Tablet Studios

This episode was recorded at Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, D.C., in partnership with the Association of Reform Jewish Educators. Thanks to our friends at ARJE for making this show happen.Our Jewish guest is food historian Michael Twitty, author of the James Beard Award-winning book The Cooking Gene, who returns to the show to tell us about his years as a Hebrew School teacher, when he was often the first black person his students interacted with, and his next book project, Kosher Soul, which focuses on his Jewish identity. He also explains what ptcha is, and why it's one of Tablet's 100 Most Jewish Foods.Our gentile of the week is Congresswoman Katie Porter, the newly-elected Representative of California’s 45th District and the first Democrat to hold the seat since it was created in 1953. She tells us about dining at Yale's kosher kitchen with our own Mark Oppenheimer back in college, how she's trying to help furloughed government workers during the shutdown, and her life as a single mother now shlepping between California and Washington, D.C. all the time. Her question for the panel is why Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish Arbor Day, falls in the dead of winter.We're heading to the West Coast! We'll be at Adat Shalom in Los Angeles Friday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. for a special Shabbat show with actor and director Lauren Miller Rogen, 'Black-ish' producer Jonathan Groff, and Iranian-Jewish philanthropist Rachel Sumekh; get your tickets here. Then we'll be at the Stroum JCC in the Seattle area Saturday, Feb. 2 for a special live show with Dan Savage of the Savage Lovecast. Get your tickets here.We love to hear from you: Send comments and questions for Unorthodox to Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869.This episode is sponsored by JChef, the kosher meal kit. Go to Jchef.com/unorthodox and use coupon code Unorthodox30 to get 30 percent off your first order.This episode is also sponsored by Harry's. Get a free trial shave set at Harrys.com/UNORTHODOX.This episode is also sponsored by Hebrew College. The Jewish community needs rabbis who are creatively engaging with Jewish tradition, and Hebrew College's rabbinical school is currently accepting applications. Visit Hebrewcollege.edu/unorthodox to find out more.

This week on Unorthodox, we're setting it up.Our Jewish guest this week is longtime matchmaker Tova Weinberg, who founded the Jewish dating website Saw You at Sinai. In an interview recorded at our Hanukkah live show in Pittsburgh, she tells the hosts about ditching dentistry to become a matchmaker (she estimates she's made 350 matches over the past 40 years), and her opinion on what it is that men and women really want. She also helps out a listener with some first date tips.Our Gentile of the Week is producer Scott Ellis, whose long list of theater and television credits includes The Good Wife, Weeds, She Loves Me, and more. He sits down with Stephanie to talk about getting his start on TV with the sitcom Frasier, putting himself up for an Emmy nomination, (and actually getting the nomination!) for an episode of 30 Rock, and being entrusted by The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino to direct a few episodes of the award-winning Amazon series. (Scott even got Stephanie and producer Josh Kross into Season 2, Ep. 3 as extras—check out the very last scene).We're heading to the West Coast! We'll be at Adat Shalom in Los Angeles Friday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. for a special Shabbat live show; Guests will include writer, director, actor, and producer Lauren Miller Rogen and Iranian-Jewish philanthropist Rachel Sumekh, Get your tickets here. Then we'll be at the Stroum JCC in the Seattle area Saturday, Feb. 2 for a special live show with Dan Savage of the Savage Lovecast, and . Get your tickets here.We love to hear from you: Send comments and questions for Unorthodox to Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869.This episode is sponsored by JChef, the new kosher meal kit. Go to Jchef.com/unorthodox and use coupon code Unorthodox30 to get 30 percent off your first order.Additional support comes from The Branch, a new podcast from Hadassah that explores how positive relationships between Israeli Jews and Arabs can bring new hope for a truly shared society. Check it out at Hadassah.org/thebranch.

This week on Unorthodox: early elections in Israeli, bat mitzvah recaps, and a taste of Liel's listener meetup in Tel Aviv. We have three Jewish guests: Jesse Eisenberg, who in addition to playing everyone from Lex Luthor to Mark Zuckerberg on screen, executive produced the new documentary 'The World Before Your Feet,'  which follows Matt Green as he walks every block of of New York City, and was directed by Jeremy Workman. The three of them sat down with Stephanie Butnick to discuss Matt's unusual journey, the 'churchagogues' he discovered along the way, and what you learn when you slow down and look around.Our Gentile of the week is journalist Rukmini Callimachi, who covers terrorism and the Islamic State for the New York Times. She’s the host of Caliphate, a serialized podcast that follows a former ISIS member and tracks the international rise of the terrorist group. She tells us about digging through ISIS trash in Syria, and the strangest (and scariest) things that have happened to her along the way. Her question for the panel is about the appropriate greeting for Jewish friends on Yom Kippur.We're hitting the road in 2019! Come see us January 15 at Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, D.C. It's free—register here. February 1, we'll be doing a special Shabbat show at Adat Shalom in Los Angeles.  Tickets here.We'll be at the Stroum JCC in the Seattle area February 2 for a special live show with Dan Savage of the Savage Lovecast. Get your tickets here.We love to hear from you: Send comments and questions for Unorthodox to Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869.This episode is sponsored by One Day University. Get 25% off your tickets to any session when you register using the coupon code UNORTHODOX at http://www.onedayu.comThis episode is also sponsored by Harry's. Get a free trial shave set at Harrys.com/UNOROTHODOX.Additional support comes from JChef, the new kosher meal kit. Go to Jchef.com/unorthodox and use coupon code Unorthodox30 to get 30 percent off your first order.

Back in 2013, Tablet contributor Daniel Estrin spoke to Amos Oz for Tablet's Vox Tablet podcast. Oz died today, December 28, 2018, and we wanted to bring you this episode from the back catalog.  

We're closing out 2018 with two interviews with people who stand up—quite literally—for what they believe in.  First, we sit down with formerly Hasidic comedian Leah Forster, who has traveled the world performing for religious Jewish audiences, but whose recent gigs were cancelled after religious authorities found out she was gay and threatened to pull the kosher certifications of venues who hosted her. You can follow along with Leah on Instagram.Then, Mark talks to Presbyterian minister Jeff Hutchinson, who shares the harrowing tale of what happened when he dared to confront white supremacists at a nearby church in Black Mountain, North Carolina—a story that doesn't end until Hutchinson finds a new church 1,000 miles away.  We're hitting the road in 2019! Come see us January 15 at Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, D.C. It's free—register here. We'll be at the Stroum JCC in the Seattle area February 2 for a special live show with Dan Savage of the Savage Lovecast. Tickets here.We love to hear from you: Send comments and questions for Unorthodox to Unorthodox@tabletmag.com 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 new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt.This episode is sponsored by JChef, the new kosher meal kit. Go to Jchef.com/unorthodox and use coupon code Unorthodox30 to get 30 percent off your first order.

Tis the season—for Chinese food and a movie!Our first Jewish guest is Bill Adler, the Def Jam alum who helped Run DMC create their iconic 1987 song "Christmas in Hollis". He tells us how he went from being a music journalist to the second full-time employee at Def Jam in the 1980s; how "Christmas in Hollis," ended up on the soundtrack of films like Die Hard, and how his distaste for cliche holiday music led him to make an annual Christmas playlist for friends and family, and now, you! Listen to Adler's 2018 Christmas Jollies mix here.We also talk to Steven de Souza, the Hollywood screenwriter responsible for films like Commando, Judge Dredd, and, of course, Die Hard. He tells us how Bruce Willis's character was actually originated by Frank Sinatra, the origin of the movie's epic "yippee ki yay" catchphrase, and why Die Hard is even more of a Christmas movie than White Christmas.We're hitting the road in 2019! Come see us January 15 at Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, D.C. It's free—register here. We'll be at the Stroum JCC in the Seattle area February 2 for a special live show with Dan Savage, of the Savage Lovecast. Get your tickets here.We love to hear from you: Send comments and questions for Unorthodox to Unorthodox@tabletmag.com 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 new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt.This episode is sponsored by Harry's. Get $5 off any shave set–including the limited-edition holiday sets–when you go to Harrys.com/UNORTHODOX.This episode is sponsored by JChef, the new kosher meal kit. Go to Jchef.com/unorthodox and use coupon code Unorthodox30 to get 30 percent off your first order.

This week on Unorthodox, we're getting over our latke hangovers.Our first Jewish guest is New York Times writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner, who has written profiles of celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Bradley Cooper, and Melissa McCarthy. She joined us at our recent live show at the Manhattan JCC to talk about how she tries to be a journalist and a mensch, which biblical figure she'd love to profile, and why she enjoys being on Twitter.We also sit down with Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. He tells us about getting to know the royal family (and giving the Queen a menorah), speaking out against British anti-Semitism, and the time he had to meet with Prince Harry after the 20-year-old wore a Nazi uniform on Halloween.But before all that, Liel talks to his friend Scott Harris about the amazing Be A Jewish Star music competition for Jewish youth!shabbat shalom and thanks again.scottS C O T T   H A R R I SWe love to hear from you: Send comments and questions for Unorthodox to Unorthodox@tabletmag.com 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 new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt.This episode is sponsored by JChef, the new kosher meal kit. Go to Jchef.com/unorthodox and use coupon code Unorthodox30 to get 30 percent off your first order.Hear from fascinating people doing interesting work in Israel and Israelis making their mark across the globe–like spice master Lior Sercarz of La Boite NYC, Ambassador Ido Aharoni, and former Miss Israel and Ethiopian Jew Titi Aynaw–on Jewish National Fund’s podcast IsraelCast. Find IsraelCast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts, or learn more at JNF.org/israelcastpodcast.

From warding off the evil eye to rules about whistling, Jews are serious about their superstitions. This week on Unorthodox, we hear from listeners about their family customs, talk to Tablet's editor-in-chief Alana Newhouse about the enduring nature of shtetl superstitions, and take a visit to a very lucky spot in Northern Israel. Ptui ptui!We love to hear from you: Send comments and questions for Unorthodox to Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869.This episode is sponsored by:Belvedere Vodka, certified kosher by the Orthodox Union, and produced in accordance with the legal requirements of Polish Vodka. Learn more here. Jewish National Fund, making an impact on Israel with a vision that encompasses planting trees, building water reservoirs, helping those with special needs, preserving heritage sites, and transforming the North and South with new housing, job creation, and infrastructure development. As you plan your year-end giving, go to JNF.org/tablet to take part in fulfilling that vision.JChef, the new kosher meal kit. Go to Jchef.com/unorthodox and use coupon code Unorthodox30 to get 30 percent off your first order.Harry's Razors, for a great shave at a great price. Get $5 dollars off a shave set, including the limited-edition holiday sets, when you go to Harrys.com/UNORTHODOX.

Today's episode comes out a day early, so you can gobble it up before Thanksgiving.First, comedian Travon Free, a producer on Lena Dunham's HBO show Camping, speaks with producer Josh Kross about anti-Semitic old tweets of his that resurfaced last week.Liel sits down with Jewish guest Frederick Wiseman, the legendary filmmaker, to discuss his latest documentary, Monrovia, Indiana.Our gentile of the week, live from Cleveland, is former Rock and Roll Hall of Fame president and CEO Terry Stewart. to talk about what he calls the greatest job in the world, the much-speculated upon Hall of Fame nomination process, and how 'rock and roll' the Hall of Fame's CEO can actually be.We love to hear from you: Send comments and questions for Unorthodox to Unorthodox@tabletmag.com 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 new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt.This episode is sponsored by:Little Passports, the perfect holiday gift for the curious kid in your life. Each month they’ll get a fun-filled package with hands-on activities and interactive projects designed to spark their curiosity about geography, world cultures or science. Order today at Littlepassports.com/unorthodox.Hear from fascinating people doing interesting work in Israel, as well as Israelis making their mark across the globe, on Jewish National Fund’s podcast IsraelCast. From spice-master Lior Sercarz of La Boite NYC to Ambassador Ido Aharoni; from “Queen of Kosher” Jamie Geller to former Miss Israel and Ethiopian Jew Titi Aynaw, there’s something for everyone. Find IsraelCast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts, or learn more at JNF.org/israelcastpodcast.Belvedere Vodka. certified Kosher by the Orthodox Union and produced in accordance with the legal requirements of Polish Vodka. For more, visit Belvedere Vodka.Check out the Unorthodox Demos, from our favorite Jewbadour Jim Knable. 

This week on Unorthodox, boy are we grateful.We're grateful for our gentile of the week, Shay Khatiri, the Iranian-born political refugee who raised more than $1 million for the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh following the Oct. 27 massacre. He set up a GoFundMe page, which quickly went viral, and the campaign has so far raised $1.2 million, which will go directly into the synagogue's bank account. He also tells us about being blacklisted by the Iranian government after signing a 2016 letter urging President Trump to impose sanctions on the country, disappointing his mother by not becoming a doctor, and the asylum trial that awaits him in order for him to stay in the U.S.And we are triply grateful for our Jewish guest, bestselling author A.J. Jacobs, who returns to the show for the third time! (Don't miss his first and second visits.) He tells us about his new book, Thanks a Thousand: a Gratitude Journey, in which he thanked every single person responsible for his morning cup of coffee—from the barista at his local coffee shop to the coffee farmers in South America. He tells us why gratitude is a deeply Jewish value, and offers advice on how we can all embrace our Mr. Rogers side instead of our Larry David side.We love to hear from you: Send comments and questions for Unorthodox to Unorthodox@tabletmag.com 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 new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt.This episode is sponsored by:Little Passports, the perfect holiday gift for the curious kid in your life. Each month they’ll get a fun-filled package with hands-on activities and interactive projects designed to spark their curiosity about geography, world cultures or science. Order today at Littlepassports.com/unorthodox.Belvedere Vodka, certified Kosher by the Orthodox Union and produced in accordance with the legal requirements of Polish Vodka.Jewish National Fund, As you plan your year-end giving, go to JNF.org/tablet to take part in fulfilling that vision.Rabbi Eitan Tours, a unique way to experience Israel. Go to rabbieitan.com/unorthodox for a free consultation and itinerary planning. Unorthodox listeners also get $50 off a tour of at least one day with Rabbi Eitan.