This week we're joined by Joanna Church, director of collections and exhibits at the Jewish Museum of Maryland, to talk about the newly opened exhibit "Jews In Space: Members of the Tribe in Orbit." We learn about the ways in which outer space has inspired Jewish artists, writers, comedians, and thinkers, both religious and secular, to boldly imagine realms beyond our Earth. And Joanna talks about a few of the surprising items included in the exhibit--from the first dreidel in space to a monumental stack of science fiction magazines.

Episode 0283

December 16, 2020

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Kenneth Turan, film critic for the "Los Angeles Times" and NPR, visits with "The Shmooze" to talk about the newly released "The Jewish Soul: Classics of Yiddish Cinema" (Blu-ray). Our conversation considers the ten classic films that make up this collection and the many ways that they both touch on and represent aspects of Yiddish culture. As it happened, the conversation was recorded on the 100th anniversary of the first performance of "The Dybbuk"--possibly the timeless star of this collection.

Episode 0282

December 11, 2020

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Acclaimed Yiddish actor Shane Baker, recipient of the 2020 Adrienne Cooper Dreaming in Yiddish Award, has brought Yiddish theater, classes, and cultural events to every continent—including Antarctica!—through his work as director of the Congress for Jewish Culture, a Yiddishist organization based in New York. He chats with "The Shmooze" about his work both on and off the Yiddish stage.

Episode 0281

December 2, 2020

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

London-based singer Clara Kanter, the great-great-granddaughter of Yiddish writer Sholem Asch, and composer Alastair White visit with The Shmooze to talk about "The Drowning Shore," their newly released cantata, which threads together Asch's classic 1907 play "God of Vengeance" with an original Scots-English text. The piece, a 14-minute video monodrama scored for 'a mezzo-soprano in a screen,' is written and composed by Alastair and performed by Clara. The two collaborators talk with us about how they came to make this stunning work.

Episode 0280

November 24, 2020

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

This week, we visit with Christa Whitney, director of the Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project, to talk about the new enhanced features to the oral history collection made possible through the 2017–2020 National Endowment for the Humanities grant that was completed in September 2020. The Project's growing collection includes over 1,000 in-depth interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, whose stories about the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture offer a rich and complex chronicle of Jewish identity. We learn in conversation with Christa how these new, enhanced features will allow for greater access to the collection.

Episode 0279

November 13, 2020

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Yiddish translator Zackary Sholem Berger visits with The Shmooze to talk about the forthcoming release of his translation of Avrom Sutzkever's prose writing. As noted in the book's introduction, Sutzkever the storyteller is inseparable from Sutzkever the poet. The publication of this volume, containing almost all of Sutzkever's prose in English translation, is a vital contribution and essential to our understanding of Sutzkever's work.

Episode 0278

November 6, 2020

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

The Shmooze asked Becca Kantor, editorial director of the Jewish Book Council, to share a few recommended reads. Her selections include a mix of genres and new releases—and she makes a compelling case for adding each of these books to your nightstand.

Episode 0277

October 30, 2020

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

On call from her home in Vienna, Isabel Frey talks about her work as a Yiddish singer and social justice activist. She specializes in Yiddish revolutionary and resistance songs and reviving the tradition of left-wing Jewish activism by connecting it to contemporary political issues.

Episode 0276

October 23, 2020

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

Caraid O'Brien chats with us about the launch of the Yiddish Book Center's new radiocast series, "The Last Maximalist." Caraid is both the translator and the voice behind this twelve-part series, which takes the form of a weekly serialized reading of Klara Klebanova's memoir, telling the story of Klebanova's journey from a middle-class Jewish teenager to a Maximalist revolutionary fighting for the rights of peasants and factory workers during the first Russian Revolution of 1905. "The Last Maximalist" is available through the Yiddish Book Center's website at yiddishbookcenter.org/maximalist.

Episode 0275

October 16, 2020

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts

In her new book, "On the Roof," actor and author Samantha Hahn, the youngest cast member of "Fiddler on the Roof" in Yiddish, tells the story of how this ground-breaking, award-winning musical came to be. Hahn talks to The Shmooze about the book, for which she interviewed the cast, crew, and creative team--each offering a unique take on the show and the impact it has had on their lives--in order to construct a behind-the-scenes look at what makes "Yiddish Fiddler" resonate with audiences.

Episode 0274

October 8, 2020

Yiddish Book Center

Amherst, Massachusetts