In this week’s episode of “people we thought were Jewish” - Christine Rosen! Christine is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, columnist for Commentary magazine, cohosts of The Commentary Magazine Podcast, and author of the new book The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World. We talk about Christine's very uni…

On the eve of October 7th, we gathered with 100+ of our closest friends (you guys!) to share our feelings, frustrations, sad tears and happy tears. Don't worry, we still found some space for holocaust jokes and hot dictators. Thank you to everyone who joined, from Portland to Iran - we are very lucky to have you. Special thanks to Super Friends and…

Sunday October 6 listener Zoom!! Go to askajew.substack.com for details. Shana Tova from the bomb shelter! Just kidding, the IDF said we can go out, plus, after an hour we finished folding laundry and drinking a bottle of whiskey, and we were bored. This episode was recorded before Iran launched a ballistic missile attack at our faces, so if we sou…

This episode is brought to you by the Federated States of Micronesia. No, they aren't paying us for sponsorship, but they are the only country that still loves us, so this one's on us! This week we discuss the Hezbollah pager explosions, the list of countries that can no longer sit with us, Hassan Nasrallah's glow-up, decolonized pizza at MIT, tips…

Greg Lukianoff is a First Amendment lawyer, President and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), and co-author of the hits "The Coddling of the American Mind" with Jonathan Haidt and "The Canceling of the American Mind" with Rikki Schlott. He joins us to talk all things free speech, like why campuses are burning, how vio…

David Christopher Kaufman is a columnist and editor at the NY Post and an adjunct fellow at the Tel Aviv institute. He joins the girls this week to talk elections, Israel, and the identity of the half black, half Jewish, totally Zionist American journalist. Also: * The mood in Israel * The difference between being a Jew and being Jewish * Why Hamas…

We are joined by Brianna Wu, the Executive Director of Rebellion Pac, who proudly calls herself queer, progressive - and a friend of Israel. We discuss growing up in Mississippi, what progressives can learn from Hasidic Jews, the Women's March, Gamergate, being an inspiration for a Law & Order episode, her global ranking as an elite Super Mario 2 R…

We hopped on to record with a heavy heart this morning, after hearing the devasating news of the murder of 6 Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity: Carmel Gat, Ori Danino, Almog Sarusi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alex Lobanov and Eden Yerushalmi. They managed to survive 11 months, only to be executed somewhere between Thursday and Friday by their captors.…

The girls are joined by retired British Army Major Andrew Fox, who has spent time in Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, and other exotic tourist destinations. We discuss wars of choice, try to pick a fight with Taylor Swift, compare military MREs, and wonder why Americans love tiny dogs and Hezbollah flags. Also: Wait why does England need an army? The US Mi…

This week we take your questions, very politely and with no conflict at all discuss Jewish extremism, and float the idea of a listener trip to Israel… You can send us your questions to askajewpod@gmail.com Make sure to check out our podcast recommendations and more on Substack askajew.substack.com Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.sub…

America’s favorite Nepo baby after Jesus, the greatest one-eye war hero since Moshe Dayan, the man who puts the Ho in Idaho - we are honored to welcome Ben Dreyfuss to Ask A Jew today. In this vulnerable, first of its kind tell-all, Ben opens up to us about his relationship with social media, his famous father, Judaism - and why he still hasn’t for…

A haunting and beautiful skit from the Israeli show "Hayehudim Baim" ("The Jews are coming") Peter Paltchik, olympic medalist, with his coach Oren Smadja who just lost his son in Gaza Isael's Olympic team (6 medals and counting!) Dr. Mijal Bitton at the NYU rally Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com Email us your questions a…

Karmela Waldman may be a Holocaust survivor with a heartbreaking story, but the true victim of the Nazis is clealrly her son, Joel, as he tells us. The hilarious mother-son duo join the girls to talk about optimism, the True Crime podcast they co host, Surviving the Survivor, and the book Joel wrote about his mother by the same name, which he calls…

The girls are joined by Andy Mills, a reporter and a podcaster who spent time as both a fundamentalist Christian and an employee of The NY Times. You may know him from such podcasts as The Daily, The Witch Trials of J.K Rowling, and most recently, Reflector. We discuss faith and certainty, values, conspiracy theories about the media, how to pray in…

In this week's solopod, Judaism's Piers Morgan and Roger Waters sit down to discuss the woes of the Jewish people in 2024. But first, we waste your time with talk about toxic relationships, skincare, skimpy bathing suits. Fear not - about 26 minutes in we start to talk about Israel: hostage deals, the national mood, why trying to kill us will backf…

Reuven Fenton is a reporter for the NY Post and the author of the new novel "Goyhood", which the Jerusalem Post called "A unique story of identity and redemption that examines no less of an issue than the essence of Judaism." We talk identity, the Post, writing - and more. Don't forget to rate us 5 stars wherever you get your podcasts, and join us …

Why war isn't as simple as two armies fighting, the obsession with "2,000 pound bombs", Hamas's non-battlefield strategy (which the media helps it achieve) and so much more with John Spencer. No one understands the intricacies of modern warfare like John Spencer. As a retired US Army Major and chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Instit…

In this episode of Ask A Jew, we answer your questions like why can religious Jews go into a mosque but not a church? Does an alarm clock need to be kosher? And should you say a prayer every time you use the bathroom? Have a question? Send it to us at askajewpod@gmail.comWhen is it time to post things on Instagram again? Before we get to that thoug…

Noam Dworman is the owner of the world famous Comedy Cellar in New York City, co-host of the podcast Live From The Table, and two-time MVP of Ask A Jew. We sat with him last week in a beautiful Soho studio (thank you Jonathan!) to talk about Israel, Trump, people you disagree with, and more. Manny Dworman, a 5th-grader with some strong opinions abo…

The girls welcome Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of the Park Avenue Synagogue for a very serious conversation about faith and Jewish identity in 2024, Anti-Zionist Jews, compassion, and what the future may hold for America's Jews. * The Interview beings 31 minutes in, after we catch up on Yael's meditation retreat and other spiritual adventures. Park Avenue…

0:00 - 47:00: the girls catch up on their week for the first part of the episode, talking about the joys of meditation (kind of), the miracle of procastination (with a touch of divine intervention), and a Eurovision recap. 47:00: In the second part of the episode, we talk to Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer, creators of the October 7 play - yes, t…

This week we are delighted to welcome newly-minted Jew, our number one draft pick for the Tribe this season, the Caitlin Clark of Judaism - Nellie Bowles! Nellie is the Chief Stratgy Officer at The Free Press, formerly of The NY Times, and author of the wonderful new book “Morning After the Revolution: Dispatches from the Wrong Side of History” whi…

Glory to the Gays! This week we are joined by Ben Appel, author of the upcoming “Cis White Gay: The Making of a Gender Heretic” AND a graduate of the Popular People's University Formerly Known As Columbia. In this struggle session we cover the liberation of the Columbia campus, why Jews and Gays should unite against the world, and why your hairdres…

Forget college campuses, the real culture war will take place next week in Malmo, Sweden, where the Eurovision Song Contest (otherwise known as the "gay olympics") takes place. We are joined by sports journalist and Eurovision rainman Sharon Davidovitch to talk about how Israel will fare this year in the glitter soaked battlefield - even if you kno…

Sarah Rose Siskind is a science comedy writer and psychedelic comedian. she came by to tell us about how she hosted a psychedelic Shiva after October 7th, which she also wrote about for Psychology Today. We also discuss how drugs may have influenced Nova festival survivors, why Chaya Leah and Yael need to go on a “trip” to Auschwitz, and proposing …

Remember when OJ died?? That's what we were talking about a few days ago when we recorded this, and all was calm in the world. Coincidentaly this blissfully unaware episode is also number 100 for us! Thank you for that, Chaya Leah is petitioning to the Rabbis to make it a holiday as we speak (100 days of fasting? Need to workshop). We did have a lo…

Tom Aharon is an Israeli standup comedian, and co-host of Israel's top commercial daily radio morning show, New Morning. We discuss doing stand up for IDF soliders after Oct 7, Hezbollah's VP of Global Marketing and Natan Sharansky's underwear. Happy Birthday Tom! Notes: The head of Hamas's sister arrested in Israel Billboards in Hebrew In Iran (He…

Dr. Peter Berkowitz is the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, former Director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, executive secretary of the department's Commission on Unalienable Rights, and senior adviser to the Secretary of State. Naturally we talk about princess Kate. But we also cover additct…

In this episode we cover a failed meditation, a succesful trip to Israel (it's all fine now), and the moral confusion about rapes that aren't planned but just kind of happen. Also: a listener creates a fun game: who said it white nationalist or left wing antisemite? Our apologies to Princess Kate for making fun of her, clearly we recorded this hour…

This week we welcome Jennifer Murtazashvili, Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and Founding Director of the Center for Governance and Markets. We talk about an interfaith initiative she co-founded with a Muslim colleague after October 7th, what it was like living as a Jewish woman in Afgh…

Two hours with one of our favorite Shiksa's, Bridget Phetasy! Fair warning that Bridget used to write for Playboy, and Chaya Leah was very interested in that, so this episode gets spicy. Bridget Phetasy is host of Dumpster Fire on YouTube and the Walk-Ins Welcome podcast, as well as a writer and contributing editor at Spectator. Follow her on Subst…

A very bad Jewish dad joke An exciting new AAJ Spin-off ((((((Why)))))) Our friend and former guest Batya Ungar-Sargon kicking ass on Bill Maher Should you get a Aaron Bushnell face tattoo? Abolition week at Harvard Academia - Should we stay or should we go? Fantasy-league of Israel supporters Swifties for Palestine Imagine if the UN supported Isra…

This week the girls welcome Rob Henderson, author of Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class. Born to a drug-addicted, homeless mother in California, Rob was passed around 7 foster homes and grew to become a rowdy teenager. He turned his life around when he joined the Air Force after high school, and ultimately was accepted into…

This week, we welcome Lord Winston Marshall (we assume he’s a Lord, he’s from England) - writer, podcaster, musician, and noble friend of the Jews. You may know Winston as co-founder of the band “Mumford and Sons” and more recently as host of “The Winston Marshall Show” which you can find on Youtube or wherever you get your podcasts. Winston just r…

Make Colorblindness Great Again! Writer, musician, rapper, author and podcaster Coleman Hughes joins us this week to discuss his new book which you should buy and read, "The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America." We cover Neoracism, Israel, wokeness, writing and more. Also, who called Coleman a "black shabbos goy"? Listen to fin…

In this episode, we discuss the personal stories of two fallen IDF soldiers - Ahmad Abu Latif and Cedrick Garin. You can read more about Ahmad in this story from our friend Nancy Rommelmann, and see a video of both young men on our substack, askajew.substack.com. We also share stories and photos from a visit to the site of the Nova massacre and Kib…

James Kirchick is a journalist and author of the NY Times bestseller "Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington". You may know him from his work in Air Mail, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and others. Follow Jamie on Twitter, read his excellent latest piece in the Atlantic about the importance of protecting free speech, and of course hi…

Good morning from Israel, where it is currently October 116th. on this solo pod, the girls occupy familiar and new territories: Being sick at home We are brothers? Hostages forever. The Russian roulette that is Jerusalem bus travel Chaya Leah guarding trash cans A funny story about false teeth (is there a story about false teeth that isn't funny?) …

Nick Gillespie is an editor at large at Reason, the libertarian magazine of "free minds and free markets," and host of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie, he’s also our favorite libertarian! In this episode we talk about: Hollywood’s portrayal of Israel (we all agree that Paul Newman is the perfect looking Jew) Exodus by Leon Uris (the book!)…

This week on Ask A Jew, the girls sit down with their colleague at the top of the podcasting charts Mike Pesca, who just returned from his first ever reporting trip to Israel. We discuss the war with Hamas, growing up Italian and Jewish, and attempt to answer some of the nation’s most divisive questions like - does ketchup belong on a bagel? Should…

Join the discussion on Susbtack askajew.substack.com Follow, review and rate Ask A Jew five stars us on Apple podcasts, it helps us grow! Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com Email us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Want to help us grow? Rate and review us 5 stars on Apple podcasts and Spotify ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐…

This week we are re-airing one of our favorite episodes, "All I want for Christmas is Jews", from December 2022. In this episode we interview Rabbi David Komerofsky, an expert on Christmas music. I know, right?? If Rabbi K's name sounds familiar, it's because his congregation in Canton, Ohio was just the target of a shooting plot by a 13-year-old. …

Thank you to everyone who showed up at the Hanukkah Party! It was lots of fun, we had donuts, drinks, home made hamentaschen (why not!) and more laughs than awkward introductions. Lets do it again sometime! Pics here. This week: Pray for the social media manager The IDF is gay, ew/The IDF isn’t gay enough Would you take a bullet for your Twitter fr…

SEE YOU WEDNESDAY, DEC 13 Hanukkah Bash - 3 sheets bar, 134 West 3rd street, 6pm. RSVP More info on askajew.substack.com In a nice catch-up episode we discuss this non-fun rollercoaster of emotions, turn our rage to all different directions (this was before the congressional hearing on Antisemitism featuring your favorite Ivy Leage presidents), dis…

As part of our ongoing therapy, we welcomed Jonathan Rauch, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Jonathan is one of our favorite authors, and his books “Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought” and “The Constitution of Knowledge - A Defense of Truth” are heavily earmarked in both our bookshelves. We ask Jonathan to help us hold o…

~~Save the Date - December 13th Hannukah party in NYC~~ Follow substack for more info: askajew.substack.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sam Harris is amazing. Me too, unless you’re a jew WHO? Unicef? UNHRC? GTFO Ilhan "some of my best friends are Jewish" Omar For the soul - Escaping Twin Flames on Netflix Joing the AAJ…

We welcome young journalist and activist Blake Flayton, fresh off a ground invasion into academia. He tries to explain to us what is wrong with the kids today, what TikTok and peer pressure has to do with it, and why we need different kinds of Jews on campus. Stay in touch - sign up for our substack Blake’s NY Times piece about antisemitism on camp…

In honor of Islamophobia month, we detained Mujahed Kobbe and Siraj Hashmi, otherwise knows as the Habibi Bros, hosts of the Habibi Power Hour." Seriously, this is the most fun we’ve had all month - and that's before we strip searched them. Follow their show and socials if you don't believe us! We heard these boys are safe and funny, but when Mujah…

The girls use their guest Yossi Klein Halevi, senior fellow at the Hartman Institute, as a free therapist. Warning: This episode gets funny and lighthearted at times, some might even say optimistic. We talk: Israeli music is so….Israeli. Why is Yossi doing a bit better? Hamas really messed up by making us stop hating each other. Our leaders don’t d…

On October 6th, we sat down for a lovely conversation with journalist Mary Katharine Ham, who you may know from CNN, The Federalist, and as the co-host of wonderful podcast "Getting Hammered". I'd like to say that back 3 weeks ago when we recorded this we didn't have any problems, but we did, just at a much smaller scale. We discuss a lot of the th…