Unorthodox

This week on Unorthodox: Miley meets Woody. Our Jewish guest is word maven Lizzie Skurnick, whose book, That Should Be A Word, is based on her popular New York Times Magazine column of the same name. In 2013 she founded Lizzie Skurnick Books, which reissues classic young adult literature. Our Gentile of the Week is Bill Schulz, former co-host of Fox News Channel's 3 a.m. satirical talk show, Red Eye. He claims Amy Schumer, a frequent guest on Red Eye, based the terrible character Schultz in her hit film Trainwreck on him.  We love to hear from you! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast. This episode of Unorthodox is brought to you by Harry’s. Stop overpaying for a great shave. Go to Harrys.com and enter the code UNORTHODOX at checkout for $5 off your first order.

This week on Unorthodox: Bloomberg, Bernie, and Trump, oh my! Our Jewish guest is Mark Seidenfeld, vice president and deputy general counsel at Scholastic, publisher of the wildly successful Harry Potter and The Hunger Games series. He tells us about traveling to Scotland to pick up a manuscript from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling—and then sitting on it during the flight back to New York to keep it safe. Our non-Jewish guest is bioethicist and writer Alice Dreger, whose new book, Galileo’s Middle Finger, explores the at-times contentious clashes between scientists and activists throughout history. We love to hear from you! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast. This episode of Unorthodox is brought to you by Harry’s. Stop overpaying for a great shave. Go to Harrys.com and enter the code UNORTHODOX at checkout for $5 off your first order.

Our Jewish guest this week is Rebecca Vilkomerson, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization whose mission includes ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, and which supports the controversial Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. She explains why she believes her organization's work is more important now than ever, and spars with Liel over the merits of BDS.  Our Gentile of the Week is Mike Albo—writer, performer, and humorist—whose next project is an off-Broadway performance based on his 2015 memoir, 'Spermhood: Diary of a Donor.' His question for the panel is simple: Why are gay Jewish men so good in bed? We love to hear from you! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.

This week on Unorthodox: Bar Refaeli baby watch begins, and Mel Gibson returns (shudder). Our Jewish guest is painter Archie Rand, whose new book, The 613, is the culmination of his most ambitious project yet: painting visual representations of each of Judaism’s 613 mitzvot, or commandments. Our Gentile of the Week is Catherine Burns, the longtime artistic director of the hit storytelling series The Moth. Her question to the panel is about Jewish burial traditions, and, characteristically, takes the form of a story. We love to hear from you! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.

This week on Unorthodox: kosher marijuana, the great bagel scooping debate, and one very WASPy cardigan. Our Jewish guest is Bethany Mandel, author of the Convert's Bill of Rights, which she wrote after learning she was one of the women videotaped by Rabbi Barry Freundel while using the mikveh, or Jewish ritual bath. (The Orthodox rabbi was sentenced in May 2015 to 6 1/2 years in prison for filming more than 150 women, many of them converts, using the ritual bath.) Our Gentile of the Week is writer Rand Cooper, who asks the panel the ever-important question, "Is Jewdar real?" We love to hear from you! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast. 

From Drake to Bernie Sanders, Amy Schumer to the presidential election—and, of course, Israeli cats—we’ve covered a lot this year on Unorthodox. We’re ringing in the new year with a special compilation of our favorite moments from 2015, including never-before aired segments, highlights from our live shows, and guests Simon Doonan, sex therapist Bat Sheva Marcus, comedian Dave Hill, lexicographer Erin McKean, and more. Want more Unorthodox? Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com, and sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast. 

This week, Unorthodox celebrates Christmas—or as we call it, Christian Hanukkah—the only way we know how: binge-watching Netflix (the new ‘going to a movie’) and eating Chinese food. We’re joined by Orange is the New Black’s Yael Stone, who tells us about playing the memorable Lorna Morello, a compulsive shopper and lovable stalker, on the hit Netflix show. Her newest role is as Peretta Jones on the SyFy series Childhood’s End, which you can binge-watch after you finish Season 3 of Orange is the New Black. She tells us about moving to the U.S. from Australia, where she grew up, and directs us to watch her new show using that distinctive Morello accent. ​We’re also joined by Jennifer 8. Lee, whose book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles explores, among other things, the relationship between Jews and Chinese food. She tells us why chow mein is “the chosen food of the chosen people,” and how Chinese food on Christmas became a veritable Jewish American tradition. She also tells us about the Dumpling Emoji Project, her

This week on Unorthodox, a special live taping from the nation's capital featuring Jewish food maven Joan Nathan and New Republic writer Elizabeth Bruenig, and much, much more This week, Unorthodox heads to our nation's capital for a special live episode at the Washington DCJCC. Our Jewish guest is food maven and Tablet contributor Joan Nathan, who discusses her Yemenite chicken soup recipe and explains why we're all missing out on Libyan Jewish cuisine. She tells us about her favorite chefs, visits to the White House, and which president she considers the 'most Jewish.'  Our non-Jewish guest is Elizabeth Bruenig, who writes about Christianity, politics, and poverty for the New Republic. She tells us how a Methodist from Texas ended up at Brandeis University—and then converted to Catholicism. Her question for the panel is whether Bernie Sanders' campaign has been exciting for Jews to watch.  For more Joan Nathan, visit http://joannathan.com/, or get her Tablet recipes at http://www.tabletmag.com/author/jnatha

On this week's episode: America’s most badass Supreme Court Justice and TV’s most visible rabbi. Our Jewish guest is MSNBC reporter Irin Carmon, whose new book, Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is a smart, entertaining biography of the Supreme Court justice. She tells us about RBG’s recent turn as a feminist pop culture icon, her important role on the Supreme Court today, and the octogenarian’s impressive workout routine. Our non-Jewish guest is actress Kathryn Hahn, who tells us what it’s like to regularly play Jewish characters (see: Transparent, Afternoon Delight, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days). She explains how she prepared for her latest role as Rabbi Raquel Fein on Jill Soloway’s Amazon hit Transparent, which returns Friday for Season 2. She asks the panel about Judaism’s earliest female rabbis. Our next episode will be a live taping on Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Washington DC JCC, in Washington, D.C. You can buy tickets at http://thejdc.convio.net/site/Calendar?id=151257&view=Deta

This week, we're, we’re ringing in the Festival of Lights with a special episode filled with Unorthodox holiday cheer, Adam Sandler’s updated “Hanukkah Song,” and a whole lot of latkes. We’re joined by Jewish competitive eater Don Moses Lerman, who comes out of retirement to see how many Russ & Daughters potato latkes he can eat in five minutes on the air. Tablet columnist Marjorie Ingall, who previously gave us a crash course in pre-Yom Kippur apologies, stops by with some advice on how not to make Hanukkah all about the presents for kids, and recommends the best new Jewish children's books. Tablet’s art director Esther Werdiger also returns this week with a tale of Hanukkah Down Under—where the holiday falls smack in the middle of summer, and instead of snowflakes and fireplaces there are arbecues and beach parties. We're recording a live show December 15 at 7 p.m. at the Washington DC JCC in Washington, D.C. You can buy tickets here: http://thejdc.convio.net/site/Calendar?id=151257&view=Detail.  Let us kno

This Thanksgiving, we're thankful for good health, cats, and Drake. But mostly, dear listeners, we're thankful for you. Over the past 17 weeks, you've not only listened to our humble podcast, you've gotten your friends to listen, showed up at our first live taping, and, best of all, written to us to tell us exactly what you think of the show. A lot. We so appreciate you taking the time to write us (even when it's to tell us we talk too fast, or don't know what we're talking about) that we've dedicated this special Thanksgiving episode to your letters. We speak to several listeners who have written us, hear from comedians Jo Firestone and Connor Ratliff as they read your letters aloud, and get singer-songwriter Jim Knable to turn your emailed words into the catchiest song you'll hear all day. Happy Thanksgiving, and keep those letters coming at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.  For more Jo Firestone, check out http://www.jofirestone.com/. F

Our Jewish guest, Bat Sheva Marcus, is a sex counselor, podcast host, and president of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance. She tells us about the most common issues her patients face, the challenges of finding rabinically-approved erotica for observant Jews, and the importance of maintaining a sexual connection in long-term monogamous relationships.  Our non-Jewish guest is Mallory Ortberg, founder and editor of feminist literary website the Toast, and Slate's new Dear Prudence advice columnist. She talks to us about her bestselling book, Texts From Jane Eyre, her evangelical pastor father, and the difficulties of dispensing advice. Her questions for the panel are whether lox is different from smoked salmon, and why there aren't as many Jewish denominations as there are Christian. For more Bat Sheva Marcus, check out her podcast, The Joy of Text, here: http://jpmedia.co/podcasts/joy-of-text/. You can read Mallory Ortberg's Slate columns here: http://www.slate.com/authors.mallory_ortberg.html. Check out The

This week on Unorthodox: Preaching to the unconverted. Our Jewish guest is our very own editor-in-chief, Alana Newhouse. She talks to us about Tablet’s new print magazine and shares exclusive details from the first issue, which comes out next week. Our non-Jewish guest is Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a prolific writer and podcaster. The evangelical macher poses two questions to the panel: Why are Jews are so reliably Democratic? And what are the best Jewish-themed movies? We love hearing from you. Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com, and sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.  You can subscribe to our print magazine here: imsnews.com/tablet. For more about Dr. Mohler, check out his website at http://www.albertmohler.com/.

This week on Unorthodox, our Jewish guest is journalist Alyssa Katz, a member of the New York Daily News editorial board. Her new book, "The Influence Machine," is about the vast political influence—and lobbying money—wielded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She tells the panel what the Chamber of Commerce actually is and how it got so powerful, and explains why, in today's social media-filled political climate, newspaper editorials still matter.  Our non-Jewish guest is poet and high-school English teacher Emily Moore, who discusses high schoolers, country camp music, and motherhood. She asks the panel whether there are various levels of horas danced at different types of Jewish wedding, and how American Jews get their other, Hebrew names. We love hearing from you. Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com, and sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.  For more about Alyssa Katz's book, see here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Influence-Machine-Commerce-Corporate/dp/0812993284. You can fin

This week marks the thirteenth episode of Unorthodox, and we’re ready to party like it’s our bar mitzvah all over again. Our Jewish guest is Wayne Hoffman, executive editor of Tablet and the author of several novels. His latest is An Older Man, which follows 42-year-old Moe Pearlman (the protagonist from Hoffman’s first novel, Hard, about New York City’s gay scene in the 1990s), as he deals with getting older and finding companionship during Bear Week in Provincetown, MA. Hoffman discusses bear culture and what’s changed for the gay community since the days of Hard. Our non-Jewish guest is Elvis Harvey, a dog trainer on the Upper West Side who’s gotten to know quite a few Jews since moving his business to New York City from Texas. He talks about the difference between Jewish and Catholic (as well as liberal and conservative) dog owners. We love hearing from you. Email Unorthodox@tabletmag.com with questions, comments, or complaints. We’ll share our favorites on the air. You can learn more about Wayne Hoffman'

This week on Unorthodox, James Franco’s star-studded bar mitzvah for charity (seriously, it raised $2.5 million); a viral video celebrating—with spoken word poetry—the diversity of the Jewish people; and how Malcolm Gladwell can help us understand the recent rash of violent stabbing attacks in Israel. Our Jewish guest is Shulem Deen, whose moving memoir, All Who Go Do Not Return, describes his journey out of the Skverer Hasidic sect. Deen—who’s now on the board of Footsteps, an organization that offers support and community for people leaving ultra-Orthodoxy—tells us about the different challenges faced by men and women who leave the community, what the secular world can learn from the close-knit Haredi world, and the first movies he ever watched. Our non-Jewish guest is Wall Street Journal sports columnist Jason Gay, whose new book, Little Victories: Perfect Rules for Imperfect Living, offers a humorous blueprint for living a slightly more relaxed and fulfilling life. He asks what the reaction would be today

This week, we present first-ever Unorthodox live show, recorded at the Slifka Center at Yale University. Our Jewish guest is Shelly Kagan, Clark Professor of Philosophy at Yale. He talks about his reputation as Tough Grader on Campus, and explains what it means that he’s a non-welfarist consequentialist. Our guest gentile of the week—who told us he preferred the term “token goy” or “goykin”—is humorist and WNPR radio host Colin McEnroe. He asked the panel why yarmulkes always seem to fall off his head at bar mitzvah services, and, more seriously, why there seem to be certain tripwires within discussions about Israel that, when crossed, trigger accusations of anti-Jewish sentiment. You can watch Shelly Kagan's Death course at: http://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy/phil-176. Listen to the Colin McEnroe Show here: http://wnpr.org/programs/colin-mcenroe-show.

This week on Unorthodox, host Mark Oppenheimer and Tablet staffers Stephanie Butnick and Liel Leibovitz discuss Amy Schumer's $8 million book deal, Ralph Lauren stepping down as CEO of his namesake brand, and Mahmoud Abbas's speech at the U.N. General Assembly. Our Jewish guest is best-selling essayist Sloane Crosley, whose first novel, 'The Clasp,' tells the story of college friends who reunited 10 years later and get swept up in a modern-day treasure hunt across Europe. She tells the panel how a Jewish girl ended up with the name Sloane Crosley and about the transition from essay-writing to fiction.  Our non-Jewish guest is New York Times poetry critic David Orr, whose newest book, 'The Road Not Taken,' is about the Robert Frost poem people love—but completely misunderstand. He asks the panel why Jews, who have long been a staple of the literary world, are less present in the field of poetry. You can get Sloane Crosley's book here: http://www.sloanecrosley.com/theclasp, and David Orr's book here: http://www

This week on Unorthodox, host Mark Oppenheimer and Tablet staffers Stephanie Butnick and Liel Leibovitz discuss Ann Coulter's ill-advised tweet during the Republican presidential debate about "f---ing Jews"; the Pope's visit to the U.S.; and a campaign to end the little-known Jewish practice of Kapporos, in which chickens are ritually slaughtered before Yom Kippur. Our Jewish guest is defense lawyer and former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, whose latest book is "Abraham: The World's First (But Certainly Not Last) Jewish Lawyer." He talks about his former research assistant Natalie Portman, and explains why some critics of Israel are bigots while others are not.  Our non-Jewish guest is Muslim comedian Negin Farsad, who is currently suing the MTA for pulling ads publicizing her documentary, "The Muslims Are Coming," just before they were scheduled to run. One such ad reads: "The Ugly Truth About Muslims: Muslims Have Great Frittata Recipes." Farsad asks the panel why some Jewish men are so ready to cou

This week on Unorthodox, host Mark Oppenheimer and Tablet staffers Stephanie Butnick and Liel Leibovitz ring in the year 5776 with the latest news of the Jews. They sound off on a controversial New York Times feature that listed the Democrats in the House and Senate who voted against the Iran nuclear deal--and indicated which of those politicians were Jewish. (The 'Jewish?' column was quickly ​ removed from the chart, and a correction was issued.) Our Jewish guest is writer, model, and college student Julia Frakes, who describes getting her start as a writer in the fashion world when she was 16. She talks about ​ where to find smart fashion writing, and how she ended up on the runway. Our non-Jewish guest is Erin McKean, lexicographer, word-lover, and founder of Wordnik.com, the "world's biggest online dictionary." She asks what Hebrew words we should be importing into English, and shares a ​ little-known​ Yiddish term she ​feels is much deserving of a comeback. You can follow Julia Frakes on Twitter here: ht