Danube Institute Podcast

In the sixth episode of our new series, ’Judaism and Anti-Semitism in Hungary’, we are joined by Dr. Jehuda Hartman, born in Budapest and currently lives and works in Israel; he specializes in the history of Hungarian Jews in modern times. Dr. Hartman is a recipient of the Israel National Defense Prize. In the first part of our discussion, we talked about Dr. Hartman’s and his family’s unique early experiences from the Second World War and the history of Hungarian Jews from the 1920s to the Holocaust.

In the seventh episode of our new series, ‘Judaism and Anti-Semitism in Hungary’, we are joined by Ádám Schönberger, the head of the large Jewish youth cultural organization MAROM, which is based in Budapest, as well as the founder and owner of the popular Hungarian youth festival Bánki-tó. In this episode, we talked about the organization MAROM and its relationship with a wide range of Hungarian and international Jewish organizations. We discussed Mr. Schönberger’s point of view about anti-Semitism in Hungary based on his personal experiences.

Former Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, joins the podcast to discuss his personal experience with Putin and Xi, and to offer his reflections on the similarities and differences between Russia's interest in Ukraine, and China's in Taiwan.

Writer Paul Kingsnorth explains his concept of 'the machine' as a metaphor for what ails the contemporary west, and where the cure lies.

Historian and political philosopher, Ofir Haivry, joins the podcast to share his reflections on Christmas through the medium - naturally enough - of David Bowie's life and music.

Writer and psychiatrist Dr Iain McGilchrist discusses the problem with scientism, the need to pay attention, and the importance of beauty in our lives.

Prof David Martin Jones, the new head of research at the Danube Institute, and formerly of the University of Queensland, joins the podcast to discuss his book History's Fools: the pursuit of idealism and the revenge of politics, published by Hurst and Oxford. Is the West in the grip of foolish idealism? If so, who are the fools? What do they believe? And why does it matter?

The death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in September of 2022 set Iranian public opinion on fire, sparking mass unrest and civic protests on a scale unprecedented in the history of the Islamic Republic. Join us for a discussion about the movement that her tragic death inspired, and hear from experts Dr. Jeffrey Kaplan and Professor Rózsa Erzsébet about what this movement means for Iran, and for its geopolitical position in the region.

Writer and translator Pásztor Péter joins the podcast to discuss the work and legacy of the Canadian literary critic and theorist Northrop Frye, and particularly Frye's work on the biblical legacy in Western literature.

In the fifth episode of our new series, ’Judaism and Anti-Semitism in Hungary’, we are joined by Virág Gulyás, a non-Jewish Zionist activist and journalist who is well-known for her blog called the Almost Jewish. We talked about how she became a Hungarian non-Jewish activist who fights against anti-Semitism in the US. In our discussion, we covered topics related to anti-Semitism in Hungary, such as the misperception in the US and Western countries regarding the level of anti-Semitism in Hungary, the difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism if there’s any, and the question of why it’s important to fight against anti-Semitism.