Tablet Studios

This week we’re celebrating Christmas the only way we know how: Chinese food and a movie. Plus a bunch of amazing guests!

We’re joined by New York Times reporter Marc Tracy, who tells us about the tradition of Jews eating Chinese food on Christmas, and the Jewish songwriters behind some of the most well-known Christmas songs. Jessica Grose, the editor of the email newsletter Lenny, tells us why it’s OK for Jews to have a Christmas tree. Film critic Jordan Hoffman shares his favorite Christmas movies—and one classic he’s not so into. Librarian Rachel Kamin talks about a No Good Very Bad children's Hanukkah book (and recommends a few good ones), writer and activist Robin Rice tells us about her latest project, Your Holiday Mom, and Natasha Zaretsky explains why Soviet Jews have New Years trees.

Wishing you and your loved ones, pets, and frenemies a wonderful, meaningful, and delicious Hanukkah, and a merry Jewish Christmas!

We love hearing from you. Email us at [email protected] with comments or questions, or just to say hi. We may share your note on air.

Music Credits:

"Unorthodox Theme Song" by Golem

"Last Christmas" by Wham

“Joy to The World” by The Klezmonauts“Deck the Halls” by The Klezmonauts

"God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen" by The Klezmonauts

"A Jew on Christmas" by Kyle“Santa Baby” by Eartha Kitt“

Have Yourself a Politically-Correct Christmas” by Sam Tucker

“Christmastime is Here” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio

“Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer” performed by Jewlia Eisenberg

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This week on Unorthodox, Israeli Burger King debuts the SufganiKing—a hamburger inside a jelly donut.

Our Jewish guest is Jason Diamond, author of the new memoir, Searching for John Hughes: Or Everything I thought I Needed to Know About Life I Learned from Watching ‘80s Movies. He gives us his list of the must-see John Hughes movies. Our Gentile of the Week is actually a Jew and a gentile—Vanessa Zoltan and Casper ter Kuile—the hosts of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, a podcast that Talmudically analyzes the wildly popular J.K. Rowling’s series. They tell us how (spoiler) Harry Potter is actually about the Holocaust.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes and more. Email us with comments, questions and kvetches at [email protected]. We may share your note on air.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Harry’s. Go to Harrys.com to get a limited edition holiday shave set while supplies last—use the promo code UNORTHODOX at checkout for $5 off your order.

Music credits:

"Unorthodox Theme Song" by Golem

"Outer Orbit" by Revolution Void

"Hedwig's Theme" by John Williams

"Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds

"Physionics" by Stephan Siebert 

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This week on Unorthodox, Ivanka Trump steals a kugel. Our Jewish guest is Naftali Hanau, founder of Grow and Behold Foods, the Brooklyn-based purveyor of kosher meat from animals raised on family farms with no hormones or antibiotics. He tells us about being trained as a kosher butcher, or shochet, and why he’s made it his mission to provide ethically-produced kosher meat. Our Gentile of the Week is Glynn Washington, host of NPR’s Snap Judgment. He talks about what it takes to tell stories on the radio and how he knows when he's got a great one.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes and more. Email us with comments, questions and kvetches at [email protected]. We may share your note on air.

Today’s episode is also brought to you by Harry’s. Go to Harrys.com to get a limited edition holiday shave set while supplies last—use the promo code UNORTHODOX at checkout for $5 off your order.

Music credits for this episode (in order): 

"Unorthodox Theme Song" by Golem

"Teddy Bears' Picnic" by John Walter Bratton and performed by Henry Hall & his Orchestra

"Theme from Schindler's List" by John Williams

"Fairweather Fiends"  by Polyrhythmics

"Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House

"Spinning" by Nangdo

"Come to Me" by Hyson

"California" by Phantom Planet

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Our guest this week is Rabbi Brent Chaim Spodek of the Beacon Hebrew Alliance, whose mission is bringing Judaism out of the pews and into the daily lives of his congregants. He tells us about his popular Soul Strolls through the idyllic Hudson Valley woods on Saturdays, why it’s OK to watch movies on Shabbat, and why he wants to end the bar mitzvah practice as we know it. Plus, the Jewbadour Jim Knable contributes a ballad about Liel's travel woes.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes and more. Email us with comments, questions and kvetches at [email protected]. We may share your note on air.

This week’s episode is brought to you by Audible. Get a free audiobook with a 30-day trial at audible.com/unorthodox.

Today’s episode is also brought to you by Harry’s. Go to Harrys.com to get a limited edition holiday shave set while supplies last—use the promo code UNORTHODOX at checkout for $5 off your order.

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

This week’s episode was recorded live at Beth Tzedec Congregation in Drake's hometown of Toronto. Our Jewish guest is writer and filmmaker David Bezmozgis, who moved with his family from Latvia to Toronto when he was six years old. He tells us just how dangerous he thinks a Trump presidency will be, and why Americans shouldn’t flee to Canada but instead stay and fight. Our Gentile of the week is Julie Nesrallah, mezzo-soprano and host of Tempo, CBC Radio 2’s classical music program. She tells us about founding Carmen on Tap, a company that performs Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen as dinner theatre, and treats us to a song from the 1875 opera.Like listening to Unorthodox? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes and more. Email us at [email protected] with comments, questions, and kvetches. We may share your letter on air.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Harry’s. For a great shave at an affordable price, go to Harrys.com and use promo code UNORTHODOX at checkout to get their free trial set and post-shave balm.

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

In this bonus episode, Mark chats with his only Facebook friend supporting Donald Trump: Bob Barnes, a Yale classmate he hasn't seen in 22 years. Barnes, a lawyer and self-described populist who hasn't voted in a presidential election since 1992, put $125,000 on a Trump win at 4 to 1 odds in London. Now a half million dollars richer, he talks to Mark about why he supports the President-Elect, how he saw this result coming, and what the left needs to do to win back the middle.

Like listening to Unorthodox? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes and more. Email us at [email protected] with comments, questions, and kvetches. We may share your letter on air.

Shalom, friends. 

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Torontonians! Join us tonight, Nov. 17, for our live show at Beth Tzedec Congregation at 7:30 p.m. Tickets here.

Today we’re joined by a special guest to help us process what happened in last week’s presidential election, and where we go from here. Former U.S. Congressman Barney Frank, who represented the fourth district of Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013, talks about the impacts of race and class on the election, and what the Democratic establishment needs to address moving forward.

Like listening to Unorthodox? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes and more. Email us at [email protected] with comments, questions, and kvetches. We may share your letter on air.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Harry’s. For a great shave at an affordable price, go to Harrys.com and use promo code UNORTHODOX at checkout to get their free trial set and post-shave balm.

Shalom, friends. 

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Join us next week in Toronto! We’ll be recording a live show at Beth Tzedec Congregation Thursday, November 17 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets here.

Surprise! We’re getting our Unorthodox on a little early this week, with a jam-packed episode for you to listen to while you wait on line to vote. Our first Jewish guest is Stephanie’s maternal grandfather, Albert Rothaus, calling in from Boca Raton, Florida. The lifelong Democrat tells us about being a Hillary voter in Trumpland and putting friendships on ice during the election. Our second Jewish guest is Tablet columnist Jamie Kirchick, who tells us which Republicans have most disappointed him this election season and the worst thing he’s been called on Twitter. Our third Jewish guest is National Review Washington editor Eliana Johnson, who describes the mood in her office these days and tells us why she’s not voting the top of the ticket. Our Gentile of the Week is legendary Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, who offers his election predictions and tells us whether he ever gets sick of ‘-gate’ being added to the end of every political scandal. Also, producer Noah Levinson reports from a Melania Trump event.

Like listening to Unorthodox? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes and more. Email us at [email protected] with comments, questions, and kvetches. We may share your letter on air.

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This week’s episode was recorded live at Hebrew College in Newton, Mass. We’re joined by three great guests to talk about the never evening presidential election.

Our first Jewish guest is Jeremy Hobson, co-host of NPR’s "Here and Now," who has traveled the country to talk to voters about why they support Donald Trump. Our second Jewish guest is Boston Globe op-ed columnist Jeff Jacoby, the lone conservative voice at the newspaper. Our Gentile of the Week is General Tom Hill, a highly decorated combat infantryman and diplomat who retired from the U.S. Army after 36 years of active service to the nation, who explains why he thinks high-ranking military officers shouldn’t involve themselves in elections.

We’re also treated to some new songs, performed live by our in-house Jewbadour, Jim Knable.

Like listening to Unorthodox? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes and more. Email us at [email protected] with comments, questions, and complaints, and we may share your letter on air!

Today’s episode is brought to you by Harry’s. For a great shave at an affordable price, go to Harrys.com and use promo code UNORTHODOX at checkout to get their free trial set and post-shave balm.

Today’s episode is also brought to you by Primary, offering stylish basics for babies and kids in fun colors and soft fabrics, all under $25. Go to Primary.com/unorthodox and use the promo code UNORTHODOX to save 25% off your first purchase, AND free shipping!

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Boston-area listeners, join us for our live show tonight at Hebrew College in Newton, Mass, at 7:30 p.m.—tickets available here.

This week on Unorthodox, Bar Refaeli gets pixelated. Our Gentile of the Week is Sohrab Ahmari, a London-based editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal and the author of The New Philistines: How Identity Politics Disfigure the Arts. He tells us about watching the presidential election from abroad and his ongoing conversion to Catholicism. Our Jewish guest is filmmaker and anthropologist Noam Osband, who profiled Baruch Marzel, one of the leaders of Israel's far-right—and a distant relative of Osband’s—for his latest documentary, The Radical Jew. He tells us what surprised him most about the political firebrand, and plays us a song about puppies on his ukelele.

Like listening to Unorthodox? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes and more. Email us at [email protected] with comments, questions, and complaints, and we may share your letter on air!

This week's show is brought to you by Harry’s. For a great shave at an affordable price, go to Harrys.com and use promo code UNORTHODOX at checkout to get their free trial set and post-shave balm.

Today's episode is also brought to you by HelloFresh, the leading meal-delivery kit service. For $35 off your first week of deliveries, visit hellofresh.com and enter the promo code UNORTHODOX when you subscribe!

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