A Muslim & A Jew Go There
4.0/5
Critic Rating
“A Muslim & A Jew Go There” is a brand new podcast produced by Instinct Productions, hosted by comedian David Baddiel (author of “Jews Don’t Count”) and politician Sayeeda Warsi (“Muslims Don’t Matter”) who will take on whatever controversy hits the headlines each week, providing context and discussion around current political and cultural events involving and affecting British Muslims and Jews. Covering topics from antisemitism in the Labour party and Islamophobia in the Conservative Party to debating concepts like “racism hierarchies”, “non-visible minorities” and “victim olympics”, as well as tropes and stereotypes, and the Middle East and its impact on Jewish and Muslim communiti...
Critic Reviews
Score: 2.54
Sam Kriss • The Spectator • Mar 23, 2024
"...it’s not very good. It’s always very sad when people over-identify with their ethnic identity; you get the sense they don’t think much of their other qualities. And so they spend an hour of your time announcing that they’re going to push back on one another while forgetting to actually push."
Score: 4
Edward Wickham • Church Times • Mar 22, 2024
"Agreeable though both of them are, this is not your typical odd-couple podcast: the banter is minimal, and the subject matter is not even remotely humorous. The moment of greatest tension came when things got personal, and Warsi declared Sacha Baron-Cohen to be Islamophobic because of his satirical creation Borat...For a moment, we had perhaps a glimpse of the truly dangerous, the truly important issues."
Score: 4
James Marriot • The Times UK • Mar 13, 2024
"This podcast is good-humoured but serious. It feels crucial that Baddiel and Warsi, a Jew and a Muslim respectively, have skin in the game. I give this blow-by-blow account of their debate as it is so unusual to hear both sides at once. It’s almost depressing how weird it feels to hear polite disagreement on this subject."
Score: 5
Patricia Nicol • The Times UK • Mar 10, 2024
"This pair are impressively confident (possibly over-confident in Baddiel’s case, who seems to assume charge) and fluent clear-thinkers, intent on promoting discussion not division. But two alpha centrists reaching a consensus could become predictable — the format might benefit from listener questions and one-off guests who reflect other generations and perspectives. …"
Score: 3
Keren David • The Jewish Chronicle • Mar 6, 2024
"In fact, although this was billed as the meeting of opposites, I imagine that only non-Jews and non-Muslims would tune in expecting a bunfight, as we all know Warsi and Baddiel are mirror images of each other, more interested in pointing out the impact that racism has on their own communities in the UK than in events beyond our shores. …"
Score: 4.5
Fiona Sturges • Financial Times • Mar 3, 2024
"A Muslim & A Jew Go There feels less like an attempt to squeeze more juice out of the odd-couple set-up than a necessary show of friendship and understanding in increasingly febrile times. What is striking so far is how much Warsi and Baddiel agree on; the test will be what happens when their opinions diverge. Also noticeable is how much Baddiel interrupts Warsi, though hopefully a producer will have a word about that."
Score: 5
Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian • Mar 2, 2024
"Both madly articulate and well informed...unpick the wider meanings and motivations, and somehow do it all in easy, conversational style. Civilised and civilising."
