About this podcast
An interview show celebrating Jewish contributors and contributions to American popular culture co-hosted by Jonathan Friedmann and Joey Angel-Field.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 189 episodes
- Ep. 170: The Last of the Ellis Island Jews – with author Joel Dinerstein · 33 min · Episode 170Joel Dinerstein is a professor of English and Sizeler Professor of Jewish Studies at Tulane University, a jazz scholar, cultural historian, and author of The Last of the Ellis…
- Ep: 169: Screenwriting in the 1970s – with writer Michael Elias · 25 min · Episode 188Michael Elias is a screenwriter-turned-novelist whose screen credits include The Jerk, The Frisco Kid, and Head of the Class. His latest novel is Bender’s L.A. Co-hosts…
- Ep. 168: Allan Sherman: Comedy Music Genius – with biographer Mark Cohen · 28 min · Episode 168Mark Cohen is an author and journalist whose books include Overweight Sensation: The Life and Comedy of Allan Sherman. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field…
- Ep. 167: Heavy Metal Jews – with metalhead Josh Kleinberg · 19 min · Episode 167Josh Kleinberg is a heavy metal afficionado whose article, “Spreading the Disease: Heavy Metal Jews and the Secular Sacred,” was published in the Spring 2026 issue of Humanistic…
- Ep. 166: If Violins Could Talk – with ethnographer-novelist Yale Strom · 25 min · Episode 166Yale Strom is one of the world’s leading ethnographer-artists of klezmer and Romani music, history, and culture. His latest novel is The Autobiography of The Offenbacher…
- Ep. 165: Queer Culture Memoir – with author Ari Ashkenazi · 24 min · Episode 165Ari Ashkenazi is a retired professor of anthropology of art and arts education whose latest memoir is Retracing My Steps: A Queer Memoir. Retracing My Steps…
- Ep. 164: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me – with author Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor · 20 min · Episode 164Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor is a professor of history at Smith College and author of the new book, Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me. Co-hosts: Jonathan…
- Ep. 163: The Real Philip Roth – with author Jacques Berlinerblau · 34 min · Episode 163Jacques Berlinerblau is the Rabbi Harold White Professor of Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University and author of The Philip Roth We Don’t Know: Sex, Race, and…
- Ep. 162: Bernie Krigstein, EC Comics & “Master Race” – with graphic novelist Joe D’Esposito · 20 min · Episode 162Joe D’Esposito is a comic book artist and painter whose latest graphic novel, The Outsider, is published by Fantagraphics. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field…
- Ep. 161: Immigration, Growing Pains, and the American Playground – with novelist Michael Isaac Shokrian · 26 min · Episode 159Michael Isaac Shokrian is publisher of the Thieving Magpie literary quarterly and author of the new novel, American Playground. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field…
- Ep. 160: Jewish Art for Our Times – with fine artist Yona Verwer · 38 min · Episode 160Yona Verwer is a Dutch-born multidisciplinary visual artist based in New York City and founder of the Jewish Art Salon, a global network of contemporary Jewish visual artists and…
- Ep. 159: The Art of the Pickle – with fine artist Hannah Eve Rothbard · 22 min · Episode 159Hannah Eve Rothbard is a multimedia artist, curator, and writer based in New York City. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Hannah’s…
- Ep. 158: Ascendants: Technology, Corporate Power, & Humanity’s Future – with sci-fi author Don Schechter · 34 min · Episode 158Ascendants: Technology, Corporate Power, & Humanity’s Future – with sci-fi author Don Schechter Don Schechter is an author, filmmaker, and film & media studies professor at…
- Ep: 157: Justice Girl & The Birth of Television – with novelist Julian David Stone · 21 minJulian David Stone is an author, photographer, and filmmaker whose novels include The Strange Birth, Short Life, and Sudden Death of Justice Girl. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann &…
- Ep. 156: The Best of All Possible Planets – with sci-fi author Alex Shvartsman · 30 min · Episode 156Alex Shvartsman is a prolific science-fiction author whose latest novel is The Best of All Possible Planets. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer…
- Ep. 155: Can We Laugh at That? – with author Jacques Berlinerblau · 42 min · Episode 155Jacques Berlinerblau is the Rabbi Harold White Professor of Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University and author of the new book, Can We Laugh at That? Comedy in a Conflicted…
- San Diego Comic-Con Origins – with Mathew Klickstein and Gus Krueger · 44 minMathew Klickstein is a pop culture historian and author of See You At San Diego: An Oral History of Comic-Con, Fandom, and the Triumph of Geek Culture. Gus Krueger is an art…
- Ep. 154: Punk Rock Jews – with author Steven Lee Beeber · 44 minSteven Lee Beeber is a freelance journalist and author of The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB’s: A Secret History of Jewish Punk. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field…
- Jewish Soldiers in the American Civil War – with researcher Adrienne DeArmas · 42 minAdrienne DeArmas is director of the Shapell Roster of Jewish Service in the American Civil War at the Shapell Manuscript Foundation, an independent educational organization…
- Happy Birthday Mel Brooks! – with biographer Patrick McGilligan · 30 minPatrick McGilligan is a biographer and film historian whose books include, Funny Man: Mel Brooks. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren…
