How Universities Lost Their Way, With Cary Nelson

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1. 

   E17 · 9 Apr 2025 · 32 min

   How to Be a Jew … on Passover

   This week on How to Be a Jew, we have questions, and answers too. As we all get ready for Passover we’re tackling some of the thorniest… and tastiest questions we’ve gotten. Need to save your matzah balls? What’s up with Christian Seders? Should we feel guilty about the plagues? Tune in for answers to these and other important questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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   S1 · E25 · 3 Apr 2025 · 51 min

   Why God Was Right, with Mark Gerson

   Like most highly successful entrepreneurs, Mark Gerson likes things he can measure, quantify, and know for certain. So as a student of the Torah, a question came to mind: If the Torah is supposed to be a guide to life, can we prove that its claims are true? In his epic new book, God Was Right, Gerson examined each and every single one of the Torah’s prescriptions on anything from what to wear to who to marry, and compared them to contemporary scientific research to prove that the ancient wisdom is as true and as urgently relevant as always. He joins Liel to discuss why the cure to depression…

3. 

   E16 · 2 Apr 2025 · 31 min

   How to Be a Jew … Like Ayelet Zurer

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4. 

   S1 · E24 · 27 Mar 2025 · 43 min

   How Israel Will Save Western Civilization, with Josh Hammer

   In his new and best-selling book, Israel and Civilization, Josh Hammer makes a bold claim: the future of Western civilization depends on the State of Israel and the Jewish people thriving. He joins Liel to talk about the dangers of the Neo-Nietzschean right, about why liberal Jews have lost the historical plot, and about how only a Jewish-Christian coalition can make the West overcome its moment of tumult. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5. 

   E15 · 26 Mar 2025 · 39 min

   How to Be a Jew… Who Contemplates the Pig

   For more than 3,000 years, prohibitions against eating pig has been central to Jewish dietary laws, but it’s also been a potent symbol of Jewish identity. Other non-kosher animals, like horses, rabbits, squirrels, and even vultures don’t carry the same weight that the pig does in the Jewish imagination. Jordan Rosenblum, Jewish Studies professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, joins us to talk about why. His new book, Forbidden—A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig, traces the history of the pig as a symbol of Jewish identity, and recently won the National Jewish Book Award for…

6. 

   E14 · 19 Mar 2025 · 10 min

   How to Be a Jew ... At the World Championships

   A few weeks ago, we brought you a conversation with AJ Edelman, the first Orthodox Jew to compete in the Winter Olympics and the pilot of the current Israeli bobsled team. Shortly after that interview, Tablet signed on as a sponsor for his bobsled team, complete with merch you can find at https://tabletmagstore.com/ This week, we’re bringing you a dispatch from his time at the World Bobsled Championships and the three things you need to know about bobsledding. For more information about the Israel Bobsled team, visit israelbobsled.team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…

7. 

   S1 · E22 · 13 Mar 2025 · 45 min

   Why Dual Loyalty is Good for the Jews, with Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz

   The charge of dual loyalty has long been a key weapon in the arsenal of anti-Semites everywhere. But in his new book, The Case for Dual Loyalty: Healing the Divided Soul of American Jews, Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz of Los Angeles’ Valley Beth Shalom argues that it’s time to embrace the idea. He joins Liel to talk about why American Jews should be loyal to Israel and the United States alike, why that is a complimentary rather than contradictory idea, and why it’s time, in the aftermath of October 7th, for Jews to reconsider the way they view their identities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…

8. 

   E13 · 12 Mar 2025 · 33 min

   How to Be a Jew ... And an Accidental Gunslinger

   Salvador Litvak, also known as the Accidental Talmudist, is the filmmaker behind the 2005 cult classic When Do We Eat and the author of Let My People Laugh: The Greatest Jewish Jokes of All Time!. He joins us to discuss his new film, Guns and Moses, in which a small-town rabbi becomes an unlikely gunslinger after his community is attacked. Guns and Moses premiered at the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival in 2024 and is expected to release nationwide this summer. Sponsors: The Institute for Jewish Spirituality invites you to Mindfulness for the Climate Crisis: Resilience in a Changing World.…

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   S1 · E21 · 12 Mar 2025 · 16 min

   Why Trump’s Deportation of Mahmoud Khalil is Perfectly Legal, with Ilya Shapiro

   Last Saturday, ICE agents detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born Palestinian who was one of the leaders behind the year-long Tentifadah in Columbia University. Khalil and his group have repeatedly expressed their support for Hamas and other terrorist organizations, a violation of U.S. immigration law. Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, joins Liel to explain why the act is completely legal, and why we shouldn’t fall for the bad faith argument that Khalil’s arrest is a free speech issue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…

10. 

    S1 · E20 · 6 Mar 2025 · 53 min

    What to Do in Ukraine, and in Gaza? With Eli Lake

    It’s been a week of fast-paced breaking news, from a bit of Hamas propaganda winning the Academy Award for best documentary to President Trump and Vice President Vance presiding over a heated meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky in the White House. Journalist and podcaster Eli Lake joins Liel to discuss what Trump gets wrong about Ukraine, what he gets right about Israel, and what Israel’s options may be as its ceasefire with Hamas draws to an end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices