The Johan Rene Podcast: Recent Episodes
Johan Rene Schaper
I'm a wacky Dutch immigrant to the US talking about philosophy, religion, political thought, and culture.
I am talking to musician Jason Caplan about his approach to Abulafian Mysticism and Music.
Talking about the philosophy of the late Rabbi Shimon Gershon Rosenberg ztzl with Levi Morrow.
After shamelessly stuffing my face with Chanukah donuts I unapologetically explored second temple Judaism(s) with Prof. Malka Simkovich, author of 'Discovering Second Temple Literature: The Stories and Scriptures That Shaped Early Judaism'
Joined by philosopher and author Dr. Tyron Goldschmidt we talk Analytical Philosophy of Judaism and discuss both strengths and weaknesses of a couple (or so) arguments for God.
Schmoozing about Jewish Muslim relations with Chassidic Interfaith dialoguer Lee Weissman.
Has Judaism strayed? According to my guest, a Maimonidean par excellence, it has. We talk the importance of Maimonides, the need for recomiting to Judaisms primary sources, and the rejection of Kabbalah.
Joined by Rabbi Pesach Sommer, we talk about the personal and intellectual struggles with the truth of Judaism.
Being an out-of-the-box individual in the conformist frum community can be a challenge. Challenge accepted. Joined by my teacher and friend Misha Lindenberg.
Actor Seth Rogen dared to have an an opinion about Israel we didn't like. So I was forced to call in the Yak Attack, aka Brooklyn's legend Jacob Bard, to face this celebrity cricis wrong-think head on!
In this episode, Asher Lovy and grapple with the new wave of Anti-Semitism coming out of a particular corner of black social media. How should we Jews deal with this?
DeSean Jackson, football player for the Philadelphia Eagles, recently got into hot water for his anti-Semitic fake Hitler quote.
I talk about the quote, Black Hebrew Israelite conspiracy theories, Nazi racial theories, and the Khazar Jewish kingdom.
I also examine how oddly enough, fake Hitler is very similar to real Hitler.
Together with my wife, we discuss academic Biblical studies and their methodological assumptions. We compare their approach to the traditional Jewish approach and discuss how modern Jewish academics incorporates academic Biblical studies. My wife cracks jokes she thinks are funny and I bring in philosophy because I'm me.
In which we discuss demons: demons in the ancient world, demons in Judaism, and thinking about demons philosophically. Mindy also sings her favorite demon song.
"Getting to know you/getting to know all about you." In this brief episode, my wife interviews me about my upbringing and how I got to where I am today. We discuss growing up in the Netherlands School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, playing Thor, being Gothic, and meeting my very first Jews at a bar on Friday night.