Playwright and journalist Max Sparber was raised in a Reform Jewish household, attended an Orthodox high school, and, in college, majored in Jewish studies. After college, while living in Omaha, Nebraska, he set out to learn one thousand Yiddish words in a year—and in the process, discovered the richness of Yiddish culture. Max chronicles his efforts to teach himself Yiddish on his blog "Dress British, Think Yiddish."

Episode 0130

January 13, 2017

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Author Lesléa Newman joins us to speak about her prolific writing career and how her books and poetry are informed by her being Jewish and a lesbian. She discusses her popular book of short stories, "A Letter to Harvey Milk," and shares a poem from her newest collection, "I Carry My Mother."

Episode 0129

January 4, 2017

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Blume Lempel was born in what is now Ukraine, spent time in Paris as a young woman, then fled to New York just before the Second World War, where she wrote works of Yiddish fiction until her death in 1999. Ellen Cassedy and her translation partner, Yermiyahu Ahron Taub, have brought Lempel’s unique storytelling to light in their recent publication Oedipus in Brooklyn and Other Stories. Cassedy joins us to speak about what drew them to Lempel’s stories and gives a taste of her bold, surprising work.

Episode 0128

December 14, 2016

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

In the wake of the Ottoman Empire, Jews living in Salonica were forced to reimagine their communities and rethink their place in the newly formed nation-state of Greece. Devin Naar joins us this week to speak about his new book, Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece, and about how access to previously confiscated archives helped to inform his understanding of these communities.

Episode 0127

December 6, 2016

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

The Yiddish Book Center’s newest exhibit, Balka’s Lower East Side, features art that transcends the moment during which it was created. Curator Laura Kruger joins us to speak about the origins of the collection and the unique look that the pieces provide into what it was like to live on the Lower East Side in the twentieth century.

Episode 0126

November 29, 2016

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Macaroni and cheese flowcharts and schnitzel costume patterns are just two of the many things you can find in Molly Yeh’s (Tent: Food NYC ’14) new cookbook “Molly on the Range.” Hear how she brings together the many aspects of her identity into reimagined Jewish recipes that are guaranteed to make your holiday cooking special.

Episode 0125

November 21, 2016

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Masschusetts

What makes photography a particularly Jewish craft? That question fueled renowned photographer Penny Wolin’s eight-year project to capture the essence of American Jewish photographers, which eventually led to her newest book, Descendants of Light: American Photographers of Jewish Ancestry.

Episode 0124

November 14, 2016

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

In the Yiddish Book Center’s new Great Jewish Books Book Club, which launches in January, club members will explore great works of modern Jewish literature with like-minded readers from around the world. Josh Lambert, the Center’s academic director, talks about the details of the club and how it came to be, and gives you a sneak peek of the first title that book club members will receive.

Episode 0123

November 7, 2016

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Episode 0122: Finding Babel by Yiddish Book Center

In the late nineteenth century, Jews celebrated the New Year by sending each other illustrated postcards with hopes and wishes for the upcoming year. Hannah Pressman, affiliate faculty and communications director for the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Washington, shares the unique history of these cards, the companies that produced them, and the nostalgia that they inspire.

Episode 0121

October 19, 2016

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts