Tablet Studios

This week on Unorthodox, Amar’e Stoudemire ditches the NBA for the Holy Land. Our Jewish guest is BuzzFeed reporter Rosie Gray, who has spent the past six months following the Republican presidential candidates on the campaign trail, producing behind-the-scenes dispatches from everything from white supremacist rallies to contentious Republican meetings, and reporting on Donald Trump’s nomination at the RNC in Cleveland. Our Gentile of the Week is actor, director, and screenwriter Adam Linn, author of the 2012 novel American Sexy. He tells us how he came to direct movies despite losing his eyesight at a young age, and the most annoying thing to hear as a blind person.

This episode marks one year of Unorthodox. If you’ve enjoyed listening to the show as much as we’ve enjoyed making it, please consider making a contribution. 

We love hearing from you! Email us at [email protected] with comments, questions, and complaints. We may share your letter on air.

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

This week, Vilnius's hottest wedding destination is a former concentration camp. Our Jewish guest is Deena Gottlieb, who just finished her first year of reform rabbinical school. She tells us what that first year in Israel was like (less Real World, more studying), why she wants to become a reform rabbi, and how she gets through to distracted bar mitzvah students. Our Gentile of the week is Arsalan Iftikhar, aka @TheMuslimGuy, human rights lawyer, media commentator, and author of the recent book Scapegoats: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies & Threatens Our Freedoms. He has an interesting question for the panel: As members of a community that has been historically scapegoated, what advice can you give to seven million American Muslims who are witnessing the rise of Islamophobia here in the United States today?

Like listening to us each week? Consider making a contribution at tabletmag.com/donate.

We love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.

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

This week, we can't stop talking about the Republican National Convention. Our Jewish guest is the very funny Catie Lazarus, writer and host of "Employee of the Month," a monthly live talk show at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, for which she’s interviewed Bette Midler,

Jon Stewart, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. She tells us how she found her calling as a live interviewer and about the time she went to Park Slope, Brooklyn to hawk truly local milk—breast milk. 

Our Gentile of the Week is Scott Jones, lead pastor at Ascencion Church, and the host of Mockingcast, the podcast of the online magazine Mockingbird (we're calling it the Christian version of our show). Over pizza-flavored Goldfish and whiskey, he tells us how a fundamentalist Christian friend from childhood with a really good curve ball led him to Jesus, and asks about the most Jewish cocktail (Manischewitz fizz). 

Like listening to us each week? Consider making a contribution at tabletmag.com/donate.

We love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.

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

This week on Unorthodox, our favorite Jewish gymnast is headed to Rio.

Our Jewish guest is Deborah Pardo-Kaplan, a freelance journalist working on a memoir about her life as a Messianic Jew. She explains what Messianic Jews believe, and her journey from a traditional Jewish upbringing to ultimately adopting those beliefs—plus the unexpected difficulties of dating as a Messianic Jew. Our Gentile of the Week is Bruce Barber, the general manager of WNHU-FM, the campus and community run radio station at the University of New Haven. He asks about yarmulke protocol for non-Jews in a synagogue, and we call up an expert to get the answer. 

Like listening to us each week? Consider making a contribution at tabletmag.com/donate.

We love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.

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

Our Jewish guest is writer and illustrator Christopher Noxon, author of the novel, Plus One, and the husband of Weeds and Orange is the New Black creator Jenji Kohan. He tells us why he prefers the term ‘domestic first responder’ to ‘house husband,’ and about the ritual bloodletting required to complete his conversion to Judaism. Our Gentile of the Week is rock critic Jim DeRogatis, co-host of the WBEZ talk show “Sound Opinions.” He tells us how meeting Lester Bangs made him want to become a rock critic, and how to discover good new music today. 

If you like listening to us each week, consider making a donation to support the show at tabletmag.com/donate. 

We love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.

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

This week on Unorthodox: Kappa connections, ruff times for dogs in Iran, and a new original song from our in-house Jewbadour Jim Knable.

Our Jewish guest is Rebecca Schiff, whose debut short story collection, The Bed Moved, was published in April .  She reads us one of the stories, and tells us what her mom thinks of the sex and pot references in the book, and why she’s attracted to Jewish guys. Our Gentile of the Week is Mo Rocca, NPR ‘Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me’ regular. The former Daily Show fixture and VH1 commentator (he Loves the 80s) tells us about the time he judged a Trump-owned Miss U.S.A. pageant, his hamantaschen-baking habit, and what gentiles say when the Jews leave the room.

If you like listening to us each week, consider making a contribution to keep Unorthodox going until 120. All sorts of on-air goodies await those who donate at tabletmag.com/donate. 

We love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.

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

This week, El Al helps herd biblical sheep to Israel. Our Jewish guest is Matthew Futterman, senior special writer for sports at The Wall Street Journal and the author of Players: The Story of Sports and Money, and the Visionaries Who Fought to Create a Revolution. He tells us how NFL quarterbacks used to sell real estate in the off-season to support themselves, plus what he’s looking forward to at this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio and why water polo is an underrated Olympic sport. Our Gentile of the Week is longtime book editor Ann Patty, whose memoir, Living with a Dead Language: My Romance with Latin, is about how she decided to learn Latin after leaving the publishing industry. She tells us about the Vassar students she met in her introductory Latin class, and the week-long Latin camp she’s attending this summer.

We love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.

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

This week on Unorthodox: public swimming pool drama in Brooklyn, and one Jewish man’s unusual sperm donation program.

We don’t have a Jewish guest this week, but we have reached peak gentile: award-winning architect Duo Dickinson, a cradle Episcopalian, joins us for a lively discussion about Jews, WASPs, and the difference between designing a church and a synagogue. We also get a visit from our producer Julie’s daughter Leah, who joins us on-air for a discussion of presumed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. 

We love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.

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

This week, Unorthodox jumpstarts the Father’s Day festivities with a special episode—because is there any figure more overlooked and misunderstood than the Jewish father? Liel talks to Tablet’s Gabe Sanders about archetypal father figures, starting with the biblical Abraham, and how their own identities changed when they became fathers. Stephanie sits down with Unorthodox regular Marjorie Ingall to break down the problematic aspects of Father’s Day, as well as the tough rap Jewish dads get—and how that’s wrapped up in the Jewish mother stereotype. Mark sits down with his dad, Tim Oppenheimer, who opens up about everything from his father’s many marriages and divorces to his own depression after his youngest child left for college.  

This episode of Unorthodox is brought to you by Harry’s. Stop overpaying for a great shave. Go to Harrys.com and enter the code UNORTHODOX at checkout for $5 off your first order. 

We love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast

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

This week on the show: Nazis, Taylor Swift, and cats—the Unorthodox trifecta.

Our Jewish guest is Chicago native Jeff Aeder, who founded the online Jewish Baseball Museum. The Cubs fan tells us about some of the lesser-known Jewish figures in America’s national pastime, why he thinks we need a museum dedicated to Jews in baseball, and when we can expect a brick-and-mortar outpost. Our Gentile of the Week is Carrie Poppy—writer, actress, and co-host of the podcast Oh No Ross and Carrie, which investigates fringe science and religious groups. She tells us the wackiest movement she’s encountered and what she thinks draws people to these kinds of groups.

We love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.

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