About Zalman Newfield

Schneur Zalman Newfield is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Jewish Studies at Hunter College, City University of New York, and the author of Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism (Temple University Press).

Zalman's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Zalman:

Emily Lynell Edwards, "Digital Islamophobia: Tracking a Far-Right Crisis" (de Gruyter, 2023)

March 7, 2024

Digital Islamophobia

Emily Lynell Edwards
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In Digital Islamophobia: Tracking a Far-Right Crisis (De Gruyter, 2023), Emily Lynell Edwards explores this virtual and vicious threat, analyzing how …

Calvin John Smiley, "Purgatory Citizenship: Reentry, Race, and Abolition" (U California Press, 2023)

February 7, 2024

Purgatory Citizenship

Calvin John Smiley
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In Purgatory Citizenship: Reentry, Race, and Abolition (University of California Press, 2023), Calvin John Smiley explores the lives of people who wer…

On Henry Einspruch's 1941 Yiddish Translation of the Christian Bible

January 17, 2024

On Henry Einspruch's 1941 Yiddish Translation of the Christian Bible

Naomi Seidman
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

Today we are going to explore a peculiar volume in the history of Yiddish literature, the Yiddish translation of the Christian bible written by Khaim …

Thomas DeGloma, "Anonymous: The Performance of Hidden Identities" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

January 11, 2024

Anonymous

Thomas DeGloma
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In recent years, anonymity has rocked the political and social landscape. There are countless examples: An anonymous whistleblower was at the heart of…

Emily Horowitz, "From Rage to Reason: Why We Need Sex Crime Laws Based on Facts, Not Fear" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

December 20, 2023

From Rage to Reason

Emily Horowitz
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In her book From Rage to Reason: Why We Need Sex Crime Laws Based on Facts, Not Fear (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023), Emily Horowitz shows how current sex…

J. Christopher Edwards, "Crucified: The Christian Invention of the Jewish Executioners of Jesus" (Fortress Press, 2023)

December 2, 2023

Crucified

J. Christopher Edwards
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In his book Crucified: The Christian Invention of the Jewish Executioners of Jesus (Fortress Press, 2023), J. Christopher Edwards explores the early C…

Meghan Henning, "Hell Hath No Fury: Gender, Disability, and the Invention of Damned Bodies in Early Christian Literature" (Yale UP, 2021)

November 17, 2023

Hell Hath No Fury

Meghan Henning
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In her book Hell Hath No Fury: Gender, Disability, and the Invention of Damned Bodies in Early Christian Literature (Yale University Press, 2021), Meg…

Melissa Weininger, "Beyond the Land: Diaspora Israeli Culture in the Twenty-First Century" (Wayne State UP, 2023)

October 21, 2023

Beyond the Land

Melissa Weininger
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In her book, Beyond the Land: Diaspora Israeli Culture in the Twenty-First Century (Wayne State University Press, 2023), Melissa Weininger theorizes a…

Todd E. Vachon, "Clean Air and Good Jobs: U.S. Labor and the Struggle for Climate Justice" (Temple UP, 2023)

September 22, 2023

Clean Air and Good Jobs

Todd E. Vachon
Hosted by Zalman Newfield
Listen:

The labor–climate movement in the U.S. laid the groundwork for the Green New Deal by building a base within labor for supporting climate protection as…

Mike Rothschild, "Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories" (Melville House, 2023)

August 6, 2023

Jewish Space Lasers

Mike Rothschild
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories (Melville House, 2023), Mike Rothschild delves into the history of the co…

Lea Taragin-Zeller, "The State of Desire: Religion and Reproductive Politics in the Promised Land" (NYU Press, 2023)

July 24, 2023

The State of Desire

Lea Taragin-Zeller
Hosted by Zalman Newfield
Listen:

In recent years, Israeli state policies have attempted to dissuade Orthodox Jews from creating large families, an objective that flies in the face of …

Reyhan Durmaz, "Stories Between Christianity and Islam: Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond" (U California Press, 2022)

May 27, 2023

Stories Between Christianity and Islam

Reyhan Durmaz
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In Stories between Christianity and Islam: Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond (University of California Press, 2022),…

Justine Ellis, "The Politics of Religious Literacy: Education and Emotion in a Secular Age" (Brill, 2022)

May 14, 2023

The Politics of Religious Literacy

Justine Ellis
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

Religious Literacy has become a popular concept for navigating religious diversity in public life. In The Politics of Religious Literacy: Education an…

Samantha Pickette, "Peak TV's Unapologetic Jewish Woman: Exploring Jewish Female Representation in Contemporary Television Comedy" (Lexington, 2022)

May 7, 2023

Peak TV's Unapologetic Jewish Woman

Samantha Pickette
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In Peak TV’s Unapologetic Jewish Woman: Exploring Jewish Female Representation in Contemporary Television Comedy (Lexington Books, 2022), Samantha Pi…

Eric Alterman, "We Are Not One: A History of America's Fight Over Israel" (Basic Book, 2022)

March 30, 2023

We Are Not One

Eric Alterman
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

Fights about the fate of the state of Israel, and the Zionist movement that gave birth to it, have long been a staple of both Jewish and American poli…

Laura Kolb, "Fictions of Credit in the Age of Shakespeare" (Oxford UP, 2021)

March 14, 2023

Fictions of Credit in the Age of Shakespeare

Laura Kolb
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In Fictions of Credit in the Age of Shakespeare (Oxford University Press, 2021), Laura Kolb examines how Shakespeare and his contemporaries represente…

On Chaim Grade’s "The Yeshiva"

March 5, 2023

On Chaim Grade’s "The Yeshiva"

Yehudah DovBer Zirkind
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

Chaim Grade’s novel, Tsemakh Atlas: Di Yeshivah, was originally published in Yiddish in the late 1960s. Considered a landmark of modern Yiddish litera…

Claire Bond Potter, "Political Junkies: From Talk Radio to Twitter, How Alternative Media Hooked Us on Politics and Broke Our Democracy" (Basic Books, 2020)

February 25, 2023

Political Junkies

Claire Bond Potter
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

With fake news on Facebook, trolls on Twitter, and viral outrage everywhere, it's easy to believe that the internet changed politics entirely. In Poli…

Daniel Lasker, "Karaism: An Introduction to the Oldest Surviving Alternative Judaism" (Littman Library, 2022)

February 14, 2023

Karaism

Daniel Lasker
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

Karaite Judaism emerged in the ninth century in the Islamic Middle East as an alternative to the rabbinic Judaism of the Jewish majority. Karaites rej…

Ben Burgis, "Christopher Hitchens: What He Got Right, How He Went Wrong, and Why He Still Matters" (Zero Books, 2022)

February 7, 2023

Christopher Hitchens

Ben Burgis
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In Christopher Hitchens: What He Got Right, How He Went Wrong, and Why He Still Matters (Zero Books, 2022), Ben Burgis reminds readers about what was …

On Émile Durkheim's "The Elementary Forms of Religious Life" (1912)

January 15, 2023

On Émile Durkheim's "The Elementary Forms of Religious Life" (1912)

Steven Lukes
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In 1912, the French sociologist Emile Durkheim published The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Centered around the experience of religion in tribal…

Joshua Kulp and Jason Rogoff, "Reconstructing the Talmud: An Introduction to the Academic Study of Rabbinic Literature" (Hadar Press, 2014)

January 8, 2023

Reconstructing the Talmud

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…

Tzafrir Barzilay, "Poisoned Wells: Accusations, Persecution, and Minorities in Medieval Europe, 1321-1422" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2022)

December 24, 2022

Poisoned Wells

Tzafrir Barzilay
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In Poisoned Wells: Accusations, Persecution, and Minorities in Medieval Europe, 1321-1422 (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022), Tzafrir Barzilay …

Jacob Kramer, "The New Freedom and the Radicals: Woodrow Wilson, Progressive Views of Radicalism, and the Origins of Repressive Tolerance" (Temple UP, 2015)

December 21, 2022

The New Freedom and the Radicals

Jacob Kramer
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In The New Freedom and the Radicals: Woodrow Wilson, Progressive Views of Radicalism, and the Origins of Repressive Tolerance (Temple University Press…