r/JewsOfConscience • u/MondoweissOfficial • Sep 12 '22

AMA I produce the Mondoweiss Podcast – AMA!

Hi r/JewsOfConscience, I'm Dave and I am the product manager at Mondoweiss. I produce the Mondoweiss Podcast, assist with video production, and various other work related to running an independent, non-profit news and opinion publication.

https://mondoweiss.net

https://mondoweiss.net/podcast/

Ask me anything!

https://imgur.com/a/aIPAeFI

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u/[deleted] Sep 12 '22

Hi Dave,

Thank you so much for joining us today.

I have a lot of questions that I'll space out.

[1] Could you describe how you came to be involved with this issue? This may be a broad question - but I suppose I'm curious about how you were able to combine work with activism. Thanks!

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u/MondoweissOfficial Sep 12 '22

Yeah, sure, and thanks for helping organize this!

I am Jewish and I grew up in the U.S. South in a small-ish company town with maybe 3 other Jewish families. The closest synagogue was about 30 minutes away and it was out in the country in a farm house that had been, at various points in the Civil War, the headquarters for the Union and Confederate armies operating in the area.

As I got into my high school years, I started reading Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, and other leftist thinkers and historians. I was already coming to a different conclusion about the situation in Palestine. In 2003, Rachel Corrie was killed and I felt that I needed to go to Palestine and see it for myself. I volunteered with the International Solidarity Movement and I have been involved, to some degree, with Palestine solidarity work ever since.

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u/[deleted] Sep 12 '22

Thanks Dave.

I can relate a lot to that as well, although I grew up in NYC primarily.

Reading Chomsky & Finkelstein, Rachel Corrie's death, the 2nd Intifada, and Lebanon 2006 & Cast Lead in 2008 were all important to me in figuring out my political outlook.

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u/conscience_journey Jewish Anti-Zionist Sep 12 '22

To piggyback, why did you go into journalism? Instead of other routes of activism.

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u/MondoweissOfficial Sep 12 '22

It's a little weird to call myself a journalist, but I guess I am now. I really came to Mondoweiss through activism. I've been the "tech guy" at a lot of organizations and groups for years, and that is how I connected with Mondoweiss. But it's a small staff and there's lots to do, so I started the podcast.

I should mention Sina Rahmani at the East Is A Podcast show for pushing us to launch the show! He does a great program and everyone should listen to that pod.

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u/[deleted] Sep 12 '22

I think it was a great idea.

I can't really recall many political analysis Palestine-centric podcasts to begin with (other than Jewish Currents when it happens to be covering pertinent topics).