What happens when a political philosopher stops asking, "What would the perfect society look like?" and starts asking, "How did we get here?"

Dr Raef Zreik takes a close look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lens of political theory—and argues that one of the most important tasks of philosophy is self-clarification: figuring out exactly what we mean when we disagree, what assumptions we're making, and where our arguments actually lead.

As a Palestinian citizen of Israel, Zreik describes himself as a kind of translator, trying to articulate Palestinian demands in language Jewish Israelis can understand—and Jewish fears in ways Palestinians can engage with.

The conversation ranges from the meaning of citizenship and Palestinian political agency to organized crime in Palestinian society inside Israel, the relationship between history and political rights, and the devastating events in Gaza.

It's a conversation about what happens when philosophy leaves the classroom and confronts a conflict in which both sides have their own history, fears, and claims to justice.

The episode is sponsored by the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History at UCLA and co-hosted by Prof David N. Myers.

What did South African anti-apartheid activists once think about Israel and Zionism? The answer is more complicated than most seem to think.

Dr. Asher Lubotzky, research fellow at the University of Houston's Department of Political Science, takes us through the extraordinary—and often surprising—relationship between the South African anti-apartheid movement and Israel, from the birth of both countries in 1948 through the Cold War, the end of apartheid, and into the present.

Lubotzky is the author of Shifting Solidarities: The South African Anti-Apartheid Movement's Perception of Zionism.

In the early years, some of the movement's most prominent activists actually supported Israel. Jewish and non-Jewish communists saw the new Jewish state as an anti-fascist, socialist project. African nationalists found parallels between Zionism and their own struggle for national liberation. And Israel itself was actively reaching out to anti-apartheid movements in Africa.

So how did that relationship turn into today's association of Israel with apartheid? The answer involves the Six-Day War, Israel's growing military ties with Pretoria, the Cold War, South Africa's Jewish community, and shifting ideas about colonialism and national liberation.

It's a fascinating history of how political alliances change—and how today's certainties can look very different when viewed through the lens of the past.

What does soccer have to do with Zionism? More than you might think.

Today, competitive sports feel like an obvious part of Israeli culture. But when Zionism was taking shape in the early 20th century, sports were anything but obvious. Many Zionists actually preferred gymnastics, believing it would build a healthier, more disciplined—and more ideal—Jew.

So how did competitive sports win out?

In this fascinating episode, Dr Ofer Idels, fellow in Israel Studies at the University of Calgary, takes us back to interwar Palestine, when Jews were debating what kind of bodies, citizens, and society they wanted to create.

Along the way, we discover how sports became entangled with nationalism, Hebrew culture, masculinity, capitalism, the British Empire—and the very idea of what it meant to be a "new Jew."

And here's the intriguing part: Idels argues that even something as seemingly apolitical as sport can reveal the ideology shaping a society.

Read more in his book, Embodying the Revolution: The Hebrew Experience and the Globalization of Modern Sports in Interwar Palestine.