Don't Know Much About with Naya Lekht

On this special episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht is joined by two of her former students, Shaya and Misha Keyvanfar. Shaya is a junior at UC Berkeley, majoring in Global Studies, while Misha is a senior in high school. Naya sits down with them to get a sense of how college and high school students today think about power, capitalism, Israel, and why traditional Jewish advocacy strategies, known as Hasbara, have largely failed.Why doesn’t “rah-rah” Zionism work? Why does focusing on proving Israel’s legitimacy fall flat? Could it be that knowing all the facts about Israel’s history actually traps us in a kind of perpetual trial? These are just some of the questions explored as Naya takes the pulse of Generation Z on all things Jewish.Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

On this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht speaks with Daniel Levine, Rabbi of Orange County Hillel, Lecturer in Jewish Studies at UC Irvine, and host of the Rabbi Daniel Levine YouTube podcast. Drawing on his knowledge of Jewish history, texts, and working with Jewish college students, Daniel examines the trend within the non-Orthodox Jewish community of centering Israel and Zionism as core to Jewish identity, and why this may be problematic. Moving across the arc of American Jewish history, Naya and Daniel conclude by asking whether Jews, in advocating for themselves, should hold themselves to a higher standard, and if doing so inadvertently gives the non-Jewish world permission to expect that same standard from them.Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

Hillel Fuld, a blogger, marketer, and journalist, passionately promotes a positive narrative around Israel and the Jewish people. He discusses the current surge in antisemitism, urging solidarity and awareness within the Jewish community. Delving into the ties between diaspora and Israeli Jews, Fuld emphasizes the need for unity and resilience amidst adversity. He confronts the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, advocating for a proactive approach to education and understanding. Through his insights, he highlights the essential contributions of Jewish identity to humanity.

On this episode of Don't Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht speaks with Dillon Hosier, Chief Executive Officer of the Israeli-American Civic Action Network (ICAN), about how California lawmakers, legislators, and advocacy groups have been unprepared to address the challenges of Ethnic Studies. Their conversation explores how activist groups have weaponized “diversity” to advance hidden agendas, while also shedding light on the strategies advocacy organizations are using to respond.Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

On this episode, Dr. Naya Lekht sits down with Freedom Foundation litigator, Shella Alcabes, to discuss the case for being a proud, unapologetic neoconservative in an era where ‘America First’ too often turns into Jews last. We unpack the rise of antisemitism on the right, the dangers of retreating from global leadership, and why confronting Jew-hatred requires moral clarity, not isolationism.Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

What if everything you thought you knew about history, education, and Israel was built on a lie? On this episode of Don't Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht sits down with Natasha H. Pein, a Soviet-born survivor of state-sponsored antizionism. Natasha recounts how Soviet antisemitism shaped her fierce commitment to truth, education, and Jewish advocacy. In 2025, she launched PIE4ALL.org, an initiative exposing hate in education from kindergarten to the workplace. Her upcoming book, The Antizionist Playbook: The New Face of an Old Hate, unpacks how modern antizionism masks old Jew-hatred in the language of social justice. Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

In this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht sits down with Sharon Nik for a timely conversation about the rise of antisemitism on the political right. Together, they trace the emergence of the "woke right" and explore how cultural cues—including fashion trends—can serve as surprising predictors of political shifts. Sharon also shares her powerful personal journey: fleeing Iran, going to Israel, and eventually immigrating to the United States. Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

What does Theodor Herzl have to do with dodgeball, and why does it matter for Jewish advocacy today?In this thought-provoking episode, Dr. Naya Lekht sits down with Nicole Bernstein, co-founder of PeerK12, to explore the state of Jewish grassroots leadership in the U.S. From the playground to the political arena, Naya and Nicole examine how Jewish identity, Zionism, and antisemitism intersect in education, activism, and community building.While the two find much common ground—especially in their commitment to Jewish continuity and empowerment—they diverge on key questions of strategy, language, and the future of Jewish advocacy. Can we unify without uniformity? Is the model of “big tent” Judaism still viable? What does effective grassroots leadership look like in a time of rising antisemitism and ideological division?Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

In this episode of Don’t Know Much About, Dr. Naya Lekht explores how modern antisemitism on the "woke right" resembles left-wing conspiracy frameworks—despite often being cloaked in patriotism and Judeo‑Christian rhetoric—and challenges the assumption that love of country shields against blame-driven ideologies. With historical perspective and cultural clarity, Naya highlights how grievance politics, whether left or right, can converge in dangerous ways when Jews are cast as scapegoats Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.

In this powerful and deeply personal episode of Don’t Know Much About, award-winning journalist, writer, and speaker Tabby Refael joins host Dr. Naya Lekht to explore how stories shaped her identity as a Jewish Iranian refugee and columnist. From bedtime tales in post-revolutionary Iran to columns in the Jewish Journal, Tabby shares how storytelling saved lives, preserved culture, and built resilience. The conversation dives into the emotional complexities of exile, nostalgia for Iran, and what it means to belong. Clarifying the complex. Step into my classroom.