True Jew

Episode three starts with a story. Julia’s first day working at a company with Palestinian colleagues. Being pulled aside and told not to mention that she was Jewish. Because of what “Jewish” has come to mean in a world where identity, state power, and violence have been fused together. From there, we zoom out. This episode is about origins. Zionism. The founding of Israel. The role of the United...

Episode two of True Jew asks a question that feels simple: What does Jewish safety actually mean? We talk about fear. The kind that lives in our bodies. The kind that gets fed to us daily. The kind that gets weaponized. We’re joined by Nina Mehta, community educator and co-director of PARCEO (alongside the wonderful Donna Nevel), and Nora Lester Murad, writer, organizer, force behind Drop the ADL...

Hey, I’m Julia. My brother Samuel and I made a podcast together. It’s something for us, for our family and friends, and hopefully for you, too. This is True Jew . The name is a bit of a joke. There is no one way to be Jewish, and everyone is welcome at the table. If this trailer does its job, you won’t just know what we’re doing. You’ll get a vibe for why we are doing it.

“I Don’t Want to Be on Your Podcast” is an invitation into the world of True Jew . The tone. The questions. The friction. The love. It is a sampler of what this whole shebang is about. We talk about identity. We gather around a big family dinner table and let the microphones roll. You will hear from our parents and from family friends, in moments that are tender, awkward, funny, and raw. We listen...