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 o ..read more

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 ..read more

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 Ger ..read more

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 ..read more

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 no ..read more

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.joyandconversationpod ..read more

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.joyandconversationpodcas ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 th ..read more