Where big thinkers, big questions and good-faith conversations collide. Hosted by award-winning journalist and author Jonathan Harounoff.
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Inside the Race to Lead the United Nations, with Ivonne A-Baki | UNscripted with Jonathan Harounoff
Episode 6: Can the United Nations restore its embattled reputation, or will it slide further into irrelevance? With António Guterres’s term coming to an end, the race to select the next Secretary-General is well underway.
Ambassador Ivonne A-Baki is one of a handful of candidates hoping to lead the organization. An Ecuadorian diplomat of Lebanese descent, an artist and a seasoned peace negotiator, she is also seeking to become the first woman to ever hold the post in the UN’s 80-year history.
She joins Jonathan Harounoff on UNscripted to discuss how the UN can once again become an effective and hopeful place, how to solve some of the world’s biggest conflicts, and who, other than herself, she would want to lead it.
0:00 Introduction
1:00 Why lead the UN?
3:45 Bridging different perspectives
4:35 A pledge for peace
5:20 Women as a symbol of peace
5:50 Is female leadership the missing ingredient at the UN?
6:40 Ending the Ecuador-Peru conflict, 1998
7:20 Music, sport, food and art as bridges
11:25 A conductor, not a secretary-general
13:40 Restoring hope in the UN
15:50 Reforming the Security Council
19:50 The UN and the world's biggest problems
24:45 What credible new Palestinian leadership should look like in Gaza
29:10 Trump and the UN
31:10 Who she'd choose if not herself
33:55 The historical leader she'd bring back to restore world peace
***
Produced in collaboration with Noff Media and Odd One Out Studios.
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26 Oct 2026
Tovah Feldshuh on Antisemitism, Israel & Nobody Wants This | UNscripted with Jonathan Harounoff
Episode 5: She has lit up Broadway, film and television for 50 years, and now she stars in Netflix's hit rom-com “Nobody Wants This,” one of the most hotly debated shows on streaming today.
Tovah Feldshuh joins Jonathan Harounoff on “UNscripted” to talk about “Nobody Wants This” and the political storm it has stirred around Judaism, Israel and accusations of genocide. She also discusses playing the stereotypical Jewish mother throughout her glittering career, managing difficult conversations on set, global antisemitism, the secrets to a long and happy marriage and much more.
0:00 Introduction
1:04 Early life in classical piano and acting
4:00 “Remember who you are”
5:44 Tuner (the movie)
6:50 Playing the stereotypical Jewish mother
9:18 Overpreparing so you can go with the flow
11:44 Why actors get siloed in their careers
13:20 “Study history”
14:26 Managing difficult conversations on set
17:28 Discovering her Feldshuh ancestry
19:30 The Democrats and New York City
21:00 The greatest threat to America today
22:43 October 7 and the Yom Kippur War
24:45 Accusations of genocide
28:15 Fundraising for noble causes
28:47 Encounters at the United Nations
31:20 Nobody Wants This on Netflix
35:46 Secrets to a long and happy marriage
40:57 Actors Tovah wishes she had worked with
Production support provided by: Center for Jewish History, American Sephardi Federation, Noff Media and Odd One Out Studios.
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19 Oct 2026
Assassination Plots and Iran's Future, with Fardad Farahzad | UNscripted with Jonathan Harounoff
Episode 4: Is there anywhere in the world beyond the Islamic Republic’s reach? Fardad Farahzad, broadcast journalist, anchor of "24 With Fardad Farahzad" on Iran International, joins Jonathan Harounoff on UNscripted to talk about reporting on a regime that wants its critics silenced.
In this episode, Fardad recounts learning that Tehran had targeted him in an assassination plot codenamed “The Wedding,” and explains the rise of “transnational repression,” in which Tehran outsources violence to criminal proxies on Western soil. He also discusses whether the regime’s grip at home is weakening as the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz squeezes its economy and protests threaten to flare again.
0:00 Introduction
1:45 Fardad’s early childhood in northern Iran
2:24 First encounter with broadcast news journalism
3:00 Secrets of being a news anchor
4:45 Most Iranians get their news from overseas
6:20 Why the regime targets Persian-language outlets like Iran International
7:30 Islamic Republic officials giving interviews to Western media
8:30 Details of assassination plot on Fardad’s life
10:20 Relocating Iran International headquarters from London to Washington DC
11:15 Transnational repression
12:00 Is anywhere in the world safe from the Islamic Republic of Iran?
13:00 Being impartial on general and personal Iran news
14:20 Future of the Islamic Republic and war with Israel and the United States
16:25 Assessing the US approach in dealing with the Islamic Republic
17:30 Role of the Iranian opposition
19:00 Who from history Fardad would want to interview
20:00 Role of AI in news and broadcast journalism
***
Produced in collaboration with the Center for Jewish History, American Sephardi Federation, Noff Media and Odd One Out Studios.
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12 Oct 2026
Eleonora Srugo on Mamdani, NYC Real Estate & Antisemitism | UNscripted with Jonathan Harounoff
Episode 3: Is Mayor Mamdani’s real estate tax agenda helping or hurting New York City? Eleonora Srugo, Netflix star of "Selling the City" and top-performing broker at Douglas Elliman, joins Jonathan Harounoff on UNscripted for a wide-ranging conversation about the city she calls home.
In this episode, Eleonora talks about her Israeli roots, what it takes to sell $75 million properties, and the success of her Netflix hit. She also weighs in on whether Mayor Mamdani’s real estate tax policies are helping or hurting New York, and on the rise of antisemitism on social media.
0:00 Introduction
0:48 Born in Israel, made in New York
2:25 New Yorker as an identity
3:00 Stuyvesant High School and 9/11
6:00 Rebuilding New York City after 9/11
7:30 First real estate encounter
8:30 Four years of immense suffering in real estate
9:20 First-time buyers in New York City
10:45 Buying versus renting
11:35 Ghost apartments in Manhattan
12:40 Most memorable listing
15:15 Information and access as currency
16:00 Knowing New York City inside out
18:00 Mamdani's real estate proposals
26:50 Being an Israeli in New York City
29:00 Social media warfare over Israel
32:00 Being labeled pro-Israel
34:00 Work as part of your identity
35:58 Elevator pitch to live in New York
***
Production support provided by: Center for Jewish History, American Sephardi Federation, Noff Media and Odd One Out Studios.
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5 Oct 2026
Elie Tahari: Jerusalem Orphanage to Billion-Dollar Empire | UNscripted with Jonathan Harounoff
Episode 2: Israeli-American fashion designer Elie Tahari joins Jonathan Harounoff on UNscripted to share his extraordinary journey, from a Jerusalem orphanage to sleeping on a Central Park bench to a multi-billion dollar fashion empire.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:59 Elie’s humble beginnings
4:00 The American connection early on and the state of New York today
6:10 First fashion encounter
6:35 Inventing the Tube Top
8:30 Staying grounded in the glamorous world of fashion
10:50 Keys to building a successful business
12:15 Balancing business success with family
13:20 Failures aren’t failures if you learn from them
14:00 CEO succession
15:20 Charitable proceeds from Elie Tahari’s online business
16:00 What Elie would want his legacy to be 100 years from now
17:00 If Elie could style anyone from history, who would it be
17:40 Why Elie is only focused on womenswear, not menswear
18:20 Closing remarks
***Produced in collaboration with the Center for Jewish History, American Sephardi Federation, Noff Media and Odd One Out Studios. Enjoying the show? Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and on social media: Follow “UNscripted with Jonathan Harounoff” on Instagram: @harounoffunscripted Follow host Jonathan Harounoff on Instagram: @jharounoff Follow host Jonathan Harounoff on X: https://x.com/JonathanHaroun1
28 Sept 2026
Can the Middle East Ever Cool Down, with Simon Sebag Montefiore | UNscripted with Jonathan Harounoff
Episode 1: Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore joins Jonathan Harounoff on UNscripted to discuss his new book, "The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East."
In this hour-long conversation, they explore:
• How the modern Middle East emerged from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire
• Whether there is a better term than "the Middle East" to describe the region
• Why Montefiore believes Iran's Islamic Republic will fall
• Why the West fixates on Israel-Palestine while ignoring Yemen, Syria and Sudan
• Russia’s forgotten history in the Middle East
• Whether lasting peace in the region is possible
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:56 Can the Middle East ever cool down?
2:56 What is the Middle East, and is there a better term to describe the region?
6:41 Inside Montefiore's "chaotic" and “insane” process of writing sweeping histories
10:35 Why the West is obsessed with Israel-Palestine but ignores Yemen, Syria and Sudan
16:24 The myth of Israel as a "new nation" among ancient ones
24:00 The biggest roads not taken in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
31:17 Russia's forgotten role in the Middle East
40:09 Why the Islamic Republic of Iran will fall
47:20 What history can teach us, and what we keep failing to learn
56:40 Which figure from "The Cauldron" Montefiore would be reincarnated as
59:10 Closing remarks
***
With thanks to our partners at the Center for Jewish History, American Sephardi Federation, Noff Media and Odd One Out Studios.
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