life under Hamas rule, the corruption of aid, hunger during the war, and his escape from repeated torture. An unfiltered account of courage, suffering, and the fight for a peaceful future.

With his son Yoav Oren (former IDF special‑forces soldier) Ambassador Michael Oren (historian; former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.) sits down for anunvarnished assessment of the war what “victory” actually means. Highlights: Psychology of war & the IDF: A deep dive into moral erosion under prolonged combat; how rage, fear, and fatigue are managed; why some units choose capture‑over‑kill in close quarters; and the IDF practice of embedding psychologists with frontline units during Gaza operations to stabilize judgment in real time. Oren’s two‑line verdict: “Emphatically yes” on military success; “tragically no” because the fight mutates if Hamas retains weapons and cover. The “Hezbollah model” in Gaza: why a foreign peacekeeping shield + undisbursed weapons equals a forever threat. Hostages, Doha, and leverage: what actually forced movement — and what happens next if disarmament stalls. Gaza casualty math, explained from Oren’s perspective (the 1:1 claim and why the numbers are contested). How Hamas turns humanitarian aid into a war economy; the logistics and the alleged skimming. On restraint under fire: Yoav’s close‑quarters firefight, triage under fire, and the decision to capture, not kill. Anti‑Semitism’s uncensored return in the West — and why, according to Oren, arguments and “hasbara” often misfire. USS Liberty: Oren’s step‑by‑step rebuttal to the “deliberate attack” narrative. The strategic endgame: surgical strikes, cutting aid diversion, and whether disarmament is possible without a full re‑invasion. 00:00 Intro 01:50 Did Israel “win”? 04:30 Gaza’s tunnels and the unique urban fight 06:10 Multi‑front picture (Hezbollah, Iran, Houthis) 07:45 From battlefield gains to regional diplomacy 08:50 Hostages and the “diplomatic shield” 12:50 Why Hamas released hostages (and why it mattered) 15:10 Will Israelis accept another ground push? 15:40 Surgical strikes vs. re‑invasion 16:30 Aid diversion and UN logistics 23:00 Doha strike debate 32:10 IDF conduct under fire; Yoav’s firefight 41:00 Rules of engagement, restraint, and misinformation 55:20 Psych support embedded with IDF units 59:00 USS Liberty — the case against conspiracy 1:09:10 Closing thoughts: victory, vigilance, and what comes next

Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon joins Live From The Table to talk about the emerging splits on the political right—Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA, anti-Semitism, and the responsibilities that come with free speech. Topics (AI gleaned): The Babylon Bee and modern satire Trans debates and free speech Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and Turning Point Anti-Semitism and cowardice on the right Religion, truth, and respect in public debate

Two years after October 7th, the Comedy Cellar hosts Bret Stephens (New York Times), Coleman Hughes (The Free Press), and Michael Moynihan (The Fifth Column) for a discussion of how the Hamas war against Israel ignited something larger — and perhaps more enduring. The panel explores: How sympathy for Israel inverted almost overnight into hostility toward Jews. The emergence of “October 8th Jews” and the new sense of isolation in America. The Plight of the Long Suffering Palestinians Double Standards The rise of conspiratorial right-wing rhetoric and the failure of moderates to confront it.

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by NYC Mayoral Candidate and Founder of the Guardian Angels, Curtis Sliwa.  He addresses why he is the best candidate for the job and and why he will not bow out of the race.

The Moshes Brothers—Joshua and Benjamin—creators of Congestion-Pricing-Tracker.com, break down the latest developments in New York City’s grand congestion pricing experiment. What does the data suggest about whether this historic policy will succeed? And, why are two college kids the only ones tracking it?

Impossible choices haunt every war. John Spencer, executive director of the Urban Warfare Institute, joins Live from the Table to confront the hardest questions raised by Israel’s war against Hamas. How are civilian deaths justified in war? Can Israel defeat Hamas ? What does it mean to fight an enemy that will not protect its own people? Is Israel held to a different standard than other nations Difficult questions, no easy answers.

Charlie Kirk’s assassination has sparked a firestorm of conspiracies. The Live from the Table crew, joined by journalist Ross Barkan, exposes how antisemitic tropes are spreading on the right—from Candace Owens’ tweetstorms and Max Blumenthal’s “sources” to Holocaust denier Ian Carroll’s overt accusations. And why is Megyn Kelly - staunchly pro-Israel - hesitant to call out Candace Owens, even at times praising her, as Owens’ conspiracy talk spreads? Why has Kirk’s murder been reframed around his Israel stance?

Journalist Michael Tracey and Epstein mega-expert Michael Tracey stops in to tell us what is and isn't true about this remarkable story. Subscribe to Tracey's awesome Substack: https://substack.com/@mtracey

University of Chicago Professor Robert Pape maintains that Israel is passing "historic thresholds of civilian punishment" and is risking its own future existence. Please Note: This PDF contains the post-show conversation between Noam and Pape. It contains many links to articles and videos that Pape draws from. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rk9NJ6BEYx6qa7JUEjuwzKG7R2MUOus4/view?usp=sharing Here is Pape's recent article on the matter in Foreign Affairs: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/gaza-unparalleled-devastation-robert-pape ("The Unparalleled Devastation of Gaza")

Noam Dworman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Gregory Lyakhov, America's the youngest nationally syndicated columnist. He serves as a columnist for Newsmax, The Gateway Pundit, and Townhall Media, regularly contributing to major outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, and The Hill. His work has appeared in dozens of other publications and has been cited by top institutions, including the White House. He shares his views on the war in Israel, anti Semitism and why he wants to be like Ben Shapiro when he grows up.  Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CE... and use code CELLAR and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup!

Social and political critic extraordinaire Richard Hanania joins us for a wide-ranging discussion on Israel, Epstein, and whatever else he's thinking about these days. 📖 Get his book The Origins of Woke: Civil Rights Law, Corporate America, and the Triumph of Identity Politics on Amazon: http://bit.ly/4lA4hH5 📰 Read his Substack: https://substack.com/@richardhanania 🐦 Follow him on X: https://x.com/RichardHanania

Suzy Weiss is a co-founder of The Free Press. Before that, she worked as a features reporter at the New York Post. There, she covered the internet, culture, dating, dieting, technology, and Gen Z. Her work has also appeared in Tablet, the New York Daily News, and The Wall Street Journal among others.

Matt Welch is the Editor-at- Large at Reason magazine and co-host of The Fifth Column podcast.

Omer Bartov discusses his recent article in The New York Times accusing Israel of genocide. A contentious conversation. Links: https://newrepublic.com/article/96369/hitler-wwii-middle-east-islam https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2004/12/19/an-end-full-of-horror/f62352ab-2561-45bf-ad33-e1368d1e81cd/ https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/opinion/israel-gaza-holocaust-genocide-palestinians.html https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2024/01/israel-south-africa-genocide-case-fake-quotes/677198/ (https://archive.ph/tnIVC) https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-human-rights-expert-william-schabas-a-strong-case-that-israels-response-constitutes-the-crime-of-genocide-a-da7e4524-ab3b-40e4-b409-f8fca9c081b8 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/13/world/middleeast/hamas-gaza-israel-fighting.html

Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand discuss using notes on stage, Dan's cruises, the adult obsession with the weather, Ozempic, Periel's new show and whether or not Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide.Live from the Table Bonus Episode: Ozempic, Stand Up and Jeffrey Epstein.

Noam Dworman and Dan Naturman are joined by Tom Nash, a self described storyteller and vagabond. Noam gets nostalgic, Dan gets philosophical and Tom explains anti-fragility. Nash is a Global Keynote Speaker and has graced the stages of some of the world's largest conferences and festivals including TED and SXSW. He is also a club DJ, author. He lost all four of his limbs after a devastating brush with a deadly disease.

Noam Dworman unexpectedly joins Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand despite the fact that he had a colonoscopy earlier in the day. They discuss his procedure, the recent Diddy Verdict and what it means to globalize the intifada.Live from the Table Bonus Episode: Colonoscopies, Diddy, Mamdani and Bob Vylan

Comedians Modi and Eric Neumann join Periel Aschenbrand. They discuss the history of the Comedy Cellar, Eric's new girlfriend and what it's like performing stand up for a room of seven people.

Watch it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MhxjO0q9vmkhttps://youtu.be/MhxjO0q9vmk 2 hours of debate (plus another hour over drinks after) and we didn't settle it. Discussed: Is It Genocide? Does Hamas maximize civilian deaths? Comprehending martyrdom - does Hamas consider all civilians to be combatants? Does Hamas have "no choice" but to break the rules? Does Israel break the rules? Why all the name-calling? Is civility possible in debating Israel's action in Gaza? More More from Matthew: https://historyspeaks.substack.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9z6CwgycPjUbOLElkLuHjQ

Two Zionist Jews discuss: "Until Israeli politics can radically reorient itself, it’s time to construct a vision of Jewishness that’s independent of the state that pretends to act on our behalf. It’s time for Jews to reclaim the moral mantle of our ancestors. For the Palestinians, but also for the future of the Jewish people, it’s time for Jews to abandon Israel." https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/about Josh Szeps is the host of the podcast Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps.

Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand discuss Noam's absence, the war with Iran, the Mossad and stage fright.

The pandemic playbook was ripped up in 2020—but did the replacements work? Was Great Barrington/Sweden the better way? In this deep-dive conversation, Comedy Cellar owner Noam Dworman goes head-to-head with Princeton political philosopher Stephen Macedo over the empirical record and moral calculus of COVID-19 policies. Here is the Israeli study Noam refers to: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8144835/

Rabbi Yishai Fleisher is the International Spokesperson for the Jewish Community of Hebron - a Middle East hotspot, King David's first capital, and home of the Mearat Hamachpela - the Tomb of the Biblical Patriarchs and Matriarchs. He is also an elected Councilman in one of the largest Jewish community in Judea - Efrat - and an advisor for international affairs to Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir. Rabbi Yishai is a popular English-language podcaster and YouTuber on the topics of Israel, Judaism, and the Middle East and has appeared in major media outlets including CNN, Piers Morgan, and more. Yishai is a rabbi, a graduate of Cardozo Law School in NYC, a former paratrooper, and continues to serve in the IDF reserves.

Daniella Greenbaum Davis is an Emmy-award-winning producer, writer, and social media strategist with bylines in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Daily Beast, Commentary, and Washington Post. She executive produced the first ever holocaust-edu-series for TikTok, How to: Never Forget, which garnered 20M views and was profiled by ABC, NBC, Deadline, Variety, PBS, and E!.

Sarah Rose Siskind is a science comedy TV writer, psychedelic comedian, roboticist, and founder of Hello SciCom, a science comedy and communication agency that helps smart people get their message across.

Noam Dworman invites Ross Barkan and Jesse Singal join to reconcile their Twitter feud . Ross Barkan is a columnist for New York Magazine and a contributing writer to the NY Times Magazine. He's the editor in chief of The Metropolitan Review, a new books and culture review magazine, and his new novel, Glass Century, is out now. Jesse Singal is a former writer-at-large at New York Magazine, cohost of Blocked and Reported, and author of The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills.

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib is the head of Realign For Palestine, a project of the Atlantic Council, where he is a resident senior fellow. He is a Gaza native and a political analyst who writes extensively on strategic affairs in the Middle East. Links to what was referenced in this episode:  https://x.com/trackingisrael/status/1877801096275431758 and  https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/dec/18/jabaliya-refugee-camp-gaza-destruction-idf

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by  Anna Rascouët-Paz, a French-Colombian journalist who reports for Snopes. She's also worked at WNYC for the show Radiolab, as an independent research publisher Annual Reviews and Bloomberg News. She recently produced a documentary podcast series on statelessness called Citizens of Nowhere.

Dr. Einat Wilf is a leading thinker on Israel, Zionism, foreign policy and education. She was a member of the Israeli Parliament from 2010 to 2013, where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Born and raised in Israel, Dr. Wilf served as an Intelligence Officer in the Israel Defense Forces, Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company. Dr. Wilf has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge and is the author of seven books that explore key issues in Israeli society.

Yair Rosenberg is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of its newsletter Deep Shtetl, about the intersection of politics, culture, and religion. Previously a senior writer at Tablet Magazine, he has also written for The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian, and his work has received recognition from the Religion News Association and the Harvard Center for Jewish Studies.

A discussion of the Murray/Smith debate on the Joe Rogan show. Our call: A Murray victory that was somewhat obscured by Dave Smith's talented and agile performance.

Taped the day before the Rogan-Murray-Smith debate, are bigots and quacks being normalized on the biggest shows in the world? And, what are the consequences? Ami Kozak: https://www.youtube.com/@amikozak_official

Nick Gillespie is a libertarian, the Editor at Large of Reason Magazine and host of the podcast, Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie.

Author, podcaster and internationally recognized comedian, Corinne Fisher is running for mayor. She is building a campaign across all five boroughs that celebrates the magic, electricity, and community that make NYC the best city on Earth.   To learn more, visit www.corinnefisher.com

New York Post columnist David Christopher Kaufman has a unique biography and a unique take on the world as a result. Here are a few of his latest: https://www.commentary.org/articles/david-christopher-kaufman/jews-americas-new-blacks/ https://nypost.com/2025/03/15/opinion/when-will-sideline-jews-finally-speak-up-against-their-haters/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/comment/2025/03/14/democrats-leadership-vacuum-michelle-obama-gavin-newsom/ https://airmail.news/issues/2025-1-25/the-view-from-here Video: https://youtu.be/6MZCO_YNWRI

The gang shoots the breeze about JD Vance's disloyalty in the Signal thread, and Noam laments his falling out with Darryl Cooper. Here are the Twitter threads referenced. https://x.com/noam_dworman/status/1903559854272155730 https://x.com/noam_dworman/status/1903940043426709736 https://x.com/noam_dworman/status/1904640072131240302 Video version: https://youtu.be/fARjR-1Lx_Q

River Page is a reporter at The Free Press. Previously, he worked as a staff writer at Pirate Wires, covering technology, politics, and culture. His work has also appeared in Compact, American Affairs, and the Washington Examiner, among other publications.

Dr. Sally Satel is a psychiatrist and a lecturer at Yale University. She has written widely in academic journals on topics in psychiatry and medicine, and has published articles on cultural aspects of medicine and science in numerous magazines and journals. She has testified before Congress on veterans’ issues, mental health policy, drug courts and health disparities. She is the author of numerous books including Brainwashed, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Science.

Nuts and bigots are garnering millions of followers, spreading like cancer online. Noam insists that we can (and should) engage with arguments while at the same time identifying bigotry (and mental illness) for what it is. YouTube of this episode: https://youtu.be/laAHt7s-qcg Here is Dave's entire episode: https://youtu.be/7zRkdH8Zsw4?si=djHKKeFE6tFInT1I&t=4005

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Kathryn Wylde is President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization whose members are global business leaders and the city’s major employers. The Partnership is the primary liaison between business and local government, providing private sector expertise and resources to public agencies and programs. Areas of focus include education, transportation, infrastructure, public safety, and economic opportunity.   Prior to taking over as Partnership CEO in 2000, Wylde led the Partnership’s city-wide affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, and business investment programs. She is an urban policy expert and a frequent spokesperson for the New York business community.

Liel Leibovitz is an author and editor-at-large for Tablet Magazine and the host of its weekly podcast, Rootless. He is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. His work focuses on thinking about anti-Semitism as a national security threat.

Talia Bongolan Shwartz is a thirty year old former radical progressive turned first-time Trump voter. In May 2021, she was iced out of her activist circles when "Defend Al Aqsa" and "Zionism is Racism" signs started to outnumber the BLM signs at her weekly protests. This event marked the beginning of an ideological turn away from the left. Today, Shwartz talks Jews and politics on X @talibotz and co-hosts a podcast about gender and transition called The Navel Gays.