Talia Khan: A Jewish Israel Activist and Her Muslim Father [Divergence 5/6]

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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Talia Khan—a Jewish MIT graduate student and Israel activist—and her father, an Afghan Muslim immigrant, about their close father-daughter relationship despite their ideological disagreements. 

When Talia gained national attention in 2023 testifying before Congress and expressing her anger with the hostility toward Jews on MIT’s campus, many wondered what her Muslim father thought of her activism. In this episode we discuss: 

• What was Talia’s father’s reaction to her public advocacy on  behalf of Jews and Israel? 
• How do Talia and her father stay close despite their fundamental ideological differences?
• Why are Jewish-Muslim relations so strained? 

Tune in to hear a conversation about how humanity’s story of redemption takes form in a father-daughter relationship.

Interview begins at 11:09.

Talia Khan is an MIT graduate student in mechanical engineering, the president of the MIT Israel Alliance, a Fulbright Brazil alumna, and the daughter of a Jewish mother and an Afghan Muslim immigrant father. 

References:

18Forty Podcast: “What’s Next: Higher Education for Jews: David Wolpe, Talia Khan, and Steven Pinker”

Golda (2023)

Rashi on Genesis 15:15, Bereshit Rabbah 30 

Meshekh Chokhmah by Meir Simha HaKohen Dvinsk

Genesis 17:18

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