Podcast
Ask a Jew
Hosted by Ask a Jew · EN
Yael Bar tur, secular sinner, and Chaya Leah Sufrin, pious Haredi, ask each other the hard questions, from Torah to Tinder
askajew.substack.com
askajew.substack.com
33episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Jews Are Not a Minority Group - With Batya Ungar-Sargon
1w ago00:57:05Tap to summarizeBatya (!) Ungar-Sargon needs no introduction, but if you insist: she’s the host of of “Batya!” on News Nation (Saturday at 7PM & Sunday at 11AM EST), host of the YouTube show “Prove It! With Batya”, and author of the brand new book, The Jews and the Left, which comes out tomorrow, is already a bestseller, and you should buy it immediately! Are you coming to happy hour tonight?? Or are you an antisemite? Why not both??Monday, June 1st6pmSpring Street Lounge48 Spring St, New York, NY 10012Chaya Leah, Yael, some special guests, and this just in - SWAG! See you there.Here’s what we cover with Batya:* Hot gossip about Leo frank* No bagel and lox parade* What kind of Jews should we blame for antisemitism?* Brad Lander, and the case of the “I got nothing else going for me” politician.* The right wing hates Israel just because of foreign aid?* Is Batya still a leftie? Yes, and so is Trump.* I’m still a Democrat, I just don’t vote for them anymore.* Batya is looking out for Trump.* Psychoanalyzing JD Vance.* Americans are hungry, for actual food.* Turn off your damn phone.* Get us more Jews over here!* Is fighting antisemitism worth our time?* Jews are getting the white treatment…and that’s ok?* Meeting Jew-lovers at Trader Joe’s.* Antisemitism is not a big deal.* Jews are not a minority group.* Do your feelings get hurt?* We need Jewish Balls, not Jewish Joy.* The Jews need to take back improv!* Graham Platner better not misgender someone! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe
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A Nice Jewish Love Story with Jean Meltzer
2w ago01:03:35Tap to summarizeAre you in or around New York City?? Mark your calendars for Monday, June 1st at 6pm!! Come have a drink with ChayaLeah and Yael! Spring Lounge48 Spring St, New York, NY 10012Comment if you plan to attend! Special guests may make an appearance…Good for the Jews is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thank you so much to everyone who has already filled out the Ask a Jew survey! We are genuinely so grateful for the feedback and reading your comments, suggestions, and extremely passionate opinions has been the highlight of our week.If you haven’t filled it out yet, PLEASE DO SO ASAP. The survey is super short, hugely helpful for us as we grow the podcast, and makes us feel important and data-driven.Also: homemade baked goods from ChayaLeah are still on the line.This week on Ask a Jew, we were thrilled to welcome bestselling author and Jewish rom-com queen Jean Meltzer to the podcast.Jean is the author of The Matzah Ball, Mr. Perfect on Paper, and Kissing Kosher. We enjoyed a funny, heartfelt, and surprisingly deep conversation about Jewish identity, chronic illness, love stories, and the very specific chaos of writing unapologetically Jewish characters in modern publishing.We talked about:* How Jean accidentally became one of the biggest names in Jewish romance fiction* Why Jewish representation in books matters (especially when the Jewish character isn’t just someone’s anxious accountant uncle)* The rise of the Jewish rom-com industrial complex* Chronic illness, vulnerability, and writing from real life* What makes a “Jewish love story” feel distinctly JewishJena is the Founder and CEO of Jewish Joy LLC and of the Jewish Joy Book Club. Find more info at JeanMeltzer.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe
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Jew-Washing
3w ago01:07:11Tap to summarizeWATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE!Hello - SURVEY. Fill out the SURVEY. Last one to fill out the SURVEY is an antisemite. Plus you have a chance to win Chaya Leah’s baked goods, made especially for you! If you already filled it out, you are our favorite! If you are the listeners from Japan, Barbados, Scotland or Pakistan - email us! We want to get to know you (you can all email us actually. It is called Ask A Jew you know….).askajewpod@gmail.comAlso, this just in - Mark your calendars for Monday, June 1st at 6pm!! Come have a drink with some other AJJers (Jew-pies?) and meet your two favorite Jewish podcasters (not Ezra Klein and Dan Senor) at:Spring Lounge48 Spring St, New York, NY 10012Comment if you plan to attend! Special guests may make an appearance…Now that logistics are out of the way - we gathered around the microphone last night to discuss Chaya Leah’s favorite holiday, Shavuout, and her two least favorite things in the world: antizionist Jews and Eurovision. We also have some TV and book recommendations for you, discuss Mayor Mamdani’s stupid party, and send some special love to Albania.Turns out I was partially right about our Albanian brethren, I said they didn’t lose a single Jew during the holocaust, turns out they actually GAINED Jews. You should use this super fun fact to impress your Albanian doormen in New York, they are very proud of it (rightfully so), as well as their impeccable Eurovision voting history (doormen may not care about that). Shout out to my dad Ronnie for this information! Some links:* JVP barfy tweet* J-Street mamdani Substack, what do you think?* Great book recommendation following our shipping recommendation - thank you to whoever suggested it!* ICYMI - my Eurovision recap (you don’t need to enjoy or like or even know what Eurovision is to read)* Some listeners suggested a book club, but we all know books are for nerds. How about we all pick a season of 90 Day Fiance and watch together?? Meisha and Nicola — a gorgeous American and painfully average Israeli united by their love of Jesus — agree! (Season 6)See you in NYC June 1st!!(Did we mention there is a survey?) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe
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Undocumented Love Making - With Gad Saad
4w ago01:05:05Tap to summarizeDr. Gad Saad is a scholar at the Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom at the University of Mississippi, and all-around Mensch. As a Lebanese-Canadian-Jewish academic, let’s just say he knows a thing or two about the culture wars, and the war wars.We talk about his latest book “Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind”, how our minds have been infected by parisites, what happened when he made fun of Quebec French (linguistic genocide), and how exactly the IDF trains magical dogs to r*pe terrorists.Follow Dr. Saad on X, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram (where he has a combined 2 million+ followers), you’re in for a fun ride! Also this episode will soon be available on our Youtube!Check out our channel and subscribe. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe
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Your Personality Is Not a Disorder: Social Media, Girls and Gen Z, with Freya India
May 701:02:56Tap to summarizeToday on Ask a Jew, we’re joined by writer Freya India, author of Girls: Generation Z and the Commodification of Everything, to talk about what growing up as a girl looks like in the age of Instagram, how we are all carrying generational trauma from Eve, and why not everything in your life is a problem to be fixed. Turns out we’re all just 13-year-old girls! Now go buy the book.Do you know you can watch this episode on YouTube? Well, you can!We also get into why social media can feel like a “rumination machine” for anxious girls, how beauty culture and Facetune turn teenagers into products, and why every normal feeling is suddenly language‑ified into a “disorder,” a “trauma,” or a “healing journey.” We also talk about what boys are seeing online, the rise of “looksmaxxing,” and whether anyone knows how to have a normal relationship anymore. If you’re a parent, a millennial/Gen X woman looking at Gen Z with horror, or a Gen Z girl trying to make sense of your own feed, this one is for you.Also:* Will the allure beauty box change your life?* We are all just 13 year old girls* Social media escalaes every trend o the extreme* Not everything needs to be solved* Is therapy a scam?* We’re all trying to gain control* social media is a rumination machine* Beware of therapy talk* Feeling anxious? you’re probably normal* The stories we tell ourselves* We all have generational trauma from Eve* You think you need therapy? Go live in Somalia!* Freya is so pretty* Is every personality trait is a problem?* We don’t care about your healing journeys This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe
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Uncomfortably Numb
May 501:01:49Tap to summarizeTwo episodes in one week? You lucky ducks! Maybe there’s even a third one coming…Only Hashem (and maybe producer Gabi) knows.BUT FIRST - are you following us on YouTube? Listen, I get if you’re an antisemite and don’t want to show your cards. We won’t judge you. But if you care about the Jewish people, really the only thing left to do is subscribe, like and leave a comment!We had some beginner’s luck with the delightful Sal Mercogliano (34,000 views?? Maybe we do control the media), and also uploaded some older ones, like fan favorite Michael C. Moynihan of The Fifth Column! BTW if you are a YouTube expert email us at askajewpod@gmail.com for all your tips, because our team (aka Yael) does not know what it’s doing. You can also email any questions, comments and concerns there.Today’s episode is a blast from the past, aka last week. Not to make this a history lesson, but do you remember the shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner? How about the King Charles White House visit? Those were the days!We also cover the terrible attack in London (sadly this could be true of any week), the etiquette of leaving voice notes, and how fun it is to colonize people’s minds. Enjoy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe
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Live with David Christopher Kaufman
May 401:03:46Tap to summarizeThis is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe
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"If Iran can't export oil, they’re going to lose their wells" With Sal Mercogliano
Apr 2901:10:47Tap to summarizeWatch this episode on YouTube!! Yes, it's happening!Please susbcribe to our brand new channel.Are the Straits of Hormuz open or closed? Is "free shipping" actually real? How do you clear underwater mines? Do ships draw crude drawings on tracking maps? And why are Christmas sweaters designed in April?All that and more in our conversation with maritime historian, professor, and popular podcast host Dr. Sal Mercogliano, host of the hit show “What’s Going on With Shipping”. If you think his channel his niche, he only has 700,000 youtube subscribers. Also:* An Italian from Long Island? Practically a Jew.* Breaking: Sal doesn’t like fish.* What are merchant mariners?* Every day is Monday on a ship.* Getting seasick is a thing.* What’s up with the Southern Ocean.* The Titanic (movie) didn’t have to end that way.* You realize your internet is connected with cables under the ocean, right?* Beware of blockade crypto scams.* Why blocking the strait of Hormuz is like blocking an artery* If Iran can’t export oil, they’re going to lose their wells.* Yes, Sal get’s recognized on cruise ships.* You don’t need mines to scare everyone about mines.And more…. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe
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Paging Dr. McJewy - With Jamie Denbo
Apr 2201:10:22Tap to summarizeJamie Denbo is an actress, comedian, formerly a writer and producer on Grey’s Anatomy (yes, that Grey’s Anatomy), and creator of The Beverly Podcast! Oh, you may have also seen her on Curb Your Enthusiasm and How I Met Your Mother.We talk to Jamie (and Beverly) about comedy, Hollywood, Jewish moms, what we can learn about antisemitism from 12-step programs, and what happened post-October 7th in the writer’s room of a hit show (unfortunately, nothing good).Also:* Can we talk about The Pitt instead of Grey’s Anatomy?* Whispers of support, public silence.* Turns out people don’t know what Jews are.* Your coworkers posted what on Instagram??* You can learn a lot from the antisemites.* An abundance of anger.* One righteous man in the writer’s room.* How can there be antisemitism when Donna Martin from 90210 is Jewish?* How much is real estate in the Shtetl?* Beverly is for everyone! (and thank you to the Jewish Writers Institute)* Everyone has an inappropriate, overly-sexualized aunt.* Which kind of Jews are more annoying - women or men?* Call your mother!!!Check out the Beverly Podcast! wherever you get your podcasts, on Youtube and Instagram.Thank you for listening to Ask A Jew! We love you all equally, but our non-Jewish listeners are more equal. We want to send some love and welness vibes to listener Jonathan Campbell, who is going through some rough s**t and currently on a healing journey. Jonathan, get better soon. We can’t afford to lose any listeners This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe
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We'd Rather Be Alive Than Be Liked
Apr 1501:07:06Tap to summarizeDuring these trying times, we’re here for you to process the shattering news of the last few weeks: Abby and David from Love on the Spectrum have broken up. What will happen to the lions? We also talk about the war in Iran, settlers, cutting off family members, and how, if we were in the Holocaust, we’d absolutely be hitting on the American soldiers who came to liberate us.Also:* Chaya Leah catches up after being offline for 3 years for Passover.* Book recommendation “The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness” by Arthur Brooks (it’s beter than it sounds)* The tragedy of Yael’s beanbag.* Putting ourselves in a Lock Box.* For Holocaust Memorial Day, we absolutely do not rank holocaust survivors.* Ok fine, we’ll talk about the war in Iran.* When Zionist Israelis start to sound like Tucker Carlson.* No, we are not in line for the gas chambers.* We make it 54 minutes before getting to Mandy Patinkin.* Some settler chatter.* Easter egg envy.* Want to play CrossPlay with us?? Send us an invite on the Substack Chat!* Netflix recommendations: “Chess Mates” and “Trust Me: The Falste Prophet”Love the show? Want others to love it too? Consider giving us a 5 star rating and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe
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