'Deeply harmful and dangerous': Trump undermines Jewish Studies at U.S. colleges
Haaretz Podcast18 Sep 2025

'Deeply harmful and dangerous': Trump undermines Jewish Studies at U.S. colleges

New York University professor Lila Corwin Berman has a warning for her colleagues. Corwin Berman, along with two fellow academics, recently penned a provocative piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education headlined "Jewish Studies Scholars, Beware: Trump's Deal Will Corrupt You."

On the Haaretz Podcast, Corwin Berman explains how, in her view, the agreements that the Trump White House has hammered out with Ivy League universities, making their federal grant money dependent on investing in Judaic Studies and developing cooperation with Israeli universities, will result in turning them into "court Jews."

What the White House is doing, she said "is not about free academic scholarship or inquiry, but is really about serving a particular kind of master. And I think that that is deeply, deeply dangerous for universities for Jewish Studies and for American Jews."

Corwin Berman and host Allison Kaplan Sommer also discussed the atmosphere on campuses under the shadow of the Gaza War, and what Hannah Einbinder's remarks at the Emmy Awards says about the young generation of American Jews.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episoder(100)

How a Haaretz investigation into stolen Ukrainian wheat triggered a diplomatic crisis

How a Haaretz investigation into stolen Ukrainian wheat triggered a diplomatic crisis

A diplomatic crisis over Israeli import of stolen grain from occupied Ukraine exploded this week following the publication of a Haaretz investigation that documents Ukrainian allegations that Russian ...

1 Mai 25min

'American Jews really hate Trump. But they hate Netanyahu even more'

'American Jews really hate Trump. But they hate Netanyahu even more'

The average American watched the Gaza war from afar as a "dramatic and gruesome humanitarian crisis that Israel was responsible for" – but the U.S.-Israel war in Iran is having a far greater impact on...

28 Apr 29min

Making Israel's case to ChatGPT and Grok: Hasbara meets AI in multi-million dollar PR push

Making Israel's case to ChatGPT and Grok: Hasbara meets AI in multi-million dollar PR push

Fighting antisemitism online was meant to be the focus of the Israeli government’s multimillion-dollar digital PR campaign run by President Donald Trump’s former digital guru, Brad Parscale. But inste...

24 Apr 28min

'You can't heal in a perpetual war': Israeli peace activist Yonatan Zeigen on following in his mother's footsteps

'You can't heal in a perpetual war': Israeli peace activist Yonatan Zeigen on following in his mother's footsteps

The final moments of Vivian Silver’s life were a “pivotal turning point” for her son Yonatan Zeigen, who now dedicates his life to Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation, following in the footsteps of his...

20 Apr 27min

'The Hungarians turned their anxiety into hope, that's the main lesson for Israelis'

'The Hungarians turned their anxiety into hope, that's the main lesson for Israelis'

The dramatic landslide election in Hungary toppling authoritarian populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, resonated deeply for Israel in diverse ways, explained Haaretz’s David Issacharoff, who covered ...

17 Apr 25min

'We'll kill you, traitor': How far-right thugs and police target Israel's antiwar protest leaders

'We'll kill you, traitor': How far-right thugs and police target Israel's antiwar protest leaders

As diplomatic talks between Iran and the United States continue in an effort to extend the temporary cease-fire due to expire on April 22, public opinion surveys show that while a majority of Israelis...

14 Apr 32min

Iran war cease-fire update with Amos Harel: 'Trump wants out and Netanyahu is extremely disappointed'

Iran war cease-fire update with Amos Harel: 'Trump wants out and Netanyahu is extremely disappointed'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "extremely disappointed" by the terms of the temporary cease-fire hammered out between Donald Trump's White House and Iran, but has little choice but to accept it ...

9 Apr 17min

What Trump got wrong about Iran, what the IDF got wrong about Hezbollah: Amos Harel on wars with no exit strategy

What Trump got wrong about Iran, what the IDF got wrong about Hezbollah: Amos Harel on wars with no exit strategy

As the war with Iran drags on and the conflict with Hezbollah intensifies, a growing number of Israelis are “losing faith” in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promises of a decisive victory, Haaret...

6 Apr 30min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
forklart
popradet
stopp-verden
fotballpodden-2
rss-gukild-johaug
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
det-store-bildet
nokon-ma-ga
hanna-de-heldige
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-ness
aftenbla-bla
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
e24-podden
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
frokostshowet-pa-p5