The View From Mt. Scopus was created to transform a centennial milestone into a living platform for global intellectual engagement. In 2025, American Friends of the Hebrew University (AFHU) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) marked 100 years of partnership—a collaboration first envisioned by Chaim Weizmann and championed by figures such as Albert Einstein. Rather than limit the celebration to a commemorative campaign, we set out to build something enduring.
Our objective was to create an English-language narrative podcast dedicated exclusively to the Hebrew University—one that would expand global awareness, elevate institutional reputation, and deepen audience engagement through serious storytelling rather than promotional messaging.
We identified a clear gap: while HU has shaped various fields, from agriculture, public health, and medicine to cybersecurity and diplomacy, there was no current, accessible, narrative-driven audio platform sharing those stories with international audiences.
Season One was designed to:
Launched during a period of geopolitical tension and global polarization, the podcast aimed to demonstrate that universities remain spaces of inquiry, dialogue, and impact—and that the work emerging from HU will continue to shape the world, now and for generations to come.
Hosted by journalist and media historian Dr. Gilad Halpern, The View From Mt. Scopus blends documentary-style narrative with in-depth interviews. Dr. Halpern—founder of the long-running Tel Aviv Review podcast and trained at the BBC and Al Jazeera with experience at Haaretz and Ynet—brings scholarly rigor and broadcast polish to each episode. Every installment is built on research, structured storytelling, and carefully curated expert voices.
The title is both literal and symbolic. One of HU’s campuses, the Mount Scopus campus, overlooks Jerusalem at 826 meters above sea level. From this vantage point, one sees breathtaking, vast views of Jerusalem, from the Old City and the Judean Desert, all the way to the Dead Sea. In the spirit of this expansive view, season one of the podcast examines a wide range of foundational moments and combines it with present-day relevance and future impact.
Each episode centers on a theme that connects history to urgency: malaria research in 1925 alongside modern antibiotic resistance; forging connection and coexistence through difficulties and differences; early constitutional debates alongside contemporary judicial discourse; agricultural innovation addressing today’s climate crisis; and the University’s role in shaping Israel’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Guests include former Israeli Supreme Court President Aharon Barak; Professor Mona Khoury, Vice President for Strategy and Diversity; Professor Oded Shoseyov, scientist and serial entrepreneur; and Professor Masha Niv, a leading biochemist. All guests have a connection to HU, and many are faculty and/or alumni, reinforcing authenticity.
A standout episode, “Shared City,” explores coexistence through the voices of a Palestinian student and Palestinian-Arab Israeli lawyer Sabri Jiryis, who studied at HU in the 1950s. Released two years after October 7, amid intense global polarization, the episode positioned the University not as a political symbol but as a lived space of dialogue—demonstrating how compassion can be fostered one classroom, lab bench, and study session at a time.
Hosted on Podbean, episodes were distributed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube Music. Execution was fully in-house, and promotion combined owned, earned, and paid strategy:
Launching an Israeli university podcast during a period of global controversy posed reputational challenges. Additionally, entering a saturated entertainment-driven podcast ecosystem required differentiation through depth, credibility, and narrative structure rather than celebrity or sensationalism.
What makes this project unique is that it functions instead as a serious intellectual series—one that treats institutional storytelling as cultural storytelling, and positions academic research as globally consequential.
Since launch, The View From Mt. Scopus has generated 2.9K total downloads, averaging approximately 500 downloads per episode—placing it within the top 10–15% of podcasts globally according to industry benchmarks. For a mission-driven academic series without celebrity hosts or entertainment framing, this performance signals strong audience alignment and retention.
The podcast has reached listeners in more than 70 countries, including the United States, Israel, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and France—demonstrating international resonance beyond institutional supporters.
Email marketing supporting the series produced 166,976 sends with a 37.6% open rate, significantly exceeding nonprofit industry benchmarks and indicating sustained interest across episodes. Paid and partnership amplification expanded reach into new audience segments, while cross-promotional placements introduced the podcast to ideologically and geographically diverse listeners.
Qualitatively, the series has been embraced by both AFHU and Hebrew University leadership, and it has strengthened the University’s global positioning as a resilient center of research, innovation, and coexistence.
Most importantly, the podcast achieved its core objective: transforming a 100-year anniversary into an ongoing narrative platform. Rather than concluding with a celebration, The View From Mt. Scopus established a durable channel for global engagement—ensuring that the Hebrew University of Jerusalem continues to reach the world.
