{"podcast":{"title":"Breaking History","slug":"breaking-history-7169277","podcast_index_feed_id":7169277,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/RUNMED1049146638","website_url":null,"image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/fc45207a-cc97-11ef-9841-8bd73a0be712/image/c49635d185aa38c7dcae7201e60493ef.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"The Free Press","episode_count":55,"summary":"Sometimes the news moves so fast, you have to look closely to know if you’ve seen it before. And that’s what this show is about. Breaking History breaks down the news, by breaking down history. We cover everything from LBJ and the Roman Republic to Donald Trump and the chaos at Columbia. This twice a month show from The Free Press delivers the best historians, authors, and reporters by mining the archives of human experience to figure out the present. George Santayana wrote, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Tune in to Breaking History to resist the repetition.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-23T18:18:43.811453+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/breaking-history-7169277"},"episode":{"title":"A History of Tough Jews","slug":"a-history-of-tough-jews","published_at":"2025-12-22T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/breaking-history-7169277/a-history-of-tough-jews","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/breaking-history-7169277","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/VOdNgcECFk0maZgOJbmx/traffic.megaphone.fm/CBS2785949998.mp3?updated=1766380551","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/VOdNgcECFk0maZgOJbmx/traffic.megaphone.fm/CBS2785949998.mp3?updated=1766380551","summary":"After October 7, Jews around the world were reminded of an old, unsettling truth: Governments do not always protect minorities when mobs turn violent. From Bondi Beach to New York synagogues, the promise of public order has looked increasingly fragile. In this episode of Breaking History, Eli Lake revisits the last time Jews in America confronted that reality head-on. In the 1930s, as Nazi sympathizers rallied openly and police often stood aside, Jewish gangsters led by Meyer Lansky took matters into their own hands, waging a quiet street war against the German American Bund. What does Jewish self-defense look like when the state fails—and why are there no Meyer Lanskys today? A history of tough Jews, broken illusions, and what happens when people decide they will no longer be easy targets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"After October 7, Jews around the world were reminded of an old, unsettling truth: Governments do not always protect minorities when mobs turn violent. Fro…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3000,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/breaking-history-7169277/episodes/a-history-of-tough-jews/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/breaking-history-7169277/a-history-of-tough-jews.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}