Antisemitism has deep roots in American history. Yet in the United States, we often talk about it as if it were something new. We’re shocked when events happen like the Tree of Life Shootings in Pittsburgh or the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, but also surprised. We ask, “Where did this come from?” as if it came out of nowhere. But antisemitism in the United States has a history. A long, complicated history. A history easy to overlook. Join us on Antisemitism, U.S.A., a limited podcast series hosted by Mark Oppenheimer, to learn just how deep those roots go.

Coming this summer from R2 Studios, part of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.

Antisemitism, U.S.A. is written by historians John Turner and Lincoln Mullen. Our lead scholar is Britt Tevis. The series is executive produced by Jeanette Patrick and produced by Jim Ambuske.

Before the American Revolution, Sephardic Jews like Aaron Lopez found economic opportunity and religious freedom in Newport, Rhode Island, but not full citizenship, nor the right to vote. What promise did an independent United States hold for American Jews and their hope that President George Washington would preside over a new nation that “to bigotry gives no sanction?”

Featuring: Yair Rosenberg

Narrated by Mark Oppenheimer

Written by John Turner and Lincoln Mullen

This series is made possible with support from the Henry Luce Foundation and the David Bruce Smith Foundation.

Antisemitism, U.S.A. is a production of R2 Studios at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.

In 1809, North Carolina lawmakers tried to stop Jacob Henry from taking his seat in the state legislature because he was Jewish. Many Americans believed that Jews like Henry couldn’t be moral citizens in a Protestant America, and this inspired them to donate vast sums of money in the early nineteenth century to religious societies dedicated to converting Jews into good Christian citizens.

Featuring: David Sehat, David Sorkin, and Susanna Linsley

Narrated by Mark Oppenheimer

Written by John Turner and Lincoln Mullen

This series is made possible with support from the Henry Luce Foundation and the David Bruce Smith Foundation.

Antisemitism, U.S.A. is a production of R2 Studios at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.