Is It Good For The Jews?

Is It Good For The Jews? episodes:

• 12.05.2019

  Episode #228: Crocs are an abomination

  Lots of questions this week: Is the “Jew coup” behind the impeachment hearings? We’re so busy running banking, the media and the weather, how would we have time? Is Amazon evil, or is it what we want? Are we overreacting...

  
• 11.21.2019

  Episode #227: Jewish marketing, Sam Rosenbaum

  There’s a party upstairs, but we’re not invited. Instead, join a bruised and weary Rosen and a jaunty Goldbrener for tales of elderly (yet still annoying) dogs and their incompetent owners and European soccer teams who lean into their opponents’...

  
• 11.14.2019

  Episode #226: Goldblum, Bernie

  There’s plenty of ranting going on in the Twilight Lounge this week, thanks to the kid playing video games in the library. Thus triggered, Rosen descends into a somewhat thoughtful monologue that ends with the boys imagining their own (non-existent)...

  
• 11.07.2019

  Episode #225: Rags to riches

  Don’t let Rosen’s migraine-induced miasma prevent you from enjoying this raucous episode of your favorite Jewish podcast. Instead, step into the Twilight Lounge to hear about Hamas’ never-ending threats, little kids dressed as Hitler, Goldbrener’s uniquely punk rock take on...

  
• 10.31.2019

  Episode #224: Free tuition… and paisley!

  This week, Goldbrener declares his love for floral and paisley shirts and tells a horrifying tale of a friend who once had the hiccups for “years.” Somehow that leads to anxiety over the economics of adventure guides and eventually, a...

  
• 10.24.2019

  Episode #223: Ayatollah redux, FaceTiming strangers

  Brace yourselves, real San Franciscans: it’s 85 degrees in October and Rosen is on the warpath (again), chewing gum and reusing his non-reusable plastic bottle only hours after surviving an embarrassing morning FaceTime incident. But stick around, because this is...

  
• 10.10.2019

  Episode #222: Do you like being Jewish?

  This week, Rosen has no wifi and his dog is covered with poo, but this is the least of his worries. He is having (another?) Jewish crisis. A chance beach meeting with celebrating Jews has him spinning into a bout...

  
• 10.03.2019

  Episode #221: Joint League, room A/C, Gandhi

  Welcome to the Twilight Lounge, no longer a safe haven from San Francisco’s fake summer heat. It’s oppressive, this heat, and though real San Franciscans like Goldbrener are cool and collected, Rosen is not handling it well, preferring instead the...

  
• 09.26.2019

  Episode #220: Burn, baby, burn

  This week, Rosen sets up the scene in the Twilight Lounge before moving onto tales of woe from South San Francisco’s best (and slowest-moving) legendary sandwich place, where dogs are allowed as long as they’re not at counter level. Several...

  
• 09.19.2019

  Episode #219: Preventing hate, protecting your home

  One thing you will not learn this week is what sort of home security system protects Goldbrener from his many foes, both real and imagined. Rosen, however, is eager to publicly share his misadventures with homes security because who cares...

  
• 09.05.2019

  Episode #218: Welcome back, Jews!

  This week, Rosen has (finally!) returned to the Twilight Lounge after spending the entire summer away and is eager to share stories of his travels, including struggles with crowds of tourists, censorship, an almost-meeting with Jeremy Corbyn and who Labour...

  
• 07.05.2019

  Episode #217: Double standards, Neil Diamond, semi-semites

  Welcome to the Twilight Lounge, where the dry rot has been removed and Rosen’s house siding down the hill. This is our last episode until September, so sit back, relax and spend an hour with The Jews (TM), who have...

  
• 06.27.2019

  Episode #216: “Concentration” camps, Vegans

  It is into an under construction Twilight Lounge that the boys descend this week, willfully ignoring the chaos that surrounds them (for the most part, until the smoke detector goes off). After a two-week layoff, Goldbrener has returned from his...

  
• 06.06.2019

  Episode #215: Black-Jewish caucus, buying cowboy boots

  Sit back, pour yourself a ManMosa and return to the comforting Twilight Lounge for the latest sparring session between your favorite urban Jews, Rosen and Goldbrener. This week, the boys recount Rosen’s Texan boot-buying expedition (and Goldbrener’s run-in with a...

  
• 05.24.2019

  Episode #214: You’ve gotta have faith

  Early morning in the Twilight Lounge means snubbing the guys at the gym (except Ron but especially the Millennials), donning New Wave glasses and diving into intense debates about faith without the benefit of segue. If this is what you’re...

  
• 05.16.2019

  Episode #213: What is Rashida talking about?

  After 16 minutes of freezing on Goldbrener’s porch, an agitated Rosen enters the Twilight Lounge sporting a broken pair of glasses, still glowing from seeing a middle-aged punk rock show in Arizona and reeling from Mel Gibson’s image rehabilitation repeated...

  
• 05.02.2019

  Episode #212: Even the help is WASPs

  Rosen’s dog has balloons on his feet and the energy is low, but that doesn’t prevent your favorite Jews from delving deep into the nature of exclusionary covenants — both written and implied — and the hidden trauma experienced by...

  
• 04.18.2019

  Episode #211: Barghouti, Swastikas and FODMAP

  Someone left the space heater on, leaving the Twilight Lounge with the unmistakable vibe of a Bikram yoga studio. Goldbrener insists Rosen eat meat, but it’s not happening. He’d just as soon eat a Jeep… and buy a Rush coloring...

  
• 04.11.2019

  Episode #210: “She’s trayfing up a Jewish profession!”

  Rosen and Goldbrener’s hidden agenda proves successful this week: they do NOT talk about the recent Israeli elections! Instead, listeners are treated to a sordid tale of almost-bar fights, fake tough guys and the Bee Gees, followed by a smorgasbord...

  
• 04.04.2019

  Episode #209: Bread-sliced bagels are a travesty

  Jewish news comes at you rapid-fire this week, as the boys rifle through item after sometimes disturbing, sometimes amusing items that include Wacky Ken Livingstone, the Iditarod, Ukrainian comedians, Ricky Henderson, rapid-fire sandwich-making and poor-quality Girl Scout cookies. But first,...

  
• 03.28.2019

  Episod4 #208: Wall-to-wall Jews

  Rosen has returned from a triumphant trip to Idaho, where fell prey to late-night pizza and a semi-mea culpa for David Cross. From there, the boys turn their attention to Jewish news, a re-branding for Jexodus and a vision of...

  
• 03.21.2019

  Episode #207: JEXODUS!

  This week, Rosen and Goldbrener tackle the college admissions scandal and Bay Area media’s gleeful coverage of involved local families and somehow end up blaming Napster for the rise of youthful socialists in the U.S. Having established this, they move...

  
• 03.15.2019

  Episode #206: Rosen can’t eat; Jewbilee

  Having worked out their scheduling conflicts, the boys return to the Twilight Lounge to answer the pressing questions of the day, namely: Is there anything left in the world Rosen is allowed to eat? Is red wine masculine? How close...

  
• 02.28.2019

  Episode #205: Bibi in trouble; electric cars

  Rosen makes the argument that electric cars might force us to slow down — which might be a good thing. Goldbrener bats it back in his face, but his co-host rebounds to sing the ambivalent joys of gluten-free dining and...

  
• 02.21.2019

  Episode #204: How do you solve a problem like Ilhan?

  The boys return after a break to talk about guitar nerds and the burden of Rosen’s bottomless body of knowledge, before diving deeply into questions of the Manly Arts and the proper response to a guy harassing his girlfriend at...

  
• 02.07.2019

  Episode #203: MVP! MVP!

  Spirits are running high this week as the boys celebrate Julian Edelman’s Super Bowl MVP before sliding into Rosen’s conundrum from his weekend at the Shangri-La Hotel in Santa Monica. Should Jewish consumers patronize businesses with a (admittedly limited) history...

  
• 02.01.2019

  Episode #202: Howie, not-so-real men

  Rosen and Goldbrener return to the Twilight Lounge this week, address a quick question regarding Italian-Jewish relations, then dive into a longer rumination on the former’s shortcomings in the area of the Manly Arts and the latter’s proclivity for workplace...

  
• 01.17.2019

  Episode #201: AirBnB feels the heat; Rosen feels the pretzels

  This week, the boys convene during a ferocious storm (by California standards) to discuss the following topics: Rosen’s pretzel addiction and generally incomprehensible diet restrictions, whether Goldbrener could weigh 600 lbs., why Nina Burleigh feels talking about Chabad is the...

  
• 01.11.2019

  Episode #200: Jew-hating, woke-washing, LeBron’s Jewish money

  As we ease into the new year, technology hates Rosen — but that’s nothing new. Jenna Jameson, passionate Jew, has left Twitter due to all of the anti-semitism, Omri Casspi is picking fights with his teammates. LeBron James is interested...

  
• 12.20.2018

  Episode #199: Jewish superheroes, screw you, Alice

  Why did Rosen skip the Grotto holiday party? How did his dad cut his chin? Where are the finest woolens made? Yes, it’s time to head back into the Twilight Lounge, where the boys await with hot takes to rival...

  
• 12.06.2018

  Episode #198: Pray for rain, hide your iPhone

  Space heaters make their debut this week in the Twilight Lounge,  warming up the room enough to propel Goldbrener and Rosen into a surprisingly deep conversation about Judaism, the Torah and faith. Before that, though, they touch on all manner...

  
• 11.29.2018

  Episode #197: Europe hates us

  An illness-wracked Rosen returns to the Twilight Lounge after Thanksgiving, sporting a nasty cough and less than 25 percent laptop battery life, forcing the boys into a truncated post-holiday episode. Join them this week as they recount their respective holiday...

  
• 11.15.2018

  Episode #196: Three Jews talk about music

  Ease into a relaxed Twilight Lounge this week, where you will find Rosen and Goldbrener joined by author and speaker (and Jew) Kevin Smokler, a guest with gravitas enough to convince the boys to ditch their entire format in service...

  
• 11.08.2018

  Episode #195: Are we being played?

  Despite a light-hearted start to this week’s Twilight Lounge sit-down, things quickly turn contentious when Rosen aims his sights at newly-elected anti-semitic members of congress and  frequent target Linda Sarsour. Should Jews turn away from the Women’s March because of...

  
• 11.01.2018

  Episode #194: Pittsburgh

  This week we learn that the boys of (Is it) Good for the Jews? are not immune to the weight of the world, so rather than bring you business as usual in the Twilight Lounge, Rosen and Goldbrener invite you...

  
• 10.25.2018

  Episode #193: Far-right Jews, CBGB, unwanted hair

  This week, Rosen gives Goldbrener a lesson in personal grooming that includes mentions of Joseph Heller, healthy knee fluid, Jane’s Addiction, Goldbrener facing discrimination at the mall and well-lit magnifying mirrors. Listeners that can stomach this entertaining yet slightly unsettling...

  
• 10.18.2018

  Episode #192: Swiss Tales, Mitzvah Tanks, Ivy League Jews

  Rosen is back from Switzerland with tales of aggressive prostitutes, humiliating Starbucks orders, public smokers and odd linens. Meanwhile, in the world of Jews, Brooklyn’s Hasidim are easy targets for Jew-haters looking to blow off some steam. Josh Rosen has...

  
• 09.27.2018

  Episode #191: Bad BART, Goldrener’s safe

  Plenty of bad news for Jews this week (not surprising), but the bullseye is on BART for taking advertising bucks from a Holocaust denial group (seven years after letting “culture jammers” intimidate it into removing “hateful” pro-Israel ads)  and on Rosen,...

  
• 09.20.2018

  Episode #190: Bageling.

  What does it mean to “stand up for what you believe in?” Does it only apply to people on the “right” side of history? Step into the Twilight Lounge, where Rosen and Goldbrener will eventually tackle this question head-on. But...

  
• 09.13.2018

  Episode #189: 23 and Me, bad Jews, bad architects

  In this, the second of two “lost episodes,” Rosen comes in hot, enraged at an incompetent architect and his wife’s inability to share his desire for vengeance. Goldbrener responds with his own story of remodeling woe, dragging the Crown Prince...

  
• 09.06.2018

  Episode #188: Who is a Jew? It’s nice to share.

  The boys are pleased as punch to return to the Twilight Lounge after a three-week (!) absence, but they are not eager to share their dinners. Listen in as Rosen skirts the boundaries of civilized discourse as they discuss his...

  
• 08.02.2018

  Episode #187: Nation-states, whiny Jews, 3-percenters

  Semitic crisis hits the Twilight Lounge this week after Rosen reveals that his wife finds Woody Allen movies “whiny and unwatchable,” causing her husband to wonder if she’s aware who she married. Fortunately, the boys bounce back, turning their attention...

  
• 07.26.2018

  Episode #186: Of mice, Sascha, Mark and Birthright

  This week, the boys reconvene in the Twilight Lounge to discuss Rosen’s adventures with mice, Goldbrener’s complete mastery over gophers and a panoply of Jewish issues and news. Should Facebook permit allow the ravings of Holocaust deniers? What would Steve...

  
• 07.12.2018

  Episode #185: Draymond good, Waters, Luther, bad.

  Would you feel comfortable driving your neighbor’s car? Rosen does not, which is only one of a litany of gripes, fears and anxieties he brings into the Twilight Lounge this week. Fortunately, Goldbrener is waiting with some real-life advice and...

  
• 07.05.2018

  Episode #184: Quotas, Mormons, greedy landlords guy

  Rosen is back from what he considered a sub-par road trip (too little time, too many missed opportunities), which the boys use as a jumping off point to explore the nature of Texas, the Navajo term for white people, retiring...

  
• 06.28.2018

  Episode #183: Odds, ends and aggressive homeless guys

  This week, the boys spend almost the entire hour discussing various local, national and global topics, never really getting around to asking if something (is) Good for the Jews. No matter,  for this week listeners will learn how to discern...

  
• 06.21.2018

  Episode #182: Jewish panic loop, screwy Louie

  You want bellyaching? This week, Rosen is literally bellyaching, thanks to a mysterious stomach ailment. Fortunately, he’s well enough to share his renewed love for the Steve Miller Band and to keep you up-to-date on the latest Screwy Louie shenanigans,...

  
• 06.14.2018

  Episode #181: Brain drain, Goldbrener reflects

  Welcome back to a fully-occupied Twilight Lounge, where this week we find a reflective Goldbrener, in the wake of his youngest daughter’s high school graduation, considering the meaning of parenthood and, eventually, the statement made by Lady Gaga’s meat dress. Rosen...

  
• 06.07.2018

  Episode #180: Rosen goes solo!

  Only got half the time and only need half the hosts this week? We have just what you need. Faced with the prospect of a missed episode thanks to Goldbrener’s prior commitments, Rosen steps up and gives you a half-hour...

  
• 05.31.2018

  Episode #179: Jewish news bonanza!

  Welcome to the Twilight Lounge, an intact basement gathering space free of puddles, suds and floors made of mud and dirt. Here you will find Rosen and Goldbrener, together again to discuss matters crucial to Jewish life: is it possible...