The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That Shaped Them

Dara Horn on Reclaiming the Jewish Question

After publishing her essay collection People Love Dead Jews, Dara Horn found her inbox flooded with messages from readers about their own experiences of anti-semitism. Sh

Rebekah Lowin on Crafting Jewish Joy

With the Jewish holiday season fast approaching, many of us are thinking about holiday hosting. Rebekah Lowin has you covered: a challah recipe, an apple themed tablescap

Bruce Feiler on Making Meaning, One Ritual at a Time

Bruce Feiler speaks to us about the relationship between storytelling and ritual — and why both are essential tools for navigating change, creating meaning and building c

Rachel Goldberg-Polin on Surviving Grief

As this episode is released in the days before Tisha B'Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, it feels especially fitting to sit with a conversation about grief, fai

Portia Elan on the Future We Choose

Portia Elan tells us about her journey to become a Jew by choice after attending Friday night services and feeling that she had “come home.” We also discuss her fascinati

Dahlia Adler on Writing a Spicy Modern Orthodox Romance

In this conversation, Dahlia Adler discusses the emotional and cultural terrain of love, identity, and storytelling within and beyond the Modern Orthodox world. We explor

Laurie Frankel on the Jewish Ability to Hold Multiple Truths

Is two Jews, three opinions a good thing? In this episode, Laurie Frankel discusses the very Jewish capacity of holding space for many different ideas and views, and how

Nicholas Lemann on Being Jewish in the Shadow of the American South

In recognition of Jewish Heritage Month, this episode features a conversation with Nicholas Lemann, whose work and life story open up questions about American and Jewish

Fran Fabriczki on “Homelooseness” and a Love Letter to Los Angeles

In this conversation, Fran Fabriczki discusses coming of age between Hungary and Los Angeles and her experiences with cultural richness and antisemitism between the two c

Adeena Sussman on Flavor as a Jewish Language

In this conversation, Adeena Sussman discusses how reading an (age-inappropriate) short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer one Shabbat afternoon changed the way she thought a

Alicia Jo Rabins on Composing a Life of Meaning

In this episode, Alicia Jo Rabins traces the “red hot glow” of the moments that shaped her, both spiritual and artistic, and how they led her to a life rooted in music, t

Matti Friedman on the Stories that Built a People

In this conversation, Matti Friedman reflects on the power of foundation stories to shape how we understand ourselves and where we come from – from Noah’s Ark, to the ori

Zeeva Bukai on the Fragments that Make Us Whole

In this episode, Zeeva Bukai discusses her two novels, Anatomy of Exile and The World Between, both published in the past year and woven with threads of her family histor

A Purim Episode with Rob Kutner On Where Comedy and Judaism Overlap [REBROADCAST]

Rob Kutner is an Emmy, Peabody, Grammy, and TCA-winning writer for late-night TV including The Daily Show and TBS’ Conan. He is the author of the humor books including Ap

Allegra Goodman on “This is Not About Us” (Or So We Tell Ourselves)

Allegra Goodman tells us how This Is Not About Us grew like a family tree from her New Yorker short story “Apple Cake,” as she continued writing about the Rubinstein fami

Jason Diamond on being a (Jewish-)American Author

In this conversation, Jason Diamond unpacks what it means to be an American, Jewish, or Jewish-American author. We also discuss family secrets, Jewish gangsters, the humo

Sasha Vasilyuk on the Silences of the Soviet-Jewish Past

In this episode, Sasha reflects on her childhood in Russia and Ukraine, including the moment she discovered her family was Jewish at a Purim celebration. Cut off from muc

Samantha Ellis on Becoming a Keeper of Her Ancestral Language

In this episode, we’ll hear Samantha reflect on her journey to preserve her Iraqi-Jewish heritage even as the language is disappearing from use. She shares how the hand w

Judith Viorst on Happiness, Agency, and the Art of Aging

In this episode, celebrated children’s book author, poet and memoirist Judith Viorst brings her irrepressible wit, humor, and insight to every age and stage of life. We t

Rabbi Yitz Greenberg on Re-envisioning the Jewish Future

“No Jewish thinker has had a greater impact on the American Jewish Community in the last two decades than Irving (Yitz) Greenberg.” - Professor Steven T. Katz Rabbi Gree