In this episode of Jewish futurism Lab, Mike Wirth speaks with Dr. Molly Dunn, educator, scholar, and Jewish communal leader, about what it means to teach Jewish identity, peoplehood, and history in a time of rising antisemitism and profound cultural confusion.
Dunn traces her journey from progressive academic spaces and anti-Zionist assumptions to a deeper encounter with Jewish history, Holocaust memory, Zionism, and the limits of frameworks that reduce Jews to either a religion or a racial category. Together, they examine why many students struggle to articulate Jewish peoplehood, how institutions often fail Jewish students, and why Holocaust education must extend beyond universal lessons about prejudice.
The conversation explores Jewish assimilation and conditional whiteness, the role of Israel in Jewish identity, media myths and antisemitic conspiracy thinking, the diversity of Jewish life across Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi, Black, and multiracial communities, and the urgent need for stronger Jewish educational and civil-rights frameworks.
They also look toward the future: What could Jewish education become if it centered historical literacy, cultural pride, moral formation, creative practice, and genuine belonging for young people?
Links to find Molly
Social media
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-molly-dunn-b7536886/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/escapefromacadhimmia/
Work and programs
- NAU settlement announcement: https://standwithus.com/news/legal/njac-and-standwithus-announce-amicable-resolution-in-antisemitism-case-involving-nau-professor/
- Article about the Hebrew High relaunch: https://azjewishpost.com/2026/reimagined-hebrew-high-returns-to-southern-arizona-this-fall/
- JPSA antisemitism incident reporting — Southern Arizona: https://jparizona.org/forms/antisemitism-incident-reporting
Additional writing and conversations
- Molly’s essay for My Elevator Pitch for God: https://www.myelevatorpitchforgod.com/all-authors/molly–e.–dunn
- The Rabbi Avi Show: “Ideological Evolution with Dr. Molly Dunn”: https://youtu.be/yYvzoAIy8jg
