In this episode, Benji and Avi sit down with Rabia Melchem. Rabia is an IDF reserve soldier, a successful AI and data science product engineer, a husband, a father and a Druze Israeli. The Druze have always been a dynamic and important part of Israel, and their contribution to the country has come into even sharper focus during the past year of war. Without pulling any punches, Rabia helps us understand more about the experience of the Druze community in Israel, and about his own journey from his hometown village in the north of Israel to Ramat Gan.

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In this episode Benji and Avi sit down with Daniel Sevitt, bibliophile and, well, left-wing optimist. We talk books, politics, and the private lives of dragons. The conversation is mostly civil, as you would expect from a conversation with a gentlemanly British book nut.

Daniel has an incredible YouTube channel called GuiltyFeat, which you can find here. He has made more than 200 videos, including this awesome one where Daniel talks about books he got for his bar mitzvah.

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In this episode Benji and Avi sit down with Ohad Merlin, Middle East correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, and expert on the media landscape in the Arab world. We do a deep dive into the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar, and the myth that Israeli tourists always steal hotel towels.

Turns out we live in a pretty tough neighborhood.

If you’re feeling depressed after this episode, here’s a Sesame Street blast from the past featuring Bob McGrath, the coolest person who ever lived in Teaneck, NJ. Once you go down that Sesame Street rabbit hole, enjoy The Alligator King and I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon! You’ll feel better…

Here is one of Ohad's videos explaining aspects of Jewishness in Arabic that are mentioned in the podcast.

You can find Ohad on X at https://twitter.com/mohadisrael , and on Telegram at https://t.me/MerlinMeadken (there's a WhatsApp link there as well).

All of his Jerusalem Post articles can be found here:
https://www.jpost.com/author/ohad-merlin

Ohad's LinkedIn is https://www.linkedin.com/in/ohad-merlin-5457b4187?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

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