The Lightning Podcast

This week, Zohar is joined by acclaimed teacher and Bible scholar, Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, to discuss the irony and anguish of the human condition, the grandeur of spiritual life, Midrash as the unconscious of Scripture, how scholars are like saints, and Kafka’s definition of literature as an axe that breaks the frozen sea within us.

Meditations with Zohar is supported by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, bridging the gap between big ideas and real world problems.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week, Zohar is joined by political philosopher and public intellectual Teresa Bejan to discuss civil and uncivil disagreement, the virtues of localism, why she might have been a winemaker, the necessity of both conflict and forbearance, how to teach liberal arts inclusively, and the wisdom of Roger Williams and Hobbes.

Meditations with Zohar is sponsored by Cometeer, an exceptional new coffee company using cutting-edge technology to preserve and deliver specialty coffee in its purest, most original form. Use the link cometeer.com/zohar to get $20 off your first order.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week, Zohar is joined by acclaimed poet Rae Armantrout to talk about the meaning of influence, the importance of artistic community, how poetry is like prophecy, whether art guards against paranoia or induces it, and how to juggle aesthetic complexity with ethical commitment and political urgency.

Meditations with Zohar is sponsored by Cometeer, an exceptional new coffee company using cutting-edge technology to preserve and deliver specialty coffee in its purest, most original form. Use the link cometeer.com/zohar to get $20 off your first order.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week Zohar is joined by Matt Levine, Bloomberg Columnist and author of Money Stuff, to talk about the emotional life of the writer, what we can learn from the lyric poet Archilochus, the ethics of Jacob's trade with Esau, the tension between truth and politics in the workplace, the history of finance, and why delight is its own reward.

Meditations with Zohar is sponsored by Cometeer, an exceptional new coffee company using cutting-edge technology to preserve and deliver specialty coffee in its purest, most original form. Use the link cometeer.com/zohar to get $20 off your first order.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week, Zohar is joined by Tara Isabella Burton, novelist, theologian, and journalist, to discuss new age religion, "best self-ism," the allure of the virtual, remix culture, whether Jesus would have had an anonymous Twitter account, and how to get real.

Meditations with Zohar is sponsored by Cometeer, an exceptional new coffee company using cutting-edge technology to preserve and deliver specialty coffee in its purest, most original form. Use the link cometeer.com/zohar to get $20 off your first order.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week, Zohar is joined by Nick Gillespie, public intellectual and editor at large of Reason Magazine, to discuss creative disruption, the legacy of David Foster Wallace, why libertarians and postmodernists should be friends, the underestimated importance of art and culture in politics, and how to live with epistemic humility.

Meditations with Zohar is sponsored by Cometeer, an exceptional new coffee company using cutting-edge technology to preserve and deliver specialty coffee in its purest, most original form. Use the link cometeer.com/zohar to get $20 off your first order.

Read more from Zohar in his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week, Zohar is joined by John Tomasi, fusionist political philosopher and Brown University professor turned inaugural President of Heterodox Academy, to discuss the agony and the ecstasy of academia, whether philosophers should care about the weather, why skepticism and faith can be friends, the sublime loneliness of public libraries, and the importance of leaving the familiar.

Meditations with Zohar is sponsored by Cometeer, an exceptional new coffee company using cutting-edge technology to preserve and deliver specialty coffee in its purest, most original form. Use the link cometeer.com/zohar to get $20 off your first order.

Read more from Zohar in his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week, Zohar is joined by philosopher and classicist Zena Hitz to discuss authenticity, faith, learning for its own sake, moral fragility, Socratic irony, and how to save the humanities.

Meditations with Zohar is sponsored by Cometeer, an exceptional new coffee company using cutting-edge technology to preserve and deliver specialty coffee in its purest, most original form. Use the link cometeer.com/zohar to get $20 off your first order.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week, Zohar is joined by Noah Feldman to discuss theology, pluralism, Maimonides, "bad Jews," and the importance of striving.

Meditations with Zohar is sponsored by Cometeer, an exceptional new coffee company using cutting-edge technology to preserve and deliver specialty coffee in its purest, most original form. Use the link cometeer.com/zohar to get $20 off your first order.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is distributed by SoulShop and produced by Lyceum Studios.

This week, Zohar is joined by novelist Sheila Heti to discuss artistic inspiration, faith, idleness, and indecision.

Meditations with Zohar is sponsored by Cometeer, an exceptional new coffee company using cutting-edge technology to preserve and deliver specialty coffee in its purest, most original form. Use the link cometeer.com/zohar to get $20 off your first order.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.