Podcast · Devotional & Spiritual

Hadassah Magazine Presents

by Hadassah Magazine · English · Devotional & Spiritual

Tune in as Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein hosts discussions with acclaimed Jewish authors, thinkers, celebrities and culinary stars.

New episodes: Monthly
Typical length: 50 min
Latest: 24 Sep 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

24 Sep 2026 · 56 min

What Jewish Students Face on Campus with Shai Davidai and Izabella Tabarovsky

We've all seen the photos and heard the chants. Anti-Israel sentiment and rhetoric are flourishing on college campuses. How did we get here and what can be done? There has been so much discussion about what's happening on college campuses and in the classroom, especially over the past few years, since October 7. Providing important new insights and perspectives, Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein speaks with scholar and writer Izabella Tabarovsky, author of Be a Refusenik!: A Jewish Student’s Survival Guide , and Shai Davidai, Israeli activist and former assistant professor at…

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Earlier episodes 19 most recent

26 Aug 2026 · 50 min
The Jewish ‘Playmakers’ Behind Barbie, G.I. Joe and Mr. Potato Head
What do Barbie, G.I. Joe and Mr. Potato Head have in common? Besides being iconic, much beloved toys, they each have fascinating Jewish figures who drove their creation and success. Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein speaks with two best-selling writers whose recent books explore the Jewish contributions to the American toy industry. Michael Kimmel, author of Playmakers: The Jewish Entrepreneurs Who Created the Toy Industry in America , and Renée Rosen, whose Let's Call Her Barbie is a fictionalized account of Ruth Handler's creation of the iconic Barbie doll, will discuss the…
22 Jul 2026 · 49 min
Sephardic and Mizrahi Perspectives on the American Jewish Experience
Sephardic Jews are a minority within a minority in the United States. Too often they have been overshadowed by the majority Ashkenazi community, despite the success of high-profile personalities, including entertainers like Law & Order actor Jerry Orbach and pop singer Paula Abdul, and historical figures such as early 20th-century Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo and 19th-century poet Emma Lazarus. Like other American Jews, they arrived as refugees — in fact arrived before their Ashkenazi counterparts — and forced to carve out new lives for themselves and their children by working…
18 Jun 2026 · 50 min
Antisemitism in Health Care: Analyzing the Symptoms and Possible Treatments
One of the most alarming upticks in antisemitism has been in the world of medicine, which impacts doctors and patients, medical students, nurses, mental health practitioners and anyone working in health care today. How do Jewish medical professionals navigate these difficult times, and how can we, as patients, protect ourselves? Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein speaks with a panel on the front lines of these issues: Michelle Stravitz, former CEO of the American Jewish Medical Association, founded in 2023 as a result of increased antisemitism in the aftermath of the Hamas…
26 May 2026 · 47 min
Adeena Sussman on 'Easy, Breezy' Cooking for Complicated Times
Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein speaks with food-world luminary Adeena Sussman about her new cookbook, Zariz: 100 Easy, Breezy, Tel Aviv-y Recipes . With its focus on uncomplicated, Israeli-inflected cooking, Sussman, the author of the best-selling Sababa and Shabbat cookbooks and the beloved food columnist at the magazine, developed Zariz in the shadow of the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, when she says she felt both a spiritual and practical need to streamline her time in the kitchen as the world around her seemed to be unraveling. Further Resources Purchase Zariz: 100…
28 Apr 2026 · 59 min
Journalist Matti Friedman on Hannah Senesh, Israeli Resilience and Jewish Pride
Hadassah Magazine Presents host Lisa Hostein speaks with Matti Friedman about his new book, ⁠ Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe ⁠ , on Hannah Senesh and the mission to rescue Jews during World War II. The renowned journalist and author discusses the enduring relevance of the ill-fated mission that became a Zionist legend as well as the challenges Israel faces today. Further Resources Purchase Out of the Sky on ⁠Bookshop⁠ . Check out the latest from the author on his website, ⁠mattifriedman.com⁠ . Follow the author on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠X⁠ . Read an ⁠interview with the author⁠…
30 Mar 2026 · 35 min
Acclaimed Author Allegra Goodman on Jewish Family, Love and Tsuris
Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein speaks with master storyteller Allegra Goodman. Famed for her keen observations of the idiosyncrasies of contemporary Jewish families, Goodman discusses her latest novel, This is Not About Us , and shares insights into the complexities of American Jewish life and faith. Further Resources Purchase This is Not About Us on Bookshop . Read the review of the book in Hadassah Magazine Check out the latest from the author on her website, allegragoodman.com Follow her on Instagram ( @allegragoodmanwriter ) and Facebook ( @allegragoodman) The show is…
18 Feb 2026 · 40 min
Unraveling a Mother-Daughter Mystery, With Author Mary Morris
Tune in as award-winning author Mary Morris joins Hadassah Magazine Presents to discuss her latest novel, The Red House. A mystery that toggles between contemporary New Jersey and Mussolini’s Italy during World War II, the book explores hidden Jewish identity and history and the lasting impact of trauma. Further Resources Read a review of The Red House in Hadassah Magazine Purchase a copy of The Red House on Bookshop. Learn more about Mary Morris on her website and follow her on Instagram and Facebook. The show is hosted by Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein and produced by…
3 Feb 2026 · 45 min
Menopause: New Truths, Old Myths
With menopause suddenly everywhere, from news reports to memes on social media to pop culture, it's fair to say that menopause is having a moment. What's driving this new visibility for something women have always experienced? And how can you separate fact from fiction? Those questions and more are addressed in this episode focused on the changing conversation, latest health trends and medical protocols around menopause. Hear from Jewish women who are leaders in reframing the conversation and treatment around menopause. Panelists include health tech entrepreneur Joanna Strober, co-founder…
11 Dec 2025 · 57 min
Heart to Heart With Rabbi Angela Buchdahl
In conversation with Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein, Angela Buchdahl, the trailblazing senior rabbi of New York City’s Central Synagogue and one of America’s most influential Jewish spiritual leaders, joins Hadassah Magazine Presents to discuss her remarkable journey from South Korea, where she was born, to the rabbinate; finding light and joy in Judaism today amid the many challenges; and her new memoir, Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging . Further Resources Purchase a copy of Heart of a Stranger on Bookshop Read Hadassah…
26 Nov 2025 · 41 min
Unpacking Antisemitism in America With Pamela Nadell
Recorded live at the Miami Book Fair, this episode features award-winning historian Pamela S. Nadell, director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University, about her new book, Antisemitism, an American Tradition . Nadell addresses the dark history of how antisemitic hate threaded across the American past from colonial times to today, uncovering centuries of prejudice — but also Jewish perseverance — in America. Further Resources Pamela Nadell's website: pamelanadell.com Nadell's article, " A Turning Point for Antisemitism? " in Hadassah Magazine Hadassah Magazine' s review of…
30 Oct 2025 · 1 hr 1 min
Two Years On with Yossi Klein Halevi and Lee Yaron
In conversation with Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein, renowned Israeli writers Yossi Klein Halevi ( Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor ) and Lee Yaron ( 10/7: 100 Human Stories ) join Hadassah Magazine Presents to discuss what it means to be a Jew today, in a post October-7 world as well as what two years of war and rising global antisemitism mean for the future of the Jewish people. Further Resources Yossi Klein Halevi’s “Choosing Between October 6 and October 8” in Hadassah Magazine. Lee Yaron’s " October 7 Survivors, Then and Now " in Hadassah Magazine. Review of Yaron’s…
30 Sep 2025 · 39 min
'Happy New Years' from Master of Israeli Fiction Maya Arad
As non-Hebrew readers are at last able to access and enjoy the work of acclaimed Israeli-born author Maya Arad, one of the "finest living authors writing in Hebrew today" ( Haaretz ), this candid and illuminating conversation highlights what makes Maya and her work so vital. In dialogue with Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor, Lisa Hostein, Maya discusses her new book, Happy New Years , which, among many engaging themes, sheds light on what it means to be an Israeli living in America — a pertinent question as we all continue to grapple with the ongoing war in Gaza and the fate of the…
28 Aug 2025 · 42 min
From Shield to Scapegoat: Jewish Literature's Past, Present and Future
Jewish writers are being blacklisted and review bombed as antisemitism runs rampant in the book world. Tune in as Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein moderates a panel of prestigious literary insiders discussing the challenges and opportunities facing Jewish authors amid the current climate of rising antisemitism. THE PANELISTS Rachel Gordan is the Samuel "Bud" Shorstein Professor of American Jewish Culture and Society at the University of Florida and the author of Postwar Stories: How Books Made Judaism American . Talia Benamy is an editor and backlist manager at Philomel, an…
29 Jul 2025 · 51 min
Delphine Horvilleur, the ‘Reformed’ French Rabbi Making Waves
Tune in as Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein interviews Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur , author of the recent best seller ⁠ How Isn't It Going? Conversations After October 7 ⁠ and the inspiration behind the hit streaming series ⁠ Reformed, ⁠ which is loosely based on her award-winning 2021 essay collection ⁠ Living With Our Dead ⁠ . One of only a handful of female French rabbis, Horvilleur has become a leading public intellectual in her native country and a powerful proponent for plurality and interfaith dialogue. The New York Times has called her "the rare public intellectual to…
27 Jun 2025 · 51 min
Young Zionists Take Up the Fight
Anyone who has visited a college campus or scrolled social media has seen the alarming anti-Israel rhetoric running rampant among young people, including young Jews. But there are young people who have emerged in this difficult environment with a renewed passion for Israel and dedication to fighting for its future. Hear from some of them and the leaders supporting them in this informative and inspiring episode hosted by Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein. In the words of guest panelist Yocheved Ruttenberg, "We have a Jewish state but we are far from done fighting for it." Guests…
30 May 2025 · 43 min
Ayelet Tsabari: Songs from a Yemeni Israeli Legacy
In this compelling conversation, Hadassah Magazine senior and books editor Leah Finkelshteyn speaks with Israeli-Canadian writer Ayelet Tsabari, whose debut novel, Songs for the Brokenhearted , won a National Jewish Book Award for Fiction. The rich and complex novel unfolds across two pivotal moments in Israel's history: one set in an immigration camp in the 1950s, shortly after the founding of the modern state of Israel, as thousands of Yemeni Jews arrived seeking a better life; the other in the 1990s, just before the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, when a young Yemeni Israeli woman…
5 May 2025 · 52 min
CHUTZPAH GIRLS with Mayim Bialik
From Miriam to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, strong Jewish women have had the guts to speak out, impact history, break barriers and make a difference. We celebrate those women in this empowering episode. Tune in as Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein moderates a panel discussion with actor and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik , who is profiled, along with Hadassah founder Henrietta Szold, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and dozens more remarkable leaders, in the new book Chutzpah Girls: 100 Tales of Daring Jewish Women . Co-authors, Julie Esther Silverstein and Tami Schlossberg…
30 Apr 2025 · 41 min
A Conversation with Dara Horn
Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein interviews three-time National Jewish Book Award Winner Dara Horn about her latest work, the Passover-set graphic novel One Little Goat , and about the alarming rise and historical roots of antisemitism. Horn, one of America’s most insightful Jewish commentators, is also the author of five best-selling novels, as well as the 2021 essay collection People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present. She says she has been “completely obsessed” with Passover since she was a child and sees a link between her new graphic novel, One Little Goat: A…
21 Apr 2025 · 1 hr
The Enduring Relevance of Anne Frank
More than any other work of literature, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl helped the world comprehend the tragedy of the Holocaust. Anne’s diary now merits revisiting — not just as an inspiring tale of a girl coming of age under unimaginable circumstances, but as a siren alerting us to the malevolent potential of antisemitism anywhere. Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein hosts a discussion on the legacy of Anne Frank and her best-selling diary, which has been published in more than 70 languages. Panelists include Ruth Franklin, author of the biography The Many Lives of Anne…

About Hadassah Magazine Presents

Tune in as Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein hosts discussions with acclaimed Jewish authors, thinkers, celebrities and culinary stars.

Hadassah Magazine Presents is a English devotional & spiritual podcast from Hadassah Magazine. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Hadassah Magazine
Language: English
Category: Devotional & Spiritual
New episodes: Monthly
Typical length: 50 min
Latest episode: 24 Sep 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1804434671
Rights: Hadassah Magazine

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