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Einstein on the Mound: Ep. 153 Oct 11, 2018

Show notes

This week on Unorthodox, we're still recovering from all the Jewish holidays.

Our Jewish guest is Benyamin Cohen, host of the weekly podcast "Our Friend from Israel." He's also the guy who manages the official social media feeds for Albert Einstein, which might just be the best job ever. He tells us about tweeting for the late genius, plus his journey into megachurches while writing his 2009 book, “My Jesus Year: A Rabbi’s Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith."

Our gentile of the week is Wall Street Journal sports columnist Jason Gay, who returns to the show to talk unconventional baseball propositions, Yiddish colloquialisms, and the other Ben Cohen.

Join us at our next NYC live show on October 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the Marlene Meyerson JCC! Returning to the show will be New York Times writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner, plus some special surprises. You won't want to miss it

Have a question for Unorthodox? Send it to Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our new listener line: 914-570-4869. We’re also looking for stories about Jewish superstitions for our Halloween episode.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt!

This episode is also sponsored by One Day University. Get 20% off your ticket to see Mark Oppenheimer's Oct. 14 lecture on religion in America by using the code MARK when you register at OneDayU.com.

Additional support for this episode comes from The Branch, a new podcast from Hadassah. Each episode explores how positive relationships between Israeli Jews and Arabs can bring new hope for a truly shared society. Check it out at Hadassah.org/thebranch.

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

Texting with Barney Miller: Ep. 152 Oct 04, 2018

Show notes

This week on Unorthodox, we're going down to the station.

Our guests are Hal Linden and Ryan Ochoa, who co-star in the new film The Samuel Project. Linden is best known for his portrayal of police precinct captain Barney Miller in the eponymous TV series, which aired from 1975-1982 (millennials, you can binge it on Amazon Prime), but his prolific six-decade career has included perfomances on stage and in film. Ochoa is an actor and musician who has appeared in the Disney series "Pair of Kings" and the Nickelodeon series "iCarly." They tell us about their intergenerational new film, about a Jewish grandfather and grandson who connect over a school project that reveals the grandfather's little-known story of survival. They also tell us about their real-life frienship: Linden, born Harold Lipshitz in the Bronx in 1931, has become something of a mentor to the 22-year-old Ochoa as he works to break out of the Disney-kid mold and take on serious roles. Ochoa is serious in his study: Linden is the only person he actually calls on the phone.

We also drop by a Yiddish for Dogs workshop in New York's Central Park hosted by the Workmen's Circle.

This episode is brought to you by Harry’s. Get your trial shave set at Harrys.com/UNORTHODOX

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

Farm to Sukkah: Ep. 151 Sep 27, 2018

Show notes

This week on Unorthodox, we're celebrating the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot! Farmers and Etrogs and more!

Who says Jews don't farm? Stephanie Butnick reports from Petaluma, CA, where activist Jews fleeing Eastern Europe in the early 1900s settled and became chicken ranchers. The politically-minded chicken-farming Jews of Petaluma even got a visit from Golda Meir!

What's Sukkot all about anyway? And what's with the lulav and etrog? Liel Leibovitz and producer Josh Kross head to West Side Judaica to check out their etrog selection and chat with customers looking to stock up before Sukkot.

Where exactly do those etrogs come from? We sent our assistant editor Sophie Steinert-Evoy to Lindcove Ranch in Exeter, CA, to visit the country's only commercial etrog farm. It's run by two generations of the Kirkpatrick family, who aren't Jewish but know way more about etrogs than most Jews.

And finally, we have a visit with our favorite Minnesotan sugar beet farmer, Nick Hagen, and we find out how his produce winds up our tables and at Russ and Daughters.

And Have a question for Unorthodox? Send it to Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our new listener line: 914-570-4869. We’re also looking for stories about Jewish superstition for our Halloween episode.

This episode is sponsored by One Day University. Get 20% off your ticket to see Mark Oppenheimer's Oct. 14 lecture on religion in America by using the code MARK when you register at OneDayU.com.

Additional support comes from The Branch, a new podcast from Hadassah. Each episode explores how positive relationships between Israeli Jews and Arabs can bring new hope for a truly shared society. Check it out at Hadassah.org/thebranch.

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

The Apology Episode: 5779 Edition: Ep. 150 Sep 13, 2018

Show notes

This week on Unorthodox, we're really, really sorry.

We're marking the Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur with our annual apology show. We're joined again this year by Tablet contributor Marjorie Ingall, who runs the website SorryWatch, which analyzes apologies in the news. She goes over the best and worst public apologies of 5778, and offers tips for how to make a meaningful apology.

Storyteller Hal Karp tells of how, during a particularly dark period of his life, he goaded his brother into a fight that got him arrested—and how he ultimately repaired that relationship years later.

Plus, our producer Noah Levinson catches up with Yonkers resident Quai Stewart, who gained Internet notoriety after his video mocking a young Hasidic boy’s haircut went viral—and whose subsequent apology video won him fans in the Jewish community.

And finally, Sarah Lefton from BimBam.com joins us with a little lesson about Tzom Gedaliah.

Want more Yom Kippur inspiration? You can listen to our previous apology episodes.

In honor of the Jewish new year, we're giving away 10 beautiful mezuzahs from Apeloig Collection, a line of sleek and modern Judaica founded by sisters Daniela and Gabriela Apeloig. Join our Facebook group and look out for a prompt to enter.

We love hearing from you! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com with memories from your favorite episodes or leave a message at our new listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air.

Want more Unorthodox in your life? Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind the scenes! Show your love for Unorthodox with our T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours here.

This episode is brought to you by Harry’s. Get your trial shave set at Harrys.com/UNORTHODOX.

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

Unorthodox Turns 3! Ep. 149 Sep 06, 2018

Show notes

Happy birthday to us! We're celebrating three years of Unorthodox with a very special episode featuring our hosts, producers, and Tablet staffers reflecting on some of our most memorable segments.

Tablet editor-in-chief Alana Newhouse revisits our very first episode, and shares her initial doubts about our audio adventure; host Liel Leibovitz reflects on his contentious Ep. 25 interview with Jewish Voice for Peace's Rebecca Vilkomerson, and what he learned from the interaction; and Tablet executive editor Wayne Hoffman delights in our Ep. 121 live show interview with comedian Judy Gold, where she offered a Field Guide to the Jewish Mother.

Producer Noah Levinson teleports a few hundred news cycles back to Ep. 120 , where we called up Roy Moore's Jewish lawyer Martin Wishnatsky, who also happens to be a practicing Christian; and producer Shira Telushkin shares her unexpected takeaway from Ep. 137, where Yossi Klein Halevi discussed his book about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Host Mark Oppenheimer reminisces about his Ep. 119 interview with West Virginia rabbi Joseph Hample, who described his unlikely journey to the rabbinate—and West Virginia; Producer Josh Kross gets taken for a ride in the Mitzvah Tank in Ep. 143, and is surprised to find he doesn't hate it; and host Stephanie Butnick takes a trip to East Grand Forks, Minnesota, to visit one of our favorite guests.

We love hearing from you! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com with your favorite interviews over the past three years, or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. Please also consider leaving a review in iTunes.

This episode is also brought to you by Harry’s. Get your trial shave set at Harrys.com/UNORTHODOX.

This episode is also sponsored by the 2019 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. Do you know a Jewish teen making a difference? Nominate them for the $36,000 award at dillerteenawards.org.

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

Operation Unorthodox: Ep. 148 Aug 30, 2018

Show notes

This week on Unorthodox, we're all about Eichmann. We sit down with Operation Finale director Chris Weitz and actor Nick Kroll to discuss the new film, which depicts the 1960 covert mission to capture Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi architect of the Final Solution, who was living under an assumed identity in Argentina.

Kroll, who is best known as a comic actor, plays Rafi Eitan, the Shin Bet leader who coordinated the mission, alongside Oscar Isaac as legendary Mossad agent Peter Malkin, Ben Kingsley as Eichmann, and French actress Mélanie Laurent, of Inglourious Basterds fame. They tell us how their respective backgrounds and upbringings, while different, each drew them to this film; what it was like to work with Ben Kingsley; and why telling this story now is more important than ever.

Our summer fundraising effort is almost over! Consider making a donation at tabletmag.com/donate. Write the name of your favorite host in the note.

We love hearing from you! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. Please also consider leaving a review in iTunes.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up [http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast] for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt

Support for this podcast comes from the MGM film Operation Finale, starring Golden Globe winner Oscar Isaac and Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley, in theaters now.

This episode is also brought to you by Harry’s. Get your trial shave set at Harrys.com/UNORTHODOX.

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

Keeping the Faith: Ep. 147 Aug 16, 2018

Show notes

This week on Unorthodox, the producers take over while Mark, Liel, and Stephanie are off having summer fun. Shira, Noah, and Josh bring you three stories of people sharing, studying and challenging their faith.

First up, Unorthodox couples counseling. Listeners Ken Rosen and Elettra Pauletto came to us to discuss their pre-marriage anxieties about conversion, kids, and Jewish practice.

Second, Shira sits down with her favorite gentile, Harvard Divinity School professor Charles Stang, to talk about how he formed his Christian identity, discovering his love of Ashkenazi food, and the challenge of finding good babka in Israel.

Finally, we check in with Franciscan Sister Julia Walsh, who was a guest on our Mother’s Day episode. After she mentioned she didn’t think there were any Jews up in the Northern Woods of Wisconsin, our listeners in the area invited her to a Shabbat dinner. We’ve got the tape.

We also bring you an update on our fundraising drive. If you like listening to us, consider making a donation at tabletmag.com/donate. Write the name of your favorite host in your donation notes.

We love hearing from you! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. If you like listening, please consider leaving a review in iTunes.

This episode is sponsored by Simple Contacts. Get 20 dollars off your first order of contacts at simplecontacts.com/UNORTHODOX or enter code UNORTHODOX at checkout!

This episode is also sponsored by the 2019 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. To learn more–and nominate a Jewish teen making a difference–check out dillerteenawards.org.

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

Call Us By Your Name: Ep. 146 Aug 09, 2018

Show notes

This week on Unorthodox, we're wining and dining. Our Jewish guest is author Andre Aciman, whose 2007 novel Call Me By Your Name was adapted into the Oscar-nominated film starring Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet. He tells us about being forced to leave Egypt with his family as a teenager, getting recognized on the Upper West Side after the film premiered, and his absolute favorite coffeemaker.

Our gentile of the week is journalist Kevin Begos, whose new book is Tasting the Past: The Science of Flavor and the Search for the Origins of Wine, a literary undertaking that began when he found an obscure wine from Bethlehem in a hotel room minibar. He tells us how local Israeli grapes got overshadowed when Edmond de Rothschild arrived in the 19th century and started making European wine in the Holy Land, and why we should ditch the Pinot Noirs and Cabernets and drink wine made from local Israeli grapes like jandali, hamdani, and dabouki instead.

This is the last week of our fundraising drive. If you like listening to us, consider making a donation at tabletmag.com/donate. Write the name of your favorite host in your donation notes.

This episode is sponsored by One Day University. Get 20% off your ticket to see Mark Oppenheimer's Oct. 14 lecture on religion in America by using the code MARK when you register at OneDayU.com.

This episode is sponsored by Harry’s. Get $5 off a shave set from Harry’s with code UNORTHODOX at Harrys.com.

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

If I Were a Fiddler: Ep. 145 Aug 02, 2018

Show notes

Tradition, tradition! In honor of a new Yiddish production of Fiddler on the Roof, we're heading back to Anatevka. Our Jewish guest is Rachel Zatcoff, who plays Tzeitel in The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene Off-Broadway production, Fidler afn Dakh. Our Gentile of the week is James Monroe Števko, who plays Mendl, the rabbi's son. They tell us about learning Yiddish for the show and what it's like working with director Joel Grey and Jackie Hoffman, who plays Yenta.

We also sit down with Alisa Solomon, author of Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof, to discuss the cultural significance of Fiddler on the Roof, which first opened on Broadway in 1965, as well as the Sholem Aleichem stories the play is based on.

This episode is sponsored by One Day University. Get 20% off your ticket to see Mark Oppenheimer's Oct. 14 lecture on religion in America by using the code MARK when you register at OneDayU.com.

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

The JAP Show–Live: Ep. 144 Jul 26, 2018

Show notes

This week on Unorthodox: Is it OK to say 'JAP'? We were joined by Odd Mom Out's Jill Kargman, Broadway legend Tovah Feldshuh, and Jewish Women's Archive director Judith Rosenbaum at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan last week for a lively discussion and debate about the Jewish American Princess stereotype–its origins, implications, and cultural staying power.

We also screened a short film we made about the JAP stereotype, which you can watch here, and heard from audience members about what the phrase means to them.

Let us know what you think about the JAP debate–email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. If you like listening, please consider leaving a review in iTunes.

This episode is sponsored by Harry’s. Get $5 off a shave set from Harry’s with code UNORTHODOX at Harrys.com

This episode is also sponsored by the 2019 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. To learn more–and nominate a Jewish teen making a difference–check out dillerteenawards.org.

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

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