War is Stupid: An Anti-War Podcast About War

Host Orli Matlow welcomes a humor writer, performer, and intrepid nerd culture anthropologist Justin Avery Smith, whose solo show Revenge of the Soy Boy is coming to the NYC Fringe Festival. Justin explores the real wars that inspired Star Wars (which is now being used to promote real wars), what George Lucas was trying to warn us about, and how the Jedi are actually the corporate Democrats of the galaxy. Justin also introduces Orl...

It’s the War is Stupid St. Patrick’s Day Special! Host Orli Matlow welcomes Mary Houlihan, an Irish American comedian with the gift of gab. They talk about her family’s history, the historical connection between Ireland and Palestine, and what Irish American families fight about if it’s not about Israel. They also discuss Tucker Carlson, art school, and Mary’s upcoming mission to Cuba, bringing medical aid and solar panels behind t...

Orli Matlow sits down with organizer Liza Behrendt, who is working to get “cool bank” Capital One not to renew their loan to Elbit Systems, Israel’s #1 weapons manufacturer (and NOT a beloved member of the Jewish community). Liza shares her journey going from Birthright to BDS, the Eject Elbit campaign’s wins so far, and the power Jennifer Garner has in this moment. They also discuss the 2008 Gaza War, the 2023-2026 Gaza War, the 2...

Host Orli Matlow sits down with educator and content creator Dr. Victoria Alexander-Thompson to talk the contradictions within America’s #1 export: Freedom. Victoria goes deep into the history of slavery in America, enslaved people’s resistance, and what’s missing from textbooks and “Hamilton.” She also explains where and how to find hope, and they send a message to people in the year 2317— the year when we will be further away fro...

Host Orli Matlow welcomes comedian Emily Baker for a delightfully riff-heavy episode about Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II and The Thirty Years War. They talk Habsburgmaxxing and Mar-A-Lago Face, Queen Charlotte’s yassification of King George III, and the common misconception that Les Miserables is about the French Revolution. Emily tells the story of Princess Caraboo—the original Rachel Dolezal—and they commiserate over shtetl boobs ...

In this episode of War Is Stupid: An Anti-War Podcast About War, Orli Matlow interviews Mara Kronenfeld, the executive director of UNRWA USA, discussing the history and mission of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. They discuss the challenges faced by Palestinian refugees and the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza—where Israeli authorities are banning the import of paper and pens. T...

Orli Matlow sits down with Hailey McAfee and Rosie Glen-Lambert, the team behind And Her Children, currently running at the SoHo Playhouse. Adapted from Bertolt Brecht’s iconic anti-war play Mother Courage and Her Children, their version trades the battlefields of the Thirty Year’s War for the present-day National Rifle Association. They talk about guns in schools and in Minneapolis, Brecht’s legacy, and today’s conservative girlbo...

Orli Matlow sits down with Marcos Descalzi and Cate Carrejo, the Founder and Communications Director of We Believe In Deep Canvassing, to learn all about the organizing tool that uses empathy to confront bias. Marcos and Cate give a master class on how to have actually productive conversations about politics, with sidebars that range from Moral Foundations Theory to Amy Adams’s filmography. They also teach Orli about life outside o...

Orli Matlow sits down with Zak Witus, Director of Young Leadership and Education at the New Israel Fund, to talk about his activism, which recently caught the attention of the authorities at Ben Gurion Airport. They discuss the fight for equality and justice in the midwest and the West Bank, where Zak was assaulted by Israeli soldiers during a night raid. 

Zak speaks about his friend, the late human rights activist Awdah Hathaleen,...

Orli Matlow sits down with Congressional candidate Chuck Park, who is running to represent the people of Queens and not the profits of Lockheed Martin. Chuck shares his experiences serving as a diplomat under Obama—and quitting so he could criticize Trump. Recorded before Trump bombed Venezuela without Congressional approval, Chuck conveniently talked about supporting legislation that ensures that no president can unilaterally do j...

Orli Matlow sits down with Jenny Chan, director of Pacific Atrocities Education, whose public history projects increase awareness of the crimes committed in the Asia-Pacific Theater of World War II. The atrocities were so atrocious that a literal Nazi wrote home that the Imperial Japanese Army was going too far with what is now known as the Rape of Nanking. Jenny exposes Imperial Japan’s war crimes including Unit 731 (the “Disneyla...

Orli Matlow sits down with comedian and activist Davidson Boswell, fresh out of spending 24 hours in jail for disrupting the Metropolitan Opera. Davidson shares how and why the Carmen counter-programming went down, and how the war on Venezuela is actually about Cuba. They riff on everything from the American Civil War to Canadian wildfires, and challenge the myth that things have to get worse and be as bad as they are now.

Theme mu...

Orli Matlow speaks with Australian Jewish writer and organiser Em Hilton about the recent anti-Semitic terror attack in Australia and its profound impact on the Jewish community. They discuss the acts of heroism amidst the tragedy, growing up Jewish in Australia and Canada, and building safety through solidarity—united against Iberian ham.

Theme music by This Revolution Production Collective. 

Read Em's piece in +972 Magazine

Donat...

Orli Matlow sits down with Sally Abed and Alon-Lee Green, co-founders of Standing Together, a grassroots movement fighting for peace, equality and social justice in Israel-Palestine. They discuss what the fight looks like, what peace looks like, and how the issues won’t be solved by simply getting rid of Netanyahu. Sally and Alon-Lee also share their origin stories, riff on a joke from Alon-Lee’s wedding, and share advice for every...

Orli Matlow sits down with Andrew Facini, Communications Director at The Council on Strategic Risks, to learn all about tactical nuclear weapons and armageddon. Andrew walks us through the consequences of a nuclear blast, whether or not bombing Iran this past summer saved the world, and why the US has lost its appetite for regime change. They talk about the new movie A House of Dynamite, and Andrew makes the case for optimism, brin...

Orli Matlow welcomes comedian Ethan Stanislawski to talk about growing up as the son of a Jewish history professor, the grandson of a Liberal Zionist political icon, and the next door neighbor of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (It turns out that the Upper West Side is not, in fact, the utopia from Nora Ephron movies). They talk Holocaust museums in public schools, studying abroad in Berlin, the Six Day War, and how borders are made up—...

Orli Matlow welcomes Rabbi Margo Hughes-Robinson, Executive Director of Partners for Progressive Israel, for a conversation with as many sidebars as a page of Talmud. They talk about the old-timey colonizers who set the systems up that haunt us to this day, and the role of a rabbi in facilitating the trauma and spiritual work that needs to be done in a time of genocide. They also talk movies, Moomins, and Orli reveals herself to be...

Activist and journalist Sam Stein joins host Orli Matlow to talk about his experiences living in the West Bank: first as a student blasting “America, F*** Yeah!” through Israeli checkpoints, and then as a protective presence activist deterring violent Jewish extremists from attacking his Palestinian friends. 

Sam speaks about his friend, the late human rights activist Awdah Hathaleen, who was brutally murdered on camera by settler ...

Host Orli Matlow welcomes comedian, screenwriter, and certified Film Nerd Greg Roque to talk war movies, from All Quiet On The Western Front to Amy Schumer’s upcoming October 7th rom-com (yes, that is a real thing). Greg shares the wisdom of Grand Theft Auto IV, his journey converting to Judaism, and whether or not becoming a father has changed his opinion of Winston Churchill.

Theme music by This Revolution Productio...