Jewish Resistance: 1960’s London and Beyond with Sarah Solemani and Jessica Yellin

It’s summer 1962, Ray Charles’ hit I Can’t Stop Loving You is #1 on the Billboard charts, fashion is going MOD and Neo Nazis are taking root in London, rallying in Trafalgar Square and setting fire to Jewish homes and synagogues in the name of British pride. The contrast between modernization and the rise of hate echoes the rising fascism which exploded on January 6. But in 1962 England, there was the  62 Group, a band of underground Jews who clandestinely took the Nazis down. Reboot Ideas hosted British/Persian, writer, actor, activist and show creator Sarah Solemani (credits include Barry and Bridget Jones’s Baby) in conversation with Jessica Yellin, the Peabody, Gracie and Emmy award-winning political journalist and founder of News Not Noise, about the U.S. premiere of Solemani’s critically acclaimed Ridley Road on PBS Masterpiece Theatre May 1. The two held a candid conversation about the toxic and simmering antisemitism, racism, fascism and the complicated work of activism then and now. Recording available soon.

Sarah Solemani is a British/Persian TV creator, actor and activist. She wrote on HBO’s Barry and created Ridley Road for BBC One, premiering on MASTERPIECE on PBS May 1, 2022. She co-wrote and stars in Chivalry with Steve Coogan out in the US later this year. She is co-writing a new thriller with David E Kelley and adapting Mary Trump’s book Too Much and Never Enough for television. She is an activist for child-care on sets, decriminalization of sex work and women’s rights in Afghanistan. Born and raised in London, she now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.

Jessica Yellin is the founder of News Not Noise, an independent media brand that provides news across digital platforms for a busy audience. She is the former chief white house correspondent for CNN and an Emmy and Gracie Award winning political correspondent for ABC, MSNBC and CNN. Her first novel, SAVAGE NEWS, about reporting-while-female, is available now. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @JessicaYellin. You can also find the News Not Noiseletter on bulletin and the News Not Noise podcast wherever you get your podcasts.