Can We Talk?

By Jewish Women's ArchiveSociety & Culture Documentary Religion & Spirituality Judaism

Can We Talk? episodes

July 28 Bonus Episode: Camp!
Sheket bevakasha! We're in the thick of summer, so we're talking about—what else?—camp! In this special summer episode, Nahanni, Judith, and Jen talk about The Floaters, a fun new movie set at a Jewish summer camp, and how the film fit—or didn't—with their camp experiences and their kids'. Then, Shai Korman, who produced the film along with his sisters Becky and Lily, joins the conversation to talk about creating authentic Jewish characters, why they decided to create a camp run by women, and why a Jewish camp movie can be for everyone.
For more conversation about iconic summer movies with a Jewish twist, check out our episode marking the 30th anniversary of Dirty Dancing.
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39 min
June 23 Episode 144: Can We Talk? 2025-26 Season Wrap
In this episode of Can We Talk?, Jen Richler, Nahanni Rous, and Judith Rosenbaum recap the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 podcast seasons, revisiting episodes about a Jewish woman in a Japanese internment camp, America’s first TV mom, a Tel Aviv–Ramallah romance, and much more.
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You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
Love Can We Talk? Please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. You can also drop us a line to let us know what you think or suggest ideas for future episodes. We just might read your email on the air!
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25 min
June 09 Episode 143: A Tel Aviv–Ramallah Love Story
Sari Bashi’s memoir Upside Down Love chronicles the tumultuous early years of her relationship with Osama (a pseudonym for the man she eventually marries). Sari is an Israeli Jewish woman and Osama is Palestinian. The book is set between Tel Aviv, where Sari lived at the time, and Osama’s home in the West Bank city of Ramallah. In this episode of Can We Talk?, Sari describes the physical and emotional boundaries she and Osama have overcome, and how they are raising their trilingual, multicultural children. She also talks about what it’s like to be a Jewish woman living in a Palestinian city in the West Bank.
Send us Fan Mail
You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
Love Can We Talk? Please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. You can also drop us a line to let us know what you think or suggest ideas for future episodes. We just might read your email on the air!
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32 min
May 26 Episode 142: Antisemitism in the UK
UK-based columnist and author Hadley Freeman joins us to discuss the wave of violent attacks on British Jews, which has spurred UK prime minister Keir Starmer to declare antisemitism a crisis. In her Sunday Times column, Hadley writes frequently about antisemitism, gender, and politics. She is also the author of several books, including House Of Glass, about her grandmother’s family during the Holocaust.
Send us Fan Mail
You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
Love Can We Talk? Please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. You can also drop us a line to let us know what you think or suggest ideas for future episodes. We just might read your email on the air!
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28 min
May 12 Episode 141: The Quiet Radicalism of Judy Blume
For generations of readers, Judy Blume's novels made growing up feel less lonely. In this episode, Judith Rosenbaum talks with Mark Oppenheimer, author of a new biography of Blume, about their favorite Blume titles, what’s Jewish about her work, and why her novels are radical in ways people often overlook. Throughout the episode, listeners share what Judy Blume's books mean to them.
Send us Fan Mail
You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
Love Can We Talk? Please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. You can also drop us a line to let us know what you think or suggest ideas for future episodes. We just might read your email on the air!
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31 min
April 21 Episode 140: A Jewish Iranian Expat Watches the War Unfold
It is a tense moment in the war between the United States and Israel, and Iran. A temporary ceasefire is set to expire, and it is unclear whether diplomacy will resume or violence will erupt again.
Roya Hakakian is a writer, journalist, and political commentator and the author of Journey from the Land of No, a memoir about growing up Jewish in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution. She and her family fled Iran for the United States in 1985.
In this episode of Can We Talk?, Roya describes what it’s been like to watch the conflict unfold, her hopes for the Iranian people, and what Western feminists can learn from Iranian women.
Send us Fan Mail
You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
Love Can We Talk? Please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. You can also drop us a line to let us know what you think or suggest ideas for future episodes. We just might read your email on the air!
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29 min
April 14 Episode 139: Inheriting Holocaust Memory
What does it mean to be a third-generation descendant of Holocaust survivors? Jen reflects on her grandparents' experiences in the Holocaust—the ones they shared and the ones they didn't—and her responsibility to learn about and share them with her children. She also talks to Rachael Cerrotti, creator of We Share the Same Sky, a podcast about her journey tracing her grandmother's Holocaust survival story. Together, they explore how our family stories help us understand our own lives, and how we carry the past into the present and the future.
More about Rachael Cerrotti's work:
Personal website
Substack
We Share The Same Sky podcast
We Share The Same Sky book

Send us Fan Mail
You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
Love Can We Talk? Please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. You can also drop us a line to let us know what you think or suggest ideas for future episodes. We just might read your email on the air!
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35 min
March 31 Episode 138: A New Look at RBG
In the years since her death, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been remembered as a feminist icon and, more recently, a figure some blame for the Court's sharp rightward turn, the fall of Roe v Wade—even the decline of American democracy. In this episode of Can We Talk?, we take a new look at RBG’s legacy. Actor Michelle Azar, who brings Ginsburg to life in the one-woman show All Things Equal, talks about changing audience reactions in a moment of deep political and legal upheaval. Then, journalist and Supreme Court expert Dahlia Lithwick dissects the stories we tell about Ginsburg—from the “Notorious RBG” phenomenon to the backlash that followed her death—and explores what those narratives get right, and what they miss. Together, we dig into Ginsburg’s legal strategy, her critiques of Roe, and the enduring impact of her commitment to equality and civility.
Schedule and tickets for All Things Equal tour
Profile of RBG in JWA's Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women
Send us Fan Mail
You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
Love Can We Talk? Please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. You can also drop us a line to let us know what you think or suggest ideas for future episodes. We just might read your email on the air!
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31 min
March 12 Episode 137: Word of the Week: Zaftig
The word zaftig has been used to describe everyone from 1930s burlesque dancers to Marilyn Monroe to buxom bubbies. But what does it really mean? Is it only for women? And is it a compliment—or an insult?
English-Yiddish dictionary editor Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath helps answer these questions in our latest "Word of the Week" episode. Comedian Judy Gold, Talmud explainer Miriam Anzovin, and writer Lizzie Skurnick also share their takes.
And Jen heads to Zaftigs Delicatessen in Brookline, MA to hear what diners think of the word.
Send us Fan Mail
You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
Love Can We Talk? Please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. You can also drop us a line to let us know what you think or suggest ideas for future episodes. We just might read your email on the air!
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15 min
February 10 Sparking Jewish Joy with Stephanie Butnick
In this bonus episode of Can We Talk?, Jen Richler talks to Stephanie Butnick, founder of the Jewish lifestyle newsletter GOLDA, about sparking Jewish joy through rituals, books, art—and shopping.

Send us Fan Mail
You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
Love Can We Talk? Please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. You can also drop us a line to let us know what you think or suggest ideas for future episodes. We just might read your email on the air!
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31 min

About Can We Talk?

From the publisher's feed

In each episode of Can We Talk?, the Jewish Women’s Archive features stories and conversations about Jewish women and the issues that shape our public and private lives. Visit us at jwa.org.