Tablet Studios

This week on Unorthodox, we’re lining up outside Santa’s Court at the mall. 

First we talk with MSNBC anchor Katy Tur about her memoir Rough Draft. She tells us about her experience covering the Trump campaign, her relationship to her jewish identity, and what it was like growing up with parents who brought new meaning to the phrase, “helicopter parent.”

Then, we catch up with writer and Tablet contributor Douglas Century, who joins to talk about his book, The Last Boss of Brighton: Boris “Biba” Nayfeld and the Rise of the Russian Mob in America. 

We have brand new Unorthodox swag! Get your tees, mugs, and hoodies at tabletstudios.com. 

Across the JEW.S.A. is a new Unorthodox project that will showcase 12 of the most inspiring Jewish stories across the country. Nominate your hometown at tabletm.ag/acrossthejewsa. Across the JEW.S.A. was created with support from the Jewish Federations of North America.

We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.

We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at [email protected], or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. 

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.

Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at [email protected].

Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey there J-Crew! We are dropping into your feed on Black Friday, or Black Shabbos, as we call it, to share a conversation with Tablet’s editor in chief Alana Newhouse, who published a piece this week that offers a new framework for viewing the divides facing Americans today. She tells us why she wrote the piece and what we can take away from it in our own lives. 

The art is an illustration by Doug John Miller

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This week on Unorthodox, the mystery boxes are revealed! Mark, Stephanie, and Liel reveal the contents of their fundraiser giveaways, as well as the lucky winners.

Culinary historian Michael Twitty returns to the show to talk about his new book, Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew. 

Then, producer Quinn Waller teams up with cookbook author and Food Network star Molly Yeh to make challah in the latest installment of Quinn’s Cook Like a Jew series. 

Finally, we share an interview with food writer and self-professed 'pizza bagel' Shannon Sarna, recorded live at our recent West Orange, NJ live show. She tells us about her new book, Modern Jewish Comfort Food, and shares her tricks for the perfect challah. 

We have brand new Unorthodox swag! Get your tees, mugs, and hoodies at tabletstudios.com. 

Across the JEW.S.A. is a new Unorthodox project that will showcase 12 of the most inspiring Jewish stories across the country. Nominate your hometown at tabletm.ag/acrossthejewsa. Across the JEW.S.A. was created with support from the Jewish Federations of North America.

We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.

We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at [email protected], or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. 

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.

Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at [email protected].

Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Unorthodox, we’re hiring a bat-tender. 

Our Jew of the Week is actor Eric Ladin. You might know him from Ozark, Boardwalk Empire, or the film version of Where the Crawdads Sing. He tells us about growing up in Houston’s Jewish community, plays some Jewish geography (Camp Greylock forever), and introduces Mark to middle-aged dad whiskey.  

Our Gentile of the Week is author and interfaith leader Eboo Patel. He’s the founder of Interfaith America, and he joins us to explain what interfaith work really looks like (hint: it’s not what you think), and why it’s anything but boring. 

Across the JEW.S.A. is a new Unorthodox project that will showcase 12 of the most inspiring Jewish stories across the country. Nominate your hometown at tabletm.ag/acrossthejewsa. Across the JEW.S.A. was created with support from the Jewish Federations of North America.

Check out the latest installment of The Minyan, Abby Pogrebin’s roundtable series about the state of the American Jewish community, which features her conversation with 10 Jews with disabilities. Read it at tabletmag.com/minyan

We have brand new Unorthodox swag! Get your tees, mugs, and hoodies at tabletstudios.com. 

We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.

We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at [email protected], or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. 

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.

Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at [email protected].

Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Sponsors: 

Soom tahini is the perfect ingredient for your fall meals. Use discount code UNORTHODOX22 for 10% off your next order at soomfoods.com.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Unorthodox, an upcoming Oppenheimer simcha sparks a spirited debate. 

Our Jew of the Week is the one and only Letty Cottin Pogrebin—feminist icon, writer, activist and author of the new book Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy. She tells us about her personal Jewish awakening, and about reckoning with her Jewish identity within the feminist movement. (If Cottin Pogrebin’s description of being excluded from the minyan at her mother’s shiva sounds familiar, here is her daughter Abigail Pogrebin sharing a similar story from Ruth Bader Ginsburg.)  

Across the JEW.S.A. is a new Unorthodox project that will showcase 12 of the most inspiring Jewish stories across the country. Nominate your hometown at tabletm.ag/acrossthejewsa. Across the JEW.S.A. was created with support from the Jewish Federations of North America.

We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.

We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at [email protected], or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. 

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.

Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at [email protected].

Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Sponsors: 

Soom tahini is the perfect ingredient for your fall meals. Use discount code UNORTHODOX22 for 10% off your next order at soomfoods.com.  

Institute for Jewish Spirituality: Sign up today for Shema: The Practice of Sacred Listening at JewishSpirituality.org. Registration closes on November 11.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Unorthodox, we’re debuting a new look and some brand new merch! 

We’ve got three great guests. First, we’re bringing you an interview we recorded live at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly this past week in Chicago. We talked to Jewish Federations of North America President and CEO Eric Fingerhut about the most important issues facing American Jews, what he loves most about his job, and how we build a stronger Jewish community.

Our Gentile of the Week is Joe Coscarelli, New York Times culture reporter and author of Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story. He explains how Atlanta rap became the most consequential musical ecosystem, tells us about #billiondollarlawyer Drew Findling, and breaks down the long and complicated relationship between Jewish music executives and hip hop artists.

We’re also bringing you a conversation between Tablet executive editor Wayne Hoffman and author Roslyn Bernstein, whose new book, The Girl Who Counted Numbers, is a historical novel set in Jerusalem during the 1961 Adolf Eichmann trial. 

We’re excited to announce Across the JEW.S.A. — a new project that will take us to 12 cities or towns in 2023 to showcase the most inspiring Jewish stories across the country. Nominate your hometown at tabletm.ag/acrossthejewsa. Across the JEW.S.A. was created with support from the Jewish Federations of North America.

We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.

We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at [email protected], or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. 

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.

Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at [email protected].

Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Sponsors: 

Soom tahini is the perfect ingredient for your fall meals. Use discount code UNORTHODOX22 for 10% off your next order at soomfoods.com.  

The Other Israel Film Festival returns with eye-opening films and in-depth conversations exploring the relationship between history, culture, and identity in Israeli and Palestinian societies. The festival takes place Nov. 3–10 at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, with films also streaming online. For more information and tickets, visit otherisrael.org.

Institute for Jewish Spirituality: Sign up today for Shema: The Practice of Sacred Listening at JewishSpirituality.org. Registration closes on November 11.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liel takes us on a tour of the horror movies of his childhood and wonders how Jews can participate in Halloween… Jewishly. Plus, what horror movies can teach us about us ourselves and Jewish identity

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Unorthodox, we’re getting together around the table. 

Our Jewish guest is Phil Rosenthal, who returns to the show to tell us about Season 6 of his delightful travel food show, Somebody Feed Phil, which includes a tribute to his late parents, Max and Helen Rosenthal, and the accompanying cookbook, Somebody Feed Phil: The Book. He also tells us what his Yom Kippur break-fast looks like, why he scoops out his bagel, and why Jews aren’t the only cultural group who finds connection over food. 

Our Gentile of the Week is the multi-talented Faith Salie, a contributor to CBS Sunday Morning, frequent panelist on NPR’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me,” and author of Approval Junkie. She brings us Coca-Cola Cake and tells us about growing up Catholic in Atlanta and learning about Judaism as she raises Jewish children with her husband. 

We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.

We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at [email protected], or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. 

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.

Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at [email protected].

Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Sponsors: 

Soom tahini is the perfect ingredient for your fall meals. Use discount code UNORTHODOX22 for 10% off your next order at soomfoods.com.  

The Other Israel Film Festival returns with eye-opening films and in-depth conversations exploring the relationship between history, culture, and identity in Israeli and Palestinian societies. The festival takes place Nov. 3–10 at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, with films also streaming online. For more information and tickets, visit otherisrael.org.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Unorthodox, we’re raising the roof.

First we check in with Israeli actor Michael Aloni of Shtisel and Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, to hear about his new film Plan A, in theaters and streaming this week. 

Then we hear from Mordechai Levovitz, founder of JQY, an organization that supports queer Jewish youth, about his personal journey and the ongoing legal battle between Yeshiva University and the YU Pride Alliance.  

Our Gentile of the Week is Pastor Corey Brooks, founder and Senior Pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago and founder and CEO of Project H.O.O.D. He tells us about the great work he is doing for his Chicago community, including living on a roof to raise money for a new community center. This interview was recorded live at Congregation Beth Shalom in Northbrook, IL. 

Finally, we call up our friend and former colleague Yair Rosenberg, who now writes the Deep Shtetl newsletter for The Atlantic, and who just released a beautiful album of Shabbat music called Az Yashir.

We’re heading back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.

We love to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at [email protected], or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. 

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.

Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at [email protected].

Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Sponsors: 

Soom tahini is the perfect ingredient for your fall meals. Use discount code UNORTHODOX22 for 10% off your next order at soomfoods.com.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey JCrew, we've got something extra we want to share with you.

The Franchise is a new, eight-part series exploring how contemporary American Jewish culture imprinted itself onto sports and how sports imprinted itself onto Jewish traditions. Hosted by Meredith Shiner and produced by the team behind Unorthodox, the No. 1 Jewish podcast, The Franchise highlights the moments and the people—athletes, fans, stat geeks, journalists, and team owners—who are writing this uniquely, American Jewish story.

The series begins in 1965 with Sandy Koufax, and traces the arc of American Jews and sports since then: from probing the so-called Koufax curse that befalls Jewish athletes who play on Yom Kippur to reevaluating the "Jewish Jordan" phenomenon and wondering why Jews love teams that always seem to lose, and much more.

The Franchise premiers on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices