147: Do The Reich Thing, with Rolla Selbak

Quick Overview

The hosts and guest Rola Selbak discuss the recent controversial South Park episode addressing antisemitism and the Gaza conflict, focusing on a plot where Kyle's mother confronts Netanyahu, and extensively analyze Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with right-wing and evangelical influencers where he coined the term "woke Reich" to describe critics, subsequently detailing their failed public diplomacy efforts, particularly regarding the planned purchase of TikTok.

Key Points: The hosts praise the recent South Park episode for smartly handling the sensitive topic of antisemitism stoked by Israeli actions, noting the satirical point that Netanyahu is "the number one exporter of anti-semitism across the world." The episode culminates with Kyle's mother confronting Netanyahu, telling him, "You're making life for Jews miserable and life for American Jews impossible," and criticizing him for "wrapping yourself in Judaism like it's some shield from criticism." Benjamin Netanyahu met with Christian evangelical and Zionist influencers after his UN speech, where he tried to rally support and introduced the pun, "I call it the woke Reich," to describe right-wing critics of Israel. The podcast panel universally dismisses Netanyahu's "woke Reich" pun as a "shitty pun" and a desperate attempt to train his paid influence army, noting that he simultaneously blames Qatari money and Soros for anti-Israel sentiment. Netanyahu identified social media as the most important battlefield and cited the potential purchase of TikTok as the most important defensive maneuver against pro-Palestine sentiment, which the hosts argue is spreading organically despite censorship. Guest Rola Selbak expressed that her heart is broken but grateful, and the panel discussed how Israel's public diplomacy efforts, including funding influencers, fail because they ignore the reality of Zionism being an apartheid and genocidal ideology. The hosts note that Israel's current propaganda strategy is flawed because people can see the truth ("It's against the algorithms"), contrasting with past eras where they successfully colonized the narrative through mainstream institutions.