New Books Network Podcast

Jewish Studies January 28, 2023

The Holocaust in Romania

The Destruction of Jews and Roma Under the Antonescu Regime, 1940-1944

Radu Ioanid

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

The Holocaust in Romania: The Destruction of Jews and Roma Under the Antonescu Regime, 1940-1944 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022), Radu Ioanid explores in great detail the physical destruction of Romania's …

Jewish Studies January 27, 2023

Rewriting Maimonides

Early Commentaries on the Guide of the Perplexed

Igor H. De Souza

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Maimonideanism, the intellectual culture inspired by Maimonides’ writings, has received much recent attention. Yet a central aspect of Maimonideanism has been overlooked: the formal reception of the Guide of the …

Jewish Studies January 25, 2023

Jewish Flavours of Italy

A Family Cookbook

Silvia Nacamulli

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Jewish Flavours of Italy: A Family Cookbook (Green Bean Books, 2022) is a culinary journey through Italy and a deep dive into family culinary heritage. With more than 100 kosher …

Jewish Studies January 25, 2023

Yiddish Revolutionaries in Migration

The Transnational History of the Jewish Labour Bund

Frank Wolff

Hosted by Miriam Schulz

Frank Wolff's ground-breaking Yiddish Revolutionaries in Migration: The Transnational History of the Jewish Labour Bund (Haymarket Books, 2021) investigates how this social movement transformed itself from one of the most important revolutionary protagonists in …

Ministry of Ideas January 22, 2023

Progressive Souls

Religion and the Pursuit of a Just Society (Part 2)

Elizabeth Bruenig, EJ Dionne, and Dan McKanan

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Religious people have played an important role in progressive politics in the US for its entire history. Contemporary leftists should look to build bridges and include religious voices in the …

Ministry of Ideas January 21, 2023

Progressive Souls

Religion and the Pursuit of a Just Society (Part 1)

Elizabeth Bruenig, EJ Dionne, and Dan McKanan

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Religious people have played an important role in progressive politics in the US for its entire history. Contemporary leftists should look to build bridges and include religious voices in the …

Biography January 20, 2023

Tough Guy

The Life of Norman Mailer

Richard Bradford

Hosted by Daniel Moran

Twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, firstly in 1969 for The Armies of the Night and again in 1980 for The Executioner's Song, Norman Mailer's life comes as close as …

Ministry of Ideas January 17, 2023

Nothing Matters

About the Idea of "Nothing"

Janet Gyatso and Daniel Matt

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Between the Buddhist doctrine of ‘emptiness,’ the Jewish idea of Ayin, and the quantum mechanical zero-point energy of a vacuum, it turns out there’s quite a lot to be said …

Jewish Studies January 16, 2023

The Prisoners of Breendonk

Personal Histories from a World War II Concentration Camp

James M. Deem

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Fort Breendonk was built in the early 1900s to protect Antwerp, Belgium, from possible German invasion. Damaged at the start of World War I, it fell into disrepair . …

Jewish Studies January 15, 2023

Escape from Benghazi

Diary of an Imposter

Elia Meghnagi

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Elia Meghnagi last saw his childhood home in Benghazi when he was only seventeen. A member of the endangered and fast-shrinking millennia-old Jewish community of Libya, in 1958 Elia was …

Art January 14, 2023

Archaeology of Metaphor

The Art of Gilah Yelin Hirsch

Donna Stein

Hosted by Kirstin Ellsworth

Characterized by a search for meaning, Hirsch’s oeuvre connects psychological, scientific, and philosophical implications of form, bringing together ideas in art, science, ecology, and human consciousness. The artworks in multiple …

Jewish Studies January 13, 2023

Psyched for Torah

Mordechai Schiffman

Hosted by Matthew Miller

Today I talked to Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman about his book Psyched for Torah (Kodesh Press, 2022). His writings on the weekly parsha exude complete fluency in both traditional Jewish sources like Talmud …

Jewish Studies January 12, 2023

The Religious Poetry of El'azar Ben Ya'aqov Ha-Bavli (Baghdad, 13th C.)

Wout J. van Bekkum

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Wout J. van Bekkum's The Religious Poetry of El'azar Ben Ya'aqov Ha-Bavli (Baghdad, 13th C.) (Brill, 2022) is a comprehensive edition of Hebrew hymns composed by Eleazar the Babylonian, a prolific …

Jewish Studies January 11, 2023

The Lives of Jessie Sampter

Queer, Disabled, Zionist

Sarah Imhoff

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

In The Lives of Jessie Sampter: Queer, Disabled, Zionist (Duke UP, 2022), Sarah Imhoff tells the story of an individual full of contradictions. Jessie Sampter (1883-1938) was best known for her …

Jewish Studies January 11, 2023

Etrog

How A Chinese Fruit Became a Jewish Symbol

David Z. Moster

Hosted by Matthew Miller

Every year before the holiday of Sukkot, Jews all around the world purchase an etrog―a lemon-like fruit―to participate in the holiday ritual. In Etrog: How A Chinese Fruit Became a …

Israel Studies January 8, 2023

Candies from Heaven

Gil Hovav

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

"Uncle Aron's compliments, which hadn't changed since the days of the Bible, didn't sound so great. One time, he told my mother that she was 'awesome like an army with …

Jewish Studies January 8, 2023

Reconstructing the Talmud

An Introduction to the Academic Study of Rabbinic Literature

Joshua Kulp and Jason Rogoff

Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In Reconstructing the Talmud: An Introduction to the Academic Study of Rabbinic Literature (Hadar Press, 2014), Joshua Kulp and Jason Rogoff introduce the modern Talmud student to the techniques developed …

Jewish Studies January 4, 2023

Seekers of the Face

Secrets of the Idra Rabba (the Great Assembly) of the Zohar

Melila Hellner-Eshed

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Seekers of the Face: Secrets of the Idra Rabba (the Great Assembly) of the Zohar (Stanford UP. 2021) opens the profound treasure house at the heart of Judaism's most important …

Jewish Studies January 3, 2023

Jacob Neusner

An American Jewish Iconoclast

Aaron W. Hughes

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Jacob Neusner (born 1932) is one of the most important figures in the shaping of modern American Judaism. He was pivotal in transforming the study of Judaism from an insular …

Nomads, Past and Present December 31, 2022

Nomads in the Bible

Hosted by Maggie Freeman

What does the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible have to say about nomads and nomadism in the ancient Near East? This episode explores nomadism in the Judaic religious tradition through the eyes …