The Rise & Fall Of Adam and Eve
Speakers: Stephen Greenblatt To world-renowned literary critic and Pulitzer Prize-winner, Stephen Greenblatt, the story of Adam and Eve is a prism refracting our most primitive fears and the inspiration for our most glorious works of art. In a richly illustrated talk, he shows how this myth has shaped understanding of our origins and destiny since […]
The Jewish Journey: 4000 Years In 22 Objects
Speakers: Rebecca Abrams, Julia Neuberger Consummate story-teller, Rebecca Abrams, offers tantalising glimpses into Jewish history through the prism of her personal selection from Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum. Many of the objects are little-known treasures and all 22 have remarkable stories spanning 4,000 years of history and covering 14 countries, they trace the evolution of Jewish life […]
The Hebrew Republic: Israel’s Return To History
Speakers: Colin Schindler, Ned Temko In his collection of essays Colin Shindler presents his very personal take on Israel, based on over 50 years of writing on the subject for The New York Times, The Jerusalem Post and the Guardian. This vivid and engaging ‘history’ speaks of Shindler’s deep understanding of the problems of the […]
Synagogues in the Islamic World
In this exquisite volume Professor Mohammad Gharipour charts the development of synagogues in lands under Muslim rule, from North Africa and Spain to Central Asia and the Middle East. He shines a spotlight on the extraordinary architectural and artistic collaboration between Muslims and Jews in creating spaces for Jewish worship. In conversation with Irving Finkel. […]
Smal Pieces
Speakers: Shoshana Boyd Gelfand, Joanne Limburg Poet Joanne Limburg has produced an exquisite and heart-breaking memoir of her childhood, her Jewishness, her mother’s death, and how she came to terms with her brother’s suicide: ‘I explained to the rabbi that his death was the point of fracture in my world.’ Hilary Mantel has written of […]
In Therapy: 50 Minutes on the Couch with Susie Orbach
Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the publication of Fat is a Feminist Issue, pioneering therapist Susie Orbach presents the extended new edition of the case histories that inspired her recent Radio 4 series In Therapy. She reveals as much about what is going on in the mind of the person behind the couch as […]
Israel at 70
Speakers: Yael Dayan, Adam Le Bor, Tom Phillipe, Daniel Goldman, Yaacav Yadgar Peace with the Palestinians remains elusive but, given soaring economic disparity, the widening gulf between secular, moderately religious and ultra-Orthodox, the increasingly vocal Arab minority, and the further splintering of consensus between far-left and far-right, does the real threat come from within? Our […]
Travellers In the Third Reich
Speakers: Julia Boyd, Anne Sebba During the 1920s and 1930s, German tourism was booming, particularly among Americans and the British. Attracted by the scenery, the food, the culture, and the favourable exchange rates, they also came to witness the rise of Hitler. Julia Boyd’s book, including extracts from her mother’s 1938 diary, offers an exceptional […]
Transitions
Speakers: Yael Dayan, Janet Suzman Yael Dayan, daughter of the legendary Moshe Dayan, looks back at her life as a fierce and eloquent activist and influential politician. Chaired by Janet Suzman.
The Future of War
Speakers: Lawrence Freedman, John Simpson, Richard Norton-Taylor Lawrence Freedman who is an authority on war and warfare, past and present, and consultant to governments on conflict, is joined by the BBC World Affairs editor and foreign correspondent, John Simpson, to investigate how past conflicts inform the present and future of war, weapons, security and strategy. […]
From Things Lost
Speakers: Shirli Gibert, Yitzchak Mayer Professor Shirli Gibert and Ambassador Yitzchak Mayer discuss their new books, stories of memory and survival told through letters. Chaired by Jenni Frazer.
Bibliotherapy
Speakers: Viv Groskop, Laura Freeman, Alex Clark Viv Groskop in her luminous The Anna Karenina Fix, finds the answers to life’s burning questions in the great Russian novels. Not sure what to do with your love life? Turn to Tolstoy. Suffering from unrequited love? Turgenev can help. Are you socially awkward? Chekhov has the answers. […]