Return the Key: Jewish Questions for Everyone

Episode 39: This Desire that You Are: Kenneth Novis on Spinoza

“Spinoza’s universe is crisscrossed by flows of power like tides that sweep into space before departing.” This sentence, from a talk Kenneth Novis recently gave about G

Episode 38: “Light desires to Overflow”: Elliot R. Wolfson on Kabbalah

In episode #38 I talk with painter, poet, and renowned scholar of philosophy and Jewish mysticism, Elliot Wolfson. We begin by touching on Elliot’s relationship with Kabb

Episode 37: How Loss Refuses Itself: Voice at the Limit with Ben Meyerson

In episode #37 I talk with scholar and poet Ben Meyerson about his research and writing surrounding “voice” in diasporic song. Ben researches three musical forms: Troubad

Episode 36: My Country is the Page: Moudi Sbeity on the generative power of language

In episode #36 I talk with Lebanese-American poet, author, and contemplative educator, Moudi Sbeity. His forthcoming memoir, Habibi Means Beloved, has many stories includ

Episode 35: “What exactly are we doing here”?: Nishant Upadhyay on settler colonialism and its complexities

In episode #35 I talk with ethnic studies scholar Nishant Upadhyay about their book, Indians on Indian Lands: Intersections of Race, Caste, and Indigeneity. Together, we

Episode 34: Beat Down the Barriers: Jennifer Scappettone on “Poetry After Barbarism”

In episode #34 I talk with poet, artist, translator and scholar Jennifer Scappettone about her new book, Poetry After Barbarism: The Invention of Motherless Tongues and R

Episode 33: Neighbor: Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg on Collapse, Entanglement, Spiral Time & Minneapolis 2026

In episode #33 I talk with Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg about two terms that have been central to her lately: “collapse” and “entanglement.” We read from and discuss Anna Tsin

Episode 32: A Passenger on the Bus: Rob Fitterman

In episode #32 poet Rob Fitterman reads from and talks about two of his books: Holocaust Museum (Counterpath 2013), made entirely of captions from the US Holocaust Memori

Episode 31: On Money, Lies, and God with Katherine Stewart

In episode #31 I speak with author and investigative journalist Katherine Stewart about her new book, Money Lies and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democrac

Episode 30: “Memory of a Larger Mind” with Daniela Naomi Molnar

In episode #30 with Daniela Naomi Molnar, we begin our wide-ranging conversation by discussing Daniela’s work with the media of “color, water, language, and place,” which

Episode 29: Thresholds: Ava Aviva Avnisan

In episode #29 I speak with multidisciplinary artist Ava Aviva Avnisan about their film, installation, music and performance work. We begin by talking about Aviva’s young

Episode 28: And everything else just melts away: Ben Roberts and the music for Return the Key

Episode #28 brings a special New Year’s treat: music! We peek behind the scenes as I talk with musician Ben Roberts, who happens to be my son, about the music for Return

Episode 27: The Desire for an Origin is the Origin: Susan Gevirtz on The Guide School

In episode 27, I talk with poet Susan Gevirtz about her childhood growing up in Los Angeles, within the two “religions” of Hollywood and Freudian psychoanalysis. We talk

Episode 26: One Day We Will be What We Want: Anas Qutob and Dave Snyder on Friendship and Transformational Praxis

In episode 26, I talk with Anas Qutob and Dave Snyder of Minneapolis about their friendship and their work as leaders in the Minnesota chapter of Friends of Standing Toge

Episode 25: Citizens of the Whole World: Benjamin Balthaser on the history of diasporism and anti-Zionism in the American Jewish left

In episode 25, I speak with Benjamin Balthaser about his new book, Citizens of the Whole World: Anti-Zionism and the Cultures of the American Jewish Left, just published

Episode 24: Freedom from and Freedom to: Judith Levine on Abolition Feminism and the Value of Every Living Thing

In episode 24, I speak with Judith Levine, journalist activist, and author of five books. Judith and I (who go way back!) discuss our shared experience of losing parents

Episode 23: Ensoulment: Lee Medovoi on the Security State and the Inner Life of Race

In episode 23, I speak with Lee Medovoi about his astounding new book, The Inner Life of Race: Souls, Bodies, and The History of Racial Power (Duke UP, 2024). Lee traces

Episode 22: What if? What now?: Aaron Landsman on theater, cities, loneliness and communion

In episode 22, I speak with New York-based multidisciplinary artist Aaron Landsman about his 20-year project, Perfect City, a working group at the intersection of art, or

Episode 21: dena harry saleh on queer Palestine studies, decolonial imagining, and oneness

In episode 21, I speak with writer, musician, and PhD student dena harry saleh. We discuss their father’s childhood experience in the Nakba, their own childhood growing u

Episode 20: “How do we carry that”? Janet Jacobs on the ethics and politics of Holocaust memory

In episode 20, I speak with esteemed feminist holocaust scholar, Janet Jacobs, about her work on holocaust memorialization and intergenerational trauma. We discuss Janet’