Episodes
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DEI & The Jews w/Ginna Green
Say hello! [email protected] Donate to Jewfolk, Inc. – https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/4_4HDBpVjKH36Agwq-qi3A Uprise: http://upriseforgood.com/ The Forward's polling: https://forward.com/news/664087/harris-trump-poll-jewish-voters-israel-gaza/ Jews wrestling with DEI:...
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Israel's Black Panthers And The Nation They Exposed w/Asaf Elia-Shalev
Say hello! [email protected] Donate to Jewfolk, Inc. – https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/4_4HDBpVjKH36Agwq-qi3A Buy "Israel's Black Panthers": https://www.ucpress.edu/books/israels-black-panthers/hardcover Asaf Elia-Shalev's work: https://www.jta.org/author/ashalev The Nightingale of Iran:...
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New Year Break/Message
Say hello! [email protected] Donate to Jewfolk, Inc. – https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/4_4HDBpVjKH36Agwq-qi3A
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Pride, Queer Jews, & Israel w/Ethan Felson
Say hello! [email protected] Donate to Jewfolk, Inc. – https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/4_4HDBpVjKH36Agwq-qi3A Cincy Jewfolk's reporting: https://cincyjewfolk.com/2024/06/10/pro-palestinian-activists-force-resignations-from-cincinnati-pride/ Ethan Felson's writings warning about Pride…
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Holocaust Education Part II w/Mira Zelle & Libby Cohen
Say hello! [email protected] Donate to Jewfolk, Inc. – https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/4_4HDBpVjKH36Agwq-qi3A 2025 Power of Place trip info: https://minndakjcrc.org/event/the-power-of-place-2025-jcrc-educator-european-summer-institute/ 2024 Power of Place trip stories: A Mezuzah Imprint…
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Holocaust Education Part I w/ Heather Loeschke & Mike Musil
Say hello! [email protected] Donate to Jewfolk, Inc. – https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/4_4HDBpVjKH36Agwq-qi3A 2025 Power of Place trip info: https://minndakjcrc.org/event/the-power-of-place-2025-jcrc-educator-european-summer-institute/ 2024 Power of Place trip stories: A Mezuzah Imprint…
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TJAT Episode 4: Return Of The Jew(s Are Tired)
Say hello! [email protected] Donate to Jewfolk, Inc. – https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/4_4HDBpVjKH36Agwq-qi3A
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What Is Free Speech On Campus?
Many of us have watched college campuses around the country erupt in protests, with tent camps being set up on greenspaces calling for universities to disclose and divest from companies that do business in Israel. But when do the chants, signs and graffiti cross the line from...
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96. Babka Social (with Serge from Babka)
This week: The chaos of Elon Musk’s Twitter has chased users and news organizations away, while a new wave of Twitter clones try to recreate the sense of community it has. So what does this mean for the Jews, and why should anyone care? I talk about that with Serge, the founder of Babka Social, a...
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95. TV's Unapologetic Jewish Women (feat. Dr. Samantha Pickette)
This week: Jewish women rarely get a fair shake in pop culture, often showing up as flat stereotypes like the “Jewish American Princess” trope. But over the past decade, especially on TV, that’s been changing. So I talk with Dr. Samantha Pickette, author of “Peak TV’s Unapologetic Jewish Woman,”...
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94. Israeli Judicial Reform
This week: The Israeli president says the country is on the brink of civil war because the current government is trying to make the Israeli Supreme Court powerless. So let’s talk about judicial reform, and how the long-time-coming crisis is really the Occupation finally and fully biting Israel in...
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93. The Jewish Case Against ChatGPT
This week: ChatGPT and other AI chatbots have become all the rage, bringing an idealistic vision of revolutionizing work and communication. Some say that Jewish organizations should now be using these tools. So it’s time for a reality check on how these AI chatbots can affect the Jews. To help...
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92. Yeshiva University vs. Queer Jews (with Rachael Fried)
This week: A group of LGBTQ students are suing Yeshiva University, representing a club called the YU Pride Alliance, to get it officially recognized by the school. The court case speaks to the future of queer Jews in Modern Orthodoxy — so I talk with Rachael Fried, the executive director at JQY…
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91. How The Soviet Jew Was Made (with Sasha Senderovich)
This week: About 100 years ago, in the wake of the Russian Revolution and the pogroms that followed, millions of Jews in Eastern Europe became Soviet Jews. But what really is a Soviet Jew? And how does that history affect Jews today? That’s what I talk about with UW Professor Sasha Senderovich.…
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90. The Great Hannukah/Merry Christmas Shenanigan Bonanza (with Izzy Wellman, Carli Shapiro, and Emma Pelc)
This week: It’s the last episode of the year, and a sort of follow up to both last year’s Hannukah Sucks episode, and this year’s State of the Union episode. After all, the holiday season can be a wonderful and frustrating time for Jews. So I have a chaotic chat about it with some of my coworkers...
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89. How Yeshiva Schools Avoid Secular Education (with Matty Lichtenstein)
This week: It’s time to revisit the story of hasidic yeshiva schools in New York City having poor secular education. After all, it’s important not just to understand what is happening, but why and how things came to be this way. So I talk to sociologist Matty Lichtenstein about her research on...
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88. Defend, Defend, Defend! Israeli Elections Part II
This week: Welcome to part II of coverage of Israel’s recent election. In the last episode, I talked about the rise of bigoted far-right politicians not being the huge watershed moment many of us feared. In this one, I’ll talk about what it does represent, for Israel, but mostly, for American and...
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87. Is Israel Lost To Extremists? Elections Part I
This week: On November 1st, Israel had its fifth national election in under four years. And frankly, a lot of Jews are panicking, because the results put an extremist, far-right, and racist group of Israeli politicians in line for power. So let’s dig into what happened, how to understand it, and...
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86. Jewish Professional Troubles (with Angie Lieber)
This week: Jewish community takes a lot of work. You need money, motivation, and perhaps most of all, you need the people to run events and engage other Jews. But Jewish professionals are not having a great time right now, dealing with burnout, equity, and leadership issues. So I take a deep dive...
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85. No Jewish Leadership On Internet Policy
This week: Rapper Kanye West is spreading antisemitism, Jews are fighting about it, and the head of the Anti-Defamation League recently compared the man who would own Twitter, Elon Musk, to notorious antisemite Henry Ford. How are these things all connected? By a failure of Jewish leadership on...
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84. Yeshiva Education Failure (with Manny Vogel)
This week: A New York Times investigation has all the Jews talking about education in hasidic yeshiva schools — specifically, about the poor secular education in subjects like English and Math. So I speak with Manny Vogel, who grew up attending a hasidic yeshiva in New York City, about his...
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83. Banning Anne Frank (with Laney Hawes)
This week: The right-wing Christian movement to ban some books from libraries is growing, with one school district in Texas pulling all versions of The Bible and the graphic novel version of The Diary of Anne Frank. So I talk with Laney Hawes, a parent at that school district, about how that...
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82. My Homeland Is Ukraine (with Mariia Hershova)
This week: We’re approaching six months of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and by extension, six months of the Ukrainian refugee crisis. So I talk with Mariia Hershova, a 23-year-old Ukrainian Jew helping refugees in Poland, about how the refugee situation has evolved, and the pride of Ukrainian Jewry....
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81. Israeli Elections Need To Slow Down -- But They Probably Won't
This week: Israel recently experienced a government collapse, throwing the country into yet another election cycle — the fifth election in under four years. So let’s take a quick look at why there isn’t all that much to say about this anymore, and why Israeli elections will probably keep rolling…
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80. State Of The Union (with Izzy Wellman, Carli Shapiro, and Emma Pelc)
This week: Young American Jews are angry. A lot of us are angry about losing abortion rights; we’re angry about gun violence; and we’re angry about rising antisemitism. So here’s a sort of Jewish State Of The Union with three of my coworkers at Jewfolk, Inc, as we evaluate these United States of...
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79. Without Roe v Wade...Again (with Rabbi Hara Person)
This week: The Supreme Court unveiled a ruling right before Shabbat overturning the federal abortion protections guaranteed in Roe v Wade. To talk about the Jewish perspective on abortion, why abortion is essential to health care, and what rabbis do after this ruling, I speak with Rabbi Hara...
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78. Enough Bullshit On Guns
This week: Uvalde is only the second-worst elementary school shooting in the U.S. That's sick to say, but it's true. So I let loose with my anger over this country's gun problem, how Republican politicians stop any effort to fix it, and what it will take for something to change. Like the rest of…
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77. Behind The Times of Israel (with David Horovitz)
This week: David Horovitz, the Editor in Chief of the Times of Israel, is the JCRC’s featured speaker for its June 12 event in Minneapolis. But before he comes to the Twin Cities, Horovitz is on this podcast to talk Israeli politics, a decade of TOI, and how to report on the Middle East. Say…
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76. Sex Party Bintel (with Ginna Green, Lynn Harris, and Chana Pollack)
This week: The second season of the A Bintel Brief podcast, a revival of the classic advice column from The Forward, is upon us. So I talk with hosts Ginna and Lynn, and Chana, the Forward’s archivist, about the importance of Jewish advice, the history of A Bintel Brief, and, bare with me, sex...
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75. AIPAC And Insurrection Republicans
This week: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, one of the most influential pro-Israel lobbying groups, is directly fundraising for politicians. Some of those politicians are Republicans who undermined U.S. democracy on January 6, 2021. Let’s talk about why this is happening, and what it...
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74. Passover Economics and Unsettled Israel
This week, let’s take a quick look at some Passover-related news just in time for the start of the holiday, as well as an update on Deborah Lipstadt’s Senate confirmation. Then we need to talk about Israel, as a drastic increase in terrorism, and new government instability, leaves many Jews…
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73. The Belarus Connection (with Margo)
This week, one of the overlooked aspects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the role that Belarus, the dictatorship to the north, plays. So I speak with Margo, a Belarusian pro-democracy activist and tiktok-er, about rigged elections, protests, growing up under a dictator, and how Belarus got…
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72. Ukrainians Are Jews Now (with Alice Chudnovsky)
When Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, many Russian-speaking Jews in the U.S. started organizing direct humanitarian aid to Ukrainians. I talk with one of those Jews, Alice Chudnovsky, about her fundraising for humanitarian and evacuation efforts in the city of Kharkiv. To help Kharkiv:...
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71. "So They Remember," A Soviet Holocaust Story (with Maksim Goldenshteyn)
Maksim Goldenshteyn, a Russian-speaking Jew in Seattle, just published arguably the foremost book about Romania’s overlooked role in the Holocaust, centered on the survival story of his Ukrainian Jewish family. So Goldenshteyn and I have a very personal conversation about Holocaust memory as…
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70. Congress Hearings, Deborah Lipstadt, And The Jews
Almost a month after a rabbi and three congregants were taken hostage at a synagogue in Texas, Congress held two hearings related to Jews: A Senate hearing on the position of global antisemitism monitor -- long delayed by Republicans because of dislike toward nominee Dr. Deborah Lipstadt -- and a...
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69. Fandom, Culture, And The Jews (with Michal Schick)
I usually talk on this podcast about Jewish political events, but there have also been some interesting Jewish culture trends (particularly around representation) in the world of movies and TV shows that are worth discussing. So I speak with Michal Schick, a screenwriter, podcaster, and former...
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68. Processing The Shabbat Hostage Crisis
This week, I try to process the recent hostage situation at a synagogue in Texas, and the many Jewish hot takes that emerged on social media as the crisis was unfolding. They range from being about synagogue security and Jewish safety in America, to antisemitism and hinting that the rabbi being...
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67. Home In A Hundred Places (with Sarah Dayan Mueller)
This week, I speak to Egyptian-Jewish and Filipina author Sarah Dayan Mueller about her latest book “Home In A Hundred Places.” The book tells the story of her father, who spied for Israel while in Egypt in the 1940s and early 50s, and is also a larger tale about building family and preserving...
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66. A New Years Review Of 2021
It’s the last episode of 2021, so it’s also a good time for a new years overview of some of the big trends and stories in the Jewish world. It’s been yet another wild year of news keeping all of us exhausted, and this podcast busy with trying to cover it. So let’s chat about it. Say hello!...
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65. Inclusion Struggles? Now There's A Book For That
Miriam Steinberg-Egeth and Warren Hoffman are co-editors of a new book titled “Warm and Welcoming,” billed as the first book to address inclusion issues in the Jewish world. So I talk with them about the book and the sometimes precarious nature of striving to be truly diverse and inclusive....
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64. Hanukkah Sucks (with Izzy Wellman)
Hannukah is right around the corner, so why not indulge in the now classic Jewish tradition of complaining about how over-commercialized and poorly-commercialized the holiday is? Izzy Wellman, TC Jewfolk's social media and marketing strategist, joins me for the longform kvetch....
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63. The Anti-CRT Risk To Holocaust Education
Anti-Critical Race Theory has become a rallying cry for Conservatives and self-styled “free-thinkers” across the country, defining school board and governor elections. The anti-CRT efforts have put teachers on edge, and raises questions about the future of Holocaust education. Here's why....
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Yossi Klein Halevi in conversation
Yossi Klein Halevi, renowned American-Israeli journalist and author, was recently in Minneapolis to talk about his book, Letters To My Palestinian Neighbor. So TC Jewfolk editor Lonny Goldsmith and I sat down with him for a wide-ranging interview about responses to the book and American Jewish...
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61. Addressing Antisemitism On Facebook
A former Facebook employee has gotten a lot of press and a senate hearing for revealing tens of thousands of internal Facebook documents about how the company fuels negative well-being in children, hate, and polarization. What does the info tell us about addressing antisemitism on social media?...
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60. The U.S. Iron Dome Political Football
Progressive House Democrats got $1 billion of aid to Israel for the Iron Dome, a rocket defense system, cut from a high stakes bill meant to prevent both the U.S. government’s shut down and economic collapse. Let's unpack....
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59. Looking At The Jews Of Color Initiative Survey
Jews of Color have spent years talking about the racism faced in the Jewish community. A new study released last month from the Jews of Color Initiative backs that up, and we take a deep look at what the results mean....
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58. Explaining This Week In Israel
This has been a long, hard, awful week in Israel. In this episode, we take a deep dive into how things started, if there's any way out of it, and what comes next. TRANSCRIPT: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L4VY8SQTXBlaBbKvNFqx0YfeU1ASCyUtgR7kGC_hJJM/edit?usp=sharing...
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57. Defining Antisemitism, Part 2
Are the newly-created Nexus Document and Jerusalem Declaration definitions of antisemitism legitimate alternatives to the IHRA definition? And are the three definitions really that different anyway? https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/working-definition-antisemitism...
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56. Defining Antisemitism, Part 1
Trying to define antisemitism is all the rage. But trying to find and agree on a definition is creating rage. Part one takes a look at the popular IHRA definition and some of the First Amendment effects, and the polarization around it all. TRANSCRIPT:...
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55. Fourth Election Done, Fifth On Deck?
Israel's fourth election in less than two years is done, but are we any closer to a functional government now, or is a fifth election in less than three years coming up soon? How did we get here and where do we go next? TRANSCRIPT:...
About this show
A weekly digest of the big stories around the Jewish world, through a Jewish Journalist lens.
Hosted by
Jewfolk, Inc.
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