This week: a special update from Stephanie’s apartment and a reminder to donate to the Unorthodox fundraiser! Gifts of $180 and above get you a hot-off-the-press copy of our forthcoming book, The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia; gifts of any size get you our eternal love and appreciation. Let us know what you think of the show! Email us at [email protected] or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Follow us...
Aug 22, 2019•25 min
Don't forget to donate to the Unorthodox fundraiser! Help us keep going strong in 5780 and beyond. This week on Unorthodox: A whole lot of Jewish guests! First we sit down with Cindy Chupack, an Emmy-winning TV writer and producer who's worked on shows like Sex and the City, Modern Family, and Everybody Loves Raymond. Her latest film, which she co-wrote and directed, is Otherhood, now streaming on Netflix. It's about three mothers whose grown sons seem to have forgotten them, and so together the...
Aug 15, 2019•48 min•Ep. 192
Donate to the Unorthodox fundraising drive and help us keep going strong! Our Jewish guest is Taffy Brodesser-Akner, New York Times Magazine writer and author of Fleischman is in Trouble. She tells us about the moment she learned her debut novel was a New York Times bestseller, why she writes from such a specific—and jewish—place, and why people are always asking her about Philip Roth. Our Gentile of the Week is Umber Ahmad, the banker-turned baker behind Mah-Ze-Dahr bakery in Manhattan's West V...
Aug 08, 2019•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 191
It’s that time of the year: The Unorthodox fundraising drive! Help us keep going strong in 5780 and beyond—donate here. Our Jewish guest this week is Liz Feldman, writer and creator of Dead to Me, the new Netflix series starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini. She tells us about the Jewish elements of the hit traumedy which was just renewed for a second season. Our Gentile of the Week is Dennis Schleicher, who shares his conversion story. After coming out as gay as a teenager and leavi...
Aug 01, 2019•1 hr 10 min
We're off this week, recharging in various locations, but we didn't want to leave your feed completely empty. Instead, Mark has a story he's been trying to find a place to tell for years. As our fourth birthday approaches, we wanted to expand our own creation myth, back to when Mark was 15 years old. Here's a few links for when you're done: First, take our survey here or at http://bit.ly/uosurvey19 Second, our 2019 Fundraiser is here, at http://tabletmag.com/donate
Jul 25, 2019•11 min
This week in 'News of the Jews,' Israel's new Education Minister endorsed gay conversion therapy, a controversial and widely discredited practice. We're bringing you an interview (recorded before those comments were made) with Mathew Shurka founder of Born Perfect, an organization that lobbies against conversion therapy. Mathew tells us about his own experience—he spent five years in conversion therapy as a teen—and how he found his calling in activism after an 'It Gets Better' video he recorded...
Jul 18, 2019•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 189
This episode was recorded live at the Hollis Hills Bayside Jewish Center in Queens. Our Jewish guest is Leon Neyfakh, who hosts the new podcast Fiasco, which tells the story of the 2000 election. He previously hosted two seasons of the hit podcast Slow Burn—the first focused on Watergate, and the second on the Clinton impeachment. He tells us why he focuses on what it was like to live through these explosive moments in American history as they slowly unfolded, and what he's learned about today's...
Jul 11, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 188
In honor of the 4th of July, we present our second-annual Jews Across America episode, celebrating the diversity of Jewish life throughout this great nation. (You can listen to last year's episode here) We have a bunch of star-studded guests! Blair Braverman, the second Jewish woman to complete the Iditarod, joined us at our Chicago live show with her dog, Flame, to tell us about how a Jewish girl from California becomes a dog sledding phenom. (Check out her memoir, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cu...
Jul 04, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 187
Unorthodox is off this week, but we have something special for you instead. Mark Oppenheimer was a recent guest on Slate’s Trumpcast, where he explained everything you could ever want to know about Trump and the Jews. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Email us at [email protected] or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook group.
Jun 27, 2019•47 min
Our first Jewish guest this week is Matthew Futterman, deputy sports editor at the New York Times and author of the new book, Running to the Edge. A 23-time marathoner, Matt breaks down the major transformations in both professional and recreational running over the past few decades, and describes the more meditative aspects of the sport, explaining how running is, for him, a form of prayer. Our second Jewish guest is Tony and Academy Award-winning actor Joel Grey, whose credits include Cabaret,...
Jun 20, 2019•59 min•Ep. 186
This week, we're celebrating the papas (the PAPAS!) Our Jewish guest is Violet Ramis Stiel, whose memoir Ghostbuster's Daughter is about growing up as the eldest child of comedy legend Harold Ramis. She tells us about life with an unconventional yet loving father, how her upbringing influenced her own parenting style, and finally grasping the impact her father had on American culture after his 2014 death. Our gentile of the week is Matt Schneider, who created the City Dads Group and hosts The Mo...
Jun 13, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 185
Last May, in honor of Shavuot, the holiday that celebrates the most famous convert to Judaism, Ruth, we put together a special episode all about conversion. We were so moved by the overwhelming response, both from converts and not, that we made another episode. This year we're back with a whole new range of stories. We hear from Ashley Wallace, who grew up in a Christian family in Alabama and who found support throughout her conversion from her friend Will Docimo. We talk to Rabbi Dr. Stuart W. ...
Jun 06, 2019•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 184
Tradition, tradition! We sit down with legendary actress Jackie Hoffman, who plays Yenta in the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene's production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ in Yiddish, and Motl Didner, the Folksbiene's associate artistic director. Hoffman tells us about learning her lines in Yiddish and her favorite role of all time. Didner teaches us a few key phrases in Yiddish We also chat with Australian punk rocker-turned-novelist Bram Presser, who wrote The Book of Dirt which won the National...
May 30, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 183
Our Jewish guest is Judith Viorst, who has written many books for children, including the classic Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. She tells us about her new poetry collection, Nearing Ninety: And Other Comedies of Late Life, which candidly and humorously captures the realities of growing older. Our gentile of the week is Edward Lee, the chef/owner of several restaurants in Louisville, Kentucky. His book Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef's Journey to Discover America's New ...
May 23, 2019•55 min•Ep. 182
Spies, sex, and comedy! Our Jewish guest is journalist Matti Friedman, whose newest book, 'Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel', explores the little-known story of four Mizrahi Jews who went undercover as Arabs during the time of the country's founding. He tells us how the story of these young Jewish men from Arab countries, who risked their lives as part of a ragtag intelligence unit, adds texture to the overwhelmingly Ashkenazi narrative of Israel's founding. Our gentile o...
May 16, 2019•1 hr 45 min•Ep. 181
We're talking about the mamas (the mamas) in honor of Mother's Day. Our Jewish guest is Catherine Reitman, creator and star of the Netflix show Workin Moms. She tells us how spending Mother's Day after her first child was born on a film set far from her family inspired her to create the show, which follows four mothers as they navigate their personal and professional lives after having children. We also talk to Judith Rosenbaum, executive director of the Jewish Women’s Archive, about their new i...
May 09, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 180
It's a star-studded, carb-filled post-Passover episode! Our first Jewish guest is designer Rebecca Minkoff, who tells us about sewing her own bat mitzvah dress, starting a handbag and clothing company with her brother, Uri, and her early involvement with—and break from—the Women's March (plus how she continues to support women today). Our second Jewish guest is Moriel Rothman-Zecher, author of Sadness is a White Bird, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in Debut Fiction. He tells us ab...
May 02, 2019•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 179
Since we're off this week, we're bringing you a special Kosher for Passover treat in our feed, a taste of our sister podcast, Israel Story. We've got a Ruth-themed episode from them called Whither Thou Goest. If you like what you hear, you should subscribe to their show wherever you listen to ours, AND check out israelstory.org to see their upcoming U.S. tour schedule—they’ll be here from May 7 to may 21st, and might just be heading to your city for a live show. With that, I’ll leave you to list...
Apr 25, 2019•1 hr 8 min
We're getting in the mood for matzo with a jam packed Passover episode. We speak with New York Times food writer Melissa Clark about her Passover menu, which includes a new brisket recipe, and, later on in the week, matzo lasagna. Paul Germain, the TV writer responsible for the Rugrats Passover episode, which aired in 1995 and offered a remarkable animated retelling of the story of Exodus, tells us about how that episode got made. PLUS Cat Goldberg on 4/20 seders, Gabriel Stulman on the Moroccan...
Apr 18, 2019•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 178
Everything you ever wanted to know about Jewish last names, with name change stories from our hosts and listeners. Plus, Noah Levinson investigates the story behind immigrant name changes at Ellis Island. Want to share your family's story? Email us at [email protected] or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get ...
Apr 11, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 177
This week on Unorthodox, it's Adar Madness! Make your picks for Liel's middle name here. We've got two Jewish guests this week. The first is psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb, who writes the “Dear Therapist” column for The Atlantic. Her latest book, Maybe You Should Talk To Someone, is about her life as a therapist, and about starting to see a therapist herself after an unexpected and traumatic breakup. Our second guest is Clevelander Harley Cohen, who was assigned the seat next to Mark on the fligh...
Apr 04, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 176
This week on Unorthodox, you'll never look at an Einstein Bros. bagel the same way again. Our Jewish guests are David Rossmer and Steve Rosen, co-writers and co-stars in the Off-Broadway play The Other Josh Cohen. They tell us about meeting at the performing arts summer camp French Woods and working together ever since, most recently collaborating on this rollicking musical tale of mistaken identity (apparently there are a lot of Josh Cohens out there!). Our gentile of the week is Drew Magary, a...
Mar 28, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 175
This week on Unorthodox, we're celebrating the publication of The 100 Most Jewish Foods: A Highly Debatable List with an episode dedicated to Jewish food. Throughout the episode you’ll hear from contributors to the book—including Jill Kargman, Gil Hovav, Gail Simmons, Shalom Auslander, Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs of Food52, and many more—who will be reading their entries. We talk to Tablet editor-in-chief Alana Newhouse, who edited the collection, as well as Gabriella Gershenson, who edited...
Mar 21, 2019•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 174
This week on Unorthodox, an update from Belgium, and Lin-Manuel Miranda's bar mitzvah-dancing past. This week's interviews were recorded live at the Marlene Meyerson Manhattan JCC during our Valentine's Day show. Our Jewish guest is dating app ghostwriter Meredith Golden, whose job is to make your dating profile better and to get you dates! She tells us about the mistakes most men and women are making on their profiles, and polls the audience about with dating apps they prefer. Our next guests a...
Mar 14, 2019•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 173
This week on Unorthodox: two Jews, many opinions! Returning to the show is writer and illustrator Christopher Noxon. He tells us about his new book, “Good Trouble: Lessons from the Civil Rights Playbook,” an illustrated history of the civil rights movement. Our second guest is French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, the author of more than 30 books, including The Genius of Judaism. He joins us to discuss his most recent book, The Empire and the Five Kings: America's Abdication and the Fate of the...
Mar 07, 2019•54 min
This week on Unorthodox, we've got a special episode dedicated to circumcision and the Jewish mitzvah known as the brit, or bris, that signifies entry into the tribe for eight-day-old Jewish males. We talk to Dr. Emily Blake, the mohel who performed Mark's son's bris, about why this biblical practice has remained so central to the Jewish experience, even among the non-observant. The folks at BimBam explain Lech Lecha, the parsha in which Abraham and God enter into the covenant that defines the J...
Feb 28, 2019•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 171
This week on Unorthodox, we'd like to thank the Academy... and our three Jewish guests! First we get glammed up with shoe designer Stuart Weitzman, who tells us about getting his big break when Aretha Franklin wore his shoes to the 1983 American Music Awards, and how he made red carpet history when he designed $1 million shoes for Mulholland Drive actress Laura Harring to wear to the 2002 Oscars. Since then, the 'shoe cam' has become a standard feature of award shoe red carpets. Then film critic...
Feb 21, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 170
This week, we're live and wide awake from Seattle. Our Jewish guest is Rabbi Will Berkovitz, CEO of Jewish Family Service Seattle. He tells us why helping resettle refugees is about more than simply "Jewish values," describes the surprising pushback he's received from some Jews over his social activism, and explains how he was inspired to become a rabbi after attending a Catholic college. Our gentile of the week is Dan Savage, the Seattle-based sex-advice columnist and host of Savage Lovecast. H...
Feb 14, 2019•1 hr 12 min
This week's episode was recorded live at Adat Shalom in Los Angeles. Our first Jewish guest is Rachel Sumekh, who founded Swipe Out Hunger, the leading nonprofit in addressing hunger on college campuses. She tells us why Swipe Out Hunger is a fundamentally Jewish project, inspired in part by her family's dependence on food assistance after her parents immigrated to the U.S. from Iran, and how, as a Persian Jewish woman in the technology and social entrepreneurship world, she's hoping to be more ...
Feb 07, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 168
This week on Unorthodox, one young man's journey out of white nationalism. Our Jewish guest is Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow, whose latest book is Rising out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist, which tells the story of Derek Black, the son of Stormfront founder Don Black and heir apparent to the White Nationalist movement. After enrolling in a diverse college and befriending a wide range of people—including Jewish students who invited him to weekl...
Jan 31, 2019•1 hr•Ep. 167
