The Jewish Lives Podcast

Latest Episodes:

HENRIETTA SZOLD Mar 25, 2024

Show notes

Henrietta Szold (1860–1945) is renowned as the founder of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, which quickly became one of the most successful of all Zionist groups.

Join us with award-winning author Francine Klagsbrun, author of the new biography Henrietta Szold: Hadassah and the Zionist Dream, as we explore the life of an extraordinary woman whose impact resonates to this day.

ALFRED DREYFUS Feb 22, 2024

Show notes

On January 5, 1895, Captain Alfred Dreyfus’s cries of innocence were drowned out by a mob shouting “Death to Judas!”

As global antisemitism rises, join us with Yale scholar Maurice Samuels, author of the new Jewish Lives biography Alfred Dreyfus: The Man at the Center of the Affair, as we explore a story that is more important than ever.

SPINOZA Jan 29, 2024

Show notes

Baruch (Benedictus) Spinoza (1632–1677) was a radical free thinker who led a life guided by strong moral principles despite his disbelief in an all-seeing God.

Join us with award-winning writer Ian Buruma, author of the new Jewish Lives biography Spinoza: Freedom’s Messiah, as we explore the life and legacy of the enlightenment thinker whose belief in freedom of thought and speech resonates in our own time.

RABBI AKIVA Dec 22, 2023

Show notes

Born in the Land of Israel around the year 50 C.E., Rabbi Akiva was the greatest rabbi of his time and one of the most important influences on Judaism as we know it today.

Join us with Professor Barry W. Holtz, author of Rabbi Akiva: Sage of the Talmud, as we explore the life and teachings of one of the most beloved heroes of Jewish history.

AMOS OZ Oct 23, 2023

Show notes

Amos Oz (1939–2018) was one of Israel’s most prolific and prominent writers, as well as a regular contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was the author of dozens of novels, essay collections, and novellas written between 1965 and shortly before his death.
Join us with celebrated scholar Robert Alter, author of the new Jewish Lives biography Amos Oz: Writer, Activist, Icon, as we explore the life and work of the legendary writer.

GROUCHO MARX Sep 27, 2023

Show notes

Born Julius Marx in 1890, the brilliant comic actor who would later be known as Groucho, was celebrated for his slapstick portrayals, ingenious wordplay, and double entendre.

Join us with Lee Siegel, author of Groucho Marx: The Comedy of Existence, as we explore the life of the beloved American iconoclast through the lens of his work on stage, screen, and television.

BETTY FRIEDAN Aug 29, 2023

Show notes

The feminist writer and activist Betty Friedan (1921–2006), pathbreaking author of The Feminine Mystique, was powerful and polarizing.

Join us with Rachel Shteir, author of the new Jewish Lives biography Betty Friedan: Magnificent Disrupter, as we explore the life of the author and activist acclaimed as the mother of second-wave feminism.

GERSHOM SCHOLEM Jul 24, 2023

Show notes

Gershom Scholem (1897–1982) was one of the most influential figures in the field of Jewish Studies.

Join us with historian David Biale, author of the Jewish Lives biography Gershom Scholem: Master of the Kabbalah, as we examine the life of the thinker who pioneered the study of Jewish mysticism and profoundly influenced the Zionist movement.

WALTHER RATHENAU Jun 26, 2023

Show notes

Both thoroughly German and unabashedly Jewish, Walther Rathenau (1867–1922) served in the exalted position of foreign minister in the early days of the Weimar Republic.

His achievement was unprecedented—no Jew in Germany had ever attained such high political rank. But Rathenau’s success was marked by tragedy: within months he was assassinated by right-wing extremists seeking to destroy the newly formed Republic.

Join us with esteemed historian Shulamit Volkov as we illuminate the complex social and psychological milieu of German Jewry in the period before Hitler’s rise to power.

SOLOMON May 24, 2023

Show notes

Tradition has it that King Solomon knew everything there was to know—the mysteries of nature, of love, of God himself—but what do we know about him?

Join us with esteemed biblical scholar Steven Weitzman as we reexamine Solomon's story and its surprising influence in shaping Western culture in Solomon: The Lure of Wisdom. We also explore what Solomon's life, wisdom, and writings have come to mean for Jews, Christians, and Muslims over the past two thousand years.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected