Shows / The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
A space for exploring the great ideas at the heart of the Jewish tradition.
Episodes
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
40. The Tosafists | Dr. Ephraim Kanarfogel
J.J. and Dr. Ephraim Kanarfogel comment on the happenings in Medieval Ashkenaz and add their spin on to the era of the Tosafists. Follow us on Twitter (X)…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
39. Free Will | Dr. Aaron Segal
J.J. and Dr. Aaron Segal freely choose to wade through the murky medieval and contemporary debates over the existence of free will. Follow us on Twitter (X)…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
38. Athens in Jerusalem | Dr. Jacob Howland
J.J. and Dr. Jacob Howland round up a storm of fascinating comparisons between Talmudic and Platonic methods of discourse. Please rate and review the the show…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
37. Wissenschaft des Judentums | Dr. David Myers
J.J. and Dr. David Myers scientifically examine the thought and legacy of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement. Please rate and review the the show in the…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
36. The Talmud in Context | Dr. Shai Secunda
J.J. and Dr. Shai Secunda set Talmudic discourse ablaze. They put the Talmud in its Zoroastrian and Sasanian context, and have bloody good discussion about how…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
35. Jews & The Italian Renaissance | Dr. Joanna Weinberg
J.J. and Dr. Joanna Weinberg make their way back to sunny 15th century Italy and the surrounding centuries to visit some of the more interesting Jewish…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
34. Josephus | Dr. Martin Goodman
J.J. and Dr. Martin Goodman go antiquing! They discuss the most important Jewish historian of the Roman period–Josephus Flavius. What did he write? Who was he…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
33. Abraham Geiger | Dr. Susannah Heschel
J.J. and Dr. Susannah Heschel survey the fascinating life and brilliant ideas of Abraham Geiger. This guy was flagrantly influential. A practicing rabbi, a…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
32. Spinoza's Reception and Relevance | Dr. Daniel Schwartz
J.J. and Dr. Daniel Schwartz examine the convoluted legacy and enduring relevance of Spinoza. Our first mini-series!! Welcome to the second episode of our…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
31. Spinoza's Theology and Politics | Dr. Yitzhak Melamed
J.J. and Dr. Yitzhak Melamed untangle Spinoza's famed Tractatus Theologico-Politicus and assess the religiosity of its author, a supposed atheist. Our first…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
30. Spinoza's Life and Ethics | Dr. Rebecca Goldstein
Dr. Rebecca Goldstein and J.J. communicate the story of Spinoza's herem and outline the radicalism of his Ethics. Our first mini-series!! Welcome to the first…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
29. Rashi's Torah | Dr. Eric Lawee
J.J. and Dr. Eric Lawee comment on Rashi's astounding career, and refuse to gloss over his contentious journey to join the Jewish canon. Please send any…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
28. Ecclesiastes | Dr. Menachem Fisch
J.J. and Dr. Menachem Fisch decided that this is the time for studying the philosophy of the book of Qohelet, and they don't study it in vain. Please send any…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
27. Philo of Alexandria | Dr. Maren Niehoff
J.J. and Dr. Maren Niehoff comment on Philo's ideas and attempt to weave him back into the fabric of Jewish history. Send any complaints or compliments to…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
26. Declaring Israel | Dr. Neil Rogachevsky
J.J. and Dr. Neil Rogachevsky skip down the winding (theoretical) road towards Israeli independence, and tell the story of the drafting of Ben Gurion's…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
25. Moshe Chaim Luzzatto | Dr. Jonathan Garb
J.J. and Dr. Jonathan Garb march down the various paths of the Ram"chal's thought, and straighten out some mysteries of his life, thought, and reception. Send…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
24. Copernicus and the Jews | Dr. Jeremy Brown
J.J. and Dr. Jeremy Brown circulate some of the Jewish responses to Copernicus. Jeremy Brown is the author of New Heavens and a New Earth; The Jewish Reception…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
23. Tzimtzum | Dr. Christoph Schulte
J.J. and Dr. Christoph Schulte contract a serious case of mystical curiousity, and diminish the mysteries around the idea of Tzimtzum. Prof. Dr. Christoph…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
22. Jewish Apologetics | Dr. Samuel Lebens
J.J. and Dr. Sam Lebens prove God?! (Or at least, they discuss the history of some Jewish arguments for God.) Samuel Lebens is associate professor of…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
21. Leo Strauss | Dr. Leora Batnitzky
J.J. and Dr. Leora Batnitzky look for hidden truths in Strauss' thought. Dr. Leora Batnitzky is the Ronald O. Perelman Professor of Jewish studies and…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
20. The Zohar | Dr. Daniel Matt
J.J. and Dr. Daniel Matt become wiser and gain understanding while discussing the Kabbalistic ideas of The Zohar . Daniel Matt is a prominent scholar of…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
19. Anti-Maimonides | Dr. Tamar Rudavsky
J.J. and Dr. Tamar Rudavsky trace the responses to Maimonides among Medieval Jewish Philosophers. T.M. Rudavsky is Professor of Philosophy at The Ohio State…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
18. The German Haskalah | Dr. Michah Gottlieb
J.J. and Dr. Michah Gottlieb shed light on the origins of the Haskalah in Berlin, and examine Mendelssohn's role in it. Michah Gottlieb is Director of Graduate…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
17. The Real Maimonides | Dr. Noah Feldman
J.J. and Dr. Noah Feldman attempt uncover what Maimonides was really trying to do in his halakhic and philosophical works. Noah Feldman is Felix Frankfurter…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
16. Sigmund Freud | Dr. Naomi Seidman
J.J. and Dr. Naomi Seidman wonder why Jews want to claim Freud so badly, and if that claim has merit. Dr. Naomi Seidman is the Chancellor Jackman Professor of…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
15. Classics & Rabbinics | Dr. Simon Goldhill
J.J. and Dr. Simon Goldhill try to nail down exactly what Midrash really is and try to place the classical Rabbis in their historical context. Simon Goldhill…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
14. Yiddish Literature | Dr. Ruth Wisse
J.J. and Dr. Ruth Wisse unpack the world or modern Yiddish literature from its beginnings with Rav Nachman of Breslov through Chaim Grade and the contemporary…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
13. Philosophy of Halakha | Dr. Yonatan Brafman
J.J. and Dr. Yonatan Brafman define philosophy of halakha and discuss the competing halakhic philosophies of Yeshayahu Leibowitz and Eliezer Berkovits. Yonatan…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
12. The Mishnah | Dr. Shaye J.D. Cohen
J.J. and Dr. Shaye Cohen go deep into the world of the mishnah and try to mark the boundaries between the world of the mishnah and the world of history. Shaye…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
11. Judaism and Postmodernism | Dr. Miriam Feldmann-Kaye
In this episode J.J. and Dr. Miriam Feldmann-Kaye get into the nature of postmodernism and how it relates to Judaism. Also, meta-narratives and…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
10. Medieval Hebrew Poetry | Peter Cole
In this episode J.J. and Peter Cole discuss Jewish poetry, aesthetics, and why Samuel ibn Naghrillah would probably make an excellent rapper. For more…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
9. Early Modern Judaism | Dr. Tamara Morsel-Eisenberg
In this episode J.J. and Dr. Tamara Morsel-Eisenberg try to figure out what exactly we mean when we say "the Early Modern Period", also legal codes, and the…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
8. The Guide to the Perplexed | Dr. Lenn Goodman
In this episode J.J. and Dr. Lenn Goodman discuss Maimonides’ Guide to the Perplexed, and the challenges of a brand new translation. Also: What Strauss, Pines…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
7. Second Temple Sectarianism | Dr. Malka Simkovich
In this episode J.J. and Dr. Simkovich dig into the differences between the Pharisees and the Saducees, and air some more second temple laundry. Dr. Malka Z…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
6. Herzl's Ideas | Dr. Derek Penslar
In this episode J.J. and Dr. Derek Penslar get into the evolution of Zionism, and the ideas (or lack of ideas) of Theodore Herzl. You can find more fantastic…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
5. The Bible as Literature | Dr. Robert Alter
In this episode J.J. and Dr. Alter explore the literary approach to the Bible, Dr. Alter's magnificent translation, and the impact of both of these works on…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
4. Rabbis and Karaites | Dr. Miriam Goldstein
In this episode J.J. and Dr. Miriam Goldstein dig into the ideas the animated the Rabbis (and Karaites) of the early Islamic period. For more thoughtfull…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
3. Dogma and Heresy | Dr. Marc Shapiro
On this episode JJ and Dr. Shapiro get into the limits of Orthodox theology, as well as The Limits of Orthodox Theology. Marc B. Shapiro holds the Weinberg…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
2. Theodicy and Job | Dr. Jon D. Levenson
In this episode Dr. Jon Levenson and JJ get into questions about good, evil, and the Book of Job. _____________ Jon D. Levenson, Albert A. List Professor of…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
1. Hasidut | Dr. Ariel Mayse
In this episode J.J. and Professor Ariel Mayse of Stanford get into the major ideas that set early Hasidism apart, and how those ideas inform Hasidism to this…
- The Podcast of Jewish Ideas
0. Prologue
Welcome to The Podcast of Jewish Ideas!! In this episode JJ introduces himself, the podcast, and what we hope to do together in the coming episodes, we do hope…