Jewish Heretics Podcast

In this installment of the official UJPO podcast, we speak to celebrated American artist, poet, and cultural critic, Wayne Koestenbaum about a number of topics, including the Jewish themes in his recent work, the inherent irony in the piano music of Robert Schumann, the glories of Harpo Marx and the necessities of obsession.

In this installment of the official UJPO podcast, we interview celebrated author and academic, Jordy Rosenberg about his latest novel,  Night Night Fawn , his wild journey as a trans Marxist lover of Jewish humour, and his thoughts on whether the genre of fiction has the power to inspire readers into political action.

In this special International Women’s Day instalment of the official United Jewish People’s Order podcast, we interview celebrated academic, author and activist, Jehan Helou. Jehan has had a remarkable life and career, holding positions of leadership at the vanguards of both the women’s and Palestinian liberation struggles. In addition, she has worked tirelessly as an advocate for the children of...

In this installment of the official United Jewish People’s Order podcast, we interview Palestinian-American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter Cherien Dabis, about her latest epic feature film, All That’s Left Of You .

In this installment of the official United Jewish People’s Order podcast, we interview author and lawyer Saeed Teebi, exploring topics such as the role that intergenerational trauma has played in shaping his world view, his journey as a writer, his dedication to expressing an uncompromised Palestinian identity and the difference between hope and imagination during a genocide.  

In this installment of the official United Jewish People’s Order podcast, we interview novelist, poet, musician and educator Gary Barwin about his incredibly diverse and prolific practice, his relationship to all things Jewish, and his commitments to empathy and experimentalism as life projects.  

In this installment of the official United Jewish People’s Order podcast, we interview author and professor Aaron Kreuter about his work as a poet, novelist and humorist, touching on the development of his radical Jewish politics and his examination of colonial and Zionist cultural histories.

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we explore the ins and outs, past and present of Camp Naivelt, a family getaway that has been a haven for secular, Yiddishist, progressive Jewish people and their diverse families and comrades for a century. In August of 2025, guests will descend on the campgrounds, situated on the Credit River near Brampton, Ontario, to celebrate this inspiring pl...

On May 12, 2025, The United Jewish People’s Order presented an Evening with Peter Beinart, at Parkdale Hall in downtown Toronto. The event was an opportunity for representatives from an array of progressive, Jewish organizations to ask Mr. Beinart questions related to his latest book,  Being Jewish After The Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning .

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview producer, broadcaster and journalist, Samira Mohyeddin. She joins us to discuss her background in theatre, her experiences as a young Iranian expatriot and how they helped shape her politics and the complexities of so-called objective journalism, especially in the face of genocide.

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview Oriel Eisner and Dina Chizhik, activists and organizers with the Centre for Jewish Nonviolence. They joined us to discuss their own activist histories, their incredible solidarity work in the West Bank and elsewhere, the necessity of deferring to Palestinian voices and the current state of the left in Israel/Palestine.

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview celebrated author, professor and activist, Naomi Klein. She joined us to discuss a wide range of topics, including her own Jewish identity, the development of her political consciousness, the weaponizations of antisemitism in pursuit of Palestinian erasure and ways forward for liberationist movements in an ever-worsening political and...

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview healer, author, visual artist and activist, Wendy Elisheva Somerson, also known as Wes. They joined us to discuss their upcoming book, "An Anti-Zionist Path to Embodied Jewish Healing", a fascinating exploration of the connections between liberationist political activism, somatic healing and Jewish identity.

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview Arielle Angel, editor-in-chief  at Jewish Currents Magazine. The conversation covers a wide range of topics, including what it’s like to wrangle multiple perspectives at one of America’s most important Jewish/left institutions during a time of unprecedented Israeli violence and how to catch people when they leave Zionism.

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview Solomon J. Brager, the author of Heavyweight [William Morrow 2024] and other comics, a 2023-2025 Jerome Hill Artists Fellow, a member of the Pinko magazine editorial collective and the director of community engagement at Jewish Currents magazine.

In this instalment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview internationally celebrated artist, animator, writer and journalist Molly Crabapple. In a wide-ranging discussion, we touch on such topics as her long career as a visual artist, her unique relationship to language and her recent work researching and writing about the Jewish Labour Bund."

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview a distinguished panel of Toronto-based movers and shakers from the legal and activist worlds about the University of Toronto student encampment in support of Gaza and the injunction legal case that took place in late June of 2024, leading to the eventual ending of the encampment.  On the panel are Professor Alejandro Paz, lawyers Mae N...

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview internationally celebrated singer, songwriter, actor and Yiddishist, Daniel Kahn. In this wide-ranging discussion, we discuss his Jewish upbringing in suburban Michigan; his political activism at a young age; his discovery of Klezmer and Yiddish culture; his career as a songwriter and translator on the vanguard of Jewish music and thea...

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview celebrated journalist, filmmaker, professor, activist and Federal NDP candidate, Avi Lewis. We discuss his remarkable family legacy; how his Jewish upbringing has informed his politics and work; and how the horrors of the ongoing genocide in Gaza have created the potential for international solidarity and moral clarity.

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview celebrated Jewish, lesbian poet, academic, activist and author Irena Klepfisz, delving into her life-long journeys through language; the legacies of the Holocaust and the Labour Bund; and histories of queer and anti-Zionist activism. Along the way we learn about the challenges (and privileges) of coming out in the early 1970s in New Yo...

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview members of the Jews Say No to Genocide Coalition, a loose group of like-minded, Pro-Palestinian, anti-oppression organizations, formed in Toronto in the wake of the Hamas attack on Southern Israel on October 7 and the Israeli invasion of Gaza that followed. We discuss the coalition’s formation, its activities and the emotional toll tak...

In this special, bonus installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview Eitan Bronstein Aparicio and Eléonore Merza Bronstein, who were both guest speakers at the upcoming Split Screens Film Festival, on Sunday, October 22 at OCAD University in Toronto. Eitan and Eléonore are activists, academics, writers and founders of organizations such as Zochrot, which seeks to educate about the Nakba a...

In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview Corey Balsam, activist, polyglot, Capoeira expert and National Coordinator of Canada’s Independent Jewish Voices. Corey has spent many years advocating for a just peace in Israel/Palestine and is excited to share his own transformational story, from fully engaged Zionist to tireless champion of Palestinian rights. One of the most illum...

Welcome to "Jewish Heretics" the podcast that delves into the lives of extraordinary individuals who challenged conventions in Jewish history.

Welcome to "Jewish Heretics," the podcast that delves into the lives of extraordinary individuals who challenged conventions in Jewish history.