The Jewish Angle

In early October, Jesse Brown—founder of one of Canada's most recognized independent podcast networks, Canadaland—abruptly announced that he "fired" himself as the host of his flagship program. But for those watching how Jesse has presented himself publicly since Oct. 7, 2023, his stepping away from the Canadaland microphone isn't exactly surprising. He's shifted away from his hallmark Canadian media criticism and begun focusing almost entirely on the rise of global antisemitism and what he calls the "social contagion" of pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel movements. That obsession has led him to realize he's distracted from his current job and needs a reset. He joins Phoebe Maltz Bovy on this week's episode of The Jewish Angle to shed some light on his decision and the broader social issues at play. Credits Host: Phoebe Maltz Bovy Producer and editor: Michael Fraiman Music: " Gypsy Waltz " by Frank Freeman, licensed from the Independent Music Licensing Collective Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)

After the federal Canadian government quietly adjusted its public-facing language to include anti-Zionism as a form of antisemitism, Britain’s Green Party took the opposite route: they formally adopted a policy declaring Zionism as racism. The decision has caused a loud rift within the party, with the Jewish Greens chair openly mulling over whether she'd leave the party over this, party leader Zack Polanski—who is also Jewish—said the policy wouldn't be reviewed until 2028. His personal approval rating has plummeted to negative 36. Daniel Sugarman, deputy editor of Jewish News in the United Kingdom, has been watching this political trainwreck unfold in real time. He joins Phoebe Maltz Bovy to trace how the Greens got to this point, including how an influx of Corbyn-era Labour activists fled their party, and the legacy of the 1936 Battle of Cable Street. Credits Host: Phoebe Maltz Bovy Producer and editor: Michael Fraiman Music: " Gypsy Waltz " by Frank Freeman, licensed from the Independent Music Licensing Collective Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)

Rachel “Archie” Matlow spent years feeling more at home in Toronto’s queer, progressive left than in organized Jewish life. They're trans, didn't fit in at Jewish summer camp, and ultimately found refuge among their fellow left-wing creatives, podcasters and journalists. But after Oct. 7, 2023, things started to change. Years of confusion, soul-searching, political research and social isolation led them to write an expansive essay in the Globe and Mail in September 2026, titled, "Jew-hatred has never stopped evolving. Antizionism is its latest iteration". Appearing on The Jewish Angle with Phoebe Maltz Bovy, Matlow explains that, starting after Oct. 7, they began recognizing forms of antisemitism they had not previously known how to name—why wasn't "Jewish" an identity option on arts grants?—which seemed conspicuous in spaces that considered themselves anti-racist. But the more Matlow would try and engage their friends in conversation, the more they were shut down: they had "work" they needed to do, or their media diet was skewing too right-wing, or they were suddenly "problematic". For a group that loves to break the gender binary, they joke, when it comes to Israel-Palestine, morality is completely binary. Credits Host: Phoebe Maltz Bovy Producer and editor: Michael Fraiman Music: " Gypsy Waltz " by Frank Freeman, licensed from the Independent Music Licensing Collective Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)

Before Nazi Germany invaded France, Catholic leaders had publicly condemned racist ideology. Jews felt reassured by this, and the fact that they enjoyed deep roots in the republic and reason to believe their institutions would defend them from the Nazis. Under Vichy, that confidence became misguided: bishops offered sympathy in private, but the Church often remained publicly silent as anti-Jewish laws hardened and deportations began. Aliza Luft, a Montreal-born sociologist, joins Phoebe Maltz Bovy to discuss her findings about this difficult Jewish-Catholic relationship in her new book, Sacred Betrayal: How the French Catholic Church Broke Its Pledge to Protect Jews During the Holocaust. They unpack how French Jewish leaders navigated assimilation, patriotism and the divide between long-established French Jews and more recent Jewish immigrants; how bishops balanced moral claims against institutional interests; and why reassurances from clergy and Vichy officials could make the threat harder to read. Credits Host: Phoebe Maltz Bovy Producer and editor: Michael Fraiman Music: " Gypsy Waltz " by Frank Freeman, licensed from the Independent Music Licensing Collective Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)

Over the summer, New York Magazine’s “Habibi City” issue set out to celebrate the city’s SWANA scene— Southwest Asia and North Africa, a term meant to replace "Middle East". But to David Polansky, a political theorist and writer living in Toronto, the whole piece read more like a hyper-online obituary for Jewish New York. On this episode of The Jewish Angle, Polansky joins host Phoebe Maltz Bovy to discuss this needlessly controversial article and the foodie politics surrounding it. In the broader context, the United States is the only country in the world, outside of Israel, where Jews still outnumber Muslims; that will almost certainly change over the next two decades. Should Jewish Americans be worried about their culture being shunted aside as a result of widespread anti-Zionist public sentiment? Credits Host: Phoebe Maltz Bovy Producer and editor: Michael Fraiman Music: " Gypsy Waltz " by Frank Freeman, licensed from the Independent Music Licensing Collective Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)