Deborah Feldman on Germany's Strange Love for Jews

Show notes

Lauren Oyler talks to Deborah Feldman, author of the memoir Unorthodox and longtime Berliner, about her essay "For the Love of Jews," published in the new issue of Berlin Review. They discuss German philo-Semitism, what Feldman calls a "fetishized compassion" for Jews, how she became a coveted fixture in the German media landscape, and what her experience reveals about the country's complicated relationship with Jewish identity. They also talk about Gaza, the German government's support for Israel, and whether Feldman plans to stay in Germany at all.

Read: Deborah Feldman's essay "For the Love of Jews" in Berlin Review: https://blnreview.de/en/ausgaben/2026-04/feldman-deborah-for-the-love-of-jews

Subscribe to Berlin Review for essays, criticism, and fiction from around the world. From €5/month: https://blnreview.de/subscribe

Airlift is produced in the Studio of Jacobin Germany.

Hosted by Lauren Oyler and Tobias Haberkorn, Editor of Berlin Review.