The College Commons Podcast

Author and activist Lihi Lapid follows characters who yearn for each other across space, time and even cognition. Biography: Lihi Lapid is a writer, journalist, lecturer and performer, symbolizing the voice of the contemporary Israeli woman. Her activity in various media has earned her a following that sweeps through social media with thousands of shares and comments. Her books have been on the be...

Author Lee Yaron resists the simplification of politics, people, and, most of all, of October 7th — in favor of nuance and humanity. Biography: Lee Yaron is an award-winning Israeli journalist. Her new book, "10/7: 100 Human Stories," won the 2024 National Jewish Book Award  Book of the Year — and the 2025 Natan Notable Books award. At 30, Yaron is the youngest Book of the Year recipient in t...

Rabbi Marc Katz uses the historical imagination to plumb the depths of Judaism’s greatest choice for survival.

Rabbi Elliot asks us to approach difficult times with depth of mind and spirit.

Rabbi Joshua Weinberg tackles both the complexity and the clarity of vision embedded in the idea of Liberal Zionism.

Poet Menachem Rosensaft transforms the Psalms into a search for God who permitted the Holocaust.

Who are we and where is home? Author Yariv Inbar investigates through the mental tightrope of espionage.

Aryeh Ben David plumbs the diaries of the epochal thinker Rav Kook. He finds the imperative of love.

Author Mari Lowe explores adolescence through the lens of the Orthodox experience – both unique and common to all.

Deborah Dash Moore transports us to midcentury New York and the photographer who captured its people from street level.

Shai Held puts love at the center of Judaism, and explains why it may surprise you.

Jeremy Brown’s Eleventh Plague captures Jewish responses to pandemics from across the millennia.

Julia Watts-Belser reveals disability as an engine for human creativity and spiritual depth - for everyone.

Richard Ho celebrates the Chinese and Jewish New Years – in the same family under the same lunar cycle.

Rabbi Yonatan Neril frames the ecological crisis in spiritual terms.

Dr. Paul Zeitz explores solutions to our greatest challenges, from our inner selves to the world around us.

John Inazu dissects disagreement to find opportunities for social trust, faith and democratic flourishing.

Rabbi Hirshel Jaffe invites us on his journey of healing and human solidarity.

Reform Judaism’s pioneering decision to mandate study in Jerusalem.

Hélèn Jawhara Piñer uncovers the Jewish secrets of a 13th-century Arab-language cookbook.

Stephen Mills shares his story of sexual abuse and reminds us of our still-unfulfilled obligations of protection and justice. Stephen Mills is the author of Chosen: A Memoir of Stolen Boyhood, a winner of the National Jewish Book Award. He's also the co-author of Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees, a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year. Since 1982 he has advised and written for an...

The best of all worlds: Jewish and Italian food from award winning cook and author Benedetta Guetta. Benedetta Jasmine Guetta is an Italian food writer and photographer. She was born in Milan, but she lives in Santa Monica, California. In 2009, she cofounded a website called Labna, the only Jewish/Kosher cooking blog in Italy, specializing in Italian and Jewish cuisine. Since then, she has been sp...

Kiryas Joel, a chartered municipality in New York State functions as a religious community and American village. Nomi M. Stolzenberg holds the Nathan and Lilly Shapell Chair at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. She is a legal scholar whose research spans a range of interdisciplinary interests, including law and religion, law and liberalism, law and feminism, law and psycho...

Jessica Marglin: The Citizen Who Didn’t Belong Jessica Marglin discusses the 19th-century Italian Jew, whose estate became a test of the nascent idea of “citizenship.” Jessica Marglin is Professor of Religion, Law, and History, and the Ruth Ziegler Early Career Chair in Jewish Studies at the University of Southern California. She earned her PhD from Princeton and her BA and MA from Harvard. Her re...

Dr. Sivan Zakai uncovers the world of children’s opinions and insights about Israel, in peace and in crisis. Sivan Zakai, Ph. D., is the Sara S. Lee Associate Professor of Jewish Education at HUC-JIR/Los Angeles. A thought leader in Jewish and Israel education, Dr. Zakai is the director of the Children’s Learning About Israel Project and co-director of Project ORLIE: Research and Leadership in Isr...