Tablet Studios

This week on Unorthodox: ‘Funny Girl’ casting shakeups, letters from camp, and more. Our Jewish guest this week is Michael Uslan, who produced the Batman films. He talks with us about comic books as literature, and what makes Batman different from other superheroes. Our Gentile of the Week is Iranian-American comedian and “Fake the Nation” podcast host Negin Farsad. She tells us about being mistaken for a Jew and shares her upcoming projects. We want to hear from you! Take our listener survey and be entered to win a Russ & Daughters gift card: tabletm.ag/survey2022 We’re looking for contestants on our kids game show podcast Hebrew School! Do you know a curious kid aged 7-12 who wants to be challenged with fun Jewish quizzes and games? Go to tabletm.ag/hebrewschool for more information and to apply. 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.Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.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.

This week on Unorthodox, we’re wishing you a hearty ‘Shalom yellow.’Our first Jew of the Week is Mike Pesca, host of the long-running daily podcast “The Gist,” which he recently relaunched independently. He tells us what podcasts he’s listening to, why it’s important to talk to people you disagree with, and about his childhood as a self-described ‘pizza bagel’ (half Jewish, half Italian).  Our second Jew of the Week is Argentinian journalist Javier Sinay, author of the newly translated book, The Murders of Moisés Ville: The Rise and Fall of the Jerusalem of South America. He tells us about the Jewish immigrant colony in Argentina that was home to Jewish gauchos, and how he went about solving a series of mysterious 1897 murders in the thriving Jewish enclave. We want to hear from you! Take our listener survey and be entered to win a Russ & Daughters gift card. TK here: We’re looking for contestants on our kids game show podcast Hebrew School! Do you know a curious kid aged 7-12 who wants to be challenged with fun Jewish quizzes and games? Go to tabletm.ag/hebrewschool for more information and to apply. 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.Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.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.

This week on Unorthodox, we’re packing our trunks and heading to summer camp.  Our Jew of the Week is Meredith Shiner, host of our forthcoming Tablet Studios podcast about Jews and sports. She joins us today to discuss the new Sandy Koufax statue at Dodger Stadium, which was unveiled during Shabbat. Stay tuned for more about Meredith’s show, which launches this fall.   Our Gentile of the Week is Swami Tyagananda, a teacher at the Vedanta Center in Boston and Hindu chaplain at MIT and Harvard, who was part of The Tent, Tablet’s interfaith project. He explains how religion and spirituality play an important role in modern life, and asks a profound question about what Judaism believes about reincarnation. For more Swami Tyagananda, you can listen to his podcast here.We love to hear from you! Send us your 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.Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email tabletstudios@tabletmag.com.Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

This week on Unorthodox, bubbe or buh-bye? Our Jew of the Week is Zachary Noah Piser, the new star of Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen. He joins us to talk about his experience taking over the title role in the show—which ends its Broadway run this fall—and his Jewish-Asian identity. We hear from friend of the show Abigail Pogrebin about her new Tablet project, The Minyan, a series of roundtable discussions about the state of the Jewish community in America from a variety of perspectives. She shares a bit of audio from her first installment, a discussion with LGBTQ Jews. We also check in with former guest Jonathan Ornstein, director of the Krakow JCC, who tells us about the work they are doing to help Ukrainian refugees. We love to hear from you! Send us your 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.Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email tabletstudios@tabletmag.com.Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

This week on Unorthodox, we’re digging in. Benedetta Guetta, author of the new cookbook, Cooking alla Giudia, joins us to discuss the fascinating—and delicious—culinary history of the Jews of Italy. We learn that Jews are responsible for bringing the orecchiette pasta shape to Italy, that Jews taught Italians how to cook eggplant, and that the Jews of Italy made kosher prosciutto using goose (here’s her recipe). Barry Levenson tells us about the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, WI, which the former Wisconsin assistant attorney general founded to celebrate the condiment. He tells us about hosting the World-Wide Mustard Competition, the connections between Jews and mustard, and shares some of his favorite mustards, all of which are available for purchase through the museum’s store..  Our Gentile of the Week is Eric Huang, the former 11 Madison Park chef behind the fried chicken pop-up Pecking House. He tells us about shifting from fine dining to pandemic pop-up fame and shares his thoughts on a few of the Jewish culinary staples he grew up eating at friends’ houses.  We’re excited to feature the second installment of Cook Like a Jew, from associate producer Quinn Waller. First she learned to make chicken soup, and today she’s back to uncover the secrets of making homemade hummus with Liel.Join us June 16 at 5 p.m for “Can I Laugh At That?” a virtual panel discussion about comedy during trying times, hosted by Judy Gold and featuring Alex Edelman, Negin Farsad, and Mike Yard. Learn more and register at tabletm.ag/canilaugh.  We love to hear from you! Send us your 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.Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email tabletstudios@tabletmag.com.Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

This week on Unorthodox, three of our favorite guests return to the show to tell us about their latest projects. First we visit Philadelphia restaurateurs Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook at their new Brooklyn restaurant Laser Wolf, a shipudiya, or Israeli skewer house, named for the butcher in Fiddler on the Roof. You can listen to our 2019 road trip to Philadelphia, where we spoke to Solomonov and Cook at their restaurant Zahav, on Episode 204. Tablet columnist James Kirchick also returns to the show to talk about his new book, Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington. Unorthodox joins The WNET Group’s Exploring Hate and All Arts on June 16 at 5 p.m to present “Can I Laugh At That?” a virtual panel discussion about comedy during trying times, hosted by Judy Gold and featuring Alex Edelman, Negin Farsad, and Mike Yard. Learn more and register at tabletm.ag/canilaugh.  We are hiring a community manager! Help us connect with the audiences of all our shows, run our social media, and generally be our cheerleader. It’s a paid six-month, part-time position, and a chance to work with your favorite Jewish podcasters. Learn more at tabletm.ag/community.We love to hear from you! Send us your 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.Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email tabletstudios@tabletmag.com.Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today we are sharing a special weekly edition of Kylie Unell’s podcast miniseries, 49 Days to Stretch My Soul. Kylie is putting her own spin on the Jewish tradition of counting the Omer—the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot—with a daily practice that includes everything from exploring the lyrics of Steven Sondheim, interviewing a ballet dancer, immersing herself in nature, and more. This final week is all about queenliness, and majesty. 

Today we are sharing a special weekly edition of Kylie Unell’s podcast miniseries, 49 Days to Stretch My Soul. Kylie is putting her own spin on the Jewish tradition of counting the Omer—the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot—with a daily practice that includes everything from exploring the lyrics of Steven Sondheim, interviewing a ballet dancer, immersing herself in nature, and more. This sixth week is all about connection and foundation. 

This week, we present our fifth-annual Conversion Episode. Each year on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, we read the Book of Ruth, which tells the story of the first convert to Judaism. To celebrate Ruth and all the Jews by choice since then, we’re sharing three deeply personal stories about the path to becoming Jewish. First we hear from our associate producer Quinn Waller, who is in the process of converting. Despite all her learning and studying, she is still dogged by feelings of inauthenticity, and she brings us along as she works through those emotions. Listener Hunter Thomas shares his story of how a Jewish podcast (hi!) and a Jewish museum ultimately sparked his decision to convert. We also catch up with Yael Wallace, whose story we shared on our 2019 conversion episode, and whose life since then has taken several dramatic turns. It’s an update you won’t want to miss. Listen to all our conversion episodes here.To learn all about the holiday of Shavuot and get delicious dairy recipes, including Joan Nathan’s blintzes and cheesecake, head to tabletmag.com/shavuot.We are hiring a community manager! Help us connect with the audiences of all our shows, run our social media, and generally be our cheerleader. It’s a six-month, part-time position, and a chance to work with your favorite Jewish podcasters. Learn more at tabletm.ag/communityWe love to hear from you! Send us your 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.Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email tabletstudios@tabletmag.com.Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today we are sharing a special weekly edition of Kylie Unell’s podcast miniseries, 49 Days to Stretch My Soul. Kylie is putting her own spin on the Jewish tradition of counting the Omer—the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot—with a daily practice that includes everything from exploring the lyrics of Steven Sondheim, interviewing a ballet dancer, immersing herself in nature, and more. This fifth week is all about endurance and perseverance.