About this episode
Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. --Primary Importance?-- Netanyahu is almost sure to win next week's Likud leadership primary, and yet it still feels like maybe end of one era and the beginning of another. What's happening in the Likud? --Dour of Pisa-- Israeli 15 year olds do third-worldishly lousy on an huge international standardized test. What accounts for the mediocrity in math, science and reading? Is Israel destined to become the "Dumbed Down Nation"? --Boys, Girls and Boys-and-Girls-- Tel Aviv parents go ballistic when they learn their high-school kids are gender-segregated for a one-off meeting with visiting religious kids. Are they right to be so upset? --The Rise of Holocaust-Themed Swag-- For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we discuss recent revelations that you can buy an Auschwitz-themed dish towel or Christmas tree ornament on Amazon. What are we to make of that? All this and the Emo rap of "Damsel is Depressed"! --Music-- Damsel is Depressed Repeat (featuring Nir Perlman) B'Shmoneh Nipagesh 90210 Stranded