The administration's fight against antisemitism is dividing Jews

Code Switch

NPR

Society & Culture

4.6 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 June 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

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Summary

In recent months we've seen the Trump administration punishing speech critical of Israel in its widening effort to combat what it sees as antisemitism. As protestors have been detained for pro-Palestinian activism, we've seen attacks on Jews and people expressing concern for Israeli hostages in Gaza — and in the wake of all this, a lot Jews don't agree on which actions constitutive antisemitism. On this episode, we're looking at the landscape of this disagreement, and talking to the legal scholar who came up with the definition of antisemitism that the White House is using, and who says he's worried that definition is being used in a way that could hurt Jews instead of protect them.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Ira Glass of This American Life.
0:02.2	Each week on our show, we choose a theme, tell different stories on that theme.
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0:22.7	This American Life.
0:25.9	Hey, everyone. You're listening to Code Switch. I'm B.A. Parker. And I'm Gene Dumbie. Parker,
0:31.7	have you ever heard of Miss Rachel? You mean like the hit band Baby Whisper?
0:36.1	Hi. Hello. Yes.
0:39.3	Yes.
0:40.3	I have to see a baby watching a TV like, can you say, Mama?
0:44.3	And then the parents trying to get their kids to do it.
0:46.3	Mama.
0:47.3	She's part of this whole world of media out there that's probably invisible to you if you don't have a kid, you know what I mean?
0:53.3	But then what you do, do is inescapable.
0:56.9	So Ms. Rachel is a YouTube creator who makes content for really little kids and she has
1:00.7	real strong, like early childhood educator vibes.
1:05.4	You know what I mean?
1:06.4	Yeah.
1:07.0	Her stuff tends to focus on kids with speech delays, but she's just wild popular among the babies in general.
	...

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