Tablet Studios

This week on Unorthodox, we’re debuting a new look and some brand new merch! We’ve got three great guests. First, we’re bringing you an interview we recorded live at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly this past week in Chicago. We talked to Jewish Federations of North America President and CEO Eric Fingerhut about the most important issues facing American Jews, what he loves most about his job, and how we build a stronger Jewish community.Our Gentile of the Week is Joe Coscarelli, New York Times culture reporter and author of Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story. He explains how Atlanta rap became the most consequential musical ecosystem, tells us about #billiondollarlawyer Drew Findling, and breaks down the long and complicated relationship between Jewish music executives and hip hop artists.We’re also bringing you a conversation between Tablet executive editor Wayne Hoffman and author Roslyn Bernstein, whose new book, The Girl Who Counted Numbers, is a historical novel set in Jerusalem during the 1961 Adolf Eichmann trial. We’re excited to announce Across the JEW.S.A. — a new project that will take us to 12 cities or towns in 2023 to showcase the most inspiring Jewish stories across the country. Nominate your hometown at tabletm.ag/acrossthejewsa. Across the JEW.S.A. was created with support from the Jewish Federations of North America.We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.Sponsors: Soom tahini is the perfect ingredient for your fall meals. Use discount code UNORTHODOX22 for 10% off your next order at soomfoods.com.  The Other Israel Film Festival returns with eye-opening films and in-depth conversations exploring the relationship between history, culture, and identity in Israeli and Palestinian societies. The festival takes place Nov. 3–10 at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, with films also streaming online. For more information and tickets, visit otherisrael.org.Institute for Jewish Spirituality: Sign up today for Shema: The Practice of Sacred Listening at JewishSpirituality.org. Registration closes on November 11.

Liel takes us on a tour of the horror movies of his childhood and wonders how Jews can participate in Halloween… Jewishly. Plus, what horror movies can teach us about us ourselves and Jewish identity

This week on Unorthodox, we’re getting together around the table. Our Jewish guest is Phil Rosenthal, who returns to the show to tell us about Season 6 of his delightful travel food show, Somebody Feed Phil, which includes a tribute to his late parents, Max and Helen Rosenthal, and the accompanying cookbook, Somebody Feed Phil: The Book. He also tells us what his Yom Kippur break-fast looks like, why he scoops out his bagel, and why Jews aren’t the only cultural group who finds connection over food. Our Gentile of the Week is the multi-talented Faith Salie, a contributor to CBS Sunday Morning, frequent panelist on NPR’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me,” and author of Approval Junkie. She brings us Coca-Cola Cake and tells us about growing up Catholic in Atlanta and learning about Judaism as she raises Jewish children with her husband. We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.Sponsors: Soom tahini is the perfect ingredient for your fall meals. Use discount code UNORTHODOX22 for 10% off your next order at soomfoods.com.  The Other Israel Film Festival returns with eye-opening films and in-depth conversations exploring the relationship between history, culture, and identity in Israeli and Palestinian societies. The festival takes place Nov. 3–10 at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, with films also streaming online. For more information and tickets, visit otherisrael.org.

This week on Unorthodox, we’re raising the roof.First we check in with Israeli actor Michael Aloni of Shtisel and Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, to hear about his new film Plan A, in theaters and streaming this week. Then we hear from Mordechai Levovitz, founder of JQY, an organization that supports queer Jewish youth, about his personal journey and the ongoing legal battle between Yeshiva University and the YU Pride Alliance.  Our Gentile of the Week is Pastor Corey Brooks, founder and Senior Pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago and founder and CEO of Project H.O.O.D. He tells us about the great work he is doing for his Chicago community, including living on a roof to raise money for a new community center. This interview was recorded live at Congregation Beth Shalom in Northbrook, IL. Finally, we call up our friend and former colleague Yair Rosenberg, who now writes the Deep Shtetl newsletter for The Atlantic, and who just released a beautiful album of Shabbat music called Az Yashir.We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.Sponsors: Soom tahini is the perfect ingredient for your fall meals. Use discount code UNORTHODOX22 for 10% off your next order at soomfoods.com.  

Hey JCrew, we've got something extra we want to share with you.The Franchise is a new, eight-part series exploring how contemporary American Jewish culture imprinted itself onto sports and how sports imprinted itself onto Jewish traditions. Hosted by Meredith Shiner and produced by the team behind Unorthodox, the No. 1 Jewish podcast, The Franchise highlights the moments and the people—athletes, fans, stat geeks, journalists, and team owners—who are writing this uniquely, American Jewish story.The series begins in 1965 with Sandy Koufax, and traces the arc of American Jews and sports since then: from probing the so-called Koufax curse that befalls Jewish athletes who play on Yom Kippur to reevaluating the "Jewish Jordan" phenomenon and wondering why Jews love teams that always seem to lose, and much more.The Franchise premiers on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This week on Unorthodox, we’re shaking the lulav and the etrog and celebrating Sukkot.  First, we’re learning all about the global history of the etrog thanks to Be Fruitful: The Etrog in Jewish Art, Culture, and History. We talk to Warren Klein, one of the collection’s editors, and Jenna Weissman Joselit, a favorite Unorthodox guest and contributor to the collection. Next, we talk with Roger Studley, the founder of Urban Moshav, a nonprofit dedicated to creating Jewish co-housing communities, about Berkeley Moshav and the role that co-housing plays in building community. Finally, we’re re-sharing the 2018 trip our former editor Sophia Steinert-Evoy’s took to the only commercial etrog farm in the U.S., in Exeter, CA, to meet the non-Jews running it. We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.Sponsors: Soom tahini is the perfect ingredient for your fall meals. Use discount code UNORTHODOX22 for 10% off your next order at soomfoods.com.  

This week on Unorthodox, we’re sorry.It’s our eighth annual Apology episode, and we’re bringing you stories of reckoning, atonement and… goats?Stephanie Butnick visits the goats who inhabit a steep, rocky patch of Manhattan each summer to learn about the biblical scapegoat of Yom Kippur, with help from Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky and former Riverside Park Conservancy President and CEO Daniel Garodnick. What’s repentance all about, anyway? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain the concept of teshuva, and what the medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides has to say about asking for forgiveness. Professor and author Stewart Davenport, who grew up in Birmingham, AL, shares a candid reflection about arriving at Princeton as a college freshman and seeing the world differently.Plus, Liel starts a new Tzom Gedaliah tradition with a call to Rabbi Rachel Timoner.Don’t miss our previous Apology episodes: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021. We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.Sponsors: Soom: Soom tahini is the perfect ingredient for your fall meals. Use discount code UNORTHODOX22 for 10% off your next order at soomfoods.com.  HIAS: This High Holiday season, help HIAS help refugees in the United States, Ukraine and more than 20 other countries. Make a matched gift today at hias.org/unorthodox.

This week on Unorthodox, we’re not holding back. Our Jewish guest this week is Kim Kushner, who joins us to talk about her Moroccan-influenced take on kosher cooking, her favorite Shabbat meals, and her new cookbook, The Modern Table.  We also bring you Gentile-Jewish filmmaker combo Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein, who tell us about the process of making their new PBS documentary, The U.S. and the Holocaust, which explores America’s response to World War II. Our annual fundraiser is underway, and this year we’re upping the stakes: for every $100 you donate, you’ll be entered to win a mystery gift box curated by Stephanie, Mark, or Liel. Donate at tabletm.ag/mysterybox, and thank you for your support.We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.Sponsors: Soom tahini is the perfect ingredient for your fall meals. Use discount code UNORTHODOX22 for 10% off your next order at soomfoods.com.  

This week on Unorthodox, lots of lox drama at one Manhattan synagogue.Our Gentile of the Week is author and podcaster Michael Lewis, who gamely revisits his 1993 Toy Goy article in the New Republic, tells us about being on the receiving end of antisemitic taunts for attending the Isidore Newman School in New Orleans and shares what he learned researching his 2016 book, The Undoing Project, about the friendship between Israeli cognitive psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman.Our Jew of the Week is Dana Bash, CNN’s chief political correspondent and the co-anchor of CNN’s State of the Union. She joins us to tell us what she learned while reporting her recent CNN special, “Rising Hate: Antisemitism in America,” and why she decided to also make the story personal. Our annual fundraiser is underway, and this year we’re upping the stakes: for every $100 you donate, you’ll be entered to win a mystery gift box curated by Stephanie, Mark, or Liel. Donate at tabletm.ag/mysterybox, and thank you for your support.We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.Sponsors: Soom tahini is the perfect ingredient for your fall meals. Use discount code UNORTHODOX22 for 10% off your next order at soomfoods.com. 

We're excited to introduce Gatecrashers, our newest Tablet Studios podcast. This 8-part series, hosted by our own Mark Oppenheimer, tells the hidden history of Jews in the Ivy League. Each episode focuses on one of the Ivies, and the series spans the last hundred years. Today, Mark shares the trailer and offers a behind the scenes look at Gatecrashers, with the help of Tablet Studios producer Quinn Waller and director of partnerships Tanya Singer. Stick around to the end for an exclusive preview of the first episode, about Columbia University and its forgotten campus for Jews.Gatecrashers launches on September 13 with two episodes: Columbia and Princeton.Subscribe now to Gatecrashers on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find Unorthodox.