Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleWelcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Jessica Steinberg speaking with author Yishay Ishi Ron.
WATCH the full episode here:
Ishi Ron’s award-winning 2023 book, “Dog,” is about an Israeli combat officer returning from Gaza, grappling with PTSD and a heroin addiction, until a stray dog enters his life and helps save him.
The novel became a bestseller in Israel, was long-listed for the Sapir Prize, and is currently being adapted into a film by director Eran Riklis.
More from What Matters Now
September 10, 2026Yohanan Plesner: 3 existential issues facing Israel’s voters
September 4, 2026Jonathan Greenblatt: Surging antisemitism brings ADL to a moment of reckoning
August 21, 2026Yossi Klein Halevi: Why Jewish extremism is so seductive - and dangerous
August 12, 2026Richard Priem: The ‘age of security’ has ended for US Jews
August 5, 2026Dan Ben-David: Israel is on the brink of a spiral of collapse
After “Dog” was translated into English, it won two 2026 National Jewish Book Awards, in the Book Club and Hebrew Fiction in Translation categories.
A former commando in the elite Duvdevan unit fictionalized in the Netflix series “Fauda,” Ishi Ron wrote “Dog” before he was diagnosed with PTSD, while he was self-medicating with alcohol and drugs.
Ishi Ron talks about writing books as part of his healing process and his mission to help others in his situation.
He also discusses his latest book, a Holocaust drama called “The Girl Who Rode the White Lion,” inspired by his grandfather, a Holocaust survivor.
What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.
Check out a recent What Matters Now episode:
The Times of Israel Community.