Sari Bashi’s memoir Upside Down Love chronicles the tumultuous early years of her relationship with Osama (a pseudonym for the man she eventually marries). Sari is an Israeli Jewish woman and Osama is Palestinian. The book is set between Tel Aviv, where Sari lived at the time, and Osama’s home in the West Bank city of Ramallah. In this episode of Can We Talk?, Sari describes the physical and emotional boundaries she and Osama have overcome, and how they are raising their trilingual, multicultural children. She also talks about what it’s like to be a Jewish woman living in a Palestinian city in the West Bank.

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UK-based columnist and author Hadley Freeman joins us to discuss the wave of violent attacks on British Jews, which has spurred UK prime minister Keir Starmer to declare antisemitism a crisis. In her Sunday Times column, Hadley writes frequently about antisemitism, gender, and politics. She is also the author of several books, including House Of Glass, about her grandmother’s family during the Holocaust.

You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.

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For generations of readers, Judy Blume's novels made growing up feel less lonely. In this episode, Judith Rosenbaum talks with Mark Oppenheimer, author of a new biography of Blume, about their favorite Blume titles, what’s Jewish about her work, and why her novels are radical in ways people often overlook. Throughout the episode, listeners share what Judy Blume's books mean to them.

You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.

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It is a tense moment in the war between the United States and Israel, and Iran. A temporary ceasefire is set to expire, and it is unclear whether diplomacy will resume or violence will erupt again.

Roya Hakakian is a writer, journalist, and political commentator and the author of Journey from the Land of No, a memoir about growing up Jewish in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution. She and her family fled Iran for the United States in 1985.

In this episode of Can We Talk?, Roya describes what it’s been like to watch the conflict unfold, her hopes for the Iranian people, and what Western feminists can learn from Iranian women.

You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.

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What does it mean to be a third-generation descendant of Holocaust survivors? Jen reflects on her grandparents' experiences in the Holocaust—the ones they shared and the ones they didn't—and her responsibility to learn about and share them with her children. She also talks to Rachael Cerrotti, creator of We Share the Same Sky, a podcast about her journey tracing her grandmother's Holocaust survival story. Together, they explore how our family stories help us understand our own lives, and how we carry the past into the present and the future.

More about Rachael Cerrotti's work:

Personal website

Substack

We Share The Same Sky podcast

We Share The Same Sky book

You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.

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In the years since her death, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been remembered as a feminist icon and, more recently, a figure some blame for the Court's sharp rightward turn, the fall of Roe v Wade—even the decline of American democracy. In this episode of Can We Talk?, we take a new look at RBG’s legacy. Actor Michelle Azar, who brings Ginsburg to life in the one-woman show All Things Equal, talks about changing audience reactions in a moment of deep political and legal upheaval. Then, journalist and Supreme Court expert Dahlia Lithwick dissects the stories we tell about Ginsburg—from the “Notorious RBG” phenomenon to the backlash that followed her death—and explores what those narratives get right, and what they miss. Together, we dig into Ginsburg’s legal strategy, her critiques of Roe, and the enduring impact of her commitment to equality and civility.

Schedule and tickets for All Things Equal tour

Profile of RBG in JWA's Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women

You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.

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The word zaftig has been used to describe everyone from 1930s burlesque dancers to Marilyn Monroe to buxom bubbies. But what does it really mean? Is it only for women? And is it a compliment—or an insult?

English-Yiddish dictionary editor Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath helps answer these questions in our latest "Word of the Week" episode. Comedian Judy Gold, Talmud explainer Miriam Anzovin, and writer Lizzie Skurnick also share their takes.

And Jen heads to Zaftigs Delicatessen in Brookline, MA to hear what diners think of the word.

You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.

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In this bonus episode of Can We Talk?, Jen Richler talks to Stephanie Butnick, founder of the Jewish lifestyle newsletter GOLDA, about sparking Jewish joy through rituals, books, art—and shopping.

You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.

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