Director Andrea Simon joins us to discuss her documentary, Angel Wagenstein: Art is a Weapon. This extraordinary film focuses on the life of Angel Wagenstein, Bulgarian anti-fascist fighter in his youth and film director and author in his later years. Simon speaks with us about Wagenstein, and how his story informs a larger narrative.

Episode 0210

January 31, 2019

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Eric L. Goldstein, professor of American and modern Jewish history at Emory University and the Judith London Evans Director of Emory’s Tam Institute for Jewish studies, joins us this week to discuss his current project focused on the reading culture of Yiddish-speaking immigrants to the United States from the late nineteenth century to the interwar period. He explains that, unlike a literary scholar who might concentrate on the literary importance of the works themselves, he’s interested in discovering what immigrants actually read. From novels and short stories to Americanization manuals, Goldstein shares his knowledge of immigrant reading culture during this time, and what he has found in his research.

Episode 0209

January 10, 2019

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Yiddish Book Center Fellows Adah Hetko and Sophia Shoulson discuss their work with typewriters for the Yiddish Book Center's collection. As we put out the call for these special machines, they give us a peek into the world of Yiddish typewriters, explaining their past and present significance, the history of the keyboard layout, and how to distinguish between a Hebrew and a Yiddish typewriter.

Episode 0208

January 4, 2019

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

We caught up with Ri J. Turner, a 2014 Yiddish Book Center Translation Fellow, to chat about her translation of A.S. Lirik’s "A New Year's Eve State of Mind.” An M.A. student in the Department of Yiddish at Hebrew University, Ri is currently studying as a graduate exchange student at Medem Library in Paris, France. She joins us on the phone from Paris to discuss her work as a Yiddish translator, how she found Lirik’s piece, translating work by Yiddish writer Der Tunkeler, and the Yiddish scene in Paris. Ri’s translation of "A New Year's Eve State of Mind" is posted on the Yiddish Book Center's website: yiddishbookcenter.org.

Episode 0207

December 26, 2018

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Ted Merwin visits on The Shmooze this week to discuss his recently published book "Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli." Merwin, the founding director of the Milton B. Asbell Center for Jewish Life and associate professor of Religion and Judaic Studies at Dickinson College, goes against the grain (so to speak), considering the role of the deli for the second and third generations: the children of Jewish immigrants.

Episode 0206

December 19, 2018

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

David R. Gillham, the New York Times bestselling author of "City of Women," joins us on "The Shmooze" this week to discuss his forthcoming novel, "Annelies." He shares a glimpse into the past six years which he has spent researching Anne Frank, recognizing her as the cultural icon whose diary painted a vivid picture of the Holocaust, and also as a person — a precocious young girl with a rich inner life and tremendous skill as a writer. David R. Gillham discusses what it means to approach her story through fiction, and to produce a narrative about the person and the writer that Anne Frank might have become.

Episode 0205

December 13, 2018

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Gerri Chanel, a prize-winning freelance journalist, joins us this week to discuss "Saving Mona Lisa: The Battle to Protect the Louvre and its Treasures from the Nazis." In her compelling book, Gerri follows heroic efforts in France to protect the Louvre’s masterpieces during World War II.

Episode 0204

December 6, 2018

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Jamie Bernstein joins us to talk about her recently published memoir "Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein." We hear from Jamie about her experience growing up in the mid-twentieth century with parents Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre. Our conversation touches on everything from life with the famous maestro to Jewishness, family traditions, and the story behind her memoir’s title.

Episode 0203

November 29, 2018

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Yiddish Book Center fellows Sophia Shoulson and Sarah Quiat searched the Center’s collection for Thanksgiving-related content. They join us on "The Shmooze" to share what they discovered, and from Yiddish cookbooks to a children’s story featuring a turkey, we learn how food, stories, and traditions figured into the Jewish immigrant’s experience.

Episode 0202

November 21, 2018

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Ilan Stavans stopped by the studio this week to discuss “My Mexican Shivah,” a film based on one of his stories. An exploration of family tensions, the film is set in Polanco, a Jewish quarter of Mexico City, and documents a man’s death and the celebration of his life that follows. The gentle comedy engages the complexity of Mexican-Jewish identity in the context of death rituals.

Episode 0201

November 14, 2018

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts