Featured: Recent Episodes
Joy and Conversation Podcast
Joy and Conversation is a podcast about Jewish history and culture. It is propelled by curiosity and a passion for teaching and learning. Eclectic but accessible, it is like looking into a kaleidoscope and seeing the vibrant colors, complex shapes, and rich dimensions of Jewish life and identity--but for your ears. It illuminates Jewish diversity by focusing on under-told stories. It emphasizes vitality and dynamism by showcasing humanity and creativity. Centered on asking questions and dedicated to sharing knowledge, Joy and Conversation breaks silences, crosses borders, cultivates understanding, and encourages compassion. Finding joy in conversation is a mitzvah. To learn more, visit joyandconversationpodcast.com or Twitter @JandCpodcast.
In this episode, we speak with Yoni Battat about music, identity, and creativity. Yoni discusses what it means to explore the fragments of memory and identity through art. We discuss his experiences with klezmer music as well as the ways Mizrahi and Iraqi-specific influences inform his work as an artist.
Learn more about Yoni Battat's music at www.yonibattat.com
Learn more about Joy and Conversation at www.joyandconversationpodcast.com
Donate and support Project Mosaics, the 501(c)(3) education nonprofit that produces Joy and Conversation at www.projectmosaics.org
Follow Joy and Conversation on social media:
Twitter- @JandCPodcast
Facebook- @JoyandConversationPodcast
YouTube- Joy and Conversation Episode Credits: Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan Osborn Music supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers (www.auraformaudio.com) Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson (www.alechutson.com & www.warbirdcreative.com) Website design by Jakob Lazzaro (www.jakoblazzaro.com) This episode featured music from Yoni Battat's album Fragments. Episode photo by Dan Osborn
In this episode, we return to Jewish Cuba and learn about a family who is bringing kosher accommodations and humanitarian aid to the island. We speak to Cindy White who operates Chateau Blanc alongside her brother Scott Berenthal and a team of dedicated staff in Cuba. Cindy and Scott are the American-born children of Saul Berenthal who left Cuba for the United States at age 16 after the Revolution. We talk about what it means to be Juban, what Jewish life in Cuba looks like today, and how the family is helping to make Cuba known to Jews and non-Jews from around the world.
Learn more about Joy and Conversation at www.joyandconversationpodcast.com
Donate and support Project Mosaics, the 501(c)(3) education nonprofit that produces Joy and Conversation at www.projectmosaics.org
Follow Joy and Conversation on social media:
Twitter- @JandCPodcast
Facebook- @JoyandConversationPodcast
YouTube- Joy and Conversation Episode Credits: Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan Osborn Music supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers (www.auraformaudio.com) Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson (www.alechutson.com & www.warbirdcreative.com) Website design by Jakob Lazzaro (www.jakoblazzaro.com) This episode featured music from Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). * Sandy Shuffle * Zulia Conspiracy * Paramo Ocho * Sargento * Huffalo
Episode photo by Dan Osborn
In this episode, we explore the modern history of Jews in Mexico and focus on the intersections between culture, cuisine, food, and family. We start with with Monica Unikel, who has dedicated herself to preserving and telling stories of Jews in Mexico City through street tours and reviving Jewish cultural and communal spaces. We continue with Jewish Mexican bakers who are bringing their recipes, memories, and expressions of cultural innovation to Chicago, California, and Brooklyn. We hear from Tamar Fasja Unikel and Elena Vazquez Felgueres of Masa Madre, Dennis Rael of Los Bagels, and Fany Gerson of Fan-Fan Doughnuts and La Newyorkina. With each morsel of bagels, babka, challah, and more, we see the ways Mexico mixes with Syria, Ukraine, Lithuania, and beyond.
Learn more about Joy and Conversation at www.joyandconversationpodcast.com
Learn more about Project Mosaics, the 501(c)(3) education nonprofit that produces Joy and Conversation at www.projectmosaics.org
Follow Joy and Conversation on social media:
Twitter- @JandCPodcast
Facebook- @JoyandConversationPodcast
YouTube- Joy and Conversation
Episode Credits:
Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan Osborn
Music supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers (www.auraformaudio.com)
Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson (www.alechutson.com & www.warbirdcreative.com)
Website design by Jakob Lazzaro (www.jakoblazzaro.com)
This episode featured music from Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). * Palms Down * Tarte Tatin * Bundt * Cornicob * Kilkerrin * Donnalee
Episode photo by Dan Osborn
In this episode, we speak with Jonathan Dekel-Chen about the long history of Jewish agricultural life. The episode traverses continents and centuries, describing Jewish farming from Abraham through the 21st century. Jonathan is the Rabbi Edward Sandrow Chair in Soviet & East European Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where he holds dual a dual appointment in the Department of Jewish History and the Department of General History. He is the author of Farming the Red Land: Jewish Agricultural Colonization and Local Soviet Power, 1924-1941 and the co-founder of Bikurim Youth Village for the Performing Arts in Eshkol.
Learn more about Joy and Conversation at www.joyandconversationpodcast.com
Learn more about Project Mosaics, the 501(c)(3) education nonprofit that produces Joy and Conversation at www.projectmosaics.org
Learn more about the Rutgers University exhibit Jewish Agriculturalism in the Garden State which inspired this episode at sites.rutgers.edu/jewish-agriculture.
Follow Joy and Conversation on social media:
Twitter- @JandCPodcast
Facebook- @JoyandConversationPodcast
YouTube- Joy and Conversation
Episode Credits:
Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan Osborn
Music supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers (www.auraformaudio.com)
Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson (www.alechutson.com & www.warbirdcreative.com)
Website design by Jakob Lazzaro (www.jakoblazzaro.com)
This episode featured music from the Sephardic group, Voice of the Turtle (www.voiceoftheturtle.com). * Azkir Khasdey Eyl Neh-Eman
This episode featured music from Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). * Di Breun
This episode featured music from the Free Music Archive (www.freemusicarchive.org). * Tres Tristes Tangos- "Planta Baja" * Tres Tristes Tangos- "Kolderen Polka" * Yair Yona- "Russian Dance" * Alicia Svigals_Lauren Brody Klezmer Mash- "Beregovski Patch Tants" * Serge Quadrado- "Russian Girl"
Episode photo by Dan Osborn
In this bonus episode, we visit the archives and listen to excerpts from the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber's writings, specifically I and Thou and A Land of Two Peoples. This bonus episode is inspired by the recent episode, "A Hebrew Humanist" featuring Nicolas DeWarren, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Studies at Penn State.
Buber's writings are read by Josh Friedman, a member of the band DATCHA and the creator of the podcast, Art and Life and Shit.
Learn more about Joy and Conversation at www.joyandconversationpodcast.com
Learn more about Project Mosaics, the 501c3 education nonprofit that produces Joy and Conversation at www.projectmosaics.org
Follow Joy and Conversation on social media:
Twitter- @JandCPodcast
Facebook- @JoyandConversationPodcast
YouTube- Joy and Conversation
Episode Credits:
Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan Osborn
Music supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers (www.auraformaudio.com)
Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson (www.alechutson.com & www.warbirdcreative.com)
Website design by Jakob Lazzaro (www.jakoblazzaro.com)
This episode featured music from the Sephardic group, Voice of the Turtle (www.voiceoftheturtle.com). * Azkir Khasdey Eyl Neh-Eman
This episode featured music from Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). * Thread of Clouds * Kovd
Episode photo by Dan Osborn
In this episode, we speak with Amy Weinreb about parenting, family dynamics, and questions of "home." Amy is a cultural anthropologist and senior lecturer at the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at The University of Texas at Austin and the author of Cuba in the Shadow of Change: Daily Life in the Twilight of the Revolution. Amy is joined by Lisa Osborn, Elena Rafael, Carolyn Mahboubi, and Matthew Hilgart, each of whom shares their own relationship with Judaism and Jewishness, parenting, and finding pride and joy in family.
Learn more about Joy and Conversation at www.joyandconversationpodcast.com
Learn more about Project Mosaics, the 501(c)(3) education nonprofit that produces Joy and Conversation at www.projectmosaics.org
Follow Joy and Conversation on social media:
Instagram- joyandconversationpodcast
Twitter- @JandCPodcast
Facebook- @JoyandConversationPodcast
YouTube- Joy and Conversation
Episode Credits:
Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan Osborn
Music supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers (www.auraformaudio.com)
Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson (www.alechutson.com & www.warbirdcreative.com)
Website design by Jakob Lazzaro (www.jakoblazzaro.com)
This episode featured music from the Sephardic group, Voice of the Turtle (www.voiceoftheturtle.com). * Alevanta Mordekhai * Üsküdar'a Gider Iken
This episode featured music from Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). * A Certain Lightness * Quirk * A Little Powder * Fermin Canyon
This episode featured music from Ezekiel's Wheels (www.ewklezmer.com). * Abigale's Hora
Episode photo by Dan Osborn
In this episode, we speak with Nicolas DeWarren about the 20th century Jewish philosopher Martin Buber. Nicolas is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Studies at Penn State and the author of Original Forgiveness , A Momentary Breathlessness in the Sadness of Time, and Husserl and the Promise of Time: Subjectivity in Transcendental Phenomenology. Nicolas discusses Buber's philosophy, his sense of Judaism's role in history, and the way this informed his binational understanding of Zionism and Jewish-Arab relations.
Learn more about Joy and Conversation at www.joyandconversationpodcast.com
Learn more about Project Mosaics, the 501c3 education nonprofit that produces Joy and Conversation at www.projectmosaics.org
Follow Joy and Conversation on social media:
Instagram- joyandconversationpodcast
Twitter- @JandCPodcast
Facebook- @JoyandConversationPodcast
YouTube- Joy and Conversation
Episode Credits:
Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan Osborn
Music supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers (www.auraformaudio.com)
Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson (www.alechutson.com & www.warbirdcreative.com)
Website design by Jakob Lazzaro (www.jakoblazzaro.com)
This episode featured music from the Sephardic group, Voice of the Turtle (www.voiceoftheturtle.com). * Azkir Khasdey Eyl Neh-Eman
This episode featured music from Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). * Cherry Heath * Milkwood
This episode featured music from Ezekiel's Wheels (www.ewklezmer.com). * Doina for Duke * Zizu de Calp
Episode photo by Dan Osborn
In this bonus episode, we visit the archives and listen to Yiddish and English readings of the chapter "At the Doctor" from the shund novel Looking for Luck: The Woman Who Wanted to be Different by Yiddish author Sarah B. Smith. Looking for Luck was serialized in the Yiddish newspaper Der Tog in 1922-1923. The chapter is read by Saul Noam Zaritt in Yiddish and Josh Friedman in English.
A special thanks to everyone that made this episode possible.
Saul Noam Zaritt is an Associate Professor of Yiddish Literature in the Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard University and the author of Jewish American Writing and World Literature: Maybe to Millions, Maybe to Nobody.
Josh Friedman is a member of the band DATCHA and the creator of the podcast, Art and Life and Shit.
Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan Osborn
Music supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson
Website design by Jakob Lazzaro
This episode featured music from the klezmer group, Ezekiel's Wheels Klezmer Band, thanks to Abigale Reisman.
Episode photo by Dan Osborn
In this bonus episode, we visit the archives and listen to Yiddish and English readings of the chapter "At the Doctor" from the shund novel Looking for Luck: The Woman Who Wanted to be Different by Yiddish author Sarah B. Smith. Looking for Luck was serialized in the Yiddish newspaper Der Tog in 1922-1923. The chapter is read by Saul Noam Zaritt in Yiddish and Josh Friedman in English.
A special thanks to everyone that made this episode possible.
Saul Noam Zaritt is an Associate Professor of Yiddish Literature in the Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard University and the author of Jewish American Writing and World Literature: Maybe to Millions, Maybe to Nobody.
Josh Friedman is a member of the band DATCHA and the creator of the podcast, Art and Life and Shit.
Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan Osborn
Music supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson
Website design by Jakob Lazzaro
This episode featured music from the klezmer group, Ezekiel's Wheels Klezmer Band, thanks to Abigale Reisman.
Episode photo by Dan Osborn
In this episode, we speak with Saul Noam Zaritt. Saul is an Associate Professor of Yiddish Literature in the Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard University and the author of Jewish American Writing and World Literature: Maybe to Millions, Maybe to Nobody. Saul discusses Yiddish shund literature or, Yiddish trash literature. Through shund novels, Devin explores Yiddish modernity, cultural diffusion, and provides a glimpse into the types of stories that circulated in the Yiddish press outside of the canonized tales.
Learn more about Sau's work at www.saulnoamz.com
Learn more about the Joy and Conversation at www.joyandconversationpodcast.com
Follow Joy and Conversation on social media:
Instagram- joyandconversationpodcast
Twitter- @JandCPodcast
Facebook- @JoyandConversationPodcast
YouTube- Joy and Conversation
Episode Credits:
Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan Osborn
Music supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers (www.nicoriversrecording.com)
Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson (www.alechutson.com & www.warbirdcreative.com)
Website design by Jakob Lazzaro (www.jakoblazzaro.com)
This episode featured music from the Sephardic group, Voice of the Turtle (www.voiceoftheturtle.com). * Par'ó Era Estreyero * Mose Salio De Misrayim
This episode featured music from Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). * Heather * Tuck and Point * La Naranja Borriana * The Records * Single Still * La Troga
Episode photo by Dan Osborn
In this episode, we speak to Miriam Udel, Associate Professor of Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture at Emory University and editor and translator of Honey on the Page: A Treasury of Yiddish Children's Literature. Miriam discusses the project of Yiddish children's literature, explaining the political ideas and questions of identity circulating in these texts.
Learn more about Miriam's work at miriamudel.com
Learn more at www.joyandconversationpodcast.com
Follow Joy and Conversation on social media:
Twitter- @JandCPodcast
Facebook- @JoyandConversationPodcast
YouTube- Joy and Conversation
Instagram- joyandconversationpodcast
Episode Credits:
Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan Osborn
Music supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers (www.nicoriversrecording.com)
Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson (www.alechutson.com & www.warbirdcreative.com)
Website design by Jakob Lazzaro (www.jakoblazzaro.com)
This episode featured music from Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). * "Game Hens" from the album Confectionery * "Darn that Weasel" from the album Love and Weasel * 'Morning Glare' from the album Glass Obelisk * 'TwoPound' from the album Muffuletta * 'Delion' from the album Sketchbook 2
Episode photo by Dan Osborn
In this bonus episode, we visit the archives and listen to Yiddish and English readings of the poem Manhattan Bridge, written by the Yiddish poet Leyeles. The poem is read by Marc Caplan and Josh Friedman.
A special thanks to everyone that made this episode possible.
Marc Caplan is the Brownstone Visiting Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College and author of How Strange the Change: Language, Temporality, and Narrative Form in Peripheral Modernisms and Yiddish Writers in Weimar Berlin: A Fugitive Modernism.
Josh Friedman is a member of the band DATCHA and the creator of the podcast, Art and Life and Shit.
Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan Osborn
Music supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson
Website design by Jakob Lazzaro
This episode featured music from the klezmer group, Ezekiel's Wheels Klezmer Band, thanks to Abigale Reisman. * Doina for Duke * Fiddler's Sirba * Abigale's Hora * Johannes Khosidl * Nat's Nign
Episode photo by Dan Osborn
In this episode, we speak with Marc Caplan about Yiddish literature. Marc is the Brownstone Visiting Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College and the author of How Strange the Change: Language, Temporality, and Narrative Form in Peripheral Modernisms and Yiddish Writers in Weimar Berlin: A Fugitive Modernism. Marc talks about the processes of modernization for Yiddish-speaking Jews in Eastern Europe and demonstrates how Yiddish literature can be understood as a form of postcolonial expression.
Learn more about the Joy and Conversation at www.joyandconversationpodcast.com
Follow Joy and Conversation on social media:
Twitter- @JandCPodcast
Facebook- @JoyandConversationPodcast
YouTube- Joy and Conversation
Episode Credits:
Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan Osborn
Music supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers (www.nicoriversrecording.com)
Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson (www.alechutson.com & www.warbirdcreative.com)
Website design by Jakob Lazzaro (www.jakoblazzaro.com)
This episode featured music from the klezmer group, Ezekeil's Wheels (www.ewklezmer.com) * Doina for Duke * Fiddler's Sirba * Honga * Johannes Khosidl * Nat's Nign
Episode photo by Dan Osborn