Etgar Keret talks about why he published his memoir first in Turkish, and how he writes with not even one reader in mind.

From Darfur to Ramat Gan

Mutasim Ali, released earlier this month from the Holot detention center, talks about his plans to run the African Refugee Development Center and to attend law school in Ramat Gan.

Rebuilding after the fire

The Church of the Multiplication, which was set on fire June 18, is getting the support of a crowdfunding campaign organized by a group of Orthodox rabbis.

Laughing through breast cancer

An unlikely friendship between an Israeli woman and Palestinian woman results from their fight against the odds of breast cancer.

Operation Tweet: How the IDF came to embrace New Media

Aliza Landes spearheaded the Israeli Defense Force's use of social media as a soldier in the Spokesperson's Unit during Operation Cast Lead. She says that though it took a long time for the IDF to grasp the challenges and opportunities of New Media, "once they got it, they ran with it."

Israel's Supreme Court: The Final Frontier?

This is the fourth part of TLV1's Democracy Project - a series of documentaries and interviews on Israel's Jewish and democratic identity.

Meir Ariel's posthumous success lives on

Trying to understand Meir Ariel's craft and the reason for this Israeli troubadour's posthumous success 16 years after his untimely passing.

Bunny Chow: A little bit of South Africa in Tel Aviv

There's a treasure trove of eateries hidden away in the nooks and crannies of Carmel Market. But it isn't all Middle Eastern fare.

ILENE IN: Leaving Israel but not saying goodbye

Ilene Prusher leans in for the last time as she packs her and her family's bags and prepares for the big move back to America.

Music:

Red Band & Matisyahu - I Shall Be Released
Tomer Yosef - Al Tattousi
Botimzog - Eifo Telech
Full Trunk - Going Home
Shlomi Shaban - New York Vs. Yechezkel
Fortisaharof - America

Eliezer Yaari’s doctor told him he needed get walking. Yaari tells TLV1 what he learned as he began wandering out of his West Jerusalem neighborhood in search of his Palestinian neighbors, who lived so close he could hear their voices from his balcony.

TLV1's Week in Review

Host Ilene Prusher brings you highlights from some of the most important, interesting, or even absurd stories that came out of Israel this week, including US defense secretary Ashton Carter's visit to Israel, the Locker Report on IDF spending, and more.

The Susya double standard

The Palestinian village of Susya, located in the South Hebron Hills, is under imminent threat of demolition. TLV1's Noah Phillips spoke to Robin Levy, a writer and activist working with several advocacy groups, about the background of the clash.

Jewish law in the Jewish state: An unhappy marriage

TLV1's Laragh Widdess continues her religion versus state series. Last week it was the Rabbinate's monopoly on what's kosher, this week it's who can get married in Israel and how. She discovers it's not just interfaith couples having to use the loopholes.

Shady business: Rethinking public space in the land of plentiful sun

A new exhibit at Holon Design Museum explores why, in this land of almost-eternal sunshine, public spaces are so often designed without shade. Dr. Martin Weyl, one of the curators and former Israel Museum director, is trying to change that.

Israeli singer Karolina knows no limits

Israeli singer Karolina has dominated the local music scene for over a decade now, but a recent connection with musician Adrian Younge could take her to new international heights. TLV1 music correspondent Tomer Gershenman caught up with her.

When performance art goes out of the box

The Jerusalem Season of Culture’s next installment is the In-House Festival, to be held next week at seven sites around Jerusalem. Dafna Kron, the festival's artistic director, explains the concept behind performances in private and public spaces.

Storytelling makes a slam in Tel Aviv 

The Stage, Tel Aviv's English-language performing arts community, has been hosting a poetry slam series for the past six months. TLV1's Noah Phillips spoke to the woman behind this series, Karen Lerman, about the upcoming grand final.

ILENE IN: On Disengagement from Gaza, 10 years on

It’s been a decade since Israel pulled its settlers and soldiers out of Gaza. What was achieved and what lessons were learned? Ilene gives us her top five take-aways, and argues that the withdrawal proved unilateral moves generally lead to disaster.

Music:
Kutiman - Inner Gaalctic Lovers
David Broza - Dear Marianna (I Miss You)
Asaf Avidan - One Day
Ehud Banai - Hebrewman
Meir Ariel - Zir'ey Kaitz
Peled - Tipat Mazal
Karolina - Habalada Al Abir HaChofesh Uvat Galim
Foreign Affair - Ghosts Can't Run Away
Marina Maximilian - Hurricane
Iggy Waxman - Lo Mechaka

Host Ilene Prusher brings you highlights from some of the most important, interesting, or even absurd stories that came out of Israel this week. We focus on the vastly differing reactions to the Iran nuclear deal at home and abroad.

Historic mistake or major hysteria? 

Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born analyst who lives in Tel Aviv and lectures at the IDC Herzliya, explains why this deal isn't as bad as Israeli officialdom would have you believe. “This is hysteria that hurts our credibility and legitimacy,” he says.

LET'S GET LIT: Unpacking Agnon

Today is the 127th birthday of Shai Agnon, Israel's only ever winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Host Ilene Prusher speaks to Rabbi Jeffrey Saks, an Agnon expert, in Agnon's house in Jerusalem, in the very study where he used to write.

Jewish law in the Jewish state: Kosher wars

The ultra-Orthodox parties in Netanyahu's coalition are pushing through a number of bills that aim to close up some of the loopholes Israeli society uses to bypass the Chief Rabbinate. TLV1's Laragh Widdess looks at the battle over who decides what's "kosher."

The banality of evil: Israel and the death penalty

A bill that calls for the death penalty for convicted terrorists has been introduced in the Knesset. TLV1's Shoshi Shmuluvitz finds out that this law would make Israel the only Western democracy to reintroduce the death penalty after decades of de facto abolition.

A bullet-pocked city leaves its imprint on a young designer

OBJECTIVE is a new contemporary design exhibit at The Tower of David Museum, which brings together two leading Jerusalem-born designers: Haim Parnas and Ezri Tarazi. Parnas explains how the city itself impacted the designer he became.

What's the deal with Israelis and Seinfeld?

With its release on Hulu, people are talking about Seinfeld again. Wildly successful in the US, it never really took off anywhere else, except... in Israel. Shoshi Shmuluvitz finds out why, 17 years after its season finale, Israelis still make reference to it.

ILENE IN: On being a swing voter 

Host Ilene Prusher explains her frustration at still not knowing what to think about the Iran deal, even after extensive research: "I feel a bit like a swing voter on the eve of an election, ready to be bought by the most persuasive snake-oil salesman."

Music:
Rita - Shaana Masrak
Shelichey HaBlues - Cheder 26
Solati Ft Shahyad - Mage Nemidooni Eyde
Kzat Acheret - Sweet Song
Tepacks - Zmanim Ktanim
Sun Tailor – I Know What You Want
Yael Naim - New Soul
Benjamin Netanyahu Stand! Down! Iran (Noy Alooshe Remix)

Host Ilene Prusher brings you highlights from some of the most important, interesting, or even absurd stories that came out of Israel this week, including two Israelis missing in Gaza, Iran nuclear negotiations, and an enormous insult to Reform Jews.

LET'S GET LIT: A secret window onto life in Afghanistan 

Born in Germany and raised in America, Atia Abawi went to Afghanistan, the country her parents had left, as a journalist. She talks to host Ilene Prusher about her debut novel, The Secret Sky: A novel of forbidden love in Afghanistan.

The perils of parking in Tel Aviv

Ask a Tel Avivian what they hate most about driving in Tel Aviv and they’ll say "parking." TLV1's Laragh Widdess talks to locals about their parking woes, and looks at how the Start-up Nation is trying to get around the lack of free spaces.

VICE does Hip Hop in the Holy Land

VICE’s channel Noisey is unrolling a six-part documentary: “Hip Hop in the Holy Land.” TLV1 hip hop aficionado Tomer Gershenman is featured in the film, and he joins host Ilene Prusher to talk about it with VICE’s Head of Music, Alex Hoffman, in London.

You won't succeed on Broadway if you don't have any Jews

We all know about Gershwin and Sondheim, but did you know that Rent was composed by a Jew? Or Dream Girls? Shoshi Shmuluvitz went to a dress rehearsal of "You Won't Succeed on Broadway if you don't have any Jews," opening in Tel Aviv soon.

Make laughs not bombs

Yohai Sponder and Doron Ravitz from Stand Up for Israel, a new English-language stand-up comedy group, join host Ilene Prusher in the studio to explain how they make people laugh in a language that's not their mother tongue.

50 years of diplomatic relations: Israel and Germany share the stage

German and Israeli theatre professionals have come together to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Lissy Kaufmann attended a rehearsal in South Tel Aviv for some joint plays by young German directors and Israeli actors.

Om Yisrael: Why Israeli Jews love Buddhism

In Israel, a Jewish Buddhist community has been blossoming over the past two decades. Could it be that Buddhism is the antidote to that stereotypical Jewish neurosis? Shoshi Shmuluvitz meets some of Israel's "BuJews" to find out.

The sound of sirens

It's one year since the beginning of last summer's war with Gaza. Tel Aviv came under rocket fire just about every day for nearly two months. TLV1 producer Shoshi Shmuluvitz brings us this audio essay on the sucker punch of the siren.

ILENE IN: On tearing up the Torah

Israel's Minister of Religion, David Azoulay, said this week that Reform Jews aren't really Jews. Ilene calculates that he insulted around 90 percent of American Jewry with this statement. When did "pluralism" become a dirty word?

Music:
David Broza - City Lights
Roei Freilich - Halayla He Tirkod
Doda - Elef Kaba'im
Atraf -Mango, Bannana
Geva Alon - Days of Hunger
Lola Marsh - Sirens
Ehud Banai - Florentin
Buttering Trio - No Joke
Mosh Ben Ari - Masa U Matan
HaYehudim - Paamon Milchama
The Idan Raichel Project - HaBaita, Haloch Chazor

Host Ilene Prusher brings you highlights from some of the most important, interesting, or even absurd stories that came out of Israel this week, including terror attacks in Sinai and the West Bank, and Israel's natural gas controversy.

LET'S GET LIT: Writers without barriers

Host Ilene Prusher meets award-winning Canadian writer Marcello DiCintio in Jerusalem to discuss his most recent book Walls: Travels Along the Barricades, and what he discovered as a guest of the Palestine Writers Workshop in Bir Zeit.

The idiot's guide to the Israeli gas controversy

Israel’s big controversy this week was a Knesset vote on gas industry regulation. Is it just about breaking up the nasty monopolies, or should we also be worried about the economy? Here to make sense of it all is TLV1's Niv Elis.

Jew wants passport, gets inquisition

Spain has passed a law of return for Sephardic Jews - those of Spanish descent whose families were exiled during the Inquisition. We bring you a tongue-in-cheek radio play that follows one man’s journey through the process of getting his Spanish passport.

When Israel’s Friday ritual was watching an Arab Film

“Seret Aravit” (Arab Movie) swept up a Best Documentary Award at the recent DocAviv Festival. Co-director and writer Eyal Sagui Bizawe comes to the studio to talk about the once-holy ritual of watching an Egyptian movie each Friday afternoon on Israeli TV.

Privilege don't come free: Inter-ethnic in Israel

Ethnic identity is a complicated thing, especially when you're straddling multiple identities. Shoshi Shmuluvitz thought it would be simpler here in Israel, but found that being part of a majority can be just as fraught as being part of a minority.

At home in her misery: Meet Gal De Paz

TLV1 music man Tomer Gershenman sat down with country-rock singer Gal De Paz to talk about her career endeavors in Israel and Los Angeles. Gal wraps it up with an incredible acapella performance of her song "My Misery."

ILENE IN: On Keens and Kaitanot

The high cost of Keens (shoes) and "kaitanot" (summer camps) reminds Ilene that when summer arrives, it’s not just the mercury that goes soaring. Particularly for parents, "hofesh hagadol" (the summer vacation) means "heshbon hagadol" (the big bill).

Music:
Ester Rada - Feeling Good
Shlomo Artzi and Muki - Hachayim
Shira Chen - Lonely Wild Heart
Korin Alal - Ha Tabaat Nafla
Nechi Nech - Melech Ha Rep Shel Hamizrach Ha Tichon
Abd El Halim-Ana Lak Ala Tool
Red Band and Mashina - Get Ready
Shiri Maimon - Time To Say Goodbye
MIA - Paper Planes