Unorthodox | |
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Presentation | |
Hosted by |
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Genre | Religion and spirituality podcast |
Language | English |
Production | |
No. of episodes | 386 |
Publication | |
Original release | July 17, 2015 |
Provider | Tablet |
Related | |
Website | www |
Unorthodox is a podcast that discusses news, culture, and politics related to Judaism.[1]
The podcast was started in 2015 when Oppenheimer pitched the idea to Tablet Magazine[2][3]
The podcast is recorded in front of a live audience in New York City. The podcast received a grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation.[4] On November 5, 2018 the podcast recorded a live episode at the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Beachwood, Ohio as part of the Cleveland Jewish Book Festival. The live show featured a guest appearance from David Gilbert, the CEO and president of Destination Cleveland and Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.[5] Oppenheimer did an interview with New Voices.[6]
In 2020, Unorthodox marked its 250th episode.[2]
The podcast is hosted by:
Josh Kross, producer [8]
One of the original hosts was Mark Oppenheimer: Oppenheimer is a writer and the director of the Yale Journalism Initiative.[2] Oppenheimer earned his Ph.D.and B.A. from Yale.[12] He has been a news reporter, magazine writer, and essayist and has written six books, including Wisenheimer (about his years as a high school debater) and Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood.[12] Oppenheimer's final episode as host of the podcast was on 27 April 2023. [13]
The hosts talk about Jewish culture, politics, and news with weekly guests. The show is generally light hearted, but does cover difficult topics like the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.[5] The show also covers controversial topics such as Jewish girls getting rhinoplasty.[4] The show provides a content warning for swearing and has regular "Jew of the week" and "Gentile of the week" segments. Guests on the show have included CEOs David Gilbert and Terry Stewart.[5] One episode featured historian Alan Robert Ginsburg and Israeli cooking personality Gil Hovav, while another featured Jesuit priest James Martin and comedian Judy Gold.[14]
Jews of the Week
Gentiles of the Week
Hal Karp was featured as a guest on the show for the 2018 annual apology episode on Yom Kippur. In the episode Karp told the story of how he mended his relationship with his brother and expressed regret for not repairing relationships with others he had hurt. After sharing the episode on Facebook his ex-wife, Irene Sibaja, reconnected with him and they were remarried on December 6, 2018 at the Emanu-El Temple in Dallas Texas. The three hosts read four of the seven blessings recited at the wedding.[24]
The podcast did a live show at the Slifka Center for Jewish Life on October 13, 2015.[25] The podcast did a live show at Jewish Community Center of San Francisco on September 23, 2019.[26] The show did a live episode in Pittsburgh.[27] The podcast did a live show in Detroit.[28] The podcast did a live show in Phoenix at the Sun Jewish Community Center on December 9, 2019.[29]
The podcast was named one of the 50 best podcasts of the year in 2016 by The Guardian.[30] The show was included on Moment Magazine's list of the "Top Ten Jewish Podcasts".[31] The show was included on Washington Jewish Week's list of "7 Jewish podcasts you should add to your rotation".[32] Jetzt called Unorthodox "the world's best-known Jewish podcast".[33]
It is listened to in 11 countries with more than six million downloads; a fan Facebook page includes more than 6,000 members.[15]
The hosts of the show published a book entitled The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia: From Abraham to Zabar’s and Everything in Between and went on a book tour together.[34]