Ask a Jew

Much more on Substack! Iran, Lebanon and Syria, Oh My! Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a fellow at the The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), hailing from Beirut via Baghdad and all the way to Washington DC. We talk about how he learned Hebrew by chatting with Israeli soldiers on the lebanese border, why he was wrong about the new leader of Syria, and why peace with Israel can only help the Ara...

Iran who? Venezuela what? The hottest place you need to know about right now is a little Muslim democracy in the horn of Africa called Somaliland. Recently, Israel just became the first country to recognize Somaliland as it cements its independence from Somalia, and we are now all in the honeymoon phase. We invited our new best friend Saeed Ibrahim, founder and editor of Somaliland Chronicle , to...

Last night we went Live on Substack with our listeners and AAJ BFF and The Free Press contributer, Eli Lake. Bummed you missed it? Want to watch a video version? Subscribe for free at askajew.substack.com Read Eli’s latest about Venezuela, Iran and others, “ Why the Venezuela Operation Won’t Embolden America’s Enemies” at The Free Press. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with...

Our podcast daddy Michael C. Moynihan is back from the dead for a long (and long awaited) discussion on conspiracy theories, antisemitism, dumb people, and why you shouldn’t end every conversation with a Jew with: BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PEDOPHILES?? Anyway, it’s not too late to update your 2026 resolutions, and our guest’s advice is to maybe this year, dislike yourself a little bit more. Not in a self...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit askajew.substack.com Hi everyone, Last night we were supposed to interview Michael C. Moynihan , but unfortunately he tragically passed away. At least that’s what we think, we don’t know where he is. Godspeed Michael, we’ll miss you and carry your legacy. Anyway, his disappearance is your gain, if you’re a paying subdcriber! We jumped o...

All photos and videos to accompany this episode are on our substack! Askajew.substack.com In this episode we cover the events of last week, from the horrific murders in Sydney, to Ben Shapiro at TPUSA, to - of course - Mandy Patinkin. In case you missed it, Ben Shapiro took to the stage last week at Turning Points USA’s AmericaFest, and in front of 30,000 people, for 30 glorious minutes, tore into...

You know Andy Mills from such podcasts as “The Daily” from The New York Times, “The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling” from The Free Press, and most recently, the award winning show “The Last Invention” about the Al revolution from his new company ”Longview Investigations”. We discuss wether or not Al has a soul, human-robot babies, why some of the founders of the technology think we need to stop it li...

*No International Laws were broken during the recording of this episode.* Dr. Mijal Bitton is a spiritual leader at the Downtown Minyan , an NYU sociologist, a scholar-in-residence at the Maimonides Fund , co-host of the Wondering Jew podcast AND she’s right here on Substack at Committed by Mijal Bitton . We discuss being a sephardic, south American Jew, orthodox feminism, dirty words in the bible...

Chaya Leah is back from Vegas, and boy does she have some stories to tell (not the kind you think, though. They are much, much worse). Also, are orthodox Jews allowed to celebrate Thanksgiving? Was Yael disappointed when she met hostages in real life? And what did Chaya Leah say to make an Uber driver pull over because he was laughing so hard? If you love our show, please consider becoming a subsc...

Happy Thanksgiving! Today on Ask A Jew, CNN Political Contributor and author of the new book “A Revolution of Common Sense: How Donald Trump Stormed Washington and Fought for Western Civilization” , Scott Jennings !. You know Scott as the “spokesperson for common sense” on the CNN panel, and may recognize him as the guy who wore the hostage pin every day for two years on air, along with his progre...

Periel Aschenbrand is a writer, comedian, author , and producer of the Comedy Cellar podcast “Live From the Table” . We discuss her life in comedy, post-October 7th stand up, and the irony of hiding in a baker’s oven during the holocaust. Find Periel on Instagram , catch her show “ Hysterical ” at the West Side Comedy Club. and check out her clothing line Henrietta , a tribue to an OG Jewish femal...

Join the conversation on Substack askajew.substack.com Hello from NYC, where everything is going juuuussstttt grrreeaaat. Don’t worry though, we’ll protect you. What really was great was our Shabbat dinner with our friends at the Six Street Synagogue! About 60 of you showed up to eat, drink, cry, laugh and drink some more. It was truly uplifting and fun to meet everyone, we really could all use so...

Need a break from the NYC mayoral race and the left-wing antisemitism of Zohran Mamdani? Let’s dive into the refreshing world of right-wing antisemitism! See you this Friday at Ask A Jew’s NYC Shabbat Dinner! Tickets Here. No, you don’t need to be Jewish to join! This week we sat down with Seth Dillon, CEO of the conservative Christian satire website, The Babylon Bee. You may have read his recent...

Join us November 7th in NYC for a Shabbat dinner!! Tickets here ! There will be food, there will be alcohol, there will be listeners just like you. Tickets are limited. In this solo-pod, we recommend taking smartphones away from your kids and giving them cigarettes instead, ask ourseleves if we are crying wolf about Mamdani (no), and discuss what Israeli Jews and diaspora Jews should learn from ea...

You may recognize journalist Amit Segal from Dan Senor’s “Call Me Back” podcast, or his contributions to The Free Press. Israelis know him as Channel 12’s Chief Political Correspondent, co-host of our local version of “Meet the Press”, and author of the newly-translated bestseller: “A Call at 4 AM: Thirteen Prime Ministers and the Crucial Decisions that Shaped Israeli Politics” . He also publishes...

More photos and videos on askajew.substack.com Good morning from a different Israel, Something feels lighter in the air today. It’s been this way since I landed yesterday and probably started Wednesday evening when Trump announced a deal had been reached to release all remaining hostages and end the war. Israelis managed to not get their hopes up for about 30 seconds, but the joy in the faces of t...

Hi everyone, It’s a week of hope, despair, commemoration and as usual, unbridled rage. We caught up Friday to cover the many events of the last few weeks. Also we recorded this before the announcement of the Trump plan, sorry. Hard to keep up with the madness of the times. Want to see photos? Hear about special events? Subscribe on Substack askajew.substack.com Also: * Chaya Leah apologizes, and n...

Shana Tova from Chaya Leah’s kitchen table! It is not even 8am, and she already peeled 400 apples, made 200 matza balls, and skinned 3 chickens. I am sitting here trying to stay out of the way while working on our business aka this podcast. It’s very trad-wife. Check out CL’s resolutions and photos on our substack and see you in 5786! John Podhoretz is the editor of Commentary Magazine and co-host...

Sarah Hurwitz served as a White House speechwriter from 2009 to 2017, first as a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama and then as head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama. She’s with us to discuss her new brilliant book: As a Jew: Reclaiming Our Story From Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us , which is a must-read for every Jew who often has mixed feelings about their fait...

We are happy to welcome author, cultural critic, and social media explainer Leigh Stein to Ask A Jew today! We discuss her new novel, If You’re Seeing This, It’s Meant for You — a modern-day gothic page-turner set in a Los Angeles social media influencer hype house (if you don’t know what a hype house is, even more of a reason to tune in!) We discuss whether or not the internet is real life, what...

A long overdue solo awaits for those who dare! First of all we apologize for the lack of Taylor/Travis content here, we recorded this a few days ago before the breaking news. We hope you can still enjoy this discussion that covers: * ICE and immigration (in the first, like, 30 seconds) * Our nonexistent beef with The Commentary podcast * Unpopular opinions (Matcha and musicals?) * The entirety of...

Shabbos Kestenbaum is probably the most famous Jewish Harvard grad since Natalie Portman. You may know him as a former Bernie Bro and divinity student who went on to sue Harvard for discrimination, speak at the Republican National Convention , and accompany President Trump to the gravesite of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. We talk about what to do with all this sweet, sweet Jewish money, where Israel goes...

This week we welcome one of our favorite journaists of the moment, Olivia Reingold of The Free Press! We discuss her Jewish roots, atheism, how she went from an NPR fangirl to working for (gasp!) Bari Weiss, what’s wrong with Gen Z, accidental antisemitism, reading each and every one of Zohran Mamdani’s tweets, Mahmoud Khalil, and at the end we get into a very heated argument about…podiatrists. Th...

We are so excited to have the one and only Babka King, Chris Cares None with us! If you haven’t seen Chris’s videos on Instagram and TikTok where he reviews foods from different ethnicities, with some special love to Babka and Rugelach, why are you even still here? MORE VIDEOS https://askajew.substack.com/ Chris rose to fame after his Jewish food reviews attracted both love and hate, and let us te...

Happy Sunday and a blessed week to everyone, except Mandy Patinkin. In this catch-up we talk about the unfolding situation in Gaza (spoiler: some healthy disagreement!), the meaning of being able to criticize someone you love, toothaches and heartaches. Also: You don’t hate the UN enough Some Astronomer talk…sorry if no one cares anymore. But have you seen t his great response they put out?? .Lena...