Tablet Studios

This week on Unorthodox, we’re sharing an episode of “Hearing with Tali Farhadian Weinstein,” a podcast from Pushkin Industries. Tali is an Iranian-Jewish prosecutor running for District Attorney in Manhattan, and her show features interviews with policy experts, journalists, and community members. In this episode of Hearing, Tali talks to former Unorthodox guest Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of Manhattan...

This week on Unorthodox, we’re celebrating Purim and breaking the mold. First, Stephanie welcomes her special Purim co-hosts, friends of the show Kylie Unell and Abigail Pogrebin, who help her tell the story of Purim and offer their takes on some of the holiday’s larger themes. Next, Stephanie is joined by Anna Solomon, author of The Book of V., a fictionalized redefining of the story of Vashti. S...

Ep. 263:This week on Unorthodox, we’re waiting for our Israeli Pizza Hut delivery by drone. Our first Jewish guest is actress Jackie Tohn, host of the Netflix cooking competition Best Leftovers Ever! She tells us about understanding the importance of leftovers from a young age as the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, and also about using that real-life identity to inform her character Melrose on...

This week on Unorthodox, we’re giving you a taste of some other podcasts we’ve been working on. First, you’ll hear an episode of Liel’s daily Daf Yomi podcast, Take One, featuring special guest Sister Helen Prejean, a passionate advocate against capital punishment, as they discuss a page of Talmud that references the death penalty. Next, you’ll hear Stephanie’s interview with Tablet’s newest podca...

This week on Unorthodox, we’re firing up our Jewish space lasers. Mark and Liel talk to legendary actor Ed Asner about his latest project, The Tattooed Torah, an animated short about the inspiring journey of a Torah scroll and the little boy who swore to rescue it from the Nazis, about great TV and why they don't make shows like they used to, and about standing up to your political beliefs, even w...

This week on Unorthodox, two Jewish guests and a whole lot of books. Our first guest is Zibby Owens, host of the podcast “Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books.” She tells us about tirelessly promoting book authors during the pandemic, even as she dealt with her own family’s COVID-19 trauma (and planned two Zoom bar and bat mitzvahs). The resulting quarantine anthology, Moms Don’t Have Time To, featu...

This week on Unorthodox, we’re live (virtually) from Beth Sholom Congregation in Elkins Park, PA. Our special guests this week are Jamie and Brian Stelter. Jamie Stelter, who had her bat mitzvah at Beth Sholom, is the traffic reporter for NY1, and Brian Stelter is the chief media correspondent for CNN and host of Reliable Sources. They talk to us about filming their TV appearances from their apart...

Our Jewish guest is Mike Rothschild, a conspiracy theory researcher and debunker who is writing a book about the QAnon conspiracy theory. He tells us what QAnon is and explains the anti-Semitism inherent in the conspiracy theory, confirming for us that all conspiracy theories have Jew-hatred at their core. He also confirms that everyone he interacts with in these worlds asks if he’s one of those R...

This week on Unorthodox: the full Luxembourg. Our first guest is essayist and critic William Deresiewicz, whose new book The Death of the Artist: How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech. He tells us about getting kicked out of Jewish day school as a teen, his work since then, and why it’s so hard to be an artist today. Our second guest is sportswriter and Tab...

This week on Unorthodox, we’re celebrating the other New Year. Our Jewish guest is Rabbi Tiferet Berenbaum of Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, Massachusetts. She tells us about her path to the rabbinate, her passion for Jewish education, and what she’s learned running TBZ’s Hebrew school. Our Gentile of the Week is Peter Sis, the Czech-American illustrator, author, and MacArthur genius. He tells us...

This week on Unorthodox, we’re celebrating the very 2020 calendar crossover of Christmas and the 10th of Tevet, a minor Jewish fast day. Our Jewish guest is writer and comedian Merrill Markoe, whose new graphic memoir is “We Saw Scenery: The Early Diaries of Merrill Markoe.” Our Gentile of the Week is Phillipe Etienne, the French ambassador to the United States, who gave us a lesson in the French...

This week on Unorthodox: Hallmark Hanukkah movies, puppies for Hanukkah, and so much more. First we talk with linguist Sarah Bunin Benor, who made her first Unorthodox appearance all the way back on Ep. 102. She returns to the show to explain why some people say “lat-key” instead of “latke,” and settle other holiday pronunciation debates. Then it’s time for some music to get us in the holiday spir...

This week on Unorthodox, one Mark Oppenheimer is not enough. Our first guest is Colorado Governor Jared Polis, who is the state’s first Jewish governor and the first openly gay governor in the U.S. He tells us about his Jewish upbringing, extolls the many virtues of the State of Colorado, and explains why he’s got his eyes on 2022, not 2024. Next we talk to the other Mark Oppenhemer: the South Afr...

This week, a mini-holiday mashup. First, associate producer Robert Scaramuccia brings us the story of Aaron Hartman, a Jewish man from Atlanta, GA with Williams Syndrome, and his very unique pandemic birthday present. We also bring you a Hanukkah gift guide that includes products our listeners make themselves! Find these suggestions and more by joining our Facebook group. Join the hosts Wednesday,...

This week on Unorthodox, Mark says goodbye to a staple of his childhood as Friendly’s files for bankruptcy. To cheer him up, we’ve got two great Jewish guests. First we talk to comedian Gilbert Gottfried, whose voice you may have recognized on our 2019 episode celebrating the publication of our book, “The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia.” He explains why comedy in dark times is essential and cathartic,...

This week on Unorthodox, we remember Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who died this week at 72. He first visited the show in December 2018, and he returned in September 2020 to discuss his most recent book, “Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times.” May his memory be a blessing. Our Gentile of the Week is Tom Colicchio, head judge on Bravo’s “Top Chef” and founder of Crafted Hospitality. He...

This week, we’re dropping an early episode to keep you company while you vote. Our first Jewish guest is Eve Barlow, a Scottish music journalist in LA who has lately started calling out anti-Semitism in America and abroad, including in her recent Tablet essay, “Wake Up America, and Smell the Anti-Semitism,” Next we talk to Gentile of the Week Vineet Chander, the Hindu chaplain at Princeton Univers...

Comedian Judy Gold on her new book, “Yes I Can Say That,” and California Representative Katie Porter on the key to pandemic economic recovery This week on Unorthodox, we’re spoiling the new Borat movie for you. But we have two all-star returning guests that more than make up for it. Jewish guest Judy Gold was on our January 2018 live show with Father Jim Martin, and she joins us again to tell us a...

This week on Unorthodox, we’re recovering from our potentially poisonous etrog-tinis. Our first Jewish guest is actor and comedian Michael Ian Black, best known for "Wet Hot American Summer" and VH1’s “I Love The …” series, whose latest book is "A Better Man," a meditation on masculinity written in the form of a letter to his college-aged son. He tells us about the book, which is far more earnest...

This week on Unorthodox, it’s Nobel Prize season! We're celebrating by airing a special virtual live show, presented by ORT America, featuring actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik, who shares our hobby of Googling Nobel Prize winners to see if they’re Jewish. Stars—they’re just like us! Listen as we chat with the Blossom and The Big Bang Theory actress about discovering observant Judaism in col...

This week on Unorthodox, we're shaking that lulav and etrog for Sukkot. To help us understand the various Jewish holidays that arrive in quick succession after the High Holidays—Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Shemini Atzeret—we talk to Roberta Kwall, author of Remix Judaism: Preserving Tradition in a Diverse World. She tells us about the traditional “smashing of the willows” and other lesser known Jewish...

Just a few updates while we take the week off to celebrate 5781. Please join us for a virtual live show presented by ORT America with special guest — actor, author, and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik. Details at bit.ly/unorthodoxliveevents Please consider donating to Unorthodox! Our annual fundraiser is underway, and we're trying to get to 1,000 donors. Everyone who gives will be entered into a raffl...

Each year for Yom Kippur, we bring you a special episode all about apology and atonement. (Listen to our previous episodes: from 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015.) This year, we’re focusing on the theme of reconciliation—across the political divide and the religious spectrum, and beyond. Our first story comes from Chris Haugh and Jordan Blashek, two friends who decided to drive across the country...

As the sun set for Rosh Hashanah this past Friday night, Jews in America and across the world learned of the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It was like a gut punch, resounding across social media. The 87-year-old trailblazing Supreme Court Justice-- the second female Justice-- spent her entire career, her entire life really, fighting for equal rights for women and minorities, fighting so that every...

This Jewish New Year will definitely be different from all others, but we're here to help you ring in 5781 with as much enjoyment and enlightenment as possible. First we talk to Rabbi Sandra Lawson of Elon University about her plans for High Holiday services on campus this year, as well as her experience as a gay, black rabbi navigating the Jewish world. She also shared how she uses music and soci...