Our common nature is a musical journey with Yo-Yo Ma and me, Anna Gonzalez, through this complicated country.

We go into caves, onto boats, and up mountain trails to meet people, hear their stories, and of course, play some music, all to reconnect to nature.

Listen to Our Common Nature from WNYC, wherever you get podcasts.

Just a heads up, y'all.

The episode you're about to hear contains some strong language.

What's good, y'all?

You are listening to Code Switch from NPR.

I'm Gene Demby, and joining me in the co-host chair today is Leah Dinella.

She's our senior editor.

Leah, what's good with you, sis?

Hey, Jean.

So we have this recurring series on Code Switch, which we call it Word Watch.

And in it, we try to make sense of language that people are using that may tell us something really important about race or identity.

And Leah, you have been spending some time each month looking at words or phrases that come up in the discourse around Israel and Gaza,

because so much of that language is fraught and contentious, I mean, even taboo.

Yeah, that's right, Gene.

Last month, we talked about the word genocide and the stakes of using that term to describe Israel's actions against Palestinians.

And that reminds me of an episode you brought us last year, Leah, about the divide in Jewish communities and Jewish families about Zionism or about being anti-Zionists.

Yeah, a lot of American Jews who are critical of the state of Israel felt and continue to feel

alienated and in some cases shunned by their communities because of their political and

moral views. Even now that a ceasefire agreement has been signed after two years of violence in Gaza,

and who knows how long that's going to hold, I imagine Leah that the riff within Jewish communities over this issue here in the U.S. is not going away anytime soon.

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