Unorthodox

On this week's episode: America’s most badass Supreme Court Justice and TV’s most visible rabbi.   Our Jewish guest is MSNBC reporter Irin Carmon, whose new book, Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is a smart, entertaining biography of the Supreme Court justice. She tells us about RBG’s recent turn as a feminist pop culture icon, her important role on the Supreme Court today, and the octogenarian’s impressive workout routine.   Our non-Jewish guest is actress Kathryn Hahn, who tells us what it’s like to regularly play Jewish characters (see: Transparent, Afternoon Delight, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days). She explains how she prepared for her latest role as Rabbi Raquel Fein on Jill Soloway’s Amazon hit Transparent, which returns Friday for Season 2. She asks the panel about Judaism’s earliest female rabbis.   Our next episode will be a live taping on Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Washington DC JCC, in Washington, D.C. You can buy tickets at http://thejdc.convio.net/site/Calendar?id=151257&view=Detail.   To buy Notorious RBG, go to http://notoriousrbg.tumblr.com/book. For more Transparent, check out amazon.com/transparent.   We love to hear from you! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast. 

This week, we're, we’re ringing in the Festival of Lights with a special episode filled with Unorthodox holiday cheer, Adam Sandler’s updated “Hanukkah Song,” and a whole lot of latkes.   We’re joined by Jewish competitive eater Don Moses Lerman, who comes out of retirement to see how many Russ & Daughters potato latkes he can eat in five minutes on the air. Tablet columnist Marjorie Ingall, who previously gave us a crash course in pre-Yom Kippur apologies, stops by with some advice on how not to make Hanukkah all about the presents for kids, and recommends the best new Jewish children's books. Tablet’s art director Esther Werdiger also returns this week with a tale of Hanukkah Down Under—where the holiday falls smack in the middle of summer, and instead of snowflakes and fireplaces there are arbecues and beach parties.   We're recording a live show December 15 at 7 p.m. at the Washington DC JCC in Washington, D.C. You can buy tickets here: http://thejdc.convio.net/site/Calendar?id=151257&view=Detail.    Let us know what you really think of Unorthodox! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.    For more about Don Lerman, check out his website: http://www.donmoseslerman.com/. You can find Marjorie Ingall's list of the best children's books of 2015 here:http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/195314/best-jewish-childrens-books-2015.  

This Thanksgiving, we're thankful for good health, cats, and Drake. But mostly, dear listeners, we're thankful for you. Over the past 17 weeks, you've not only listened to our humble podcast, you've gotten your friends to listen, showed up at our first live taping, and, best of all, written to us to tell us exactly what you think of the show. A lot.  We so appreciate you taking the time to write us (even when it's to tell us we talk too fast, or don't know what we're talking about) that we've dedicated this special Thanksgiving episode to your letters. We speak to several listeners who have written us, hear from comedians Jo Firestone and Connor Ratliff as they read your letters aloud, and get singer-songwriter Jim Knable to turn your emailed words into the catchiest song you'll hear all day.  Happy Thanksgiving, and keep those letters coming at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.    For more Jo Firestone, check out http://www.jofirestone.com/. Follow Connor Ratliff on Twitter at https://twitter.com/connorratliff. You can hear more of Jim Knable's work at http://www.jimknable.com/  

Our Jewish guest, Bat Sheva Marcus, is a sex counselor, podcast host, and president of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance. She tells us about the most common issues her patients face, the challenges of finding rabinically-approved erotica for observant Jews, and the importance of maintaining a sexual connection in long-term monogamous relationships.    Our non-Jewish guest is Mallory Ortberg, founder and editor of feminist literary website the Toast, and Slate's new Dear Prudence advice columnist. She talks to us about her bestselling book, Texts From Jane Eyre, her evangelical pastor father, and the difficulties of dispensing advice. Her questions for the panel are whether lox is different from smoked salmon, and why there aren't as many Jewish denominations as there are Christian.   For more Bat Sheva Marcus, check out her podcast, The Joy of Text, here: http://jpmedia.co/podcasts/joy-of-text/. You can read Mallory Ortberg's Slate columns here: http://www.slate.com/authors.mallory_ortberg.html. Check out The Toast at http://the-toast.net/.    We love hearing from you. Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com, and sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast. 

This week on Unorthodox: Preaching to the unconverted. Our Jewish guest is our very own editor-in-chief, Alana Newhouse. She talks to us about Tablet’s new print magazine and shares exclusive details from the first issue, which comes out next week. Our non-Jewish guest is Dr. Albert Mohler,  president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a prolific writer and podcaster. The evangelical macher poses two questions to the panel: Why are Jews are so reliably Democratic? And what are the best Jewish-themed movies? We love hearing from you. Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com, and sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.    You can subscribe to our print magazine here: imsnews.com/tablet. For more about Dr. Mohler, check out his website at http://www.albertmohler.com/.

This week on Unorthodox, our Jewish guest is journalist Alyssa Katz, a member of the New York Daily News editorial board. Her new book, "The Influence Machine," is about the vast political influence—and lobbying money—wielded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She tells the panel what the Chamber of Commerce actually is and how it got so powerful, and explains why, in today's social media-filled political climate, newspaper editorials still matter.    Our non-Jewish guest is poet and high-school English teacher Emily Moore, who discusses high schoolers, country camp music, and motherhood. She asks the panel whether there are various levels of horas danced at different types of Jewish wedding, and how American Jews get their other, Hebrew names.   We love hearing from you. Email us at  Unorthodox@tabletmag.com, and sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://bit.ly/UnorthodoxPodcast.    For more about Alyssa Katz's book, see here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Influence-Machine-Commerce-Corporate/dp/0812993284. You can find Emily Moore's poetry here:"http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/emily-moore

This week marks the thirteenth episode of Unorthodox, and we’re ready to party like it’s our bar mitzvah all over again.   Our Jewish guest is Wayne Hoffman, executive editor of Tablet and the author of several novels. His latest is An Older Man, which follows 42-year-old Moe Pearlman (the protagonist from Hoffman’s first novel, Hard, about New York City’s gay scene in the 1990s), as he deals with getting older and finding companionship during Bear Week in Provincetown, MA. Hoffman discusses bear culture and what’s changed for the gay community since the days of Hard.   Our non-Jewish guest is Elvis Harvey, a dog trainer on the Upper West Side who’s gotten to know quite a few Jews since moving his business to New York City from Texas. He talks about the difference between Jewish and Catholic (as well as liberal and conservative) dog owners.   We love hearing from you. Email Unorthodox@tabletmag.com with questions, comments, or complaints. We’ll share our favorites on the air.   You can learn more about Wayne Hoffman's books at www.waynehoffmanwriter.com/.   You can find information about Elvis Harvey at BarkingCommonSense.com.   For more Unorthodox, visit tabletmag.com/unorthodox. Email us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com.

This week on Unorthodox, James Franco’s star-studded bar mitzvah for charity (seriously, it raised $2.5 million); a viral video celebrating—with spoken word poetry—the diversity of the Jewish people; and how Malcolm Gladwell can help us understand the recent rash of violent stabbing attacks in Israel. Our Jewish guest is Shulem Deen, whose moving memoir, All Who Go Do Not Return, describes his journey out of the Skverer Hasidic sect. Deen—who’s now on the board of Footsteps, an organization that offers support and community for people leaving ultra-Orthodoxy—tells us about the different challenges faced by men and women who leave the community, what the secular world can learn from the close-knit Haredi world, and the first movies he ever watched. Our non-Jewish guest is Wall Street Journal sports columnist Jason Gay, whose new book, Little Victories: Perfect Rules for Imperfect Living, offers a humorous blueprint for living a slightly more relaxed and fulfilling life. He asks what the reaction would be today if a Jewish pitcher declined to play in the World Series because of Yom Kippur, as Los Angeles Dodger Sandy Koufax famously did in 1965. We love hearing from you. Email Unorthodox@tabletmag.com with questions, comments, or complaints. We’ll share our favorites on the air.

This week, we present first-ever Unorthodox live show, recorded at the Slifka Center at Yale University. Our Jewish guest is Shelly Kagan, Clark Professor of Philosophy at Yale. He talks about his reputation as Tough Grader on Campus, and explains what it means that he’s a non-welfarist consequentialist.   Our guest gentile of the week—who told us he preferred the term “token goy” or “goykin”—is humorist and WNPR radio host Colin McEnroe. He asked the panel why yarmulkes always seem to fall off his head at bar mitzvah services, and, more seriously, why there seem to be certain tripwires within discussions about Israel that, when crossed, trigger accusations of anti-Jewish sentiment.   You can watch Shelly Kagan's Death course at: http://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy/phil-176. Listen to the Colin McEnroe Show here: http://wnpr.org/programs/colin-mcenroe-show.

This week on Unorthodox, host Mark Oppenheimer and Tablet staffers Stephanie Butnick and Liel Leibovitz discuss Amy Schumer's $8 million book deal, Ralph Lauren stepping down as CEO of his namesake brand, and Mahmoud Abbas's speech at the U.N. General Assembly.   Our Jewish guest is best-selling essayist Sloane Crosley, whose first novel, 'The Clasp,' tells the story of college friends who reunited 10 years later and get swept up in a modern-day treasure hunt across Europe. She tells the panel how a Jewish girl ended up with the name Sloane Crosley and about the transition from essay-writing to fiction.    Our non-Jewish guest is New York Times poetry critic David Orr, whose newest book, 'The Road Not Taken,' is about the Robert Frost poem people love—but completely misunderstand. He asks the panel why Jews, who have long been a staple of the literary world, are less present in the field of poetry.   You can get Sloane Crosley's book here: http://www.sloanecrosley.com/theclasp, and David Orr's book here: http://www.davidorr.com/books/the-road-not-taken/.    For more Unorthodox, visit tabletmag.com/unorthodox. Email us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com.

This week on Unorthodox, host Mark Oppenheimer and Tablet staffers Stephanie Butnick and Liel Leibovitz discuss Ann Coulter's ill-advised tweet during the Republican presidential debate about "f---ing Jews"; the Pope's visit to the U.S.; and a campaign to end the little-known Jewish practice of Kapporos, in which chickens are ritually slaughtered before Yom Kippur.  Our Jewish guest is defense lawyer and former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, whose latest book is "Abraham: The World's First (But Certainly Not Last) Jewish Lawyer." He talks about his former research assistant Natalie Portman, and explains why some critics of Israel are bigots while others are not.    Our non-Jewish guest is Muslim comedian Negin Farsad, who is currently suing the MTA for pulling ads publicizing her documentary, "The Muslims Are Coming," just before they were scheduled to run. One such ad reads: "The Ugly Truth About Muslims: Muslims Have Great Frittata Recipes." Farsad asks the panel why some Jewish men are so ready to court and date non-Jews, only to dump them as things start to get serious because they're not Jewish. You can get Alan Dershowitz's book on Abraham here: http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Worlds-Certainly-Jewish-Lawyer/dp/0805242937/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427481946&sr=1-4&keywords=abraham+the+worlds+first. For more of Negin Farsad's work, check out her website, http://www.neginfarsad.com/. Watch the trailer for her film at http://themuslimsarecoming.com/.  For more Unorthodox, visit tabletmag.com/unorthodox. Email us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com.

This week on Unorthodox, host Mark Oppenheimer and Tablet staffers Stephanie Butnick and Liel Leibovitz ring in the year 5776 with the latest news of the Jews. They sound off on a controversial New York Times feature that listed the Democrats in the House and Senate who voted against the Iran nuclear deal--and indicated which of those politicians were Jewish. (The 'Jewish?' column was quickly  ​ removed from the chart, and a correction was issued.)   Our Jewish guest is writer, model, and college student Julia Frakes, who describes getting her start as a writer in the fashion world when she was 16. She talks about ​ where to find smart fashion writing, and how she ended up on the runway.   Our non-Jewish guest is Erin McKean, lexicographer, word-lover, and founder of Wordnik.com, the "world's biggest online dictionary." She asks what Hebrew words we should be importing into English, and shares a ​ little-known​  Yiddish term she  ​feels is much deserving of a comeback.   You can follow Julia Frakes on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/bunnyBISOUS. Check out Wordnik's adopt-a-word fundraiser here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1574790974/lets-add-a-million-missing-words-to-the-dictionary.   For more Unorthodox, visit tabletmag.com/unorthodox. Email us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com.

Host Mark Oppenheimer and Tablet staffers Stephanie Butnick and Liel Leibovitz sound off about public schools closing for Jewish holidays, and discuss a New York Times opinion piece about how some of the most violent West Bank extremists are from the United States. Rabbi Avi Shafran explains why he dislikes like the term ultra-Orthodox, why secular Jews shouldn't feel hostility towards more observant Jews (and vice versa), and why he doesn't accept reform conversions.     Guest non-Jew Alex Sheshunoff describes his new book, A Beginner's Guide to Paradise, which chronicles his year living on the South Pacific island of Pig reading the 100 books he's always wanted to read. He asks the panel about the fishing wire strung from electrical poles in areas with large Jewish populations. (Known as an eruv, the string denotes an area in which items may be carried by observant Jews for Shabbat.)    To learn more about Avi Shafran, check out his website, http://rabbiavishafran.com/. You can read the first chapter of Sheshunoff's book at http://www.abeginnersguidetoparadise.com/#a-beginners-guide-to-paradise   For more Unorthodox, visit tabletmag.com/unorthodox. Email us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com.

This special Yom Kippur episode of Unorthodox features stories about apologies from host Mark Oppenheimer, writer and Harvard Divinity student Shira Telushkin, and Tablet's Esther Werdiger. What happens when an apology goes wrong? What happens when we’ve done something so awful we can’t face the other person? What happens when somebody apologizes to us—and we can’t forgive?   Special guest Marjorie Ingall, who blogs at sorrywatch.com, offers her five rules for what makes a good apology.   For more Unorthodox, visit tabletmag.com/unorthodox. Email us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com. 

Tablet staffers Mark Oppenheimer, Liel Leibovitz, and Stephanie Butnick sound off on the news of the week, including the death of the world’s oldest living Jew and a Palestinian prisoner's hunger strike. New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman discusses Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman, and the new Jewish comedy. Dan Savage, this week's guest non-Jew, asks a question about a long-ago romance lost in translation: specifically, his German boyfriend thinking he was Jewish.    Follow Jason Zinoman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zinoman. Check out Dan Savage's Savage Love column here: http://www.thestranger.com/authors/259/dan-savage,    For more Unorthodox, visit tabletmag.com/unorthodox. Email us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com.