''Israel Story'' or ''Sipur Israeli'' is an Israeli radio show and podcast. ''Israel Story'' produces episodes in both English and Hebrew. The Hebrew show, which began production in 2013, is broadcast on

Galei Tzahal Israeli Army Radio ( lit. IDF waves) or Galei Tzahal, known in Israel by its acronym Galatz (), is a nationwide state funded Israeli radio network operated by the Israel Defense Forces. The station broadcasts news, music, traffic reports and educa ...

, Israel's national Army Radio station. The English version, which began production in 2014, is distributed by

Public Radio Exchange The Public Radio Exchange (PRX) is a non-profit web-based platform for digital distribution, review, and licensing of radio programs. The organization is the largest on-demand catalogue of public radio programs available for broadcast and internet ...

(PRX) as a bi-weekly podcast. ''Israel Story'' partnered with '' Tablet'' magazine to distribute its first six seasons of English episodes and then partnered with ''

The Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' (ToI) is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012 and has since become the largest English-language Jewish and Israeli news source by audience size. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist Dav ...

''.

Concept

Hosted by Mishy Harman, Israel Story airs long-form nonfiction content about the people of Israel. The show was originally inspired by ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' is a weekly hour-long American radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is ...

'', and episodes are structured similarly—each has a theme and several stories that connect to that theme.

History

During a 20,000-kilometer (12,400 mile)

road trip A road trip, sometimes spelled roadtrip, is a long-distance Travel, journey traveled by a car or a motorcycle. History First road trips by automobile The world's first recorded long-distance road trip by the automobile took place in German Em ...

across the United States, host Mishy Harman was introduced to the popular radio show, ''This American Life'' hosted by

Ira Glass Ira Jeffrey Glass (; born March 3, 1959) is an American public radio personality. He is the host and producer of the radio and television series '' This American Life'' and has participated in other NPR programs, including ''Morning Edition'', ...

. Harman soon became addicted to the show's compelling human-interest stories. When Harman returned home to Jerusalem after the road trip, he convinced three childhood friends to join him in creating an Israeli podcast based on This American Life's style of storytelling. On 19 July 2013, the ''Israel Story'' team released its first episode. Initially, they hoped to just make a few shows for friends and family to enjoy. They then made a show about House of Pancakes, a famous 24-hour pancake restaurant in Israel, which went viral and they reached a critical mass of listeners. The show caught the ear of Army Radio station head Yaron Deckel, who decided to give them a regular, Friday afternoon broadcast slot. Each of the first season's eleven episodes reached an audience of hundreds of thousands of Israelis. In 2014, Israel Story expanded into English, releasing its first English episode, "Faking It" on 18 August 2014 in partnership with '' Tablet'' magazine. In December 2022, ''The Times of Israel'' announced its partnership with ''Israel Story'' for the upcoming seventh season.

Creators

Four childhood friends who grew up together in the Masorti (Conservative) youth movement, "No'am", created the show. * Mishy Harman narrates the show. Harman studied at both

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and received his PhD from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. * Ro'ee Gilron, a graduate of

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

, co-founded a technology start up with Harman. After working at a NASA Lab conducting experiments in zero gravity environments, he returned to Israel to begin his Ph.D. in neuroscience at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

. * Shai Satran served in an elite combat unit of the Israeli Army for eight years and recently completed his master's degree in clinical psychology. Shai is an active advocate for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

and volunteers at the Jerusalem Rape Crisis Center. * Yochai Maital was a captain in an elite combat unit of the Israeli Army for eight years. Yochai has built multiple eco-houses and co-founded Tel Aviv's first (and still only) organic food Co-Op.

Collaborations and rebroadcasts

Pieces produced by ''Israel Story'' have been heard on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

stations across the US, including as the Mother's Day special on

WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...

(New York's public radio station), and on nationally syndicated shows like '' Snap Judgment'', ''

To the Best of Our Knowledge ''To the Best of Our Knowledge'' (also known by the acronym TTBOOK) is a weekly public-radio interview program produced by Wisconsin Public Radio and distributed by PRX. It is broadcast on more than 180 public radio stations in the U.S. and it a ...

'' and ''

99% Invisible ''99% Invisible'' is a radio show and podcast produced and created by Roman Mars that focuses on design. It began as a collaborative project between San Francisco public radio station KALW and the American Institute of Architects in San Franc ...

''. Collaborations include writers and authors such as

Etgar Keret Etgar Keret (; born August 20, 1967) is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television. Early life Keret was born in Ramat Gan, Israel in 1967. He is a third child to parents who survive ...

Sayed Kashua Sayed Kashua (, ; born 1975) is an author and journalist. He is a Palestinian people, Palestinian citizen of Israel, born in Tira, Israel. He is known for his books and humorous columns in Hebrew and English. Early life Kashua was born in Tira, ...

, Jonathan Goldstein,

David Eagleman David Eagleman (born April 25, 1971) is an American neuroscientist, author, and science communicator. He teaches neuroscience at Stanford University and was CEO and co-founder of Neosensory, a now-defunct company that developed devices for senso ...

, and

Matti Friedman Matti Friedman () is a Canadian-Israeli journalist and author. He is an op-ed contributor for the ''New York Times'', and columnist for ''Tablet'' magazine. Biography Matti Friedman was born to a Canadian Jewish family and grew up in Toronto. ...

Live shows

Multiple times a year, the ''Israel Story'' team produces and performs live storytelling events around the United States and Israel. They've performed in New York, Las Vegas, San Diego, New Orleans, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami. In a combination of radio-style storytelling, live collage animation, music, singing, video, and other multimedia, Israel Story tells the stories of Israelis from all over the country. In "Herzl 48", Israel Story brings together the stories of Israelis who have one, completely random, thing in common: they all live at 48 Herzl Street—the most common and highly symbolic of all Israeli addresses. (

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of Types of Zionism, modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organizat ...

is considered the father of modern Zionism and the State of Israel was established in 1948.) Over several months, Israel Story visited all fifty-four Herzl Streets in Israel. Herzl 48 is a live presentation of these stories and has been performed across the United States and Israel. In May 2016, Israel Story returned to the United States with its new live show, "68 and Counting" in celebration of

Yom Ha'atzmaut Yom Ha'atzmaut (, , ) is Israel's national day, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948. It is marked by a variety of official and unofficial ceremonies and observances. Because Israel declared independence on 14 ...

, Israel's Independence day. Israel Story delved into archives to find tales of events that all took place on Independence day from 1948 all the way through 2016, including stories from extravagant military parades, monumental basketball games, mind-bending bible trivia, and much more. In November 2016 Israel Story will be back in the states with a brand new live show.

Reception

''Israel Story'' was recognized as one of the ‘Top 10 Podcast Episodes of 2014,’ for “Love Syndrome” and was awarded the Best Podcast Concept at IDC Herzliya's FM+ Radio Conference. ''Israel Story'' was named as one of the best seven Jewish podcasts by JTA and one of the "Top Ten Jewish Podcast" by ''Moment Magazine''.

Awards

* Top 10 Podcast Episodes (2014) - The People Podcast * Best Podcast Concept (2015) - IDC Herzliya's FM+ Radio Conference * Top 7 Jewish Podcasts (2016) - Jewish Telegraphic Agency * Top Ten Jewish Podcasts (2016) - Moment Magazine

Donors

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

's Righteous Persons Foundation offered funding as part of its Media Fund for Coexistence, which supports projects that leverage media and technology to highlight people's shared humanity.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.israelstory.org/
Hebrew podcast archive

English podcast archive
Audio podcasts 2013 podcast debuts Radio in Israel Travel podcasts