Unorthodox

This week on Unorthodox, we’re doing the Wordle.   Evan Jacobson is a TikTok saxophone sensation. You might have seen his viral series where he adds sax solos to “songs that don’t need them.” We got him to compose sax solos to such cultural Jewish anthems as "Sunrise, Sunset" and Jeff Buckley’s cover of "Hallelujah." Shawn Setaro is a writer and podcaster, who created and hosted The Cipher, a hip-hop podcast produced by Unorthodox's own Josh Kross. He talks with us about his new book, Dummy Boy: Tekashi 6ix9ine and the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. We love to hear from you! Send us your emails and voice memos at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from.  Check out Tablet’s month-long interfaith project, The Tent, at welcometothetent.com Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes

This week on Unorthodox, we’re getting jiggy with it.  Our Jewish guest is Lenny Solomon, frontman of the Jewish rock band Shlock Rock. He talks with us about what it takes to create a great parody song, the role of humor in music, and accounting. You can donate to his fundraiser for his musical, Daniel in Babylon, here. Our Gentile of the Week is professor and writer Devoney Looser, who teaches us about Jane Austen and roller derby, and the surprising ways in which these two subjects intersect. Check out Tablet’s month-long interfaith project, The Tent, at welcometothetent.com. We love to hear from you! Send us your emails and voice memos at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channe

This week on Unorthodox, we’re lifting off.  This week we’re doing things a little differently. With the situation in Ukraine heating up, two Tablet writers offer their perspective. Vladislav Davidzon talks to us from the ground in Kyiv and Armin Rosen takes us to Uman for the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.  We love to hear from you! Send us your emails and voice memos at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel. We’ve got events coming up! Feb. 24 — Mark will be the keynote speaker at the Jewish Festival of Learning at Cal Poly State University - San Luis Obispo. 5 p.m. PST; register here.  Feb. 24 — Stephanie will be in conversation

This week on Unorthodox, we’re ordering gazpacho for the table.  Our Jewish guest this week is Tablet’s very own Wayne Hoffman, whose new book is The End of Her: Racing Against Alzheimers to Solve a Murder. He talks with us about family legends, coming to terms with his mother’s decline, and the morass of memory. We’re giving away a few free copies of Wayne’s book on our Instagram and Facebook accounts.  We’ve got events coming up! Thursday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, we’ll be doing a live show at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, with schmoozing and book signing afterwards. Get your tickets here. Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. Eastern, Stephanie will be discussing Wayne Hoffman’s new book, The End of Her, at Manhattan’s KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St.  Thursday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. Eastern (virtual), Stephanie will be in conversation with authors Gal Beckerman (“The Quiet Before”) and Talia Lavin (“Culture Warlords”) for the Jewish Book Council and the J

This week on Unorthodox, we’re throwing it back.  Our Gentile of the week is writer Chuck Klosterman, whose new book is The Nineties. He tells us why the 90s were the last real decade, plus what it’s like to earnestly promote a book about an era when apathy reigned supreme. We, on the other hand, are happy to be commercial sellouts—we’re giving away copies of The Nineties on our Instagram and Facebook accounts. We love to hear from you! Send us your emails and voice memos at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel. Check out The Tab, Tablet magazine's new printable weekly digest. Laid out in an attractive PDF for reading on a tablet or desktop, or to be printed, The Tab takes you

This week on Unorthodox, we’re all self-upgrading to business class.  Our Jewish guest is investigative journalist Carl Bernstein, of Watergate team Woodward and Bernstein, whose new memoir is Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom.   Our Gentile of the Week is The Great British Baking Show semi-finalist Jürgen Krauss, who won our hearts with his Passover plava recipe on Season 9. Krauss, who isn’t Jewish himself but is married to a Jewish woman and raising a Jewish family, tells us about representing his family’s Jewish faith in his flavors. He also shares a new Passover pavlova recipe with Unorthodox—check it out here. We love to hear from you! Send us your emails and voice memos at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at

This week on Unorthodox, we’re bringing you a conversation with Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Temple Beth Israel in Colleyville, TX, who was held hostage along with three congregants during a Shabbat service two weeks ago Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel! Check out The Tab, Tablet magazine's new printable weekly digest. Laid out in an attractive PDF for reading on a tablet or desktop, or to be printed, The Tab takes you into Shabbat and through the weekend, for free. Get your copy at tablet.ag/tab.  Want to book us for a live show? Email producer Josh Kross at jkross@tabletmag.com. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Sponsors: Thirty Six is a new podcast from SoulShop and Bnai Zion hosted by Justin Hayet, who scours Israel to find the 36 most fascinating

This week, we’re reflecting on the rabbi and three congregants held hostage at a Texas synagogue last Saturday.  We’re also sharing an interview with Mark Podwal, an artist who has illustrated for the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Times —and who has a day job as a dermatologist. He tells us how his art, rich with Jewish themes and imagery, is his expression of his Jewish identity Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel! Want to book us for a live show? Email producer Josh Kross at jkross@tabletmag.com. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Sponsors   The Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s online introductory course in Jewish meditation will help you find calm in challenging situations. Sign up for “The Gift of Awareness” at jewishspirituality.org and use d

This week on Unorthodox, more Israel-related animal conspiracy theories.   Before she was Liz Lange, our Jewish guest was Liz Steinberg, niece of corporate raider Saul Steinberg. She tells the story of her family’s spectacular rise and eventual fall in the new podcast, “The Just Enough Family.”  Our Gentile of the Week is Delvyn Case, a Christian composer who has written a cantata about the binding of Isaac, based on his reading of one rabbi's midrash that suggests that Abraham actually killed Isaac. Plus, more news from Belgium!  Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel! Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, mugs, and baby onesies at bit.ly/unorthoshirt. Want to book us for a live show? Email producer Josh Kross at jkross@tabletmag.com. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcas

This week, we’re celebrating a major milestone: 300 episodes. That’s more than 18,000 minutes of tape over six years, featuring thousands of News of the Jews items, hundreds of amazing Jews and Gentiles of the Week, and way too many jokes about Belgium. We’ve been through a lot together, J-Crew. There was the Saran Wrap vs. tin foil fight, the debate over backing into parking spaces, and endless discussions of what activities might accurately be categorized as “Jewish.” We’ve shared stories of conversion and atonement and nose jobs, and performed live shows across the country, from St. Louis to San Diego, and Denver to Detroit. Along the way, our team wrote a book, welcomed three human children and six podcast babies, and even got to be part of a proposal and then a wedding. Today, we’re celebrating everything that makes Unorthodox the #1 Jewish podcast with a special episode hosted by friend-of-the-show and “Making It” judge Simon Doonan. You’ll hear stories from our hosts—about Stephanie finding her voice,

This week on Unorthodox, we’re drinking the eggnog and going all in on Christmas. Did you know your favorite Christmas song was probably written by a Jew? Marc Tracy returns to the show to shed light on the surprising history of Jewish songwriters and Christmas music, and shares a list of the 10 best Christmas songs written by Jews.  It wouldn’t be a bunch of Jews talking about a holiday—even one that isn’t our own—without a serious discussion of food. Jewish cookbook author and New York Times Cooking columnist Melissa Clark tells us about the chocolate babka rugelach recipe she contributed to the Times’ Christmas cookie collection. Our super-intern Quinn Waller—our Quinntern—brings us an amazing personal story about the Christmas spirit she grew up with, and how she continued to believe in Santa long after all her friends stopped.  What’s it like being a Jewish ballerina and dancing in “The Nutcracker,” the most Christmas-y ballet of all time? American Ballet Theater principal dancer Skylar Brandt, who

This week on Unorthodox, we’re diving deeper into the cream cheese shortage.  Our first guest is Dorothy Kalins, cookbook writer and former editor in chief of Saveur magazine. Liel talks to her about her new book, “The Kitchen Whisperers: Cooking with the Wisdom of Our Friends.” Then Liel sits down with retired Harvard professor Ruth Wisse, whose new memoir is “Free Like a Jew: A Personal Memoir of National Self-Liberation.”  Our 300th episode is coming up this month, and we want you to be part of it. Has Unorthodox meant something to you, or played a part in your Jewish journey? Has a particular interview made you think, or a special episode stuck with you? Share your Unorthodox story by recording a voice memo on your phone and emailing it to unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leaving a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you're calling from.  New York-area listeners, travel back in time to 1970s NYC's haute kosher Chinese restaurant, Moshe Peking, for a pr

This week on Unorthodox, we’re prepping for the great cream cheese shortage of 5782. First we call up friend of the show Joshua Malina, who wrote an impassioned essay in the Atlantic asking why, after such a public history of antisemitism, Mel Gibson is still getting work in Hollywood.  Then we talk to Yonit Levi, Israel’s Channel 12 evening news anchor, who recently launched the podcast Unholy with The Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland.  Our Gentile of the Week is University of Oregon professor Annelise Heinz, whose new book, Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture, delves into the Jewish community’s enthusiastic embrace of the tile game.  Our 300th episode is coming up this month, and we want you to be part of it. Has Unorthodox meant something to you, or played a part in your Jewish journey? Has a particular interview made you think, or a special episode stuck with you? Share your Unorthodox story by recording a voice memo on your phone and emailing it to unorthodox@tabletmag.com,

This week on Unorthodox, we really can’t stop talking about Hanukkah—read our op-ed all about it in the Washington Post. First we talk to actress Sarah Podemski, who stars on the new FX on Hulu show Reservation Dogs. She tells us about her “Anishinaabe/Ashkenazi” heritage and growing up in Toronto’s Jewish community, plus her experience working with an all-Indigenous cast and creative team on Reservation Dogs.     Then Liel has a candid conversation with New York Times columnist Ross Douthat about his new book, The Deep Places, an account of his confounding struggle with chronic Lyme Disease.    Throughout the episode you’ll hear “The Hanukkah Song 2.0” from our friends Kosha Dillz and Nissim Black.  We’re looking for listeners to be part of two upcoming episodes. Send us your best Jew-at-Christmas stories, like the time you accidentally ruined Santa for the whole class. And on a more earnest note, has Unorthodox meant something special to you? Share your story for our 300th episode. You can leave us a voic

Stacy Keach joins Liel to discuss his upcoming presentation of the play "Vienna," created by Stacy Keach Zoom Theater (SKZ). The show begins airing on YouTube on Sunday, November 28, and will be available through Wednesday, December 1. Admission is free. Donations are welcome to benefit The Actors Fund of America. To access the production, visit stacykeachzoomtheater.com.

Unorthodox is off this week for Thanksgiving, but we're bringing you "Pigging Out," an episode from our friends at Israel Story: "Not once, but twice, does the Bible admonish us to abstain from eating the flesh of the pig. And though there are many other animals we are commanded to avoid, the pig has—over the centuries—become the quintessential symbol of all that is unkosher, impure, and morally reprehensible. But was that always the case? In an episode that starts in prehistoric times and ends in the 21st century, we explore the place of all kinds of porcines—from piggy banks to pork sausages and from wild boars to Iron Age bones—in Israeli society." Send us your stories for our Unorthodox Christmas episode at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave us a voicemail at (914) 570-4869. You can also record a voice memo on your smartphone and email it to us. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation at bit.ly/givetounorthodox. Send comments and questions to unorthod

This week on Unorthodox, it’s beginning to look a lot like Hanukkah! The Festival of Lights starts Sunday, Nov. 28, and we could think of no better way to kick off a holiday about the triumph of Jewish observance over assimilation than with a special episode featuring some amazing Jews whose work celebrates Jewish culture and identity.  Comedian and proud Jew Judy Gold—aka @jewdygold—joins us to discuss embracing her Jewishness on stage and off, and lighting Hanukkah candles in hotel rooms as she tours the country during the ‘holiday season.’ For more Judy Gold, check out her podcast “Kill Me Now” and her book Yes, I Can Say That, and find her tour schedule at judygold.com. Listen to Judy’s previous appearances on the show here and here.  Jake Cohen, author of Jew-ish: A Cookbook: Reinvented Recipes from a Modern Mensch, shares his Hanukkah menu (a latke bar!) and tells us why he loves wearing his Star of David necklace on Good Morning America. We’re giving away free copies of Jew-Ish to a few lucky listene

This week on Unorthodox, are we ready for a Better Bagel? Our guest is novelist Alice McDermott, whose latest book is What About the Baby? Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction. She tells us about her 1998 National Book Award-winning novel, Charming Billy, as well as her Catholic faith, relationship with the church, and what she misses now that she’s no longer teaching. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation at bit.ly/givetounorthodox. Send comments and questions to unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave us a voicemail at (914) 570-4869. You can also record a voice memo on your smartphone and email it to us. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel! Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, mugs, and baby onesies at bit.ly/unorthoshirt. Want to book us for a live show? Email producer Josh Kr

This week on Unorthodox, our national nightmare is over: Stephanie returns to the show! We talk to comedian Alex Edelman, whose new one-man show, “Just For Us,” is about the time he infiltrated a white supremacist gathering. Edelman, who was raised Orthodox, tells us about starting to wrap tefillin again during the pandemic, his work on Saturday Night Seder, and why some Jewish comedians miss the mark for him. “Just For Us” runs Dec. 1-19 at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York. Then we visit Sherry Herring, New York City’s latest culinary import from Tel Aviv and Liel’s favorite place on Earth, to sample chipotle tuna and piri piri sardine sandwiches and learn about the Jewish love of smoked fish. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation at bit.ly/givetounorthodox. Send comments and questions to unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave us a voicemail at (914) 570-4869. You can also record a voice memo on your smartphone and email it to us. Subscribe to our weekly

Three years after the Tree of Life synagogue shooting that killed 11 Jews, we return to Pittsburgh with a special episode based on Mark Oppenheimer's reporting for his new book, Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood. You’ll hear from the local high schoolers who planned the Saturday night vigil that drew thousands of people, from the Pulitzer-winning editor of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette explaining how he conceived the paper's famous Hebrew-language front page headline, and from the archivist responsible for cataloging the thousands of pieces of mail received by the synagogue from around the world. Listeners will learn about the evangelical Christian carpenter who drove nine hours to place handmade crosses, to which he affixed Stars of David, outside the synagogue, and the member of the Jewish burial society who was shot in the attack and who then helped prepare the bodies of fellow members for burial. Listen to our 2018 episode, recorded from Pittsburgh in the ho