Project Esther is the blueprint for the Trump administration to go after anyone it calls its ideological enemy. It lays out, point by point, how it is using the excuse of "keeping Jews safe" to target the Palestinian rights movement and attack immigrants, free speech, and academic freedom. The Trump administration thinks it can get Jews on board with authoritarianism, by simply calling it "fighting antisemitism." Written by the Heritage Foundation, the religious right think tank that brought us Project 2025, Project Esther is not just about Jews and the Palestinian rights movement. Since the killing of Charlie Kirk, the administration has been threatening to crack down on the "radical left." That might sound vague, but the way it's going to happen is already laid out in Project Esther.
Any time a university is stripped of millions of dollars in research funds for not protecting Jewish students, that is Project Esther in action. When activists are jailed and their immigration status threatened, that is Project Esther in action. When "fighting antisemitism" is used as an excuse to suppress First Amendment rights, it makes it harder to fight the real, immediate threat of antisemitism in the U.S.
Led by by journalist and editor Sara Sarasohn, this workshop is where you will get information that you won’t see in the mainstream media: what Project Esther means for all kinds of groups that oppose the Trump administration, the price of being silent on it, and how we can resist fascism and authoritarianism that is being wielded in our name.
About Sara Sarasohn
One of the most respected podcast and radio editors in the business, Sara has three decades of experience editing and producing podcasts, coordinating news coverage, writing, and mentoring new and mid-career journalists. Her clients include UC Berkeley, Gimlet Media, NPR, The New York Times, Built-It Productions and Vox Media. Her passion is for all kinds of cultural stories, but she has expertise in business, tech and daily news as well.
Sara created and executed the original content vision for NPR One, a seamless, surprising, personalized digital listening experience of news and podcasts. Before that, she spent more than two decades in NPR's newsroom before branching out to narrative podcasts.