Our first Jewish Podcast Club Meet Up took place on a balmy summer evening under fairy lights in the Shalom courtyard. We got to know each other, talked about our favourite bits of the episodes we’d listened to that week, and our favourite types of podcasts (fiction vs non-fiction, music vs news).

What we listened to 

Israel Story – Ancient Land, Modern Tales, a podcast about the extraordinary lives of everyday Israelis.

  1. We listened to episodes #46 The Needle (44 mins) about the anaesthesiologist who sedated one of the world’s most notorious Nazis. Would you have kept that needle? What does it mean to uncover secrets about your parents’ past?
  2. #27 Jarab (36 mins) with two stories about unique points of contact between Arabs and Jews in Israel. Are these examples tokenistic? Have you ever uncovered a major part of your Jewishness or identity as an adult?
  3. #33 Milk, Honey and Sweet Mary Jane (52 mins) about a long-haired hippie who grew up in an Ultra-Orthodox home in Tzfat and has become the unlikely mastermind behind Telegrass. Were you surprised by how ethical – and honest – the protagonists were?

What we ate

Popcorn, corn chips, green grapes. No one touched the hummus…

What we drank

Cold water and chilled white wine. No one touched the red…

Our version of show notes

  1. #46 The Needle – Netflix movie Operation Finale with Lior Raz of Fauda-fame!
  2. #27 Jarab – see Israeli president Reuven Rivlin chatting with Jarab designer, Liron Lavi Turkenich.
  3. #33 Milk, Honey and Sweet Mary Jane – Someone asked about the Jewish attitude to drugs, so here’s an article that might answer the question: Were Europe’s great rabbis a bunch of potheads?

The pods we swear by!

We came up with an awesome list of podcasts that we’ll probably never get to listen to but would recommend! Sharing them here because we know there are many more pod-lovers out there 😊

The Jew-y podcasts (Jewish discussions and/or hosts and guests): Unorthodox; George Ezra; Esther Perel; 92nd St Y; Fault Lines; Tel Aviv Review; Humankind

The other podcasts: Homecoming; Hunted; Chat 10, Looks 3; Rolling Stone; Ladies, We Need to Talk; From Crappy to Happy; Romantically Challenged; Please Explain (SMH/The Age podcast); The happiness Lab; The School of Psychology; BBC – Outlook, The Forum, Special Enquiry, Heart and Soul; The Guardian; Blackout

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Interested in joining out next meet up in February? We’ll be listening to episodes from two very different podcasts (exact episode numbers TBA). The first is Unorthodox which features all the important, fun and quirky news of the Jews, from celebs to politics. And the second is Esther Perel’s podcast Where Should We Begin where she invites us to step into couples therapy practice!

Details about our next meet up to be realised soon in our private Facebook group Couch Latkes Facebook group!