Unorthodox

This week, we've got something a little different for you. In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan 27, we sat down with Sandy Myers and Desiree Nazarian of Selfhelp Community Services, an organization that provides assistance to Holocaust survivors in need in the New York area. There are thousands of survivors living in the New York area today, and they have very particular emotional and physical needs as they age. You can read more about the work of the organization—and how to help—in this extended feature on Tablet. Our next full episode will drop on Monday, Jan 29. Some announcements: Come hang with us on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m! We’ll be joining Rabbi Sara Luria for an intimate, off-the-record chat at Beloved in Brooklyn. Tickets here. Want more Unorthodox in your life? Join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! And subscribe to our newsletter here. (Yep, it's different to the main Tablet newsletter!) We love hearing from our listeners. Emai

Come see us live at the Manhattan JCC on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m., with special guests comedian Judy Gold and Father James Martin! More info and tickets here. And on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m., we’ll be joining Rabbi Sara Luria for an intimate, off-the-record chat at Beloved in Brooklyn. Tickets here. This week on Unorthodox, Mark calls up Roy Moore's 'Jewish lawyer,' and Stephanie sits down with Jeffrey Masters, host of the podcast LGBTQ&A, which documents stories of the LGBTQ community. We're also joined by Anne Edelstein, author of a new memoir about death and grief, Lifesaving for Beginners. Want more Unorthodox in your life? Join our official Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our new listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. This week's episode is brought to you by Harry’s. Get a free trial shave set when you sign up at Harrys.com/Unorthod

We have two upcoming events! A live recording at JCC Manhattan on 1/24 (tickets here), and a intimate, off-the-record schmooze with the hosts at Beloved in Brooklyn on 1/30 (tickets here). Plus, we're looking for a new producer—maybe that person is... you? This week, Mark sits down with Rabbi Joseph Hample of the Tree of Life Congregation in Morgantown, West Virginia. We're also joined by musicians David Chevan and Warren Byrd of the Afro-Semitic Experience, who tell us about fusing Jewish and African American liturgical traditions. Want more Unorthodox in your life? Sign up for our newsletter, and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message on our hotline: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. This episode is brought to you by Harry’s. Get a free trial shave set when you sign up at Harrys.com/Unorthodox.

We'll be recording live at the Manhattan JCC on Wednesday 1/24 at with special guests Judy Gold and Father James Martin! Get your tickets here. This week on Unorthodox, we respond to your questions on everything from Jewish pregnancy superstitions to what to read and watch while converting to Judaism. Plus we dive into the great tin foil vs. plastic baggie debate. Want more Unorthodox in your life? Join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! And sign up for our weekly newsletter here. We love hearing from our listeners. Please send your feedback to unorthodox@tabletmag.com—we may read your comments on the air.

We'll be recording live in NYC on 1/24 with comedian Judy Gold and Father James Martin! Buy your tickets here. This week: Everything you ever wanted to know about nose jobs, and their particular prominence in American Jewish life. Tablet editor-in-chief Alana Newhouse and executive editor Wayne Hoffman discuss their personal experiences with rhinoplasty. Plastic surgeon Jonathan Kaplan, founder of price transparency platform BuildMyBod, breaks down exactly what happens during a nose job, and explains how 'deviated septum' became a euphemism. Professor and art historian Matthew Baigell tells us about the first Jewish nose job, performed in Berlin in 1898, and how stereotypes of Jews and noses can be traced all the way back to the 1300s. Filmmaker Gayle Kirschenbaum, who documented her mother's very unsubtle requests that she get rhinoplasty in 'My Nose,' tells us about coming to terms with her nose—and her mother. Want more Unorthodox in your life? Join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what ha

Hey J.Crew! A little bonus content for you this Monday afternoon: Unorthodox host Mark Oppenheimer published an op-ed in The New York Times earlier this year about our aversion to using the word 'Jew,' as opposed to 'Jewish.' On Wednesday, he appeared on WNYC's 'On the Media' with Brooke Gladstone to discuss these ideas in the context of Kayla Moore's recent controversial remarks about the Moores' Jewish attorney. Give a listen, and, as always, let us know what you think at unorthodox@tabletmag.com. Our next full episode will drop Thursday, December 21. Happy Hanukkah!

We'll be recording live at the Manhattan JCC on Wednesday, January 24 at 7:30 p.m. with special guests comedian Judy Gold and Father James Martin! Buy tickets here. Our Jewish guest this week is writer Jordana Horn Gordon, who returns to discuss her Hanukkah gifting strategy as the mother of six children. Our gentile of the week is journalist and religion scholar Reza Aslan, who tells us about his latest book, God: A Human History. Want more Unorthodox in your life? Join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! And sign up for our weekly newsletter here. We love hearing from our listeners. Please send your feedback to unorthodox@tabletmag.com—we may read your comments on the air. This episode of Unorthodox is brought to you by Harry's. As a special holiday offer for fans, we’ve partnered with Harry’s to give you $5 off your order when you go to Harrys.com/UNORTHODOX. This episode of Unorthodox is also brought to you by PJ Library, the program that sends FREE Jewish boo

This week we're coming to you live from Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York City! Our next live show will take place on January 24 at JCC Manhattan, with Father James Martin and comedian Judy Gold. Get your tickets here! Our Jewish guest is food writer Mark Bittman, who just released the tenth anniversary edition of How To Cook Everything Vegetarian. He talked to us about the link between agriculture and global warming, and why Americans need to eat more real food. (But despite that, he still enjoys the occasional trip to McDonald's.) Our gentile of the week is Kristen Meinzer, co-host of the podcast By the Book. On each episode, Meinzer and her co-host Jolenta Greenberg live by the rules of a different self-help book—their selections include The Secret, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and French Women Don't Get Fat. She explains why women, historically neglected in conversations about health and wellness, are drawn to self-help books, why The Secret is bogus, and tells us what her self-help book wo

This week on Unorthodox: Beauty pageant diplomacy, Gal Gadot's Mossad mix-up, and so much more. Our gentile of the week is Noreen Malone, New York magazine features editor and DoubleX Gabfest panelist. She tells us about growing up Catholic in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Shaker Heights, her powerful 2015 cover story on 35 of Bill Cosby's accusers, and asks whether it's ever okay to call someone "jappy." Our Jewish guest this week is feminist author, speaker, and psychologist Phyllis Chesler. She talks to us about anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in the feminist movement, and the future of feminism. Want more Unorthodox in your life? Join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! We love hearing from our listeners. Please send your feedback to unorthodox@tabletmag.com—we might read your comments on the air. This episode of Unorthodox is brought to you by Harry's. As a special holiday offer for fans, we’ve partnered with Harry’s to give you $5 off your order when y

Our Jewish guest this week is Lani Santo, the executive director of Footsteps, a New York-based organization dedicated to helping formerly-Orthodox Jews establish new lives outside the insular communities in which they were raised. We discuss the new Netflix documentary ‘One of Us,’ which follows the lives of three Footsteps members. Our gentile of the week is Richard F. Thomas, Harvard Classics professor and author of the new book Why Bob Dylan Matters, which explores the literary themes linking the beloved American songwriter with the ancient poets of Greece and Rome. (So maybe that surprise Nobel win last year shouldn't have been a surprise at all.) Want more Unorthodox in your life? Join our Facebook group, sign up for our newsletter, and follow us on Twitter (@tabletmag , @markopp1, @liel, and @stuffism)! Kvetch and kvell to us directly at unorthodox@tabletmag.com—we might read your comments on the air. This episode of Unorthodox is brought to you by PJ Library, the program that sends FREE Jewish books t

This week on Unorthodox, we can't be tamed. Our Jewish guest is Eddy Portnoy, senior researcher and director of exhibitions at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, whose new book is Bad Rabbi: And Other Strange but True Stories from the Yiddish Press. He tells us how he stumbled upon these colorful, less-remembered characters and tales—so many of which seem to involve Jews rioting—and why it's important for a community to examine the good with the bad to truly know its history. Our gentile of the week is Washington Post religion reporter Sarah Pulliam Bailey, who dropped by the studio in early October to tell us about growing up in a conservative, Christian environment in Indiana, the intricacies of covering religion while being a person of faith herself, and the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. We're giving away two copies of the Kale and Caramel cookbook, by episode 111 guest Lily Diamond! Enter the draw to win here. Join our new Facebook group! And sign up for our weekly newsletter to ge

This week on Unorthodox, we've got food on the brain. Our first guest is Kerry Brodie, founder of Emma's Torch, a cafe in Brooklyn that employs and trains refugees and political asylum seekers. She tells us about her unlikely transition from government work to culinary school, what she learned about refugees by working alongside them in the kitchen, and why she believes food is such a powerful uniting force. Our second guest is Lily Diamond, the Maui-born blogger behind Kale and Caramel, and the author of a brand new cookbook by the same name. She tells us about fleeing her laid-back Hawaiian high school for Yale, accidentally becoming a food blogger, and how food and cooking helped her grieve her mother's death. (Enter the draw to win a copy of her book here!) Join our new Facebook group! And sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, behind-the-scenes photos, and more! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com—we may read your note on air. Follow us on Twitter: @tabletmag , @markopp1, @liel, and @stu

This week on Unorthodox, we're totally bewitched. Our Jewish guest is novelist Alice Hoffman, whose new book is The Rules of Magic, a prequel to her bestselling 1995 novel Practical Magic, which was made into the 1998 film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. She tells us how she re-immersed herself in the magical Owens family 20 years later, the ways in which her Jewish background influenced her interest in rebellious women, and why it's important to her to redefine the popular mythology of witches. Our gentile of the week is a witch and priest in the Minoan Brotherhood, who studies neo-paganism at Harvard Divinity School. He tells us the difference between witches and pagans, how he planned to celebrate Samhain, the pagan festival also known as Halloween, and why eye of newt is something you might already have in your kitchen cabinet. Join our new Facebook group! And sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, behind-the-scenes photos, and more! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com—we may

This week, we're live from JCC Manhattan! Our Jewish guest is writer A.J. Jacobs—our first-ever guest back in 2015—whose latest book is It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree. He tells us about his unlikely entry into the world of genealogy, the famous—and infamous—relatives he discovered, and, in a 'Maury'-style twist, reveals which hosts are related to him. Our gentile of the week is actor Kobi Libii, who played Cantor Duvid on Season 3 of 'Transparent' and currently appears on Comedy Central's 'The Opposition With Jordan Klepper'. He tells us about meeting with rabbis and other Jewish leaders to prepare for the 'Transparent' role, which required him to speak Hebrew, pivoting to political satire, and what he does to unwind from the constant news cycle he now covers. Join our new Facebook group! And sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, behind-the-scenes photos, and more! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com—we may read your note on air. Follow us on Twitter: @tabl

Our Jewish guest this week is David Litt, author of Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years, a memoir about his time as a speechwriter in the Obama White House. He tells us about teaching President Obama to say 'chag sameach' for a Passover video, writing jokes for the White House Correspondent's Dinner, and the time his grandpa sent him a water pipeline proposal to show the president. Our gentile of the week is U.S. Naval War College professor Thomas Nichols, whose latest book is The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters. He explains how experts today have been branded as out-of-touch elites and experience itself is being shunned—and how President Trump is the avatar of this cultural shift. We also discuss how his students' view of him changed after he was on Jeopardy, and why Jews feel such an affinity for Greeks. Come see us live on October 25 at the Manhattan JCC! Get your tickets here. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, behind-the

This week on Unorthodox, we're all about 5778. Our guest this week is Rabbi Shai Held, president and dean of the continuing education institute Mechon Hadar, and the author of The Heart of Torah, a new two-volume book of essays about each weekly Torah portion. He tells us why he dreaded tackling Leviticus but learned the most from it, explains why he's optimistic about the future of Judaism, and gives us some useful advice for the new year. Come see us live on October 25 at the Manhattan JCC! Get your tickets here. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, behind-the-scenes photos, and more! And email us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com—we’ll share our favorite notes on-air. Follow us on Twitter: @tabletmag, @markopp1, @liel, and @stuffism. This episode is brought to you by Harry’s! Get a free trial shave set (including razor handle, blades, and gel) valued at $13 when you sign up at Harrys.com/Unorthodox.

This week, we're all about atonement. For our third annual apology episode, we're joined by University of Nebraska–Lincoln professor Ari Kohen, who explains what makes an apology truly bad (and why he stopped blogging about apologies). Mark Osler, a former federal prosecutor turned clemency advocate, tells us about the personal journey behind his career change. Vanessa Zoltan, host of the podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, returns with a true story about a family apology that didn’t quite take. We also share your letters about Yom Kippur atonement, and offer our own apologies. (You can listen to our previous Yom Kippur episodes here and here!) Want to come to an Unorthodox taping IRL? (Of course you do!) Our next live show will be recorded in New York on October 25—tickets and info right here. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, behind-the-scenes photos, and more! And email us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com—we’ll share our favorite notes on-air. Follow us on Twitter: @tabletmag, @markop

This week on Unorthodox: We recap the Butnick-Cohen nuptials (mazel tov!), Liel has a big reveal, and our guests wrestle with complicated legacies—both personal and political. Our first Jewish guest is Annabelle Gurwitch, the author of Wherever You Go, There They Are, a funny, wise memoir about the families we’re born into—and the families we choose. She talks about growing up with a fabulist father, becoming a drug mule for her elderly mother, her colorful Southern Jewish clan, and the various tribes she’s joined over the years in her quest for belonging. Our gentile of the week, director Dylan Kussman, comes with a bonus Jewish guest—actor/writer Aaron Davidman. They’re the creative duo behind Wrestling Jerusalem, a new film adaptation of Davidman’s one-man play that explores the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lens of 17 characters from a range of religious, political, and ethnic backgrounds. Kussman explains what attracted him to a story about one of the world’s most controversial conflicts, and

This episode is brought to you by the letter A, for ally. Our Jewish guest is Brooke Kroeger, author of The Suffragents: How Women Used Men to Get the Vote. She tells us about the men whose support helped women get the vote, and what those of us who want to be allies to marginalized communities today should learn from their efforts. Our gentile of the week is German-Danish historian Thorsten Wagner, the academic director of FASPE: Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics, which sends law, medical, journalism, and business school students on specialized trips to Germany and Poland. He tells us why the FASPE programs deliberately focus on perpetrators and enablers, not victims, and weighs in on the current U.S. debate over monuments and memorials. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, behind-the-scenes photos, and more! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com—we may read your note on air. Follow us on Twitter: @tabletmag, @markopp1, @liel, and @stuffism.

If you love listening to Unorthodox, please make a donation before our fundraising drive ends next week! This week: Everything you ever wanted to know about Jewish weddings. Author Anita Diamant tells us about The Jewish Wedding Now, her newly updated guide to planning a meaningful Jewish celebration. Roberta Grossman, director of the documentary Hava Nagila (The Movie) explains how the catchy Hebrew folk song became a staple at Jewish weddings. Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie of New York’s Lab/Shul explains his recent decision to leave the rabbinic arm of the Conservative movement over its prohibition on performing interfaith weddings. Bat Sheva Marcus, clinical director of Maze Women’s Health and co-host of the Joy of Text podcast, tells us about the importance of communication for maintaining a healthy sex life, as newlyweds and beyond. And finally, Bridesmaid for Hire Jen Glantz explains why she decided to turn a much-maligned obligation into a profession. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, be