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Artwork for The Shmooze, The Yiddish Book Center's Podcast

The Shmooze, The Yiddish Book Center's Podcast

Yiddish Book Center
Yiddish Culture
Yiddish Literature
Yiddish Theater
Yiddish
Holocaust
Jewish Culture
Yiddish Language
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Yiddish Book Center
Yiddish Music
Chabad Movement
New York City
Irena Klepfisz
Literature
Sephardic Jews
Jewish Identity
Displaced Persons
Hasidism
20th Century Jewish History
Rabbinic Scholarship

The Yiddish Book Center's podcast includes conversations with Jewish culture makers, plus news and stories related to Yiddish literature, language, and culture.

PublishesTwice monthlyEpisodes408Founded14 years ago
Number of ListenersCategory
Arts

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Artwork for The Shmooze, The Yiddish Book Center's Podcast

Latest Episodes

Author Gil Ribak visited with "The Shmooze" to discuss his latest book, "Crude Creatures." The book draws on a mixture of previously unexplored Yiddish press, theater, and literature from Eastern Europe and the United States to examine how Black Afri... more

Author Judy Batalion visited with "The Shmooze" to talk about her latest book, "The Last Women of Warsaw." The historical novel follows two very different Jewish women in vibrant, stylish late-1930s Warsaw—the “Paris of the North”—as they grapple wit... more

Writer and artist Molly Crabapple visited with "The Shmooze" to speak about her forthcoming book, "Here Where We Live Is Our Country", the first popular history of the Bund. Molly re-creates the Bundists’ extraordinary world through dramatic portrait... more

Librettist and playwright Stephanie Fleischmann and composer and playwright Alex Weiser sat down with "The Shmooze" to talk about their collaboration on "Tevye’s Daughters." Their opera is based on Sholem Aleichem’s iconic Yiddish stories, exploring ... more

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Recent Guests

Gil Ribak
Author of Crude Creatures
Arizona Center for Judaic Studies, University of Arizona
Episode: Episode 408: Crude Creatures: Confronting Representations of Black People in Yiddish Culture
Judy Batalion
Author of The Last Women of Warsaw
Author, The Last Women of Warsaw
Episode: Episode 407: The Last Women of Warsaw
Molly Crabapple
Artist and writer, author of Here Where We Live Is Our Country
Artist and writer based in New York
Episode: Episode 406: Here Where We Live Is Our Country
Jane Ziegelman
Brooklyn-based author of 'Once There Was a Town', '97 Orchard', and 'A Square Meal'.
Episode: Episode 404: Once There Was a Town: The Memory Books of a Lost Jewish World
Juliette Carbonnier
Performer, writer, and comedian with a focus on Yiddish theater.
Princeton University
Episode: Episode 403: Polin: A One-Woman Play
Dr. Rachel Lichtenstein
Chronicler of Jewish East London, artist, writer, social historian, and academic.
Manchester Metropolitan University
Episode: Episode 400: The Life of A. N. Stencl: The Prince of Whitechapel
Anita Norich
Collegiate Professor Emerita at the University of Michigan, scholar, and translator of Yiddish literature
University of Michigan
Episode: Episode 396: August is Women in Translation Month
Andrew Jacobs
Reporter for The New York Times and board president of the Borscht Belt Museum.
The New York Times
Episode: Episode 394: What’s on at the Borscht Belt Fest?
Sheila Baslaw
Author of 'The Light Keeper', who shares her father's stories.
Episode: Episode 392: The Shtetl Story behind The Light Keeper

Host

Lisa Newman
Host of The Shmooze, The Yiddish Book Center

Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars from 42 ratings
  • Always interesting!

    This show has a wide variety of guests and the conversation is always interesting. The host is very engaged and interested in each person she interviews. I frequently look for more information on a topic after hearing about it on the show.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Lilly21661
    United States5 years ago
  • Perfect for Jews and the Jew-Curious

    This podcast has given me SO MUCH LEARNING and food for thought. The Shmooze is the podcast of the Yiddish Book Center, which is an organization founded by MacArthur "Genius Award" fellow Aaron Lansky. This podcast covers the whole world of Yiddish literature and by extension Jewish life, from mah jongg to Jerry Stiller's portrayal of Frank Constanza on Seinfeld, to difficulties of finding and translating women authors who wrote in Yiddish, to how to teach about Meyer Wolfsheim, the one Jewish c... more

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    iolantherosa
    United States6 years ago
  • Good shmooze!

    Smart and wide-ranging--and in a nice, bite-sized length, with a great variety of guests talking about everything from the perfect pickle to Bob Dylan's influence on the Beatles. Good stuff!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    CWesternMA
    United States9 years ago
  • Brief and enlightening

    This wonderful podcast from the Yiddish Book Center out of Amherst, Massachusetts is a weekly visit to the center where one meets the people and projects surrounding their work to rescue, disseminate, digitize, translate, and innovate in telling the Yiddish and Jewish story with their collection of over a million Yiddish books. The interviews cover many people involved with the center, including scholars, musicians, visiting artists, translators, book rescuers, curators, students, and many more.... more

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    PerpetualImagination
    United States12 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Thoughtful conversations with diverse guests.
Showcases a broad spectrum of Yiddish literature and history.
Beautifully concise episodes that stay engaging.
High-quality, well-researched storytelling about Jewish culture.

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Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Episode 406: Here Where We Live Is Our Country
Q: Did you discover your great-grandfather in a different way, or did some of who he was make more sense to you?
She explains her evolving relationship with her great-grandfather, shaped by archival material, personal stories, and the realization of his complex role in history.
Episode 406: Here Where We Live Is Our Country
Q: I wonder what it was like, I guess, for you. You're telling both a personal story threaded through the book and also the story of the Bund. What was that like for you in terms of writing it out?
Crabapple describes the writing process as weaving her family history with the Bund's broader story, aiming for an accessible narrative that resonates beyond academia.
Episode 404: Once There Was a Town: The Memory Books of a Lost Jewish World
Q: What character did you discover in your family shtetl related to Jewish heritage?
Luboml had an illustrious past, represented by its grand synagogue. It holds both a big history of changing occupations and a personal family history that makes it unique.
Episode 404: Once There Was a Town: The Memory Books of a Lost Jewish World
Q: What led you to write 'Once There Was a Town'?
The book is a personal exploration of my family's Shtetl roots and aims to reconstruct the lost world of these communities through the voices and stories found in Yizkor books.
Episode 404: Once There Was a Town: The Memory Books of a Lost Jewish World
Q: Can you provide some background on Yizkor books and how they informed your writing?
Yizkor books are memorials for fallen Jewish communities, with roots tracing back to before the Holocaust and evolving through historical hardships, including the Middle Ages. They served as a form of remembrance for victims of persecution.

Audience Metrics

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Frequently Asked Questions About This Podcast

What is This Podcast about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A conversational show centered on Jewish literature, language, and culture, featuring authors, scholars, and performers who explore Yiddish history, memory, and contemporary relevance. Episodes commonly thread together personal histories, archival research, and artistic practice to illuminate broader cultural themes. The format blends intimate interviews with discussions of books, plays, cinema, and community heritage, often connecting past Jewish life to present-day issues. A standout aspect is its consistent access to prominent researchers and artists who bring deep, specialized knowledge in an approachable way, making it a strong pick for listeners curious about Jewish culture, history, and translation, as well as for guests and sponsors... more

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1. Identity/Crisis
2. Haaretz Podcast
3. SAPIR Conversations
4. The Tikvah Podcast
5. Call Me Back - with Dan Senor

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this podcast launched 14 years ago and published 408 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on this podcast?

Recent guests on this podcast include:

1. Gil Ribak
2. Judy Batalion
3. Molly Crabapple
4. Jane Ziegelman
5. Juliette Carbonnier
6. Dr. Rachel Lichtenstein
7. Anita Norich
8. Andrew Jacobs

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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