Best A Border Apart Podcasts (2025)

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From the archive: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o: three days with a giant of African literature 59:05

1d ago59:05

59:05

We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2023: The Kenyan novelist’s life and work has intersected with many of the biggest events of the past century. At 85, he reflects on his long, uncompromising life in writing Written and read by Ca…

1
English Listening - Music 29:21

3d ago29:21

29:21

Get my training and advanced episodes: https://www.patreon.com/listeningtime US Conversations: https://www.patreon.com/USConversations Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kpt5POMTJP2E8Lv9ok-Rtm6WnnRBOQXd/view?usp=sharingBy Sonoro | Conner Pe

1
Death, divorce and the magic of kitchen objects: how to find hope in loss 28:45

4d ago28:45

28:45

As they pass through different hands, cooking utensils can magically connect us to loved ones who are no longer with us By Bee Wilson. Read by Colleen Prendergast. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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English Phrasal Verbs - Bottle Up, Bounce Back 19:47

6d ago19:47

19:47

Get my training and advanced episodes: https://www.patreon.com/listeningtime US Conversations: https://www.patreon.com/USConversations Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UMlL9jyy5u5xz9pypEAxTXnFDVxEKeyq/view?usp=sharingBy Sonoro | Conner Pe

1
Semmy Stalhammer, "Codename Barber: My Father’s Story" (Albert Bonniers Publishers, 2007) 1:27:29

6d ago1:27:29

1:27:29

The Nazi threat emerges from Germany 1933 and shatters the small town life in Krasnik south of Lublin in eastern Poland. The teenager Mischa Stahlhammer manages to escape from a German work camp and joins Polish partisans. He survives by becoming a specialist in arming and disarming mines, the most dangerous of all missions. After the war he ends u…

1
Dave Margoshes, "A Simple Carpenter" (Radiant Press, 2024) 55:27

6d ago55:27

55:27

NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with award-winning author Dave Margoshes’ novel, A Simple Carpenter (Radiant Press, 2024)—which recently won a Saskatchewan Book Award and the Western Canada Jewish Book Award for Fiction. Set in the early and mid-‘80s in the Middle East, A Simple Carpenter plays out against a backdrop of strife in Lebanon and ethnic/…

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Missing in the Amazon: the disappearance – episode 1 26:51

7d ago26:51

26:51

Three years ago British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished while on a reporting trip near Brazil’s remote Javari valley. The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips investigates what happened in the first episode of a new six-part investigative podcast series. Find episode 2 – and all future…

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A deadly mission: how Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira tried to warn the world about the Amazon’s destruction 30:36

8d ago30:36

30:36

The Guardian journalist and the Brazilian Indigenous expert were killed while investigating the impact of deforestation. In this extract from the book Phillips was writing at the time of his death, he reflects on his encounters with the rainforest and its people – and why it is so vital to save this precious place By Dom Phillips. Read by Felipe Pa…

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Elisabeth Åsbrink "And in the Vienna Woods the Trees Remain: The Heartbreaking True Story of a Family Torn Apart by War" (Other Press, 2020) 1:05:31

8d ago1:05:31

1:05:31

Named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews and a Notable Translated Book of the Year by World Literature Today Winner of the August Prize, the story of the complicated long-distance relationship between a Jewish child and his forlorn Viennese parents after he was sent to Sweden in 1939, and the unexpected friendship the boy developed with the …

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From the archive: Alan Yentob: the last impresario 47:39

9d ago47:39

47:39

We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2016: For decades, Alan Yentob was the dominant creative force at the BBC – behind everything from Adam Curtis to Strictly Come Dancing. He was a towering figure in British culture – so why did ma…

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Tobias Brinkmann, "Between Borders: The Great Jewish Migration from Eastern Europe" (Oxford UP, 2924) 1:34:29

9d ago1:34:29

1:34:29

Between the 1860s and the early 1920s, more than two million Jews moved from Eastern Europe to the United States while smaller groups moved to other destinations, such as Western Europe, Palestine, and South Africa. During and after the First World War hundreds of thousands of Jews were permanently displaced across Eastern Europe. Migration restric…

1
English Listening - Most Incredible Sights 27:28

10d ago27:28

27:28

Get my training and advanced episodes: https://www.patreon.com/listeningtime US Conversations: https://www.patreon.com/USConversations Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18XmfzOYMB5nWblzEIrhRKc4D1TKIISDd/view?usp=sharingBy Sonoro | Conner Pe

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Yonatan Y. Brafman, "Critique of Halakhic Reason: Divine Commandments and Social Normativity" (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:05:20

10d ago1:05:20

1:05:20

For centuries, Jewish thinkers have asked two parallel questions. First, what is the reasoning behind an individual commandment and second, why bother heeding a command at all, something Dr. Brafman terms “reasons for” vs “reasons of” the commandments. In his newest book, Critique of Halakhic Reason: Divine Commandments and Social Normativity (Oxfo…

1
‘We know what is happening, we cannot walk away’: how the Guardian bore witness to horror in former Yugoslavia 31:34

11d ago31:34

31:34

During the decade-long conflicts, the major powers dithered as Serb militias carried out their brutal campaigns of ethnic cleansing. Guardian reporters became more passionate and more outspoken in their condemnation, attracting praise and criticism By Ian Mayes. Read by Owen McDonnell. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/long…

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Adi Nester, "Unsettling Difference: Music Drama, the Bible, and the Critique of German Jewish Identity" (Cornell UP, 2025) 1:11:50

13d ago1:11:50

1:11:50

Adi Nester is an Assistant Professor of German and Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her first monograph, Unsettling Difference: Bible, Music Drama, and the Critique of German Jewish Identity, appeared with Cornell University Press. The book studies the discourse of Jewish difference in the first half of the twentie…

1
The ancient psychedelics myth: ‘People tell tourists the stories they think are interesting for them’ 33:19

14d ago33:19

33:19

The narrative of ancient tribes around the world regularly using ayahuasca and magic mushrooms in healing practices is a popular one. Is it true? By Manvir Singh. Read by Sebastián Capitán Viveros. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Krista N. Dalton, "How Rabbis Became Experts: Social Circles and Donor Networks in Jewish Late Antiquity" (Princeton UP, 2025) 55:14

15d ago55:14

55:14

At the turn of the common era, the Jewish communities of Roman Palestine saw the organization of a small group of literate Jewish men who devoted their lives to the interpretation and teaching of their sacred ancestral texts. In How Rabbis Became Experts: Social Circles and Donor Networks in Jewish Late Antiquity (Princeton University Press, 2025),…

1
From the archive: The lost Jews of Nigeria 49:14

16d ago49:14

49:14

We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: Until the 1990s, there were almost no Jews in Nigeria. Now thousands have enthusiastically taken up the faith. Why? By Samanth Subramanian. Read by Raj Ghatak. Help support our independent j…

1
English Listening - Restaurants in the US 31:22

17d ago31:22

31:22

Get my training and advanced episodes: https://www.patreon.com/listeningtime US Conversations: https://www.patreon.com/USConversations Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W3X-aeCFOHLcpGd-4xKQImIpAn5tyDiG/view?usp=sharingBy Sonoro | Conner Pe

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‘We thought we could change the world’: how an idealistic fight against miscarriages of justice turned sour 42:06

18d ago42:06

42:06

When a no-nonsense lecturer set up a radical solution to help free the wrongfully convicted in the UK, he was hopeful he could change the justice system. But what started as a revolution ended in acrimony By Francisco Garcia. Read by Nicholas Camm. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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Jan Borowicz, "Perverse Memory and the Holocaust: A Psychoanalytic Understanding of Polish Bystanders" (Routledge, 2024) 1:15:10

19d ago1:15:10

1:15:10

Today I interviewed Jan Borowicz about Perverse Memory and the Holocaust: A Psychoanalytic Understanding of Polish Bystanders (Routledge, 2024). "The assumptions of my book rely on a simple thesis: indifference to violence is impossible and that the primal scene for Polish culture is the experience of Nazism. In Poland we have still a humanitarian …

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English Phrasal Verbs - Border On, Boss Around 18:08

20d ago18:08

18:08

Get my training and advanced episodes: https://www.patreon.com/listeningtime US Conversations: https://www.patreon.com/USConversations Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NEMEBQzAgwQkHLcY-6FP7-omxui0KSA9/view?usp=sharingBy Sonoro | Conner Pe

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Yitzhak Conforti, "Zionism and Jewish Culture: A Study in the Origins of a National Movement" (Academic Studies Press, 2024) 55:50

20d ago55:50

55:50

What many people don’t realize is that Zionism is not a monolithic term. From its inception there were rigorous debates about the nature and direction of the movement? Thinkers had argued about some of the fundamental questions around Israel. Where would a future Jewish state be located? What language would they speak? Should Israel come about thro…

1
‘All other avenues have been exhausted’: Is legal action the only way to save the planet? 32:29

21d ago32:29

32:29

Monica Feria-Tinta is one of a growing number of lawyers using the courts to make governments around the world take action By Samira Shackle. Read by Díana Bermudez. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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David Kraemer, "Embracing Exile: The Case for Jewish Diaspora" (Oxford UP, 2025) 1:02:37

21d ago1:02:37

1:02:37

Embracing Exile: The Case for Jewish Diaspora (Oxford University Press, 2025) analyzes biblical and rabbinic texts, philosophical treatises, studies of Kabbalah, Hasidism, and a multiplicity of modern expressions for a comprehensive history of Jewish responses to and justifications of their diasporas. It shows that Diaspora Jews through the ages in…

1
E82 - To lüft or not to lüft? 21:30

22d ago21:30

21:30

--- Send us your questions --- Let the sunshine (and fresh air) in! In this episode we talk about the Swiss ritual that plays out daily in homes, offices, and schools across the country: Lüften. It’s the practice of throwing windows open wide and letting fresh air circulate through rooms and buildings. But why is Lüften so important to the Swiss mi…

1
Derek J. Penslar, "Zionism: An Emotional State" (Rutgers UP, 2023) 1:02:12

22d ago1:02:12

1:02:12

Emotion lies at the heart of all national movements, and Zionism is no exception. For those who identify as Zionist, the word connotes liberation and redemption, uniqueness and vulnerability. Yet for many, Zionism is a source of distaste if not disgust, and those who reject it are no less passionate than those who embrace it. The power of such emot…

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From the archive: Super-prime mover: Britain’s most successful estate agent 42:26

23d ago42:26

42:26

We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: Gary Hersham has been selling houses to the very rich for decades. At first, £1m was a big deal. Now he sells for £50m, £100m, even £200m. What does it take to stay on top in this cut-throat…

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The Cost of Being Undocumented: A Podcast with Alix Dick and Antero Garcia 42:00

23d ago42:00

42:00

Alix Dick arrived in the U.S. more than a decade ago, fleeing violence in Sinaloa, Mexico, that tore her family apart. But the impact of living without legal status in the United States has been almost as brutal as the violence she fled. In her new memoir, The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman’s Reckoning with America’s Inhumane Math, cowritten…

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Z'ev Ben Shimon Halevi: "The Kabbalistic Tree of Life" and "The Anointed" 24:22

23d ago24:22

24:22

The late Z'ev Ben Shimon Halevi (Warren Kenton 1933-2020) wrote The Kabbalistic Tree of Life (KS Books, 2025), a metaphysical scheme based on ancient, medieval and modern views of its principles, which describes the structure and dynamic of cosmic laws that operate throughout the four Worlds of Jacob's Ladder and humanity. Halevi also wrote The Ano…

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English Listening - Learning One Language Helps You Learn More 25:41

24d ago25:41

25:41

Get my training and advanced episodes: https://www.patreon.com/listeningtime US Conversations: https://www.patreon.com/USConversations Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LvK5ODcOhz6myO6mmypyEFRTIlVnS7nf/view?usp=sharingBy Sonoro | Conner Pe

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Yosie Levine, "Hakham Tsevi Ashkenazi and the Battlegrounds of the Early Modern Rabbinate" (Littman Library, 2024) 41:43

24d ago41:43

41:43

My recent interview with Rabbi Dr. Yosie Levine about his book, Hakham Tsevi Ashkenazi and the Battlegrounds of the Early Modern Rabbinate (Littman Library, 2024), illuminated the dynamic interplay between Sephardi and Ashkenazi traditions-a theme that resonates deeply with our mission at the Unity Through Diversity Institute. From the outset, Rabb…

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A year of hate: what I learned when I went undercover with the far right 34:58

25d ago34:58

34:58

Working for Hope Not Hate, I infiltrated an extremist organisation, befriended its members and got to work investigating their political connections Written and read by Harry Shukman. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Marc Katz, "Yochanan's Gamble: Judaism's Pragmatic Approach to Life" (U Nebraska Press, 2024) 50:56

26d ago50:56

50:56

Some two thousand years ago, as the story goes, a rabbi named Yochanan makes the epitome of pragmatic gambles—wagering the entire fate of the Jewish people. In dialogue with the soon-to-be Roman emperor Vespasian, Yochanan tacitly acknowledges the Romans’ planned destruction of Jerusalem in return for a plot of land in a town called Yavneh. There, …

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Michael A. Meyer, "Above All, We Are Jews: A Biography of Rabbi Alexander Schindler" (CCAR Press, 2025) 44:53

27d ago44:53

44:53

Reform Judaism looks different today than it did a century ago. There are a lot of factors that lead to that change, but among these is Rabbi Alexander Schindler (1925-2000). Doing most of his work in the middle of the 20th century, Schindler was either part of or directly responsible for the changes in Reform (and even American) Judaism that we se…

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‘I am not who you think I am’: how a deep-cover KGB spy recruited his own son 49:36

28d ago49:36

49:36

For the first time, the man the KGB codenamed ‘the Inheritor’ tells his story By Shaun Walker. Read by James Faulkner. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Joanna Rubin Dranger, "Remember Us to Life: A Graphic Memoir" (Ten Speed Graphic, 2025) 33:56

28d ago33:56

33:56

Told through a genre-defying blend of illustrations, photography, and found objects, Remember Us to Life: A Graphic Memoir (Ten Speed Graphic, 2023) chronicles Joanna Rubin Dranger’s investigation into her Jewish family’s history, spanning time, space, and three continents in search of her lost relatives. As discolored photos are retrieved from hal…

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Marc Shapiro, "Renewing the Old, Sanctifying the New: The Unique Vision of Rav Kook" (Littman Library, 2025) 49:51

29d ago49:51

49:51

Rav Kook’s Vision: Halakhah, Secular Knowledge, and the Renewal of Judaism. Those of us who know something about Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaKohen Kook’s life and philosophy know about his being stuck outside of the Land of Israel during WWI, being the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine, and his encouragement of the secular Zionis…

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From the archive: What lies beneath: the truth about France’s top serial killer expert 58:12

30d ago58:12

58:12

We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2021: An intrepid expert with dozens of books to his name, Stéphane Bourgoin was a bestselling author, famous in France for having interviewed more than 70 notorious murderers. Then an anonymous c…

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Why Are Some English Speakers Hard To Understand? 26:52

1M ago26:52

26:52

Get my training and advanced episodes: https://www.patreon.com/listeningtime US Conversations: https://www.patreon.com/USConversations Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TA-uqL3zJubAJeQ0l4OujQfyNvkxJKC4/view?usp=sharingBy Sonoro | Conner Pe

1
‘Why would he take such a risk?’ How a famous Chinese author befriended his censor 39:25

1M ago39:25

39:25

Online dissent is a serious crime in China. So why did a Weibo censor help me publish posts critical of the Communist party? By Murong Xuecun. Read by Zhang Wang Li. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Victoria Khiterer, "Bitter War of Memory: The Babyn Yar Massacre, Aftermath, and Commemoration" (Purdue UP, 2025) 1:39:28

1M ago1:39:28

1:39:28

Bitter War of Memory: The Babyn Yar Massacre, Aftermath, and Commemoration (Purdue UP, 2025) discusses the Holocaust in Kyiv and the efforts to memorialize the Babyn Yar massacre. Babyn Yar is one of the largest Holocaust sites in the Soviet Union and modern Ukraine, where the Nazis and their collaborators killed virtually all the Jews who remained…

1
Paul R. Magocsi and Yohanan Petrovskiĭ-Shtern, "Jews and Ukrainians: A Millennium of Co-existence" (U Toronto Press, 2018) 56:16

1M ago56:16

56:16

There is much that ordinary Ukrainians do not know about Jews and that ordinary Jews do not know about Ukrainians. As a result, those Jews and Ukrainians who may care about their respective ancestral heritages usually view each other through distorted stereotypes, misperceptions, and biases. This book sheds new light on highly controversial moments…

1
English Phrasal Verbs - Blurt Out, Boil Down To 19:58

1M ago19:58

19:58

Get my training and advanced episodes: https://www.patreon.com/listeningtime US Conversations: https://www.patreon.com/USConversations Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q7xr8OkrD5mf5Zh9G5tKY6ZIBO6TMmKO/view?usp=sharingBy Sonoro | Conner Pe

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Katerina Kralova, "Homecoming: Holocaust Survivors and Greece, 1941-46" (Brandeis UP, 2025) 1:24:12

1M ago1:24:12

1:24:12

Homecoming: Holocaust Survivors and Greece, 1941-46 (Brandeis UP, 2025) records the experiences of Greek Jews who returned to their native country after World War II, when many went into hiding, fought in combat, became refugees, or were deported, some to Nazi death camps. Though they wanted more than anything to survive and come home, those who re…

1
The mystery of the nameless girl found dead in a Spanish border town 38:52

1M ago38:52

38:52

On a summer morning in 1990, the body of a young woman appeared in a small town close to the frontier. For those who saw her, finding her identity became an obsession that would last 30 years By Giles Tremlett. Read by Luis Soto. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Chris Webb and Artur Hojan, "The Chelmno Death Camp: History, Biographies, Remembrance" (Ibidem Press, 2019) 53:43

1M ago53:43

53:43

The Chelmno Death Camp: History, Biographies, Remembrance (Ibidem Press, 2019) is a comprehensive account of the Chelmno death camp. Chelmno was not only the first Nazi death camp, it also set a horrific example in establishing gas vans as the first mass use of poison gas to kill Jews. Chris Webb and Artur Hojan cover the construction and the devel…

1
Nechama Birnbaum, "The Redhead of Auschwitz: A True Story" (Amsterdam Publishers, 2021) 53:53

1M ago53:53

53:53

Rosie was always told her red hair was a curse, but she never believed it. She often dreamed what it would look like under a white veil with the man of her dreams by her side. However, her life takes a harrowing turn in 1944 when she is forced out of her home and sent to the most gruesome of places: Auschwitz. Upon arrival, Rosie's head is shaved a…

1
From the archive: Food fraud and counterfeit cotton: the detectives untangling the global supply chain 45:32

1M ago45:32

45:32

We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2021: Amid the complex web of international trade, proving the authenticity of a product can be near-impossible. But one company is taking the search to the atomic level By Samanth Subramanian. Re…

1
English Listening - How Communication Has Changed 27:34

1M ago27:34

27:34

Get my training and advanced episodes: https://www.patreon.com/listeningtime US Conversations: https://www.patreon.com/USConversations Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SC3w5Pkv-Y4npm8X9UyRFiLj5MIO68X8/view?usp=sharingBy Sonoro | Conner Pe

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