From our relationship with Ira Glass to priceless antiquities all the way to coveted sick passes – Israeli stories that are anything but real. In our very first episode, the Israel Story team delves into the realm of fakes, forgeries, and mimicry. Three stories, from different periods and places, of people pretending to to be something they are not.
Prologue
Mishy Harman talks to Ira Glass, host of the popular podcast This American Life, about what it feels like to have an Israeli copycat.
Act I: Truly Fake
In nineteenth century Jerusalem, Moses Wilhelm Shapira created fanciful forgeries that shook the world. But even today, 130 years later, no one is quite sure what to make of them. Fake? Real? Both?
 The only known photograph of Shapira |
 British cartoon of Shapira (on the right) |
 The Mesha Stele |
Act II: Buzzkill
An IDF cadet proves that there basically isn’t anything we wouldn’t do for love. Yochai Maital with a story of deception, pain, and passion for one curly-haired American girl.
Act III: Disharmonia
Noa Guy was a promising Israeli composer. When she came to New York twenty-one years ago to rehearse for a concert at Carnegie Hall, she never imagined it would become her permanent home. Shai Satran brings us her story.
