Unorthodox

This week on Unorthodox: Three Jews, infinite opinions. First, Mark sits down with Yiscah Smith, a Jewish educator, spiritual activist, and author. Yiscah discussed her journey as a trans woman and teacher of Torah; her documentary, I Was Not Born a Mistake will be shown at the New York Jewish Film Festival on Tuesday, January 21. More info here. Our next guest is Danny Dayan, Israel’s Consul General in New York. Liel spoke with him about the communities he’s prioritized outreach to, the challenge he faces in getting Israeli and American Jews to understand each other, and his solutions to that challenge. And finally, Mark speaks with Dr. Carol Gilligan, feminist activist and NYU professor, about anti-Semitism and the Women’s March, which takes place this weekend across the country. Let us know what you think of the show: email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869. Come see us on tour! Jan. 8, 2020 – Westport, Connecticut: Book talk with Mark and Liel Jan. 10, 2020 — Fountain

Unorthodox is off this week, so instead we're introducing you to Take One, the new Daf Yomi podcast from Tablet Magazine hosted by our own Liel Leibovitz. As Jews around the world begin a new seven-and-a-half year cycle of Daf Yomi, reading the entire Talmud one page per day, Tablet Magazine's new podcast, Take One, will offer a brief and evocative daily read of the daf. We launch the cycle with a brief introduction to the Talmud at large before diving into the text with Tractate Berakhot, page 2, and a meditation on the meaning of time, why you might want to think twice before you Netflix and chill, and how all these rabbinic strictures can help us make sense of our modern, messy lives.

We’re starting 2020 with our favorite combo: Talmud and food. First, Adam Kirsch reflects on completing the seven-year cycle of Daf Yomi, the practice of reading one page of Talmud each day, which he chronicled in a column for Tablet. He tells us what he learned as a reader and literary critic from this intense textual undertaking, plus how his life has changed in the seven years since he started. He also makes the case that more Jews should take on Daf Yomi, if only to better understand what our ancestors were up to, and offers some tips for beginners. Then we sit down with the Seattle-based food writer and podcaster Rachel Belle, host of “Your Last Meal.” She tells us about asking people like Isaac Mizrahi, Rainn Wilson, and William Shatner what their last meal on earth would be, and dishes about how food ties into her Jewish identity. Then she asks the hosts what their last meals would be, in a beshert-cross-podcast segment airing on her show as well. Let us know what you think of the show: email us at 

This week, we’re coming to you live from Denver’s JCC Mizel Arts and Culture Center as part of the 12th annual Neustadt Jewish Arts, Authors, Movies, and Music Festival. Our Jewish guest is Sue Salinger, director of the Denver region of Hazon, the environmental organization working to strengthen Jewish life and contribute to a more environmentally sustainable world. She tells us what Jewish tradition teaches us about farming and sustainability, what makes Denver’s Jewish community unique, and why Judaism calls us to act against climate change. Our Gentile of the week is Michael Johnston, a teacher and politician who served as the Colorado State Senator from the 33rd district from 2009 to 2017, and is currently a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2020. He tells us about the culture shock of leaving Vail, CO to attend Yale University, explains how his work as a teacher got him interested in politics, and weighs in on the 2020 Democratic primary. And finally, a musical tribute on the eve of Leonard Cohen’s thi

New York-area listeners: Enter to win a spot at our first-ever Unorthodox Shabbat dinner, January 3rd at the Freehand New York. This week on Unorthodox, we’re getting into the Hanukkah spirit.  But first, a discussion of the terrifying anti-Semitic shooting at a Jersey City kosher market that killed four people. Then, Rabbi Ari Lamm explains the real story of Hanukkah, which is less about oil and miracles and more about Jews battling each other over assimilation. And since the holiday season is synonymous with movies, we talk to Clive Owen and Howard Shore, the star and composer of The Song of Names, which opens in theaters on Christmas. The film, based on the novel of the same name by Norman Lebrecht, features Owen as a Hasidic violin prodigy. We also chat with Rabbi Daniel Cohen of Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange, NJ, about how he incorporates the latest technology into his work. Let us know what you think of the show: email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869. Co

This week on Unorthodox, we’re very literally all over the place. First, we bring you News of the Jews from our live show earlier this week at the Valley of the Sun JCC in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. Then we call Wall Street Journal reporter Louise Radnofsky to figure out why so many figure skaters perform to the Schindler’s List theme song. Stephanie sits down with Sarah Hurwitz, a former speechwriter for Michelle Obama and the author of the new book Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life—in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There). She tells us about rediscovering and embracing Judaism while working in the White House, how she’s using the skills she honed as a speechwriter to make Judaism more accessible, and the advice she has for people who want to make Jewish practice a bigger part of their life but aren’t sure how to do so. Our Gentile of the Week is Jackson Crawford, a professor of Old Norse mythology, who chatted with Mark while we were in Denver last m

This week on Unorthodox, we’re kicking off December with three very festive interviews. First up, designer Jonathan Adler and his husband, three–time Unorthodox guest Simon Doonan. Jonathan tells us about growing up with a one-room shul-house in rural southern New Jersey and how he developed his love for pottery and ceramics at summer camp. Simon talks about his new book, Drag: The Complete Story, and explains how Barbra Streisand became an icon in the drag world and in gay culture more broadly. Next up is Stephen Schragis, whose One Day University offers continuing education experiences across the country. He offers his theories on why Jews love learning for learning’s sake (or at least sign up so frequently for his courses), and tells us about the time he got Donald Trump to lecture to a group of 30,000 people. Finally we check in with our favorite food blogger and TV personality, Molly Yeh, who tells us about her upcoming latke-filled Food Network special, Ultimate Hanukkah Challenge, which premieres Sa

Live from Detroit with Jackie Victor of Avalon International Breads and Phil Goldsmith of New York Bagel, plus a road trip to Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, MI We talked carbohydrates and community on stage at the JCC of Metro Detroit with two Jewish guests who run Detroit institutions: Jackie Victor, CEO and co-founder of Avalon International Breads, and Phil Goldsmith, fourth-generation owner of New York Bagel. Jackie tells us about opening a bakery in downtown Detroit in the 1990s (much to the surprise of her family and the realtor), and how that bakery continues to champion sustainability and community even as it’s become the largest bread distributor in the area. Phil tells us about taking over the family business, which was founded in Detroit by great-grandfather Morris Goldsmith in 1921, explains how chains like Panera and Einstein Bros Bagels have changed the landscape of bagel-making throughout America (he recently added blueberry bagels to the menu), and clues us into what a ‘dogel’ is (you can buy

This week on Unorthodox, we’re coming to you from, well, all over the place. First, we check in on our hosts to see what was up when they were in Cincinnati this past weekend, and we even get some news fresh from Cincinnati’s Jewish newspaper, The American Israelite. Our first Jewish guests are Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook, co-owners of the James Beard award-winning restaurant Zahav and several other Philadelphia mainstays. We visited them at Zahav and talked about what makes the place so special, what “Israeli” food really is, and how food will be the key to future diplomacy. They also share recipes from their cookbooks, Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking and Israeli Soul: Easy, Essential, Delicious. Our Second interview is with writer and Parsha in Progress podcast host Abigail Pogrebin. We talk about her journey from unaffiliated Jew to active synagogue member and author of several books about Judaism, including Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish and My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Won

This week on Unorthodox, we’re coming to you from Temple Beth El in Stamford, CT. Our Jewish guest is Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of more than 15 books, including the recently updated and reissued Words that Hurt, Words that Heal. Rabbi Telushkin tells us about the most common types of questions he fields as a rabbi, why he’s so interested in Jewish laws of ethical speech, and what he learned from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Our gentile of the week is Farooq Kathwari, CEO of the Ethan Allen furniture company and author of Trailblazer: From the Mountains of Kashmir to the Summit of Global Business and Beyond. He tells us about his childhood in Kashmir, his interfaith work on the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council, and and why it feels perfectly right to be an immigrant at the helm of a famous furniture company named after a Revolutionary War hero. Come see us on tour! November 14 – Margate, New Jersey: Book talk November 17 – Cincinnati: Unorthodox live show November 20 – Dresher, Pennsylvania: Book talk November

We’re taking this week off, but we wanted to bring you an unedited look into a conversation Mark was desperate to set up between two of his friends, Liel Leibovitz and Jay Michaelson.  These are two Jews who are very in sync in some ways, but extremely different in others.  Come explore with them as they talk about some of the most important issues we’re all facing.

This week on Unorthodox, comedian Nick Kroll returns to the show to talk about 'Big Mouth,' his raunchy Netflix animated show about puberty, now in its third season. He tells us about hosting Purim talent shows with 'Big Mouth' co-creator Andrew Goldberg at their Jewish day school in Westchester, NY, explains how his own adolescent experiences influenced the show, and shares his bar mitzvah horror story. Our Gentile of the Week is Sarah Blake, author of the novel The Guest Book, which tells the story of the uber-WASPy Milton family over three generations, centered around the island in Maine that the family bought during the Depression. She tells us how the story was modeled on elements of her own upbringing, describes how the few Jewish characters who appear throughout the book ultimately change the course of the Milton dynasty, and speaks candidly about what it's like to be a WASP in 2019 America. Come see us on tour! Copies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event: November

This week on Unorthodox, we're marking the one-year anniversary of the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh, which occurred on October 27, 2019. Two days after the shooting, we aired a special episode recorded from Pittsburgh, featuring voices from the community. This year we're revisiting the horror of the massacre and checking in with local Pittsburgh Jews about their reflections one year later. We talk to Pittsburgh-based writer Beth Kissileff, who explains Jewish notions of vengeance and offers her thoughts on the appropriate punishment for the murderer. Mark, who has been reporting a book about the shooting for the past year, shares audio from his interviews with Andrea Wedner, daughter of Rose Malinger, one of the victims, Andrea's husband Ron Wedner, and Joe Charny.Sending our love to the Pittsburgh Jewish community, today and always. Get your copy of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia, our brand new guide to all things Jewish (and Jew-ish), here [https://workman.com/products/the-newish-jewish-encyclopedia]

This week on Unorthodox, we're celebrating all the Jewish holidays, including reaching our 200th episode! We talk to a gematria expert to find out just what the number 200 symbolizes in Jewish numerology, and hear some words of wisdom from our boss, Alana Newhouse. Our first guest is Jodi Kantor, co-author of the new book 'She Said,' which details the allegations of sexual misconduct against Harvey Weinstein first reported on by Jodi and Megan Twohey in the New York Times in 2017. She talks to Stephanie about the process of reporting such a complex story, first for the New York Times and then for this book, and the roles that people like Jill Kargman and Gwyneth Paltrow played throughout the process. She also explains why the Weinstein story is fundamentally not a Jewish story, despite the fact that several of the main characters, including Weinstein, are Jewish. Then Liel sits down with Peter Pomerantsev, author of 'This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality,' to discuss how the Internet i

This week on Unorthodox, a special live show recorded at the San Francisco JCC. We’re joined by guest host Bari Weiss, New York Times opinion editor and writer and the author of How to Fight Anti-Semitism [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/616727/how-to-fight-anti-semitism-by-bari-weiss/]. We also talk to New Yorker writer Andrew Marantz, author of the new book Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/562022/antisocial-by-andrew-marantz/9780525522263]. Get your copy of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia, our brand new guide to all things Jewish (and Jew-ish), here [https://workman.com/products/the-newish-jewish-encyclopedia]. Leave us a review! (Amazon or Goodreads). Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. See us on tour! Liel Leibovitz will be at Arts Matter Shabbat in Boston, MA on October 25 at 6 p.m. (details here), and Stephanie Butnick will be at the Jew

The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia, our guide to all things Jewish (and Jew-ish), is here! To celebrate, we put together a very special episode featuring some familiar voices. Get a taste of the book from its contributors and hear about famous Jews, favorite holidays, and beloved Jewish foods from Mario Cantone, Corey Feldman, Tovah Feldshuh, Bethenny Frankel, Gilbert Gottfried, Steve Guttenberg, Tone Loc, Jon Lovitz, Pauly Shore, The Sugarhill Gang, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, and even Margaret Thatcher. Thanks to Gary Greengrass, Jordan Hoffman, Wayne Hoffman, Lisa Ann Sandell, Marc Tracy, and Alana Newhouse. Special thanks to our producer, Josh Kross, for putting together this wild episode. Like the book? Leave us a review! (Amazon or Goodreads). Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. See us on tour! Liel Leibovitz will be at Arts Matter Shabbat in Boston, MA on October 25 at 6 p.m. (details here), and Stephanie Butnick will be at the Jewish Book Festival in Tam

We're closing the book on 5779 with our fifth-annual apology episode (listen to previous year's episodes here [https://www.tabletmag.com/tag/unorthodox-apology]). Join us for stories of apologies, discussions about friendship, and an exploration of one of the most controversial figures in recent Jewish history. First we talk to our Tablet colleague Marjorie Ingall, who co-edits the site SorryWatch.com. She reminds us how to offer a proper apology, and shares the best (and worst) public apologies of the past year. Stephanie sits down with Lauren Mechling, author of the new novel How Could She, and Did Jew Know author Emily Stone to discuss the female friendships that animate Lauren's novel, and reflect on the challenges of maintaining our relationships, particularly as we approach the New Year. In a special reported segment, we talk to Neshama Carlebach and Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl about the complicated legacy of rabbi and composer Shlomo Carlebach. Let us know what you think of the show! Email us at Unor

This week we're going to party like it's 5779, while we still can. First we sit down with Samantha Frank and Rena Singer, the rabbi and rabbinical student behind Modern Ritual, which models passionate, feminist Jewish life and content on Instagram. They tell us why they're they're thinking beyond congregational posts, and why they believe social media is the way to connect with young Jews today. We also talk to Saul Austerlitz, whose new book is Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show the Defined a Television Era. He gives us some Friends casting what-ifs and offers his theory on why the show remains incredibly popular on streaming platforms 25 years after it premiered. Liel talks to Wesleyan University president Michael Roth about his new book on free speech and political correctness on campus. Join us in San Francisco Monday, Sept. 23.  Get your tickets here and use code TABLET50 for 50% off the ticket price.  Let us know what you think of the show! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a

Join us for 'The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia' launch party next Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the JCC Manhattan! There will be wine from our friends at Unorthodox Wines, and you'll be able to buy the book two weeks before its official publication date! Can't make it? Preorder the book and you could win a Zabar's gift basket! To enter, forward a copy of your receipt or confirmation to unorthodox@tabletmag.com. Our Jewish guest this week is Israeli writer Etgar Keret, winner of the Sapir Prize, one of Israel's most prestigious literary awards. His new story collection, newly published in English, is called Fly Already, and he joins Stephanie and Liel to discuss his characteristically quirky short stories, the influence of of the Holocaust on his work, and the starkly different reception he—and his work—receives in Israel vs. the United States. Our Gentile of the Week is Henry G. Brinton, senior pastor at Fairfax Presbytarian Church in Fairfax, VA and a contributor to the Huffington Post. He and Stephanie t

 'The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia,' our guide to all things Jewish (and Jew-ish), is out next month! Pre-order your copy today and you could win a Zabar's gift basket—to enter, forward a copy of your receipt or confirmation to unorthodox@tabletmag.com. This week, two more Jewish guests! We sit down with food writer Adeena Sussman, whose new cookbook is Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors From My Israeli Kitchen. She tells us why we should be eating more tahini (which is the same thing as tahina), how she puts her own spin on Israeli food as a California native transplanted to Tel Aviv, and how we can easily incorporate Middle Eastern herbs and spices into our dishes. Next, we hear an interview Stephanie did with author Dani Shapiro, whose memoir Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love begins with the surprising results of an online DNA kit she submitted on a whim. Dani discusses what it was like to grow up always being told she didn't "look Jewish," how the discovery of her paternity affected her sens