Ask a Jew

Rafael Mangual is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal , and authour of the book Criminal (In)Justice: What the Push for Decarceration and Depolicing Gets Wrong and Who It Hurts Most . He joins us to explain what the HECK is going on with the DSA in New York, what it was like to grow up as a Dominican-Puerto Rican New Yorker with a cop for a f...

Ben Kawaller is a writer and journalist who you may know from his video series “Ben Meets America” in the Free Press, and from the Reflector podcast series “Strange Bedfellows” about how the LGBT movement went slightly off the rails. We discuss coming out as a writer late in life, going to Korea for illegal spa treatments that include salmon sperm injections to the face, and whether Adam (the one...

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the judges who rule on justice, and the clueless podcasters who interrogate them. Thanks for reading Good for the Jews! This post is public so feel free to share it. Today we are honored to welcome Judge Roy K. Altman, a United States Judge for the Southern District of Florida, and author of th...

It’s 9:04 in New York and we finally reached boss level. Today’s guest is Dan Senor of the “Call Me Back” podcast, bestselling co-author of “Start-Up Nation” and “The Genius of Israel”, and all-around great guy. We chain him to the chair for a good 90 minutes for our version of a serious interview, which included the Halachic case for rooting for the New York Knicks, who despises Brad Lander more,...

Batya (!) Ungar-Sargon needs no introduction, but if you insist: she’s the host of of “Batya!” on News Nation (Saturday at 7PM & Sunday at 11AM EST), host of the YouTube show “Prove It! With Batya” , and author of the brand new book, The Jews and the Left, which comes out tomorrow, is already a bestseller, and you should buy it immediately! Are you coming to happy hour tonight?? Or are you an anti...

Are you in or around New York City?? Mark your calendars for Monday, June 1st at 6pm!! Come have a drink with ChayaLeah and Yael! Spring Lounge 48 Spring St, New York, NY 10012 Comment if you plan to attend! Special guests may make an appearance… Good for the Jews is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thank you so...

WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE! Hello - SURVEY . Fill out the SURVEY . Last one to fill out the SURVEY is an antisemite. Plus you have a chance to win Chaya Leah’s baked goods, made especially for you! If you already filled it out, you are our favorite! If you are the listeners from Japan, Barbados, Scotland or Pakistan - email us! We want to get to know you (you can all email us actually. It is ca...

Dr. Gad Saad is a scholar at the Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom at the University of Mississippi, and all-around Mensch. As a Lebanese-Canadian-Jewish academic, let’s just say he knows a thing or two about the culture wars, and the war wars. We talk about his latest book “Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind”, how our minds have been infected by parisites, what...

Today on Ask a Jew, we’re joined by writer Freya India , author of Girls: Generation Z and the Commodification of Everything , to talk about what growing up as a girl looks like in the age of Instagram, how we are all carrying generational trauma from Eve, and why not everything in your life is a problem to be fixed. Turns out we’re all just 13-year-old girls! Now go buy the book. Do you know you...

Two episodes in one week? You lucky ducks! Maybe there’s even a third one coming…Only Hashem (and maybe producer Gabi) knows. BUT FIRST - are you following us on YouTube? Listen, I get if you’re an antisemite and don’t want to show your cards. We won’t judge you. But if you care about the Jewish people, really the only thing left to do is subscribe, like and leave a comment! We had some beginner’s...

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Watch this episode on YouTube!! Yes, it's happening! Please susbcribe to our brand new channel. Are the Straits of Hormuz open or closed? Is "free shipping" actually real? How do you clear underwater mines? Do ships draw crude drawings on tracking maps? And why are Christmas sweaters designed in April? All that and more in our conversation with maritime historian, professor, and popular podcast ho...

Jamie Denbo is an actress, comedian, formerly a writer and producer on Grey’s Anatomy (yes, that Grey’s Anatomy), and creator of The Beverly Podcast! Oh, you may have also seen her on Curb Your Enthusiasm and How I Met Your Mother. We talk to Jamie (and Beverly) about comedy, Hollywood, Jewish moms, what we can learn about antisemitism from 12-step programs, and what happened post-October 7th in t...

During these trying times, we’re here for you to process the shattering news of the last few weeks: Abby and David from Love on the Spectrum have broken up. What will happen to the lions? We also talk about the war in Iran, settlers, cutting off family members, and how, if we were in the Holocaust, we’d absolutely be hitting on the American soldiers who came to liberate us. Also: * Chaya Leah catc...

Rabbi David Wolpe needs no introduction, but if you insist: He’s a scholar in residence at the Maimonides Fund, Rabbi Emeritus at LA’s Sinai Temple, and formerly a visiting scholar at the Harvard Divinity School (where, you know, Yael…never mind). This is a somewhat optimistic, thoughtful (well, at least Wolpe’s part), conversation about why Jews are fine (when’s the last time you saw a Hittite wa...

Dr. Jonathan Sarna is one of the most well-regarded historians in America and the Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University. He has written and edited over 30 books (which is more than we have read…combined) and is the expert on the Jews of America. We rate the American presidents on whether they liked or didn’t like Jews, discuss how bad antisemitism really is today compared to...

Happy Nowruz! Is Iran winning? Do the people support the regime? Are the Arab countries mad at us? Beni Sabti has no time for your nonsense. Born and raised in Iran, Beni is one of Israel’s top war commentators and a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University. We were honored to catch him for a bit (albeit after a few glasses of wine…) to get the real story...

Today on Ask A Jew, we fly into the future to talk to Claire Lehmann , the founder and editor-in-chief of Quillette , a fantastic Australia-based online publication. We talk about the state of the nation in the land down under, how Australians are grappling with the rise of antisemitism and radical Islam, and which Australian celebrities are secretly based (looking at you, Bluey). Before we kick t...

These are trying times for the United States, Israel, and the good people of Iran. Thankfully, we gathered on a Substack Live with our community to talk sh*t about Malala Yousafzai! Also: funny memes from Israel, we love the USA, Hashem trolls Chaya Leah through Uber Eats, and more…. Enjoy, and Happy Purim! Video of this episode as well as photos and videos of the wonderful Iranian celebration in...

Behnam Ben Taleblu is senior director of the Foundation For Defense of Democracy’s Iran Program, and a senior fellow specializing in Iranian security and political issues. We ask this noted scholar the burning questions of the day like, “Do you lose weight on Ramadan?” and “What’s it like to have a fatwa on your head?” We also discuss the potential for an American (and Israeli?) strike on Iran, th...

Happy almost-Iran war day! On this solo pod, we discuss our respective Valentine’s Days, whether or not the US should start executing Olympic athletes who don’t bring home medals, and Chaya Leah’s near Holocaust experience at a fancy kosher restaurant in LA. We also finally take some listener questions! We help a listener explain to her Goyfriend why she wants to raise their kids Jewish even thoug...

Lahav Harkov is the Senior Political Correspondent for Jewish Insider , formerly of the Jerusalem Post, and most importantly - a repeat offender on AAJ. She’s here to answer all our current affairs questions, and some of our stupid questions too. We cover the potential of a war with Iran, an upcoming election in Israel (If you think American politics are crazy…), and the notorious Blue Square Supe...

What’s this?? Is it your birthday? Or are you just getting two episodes in one week because we love you so much?? As Jews around the world gather to celebrate Tu B’Shvat and the New England Patriots, we caught up to discuss everything that’s on our mind. Good for the Jews is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. * We...

Eylon Levy is a former Israeli Government Spokesman and one of Israel’s most recognized faces on the global stage since October 7th. A graduate of Oxford and Cambridge (which is like Harvard in the UK - ybt), he founded the Israeli Citizen Spokesperson Office , a grassroots campaign which gives citizens an opportunity to take part in the global information war. He also hosts the new show “Eylon Th...

Yassine Meskhout is a public defender, a Moroccan, an anarchist, a liberterian, a cyclist (*shudder*) and now, our new best friend. We’ve become obsessed with his writing since his viral November 2023 essay “The Jewish Conspiracy To Change My Mind” and the banger, “Why I write About the Jews” . We talk to Yassine about working with criminals, trying to figure out why some of his friends were celeb...