Adam RovnerEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

This vivid reconstruction of one man’s life reveals the harsh realities and moral ambiguities of colonial power. The Jew Who Would Be King: A True Story of Shipwreck, Survival, and Scandal in Victorian Africa (U California Press, 2025) tells the story of Nathaniel Isaacs—a nineteenth-century British Jew who helped establish the Zulu kingdom only to become a ruthless warlord and slaveholder. Isaacs’ thrilling journey begins with his shipwreck on the shores of Zululand and proceeds to ports across West Africa, including Freetown, Sierra Leone. There, tasked by the colonial governor to end the local slave trade, Isaacs broke...

This vivid reconstruction of one man’s life reveals the harsh realities and moral ambiguities of colonial power. The Jew Who Would Be King: A True Story of Shipwreck, Survival, and Scandal in Victorian Africa (U California Press, 2025) tells the story of Nathaniel Isaacs—a nineteenth-century British Jew who helped establish the Zulu kingdom only to become a ruthless warlord and slaveholder. Isaacs’ thrilling journey begins with his shipwreck on the shores of Zululand and proceeds to ports across West Africa, including Freetown, Sierra Leone. There, tasked by the colonial governor to end the local slave trade, Isaacs broke...

This week we are sharing a conversation with Adam (Ha Rishon) Rovner who was introduced to Saad when he was on Nativ back in 1988. We finished the conversation with a message from Adam to the the Kibbutz Saad community: "To the people that I am in touch with - the Shlomi family in its generations and to Arale and Ronit and their kids -they know me I know them, I don't need to send them a message but I do want to convey to those people on Saad who I don't know or don't know who I am... This is a beautiful and special place and it pains me to know that people are displaced right now and I can't wait for a time in which Saad can be repopulated and play host to people like myself who don't really have a direction. And give them the sort of push, values modeling that allows people to do something more in their life That's all I'd say." Thanks Adam Ha Rishon! Looking forward to seeing you and others in Israel and on Saad soon