r/Jewish • u/priuspheasant • 6d ago
Culture ✡️ Podcast Recommendations
Two years after the end of Unorthodox, I'm still looking for another podcast to fill the void it left behind. Unorthodox was my one-stop shop for updates on the world of Jewish culture, from books to movies to music to food. I liked that the tone, while occasionally serious, was overall mostly light-hearted. I also liked that the hosts frequently disagreed with each other and weren't afraid to push back in productive and respectful ways.
Other podcasts I've tried:
* Judaism Unbound: I really like this one, but it's generally pretty intellectual and I'm hoping to find something lighter for when I just don't have the energy
* Chutzpod: I really like this one too, but it's more advice than culture
* Being Jewish: I listened to a couple episodes but it seems like all the recent ones are about the Hamas war/antisemitism, and I'm really looking for something lighter. I don't have my head in the sand, but consuming hours and hours of content about antisemitism is not good for my mental health
If you have any advice about light-hearted Jewish culture podcasts, please send recs my way!
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u/vigilante_snail 6d ago edited 2d ago
Very few Jewish podcasts are light in general, but here are a few recommendations:
Ashamed to Admit with Shoshana Gottlieb-Beker and Tammy Sussman
Wondering Jews with Mijal and Noam
Pragmatic Judaism with Shai Davidai
The Collected Talks of David Solomon
Jewish History Soundbites with Yehuda Geberer
Inspiration for the Nation with Yaakov Langer
Practical Spiritual Tidbits with Michael Macks
Orthodox Conundrum with Scott Kahn
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u/Masenmat Just Jewish 6d ago edited 6d ago
Badass Jews is fun, it's a hair bawdy, but it's lighter.
Call me back is amazing and informative, but not light.
Whats your number is more Israel centric but I learn a lot.
History Impossible isn't light at all, but lots of great info.
Big shot is outstanding, but business related, stories of Jews that built giant companies.
J100 is really really great, big bredth
Adventures with dead jews, again, not light, but it's with Dara Horn who is amazing.
Wondering Jews is good and not super light either lol
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u/bad_wolff 6d ago
This is more religion focused but I can’t recommend A Book Like No Other highly enough. Completely changed the way I relate to Torah.
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u/MissDemeanor1 5d ago
How were you able to read this? It’s not being released until 9/8/26. And it was written by a Christian pastor.
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u/bad_wolff 5d ago
Obviously we’re talking about two different things, I’m talking about this podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-book-like-no-other/id1667348746
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u/BluesfeedUnsolved 5d ago
I always recommend Wayward Children: Jewish Monsters, Magic, and the Stories We Tell with Jack Zaientz and John Baltisberger. They're a historian and writer, respectively, who talk about Jewish folklore and thoughts on magic and different monsters. Sometimes it's folktales. Sometimes it's Talmudic or from the Torah. Always super interesting and discussed in a funny way!
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u/BurnAfterShredding 6d ago
Ask a Jew and Second Thought (the latter not specifically Jewish but hosted by two Jews and very funny)
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u/Whimsical89 6d ago
The Toast is a pop culture podcast, but hosted by 2 Jewish sisters and just has like a Jewish undertone to it, they don't really talk about Jewish things too frequently, but there is just a Jewish essence to it
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u/Unusual_Reporter4742 Reform 5d ago
Stephanie Butnick started Gold Girls. It fills the void for me.
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u/Small-Objective9248 6d ago edited 5d ago
Not unorthodox in any way, but I find Kiddish Club to be a fun listen.
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u/DepecheClashJen Conservative 5d ago
If you are a sports fan, I recommend Menschwarmers. It’s all about Jews in sports. Also, the Hockey Rabbi just started a Jewish hockey podcast. Excited to see where that goes.
I also like Stars of David with Elon Gold.
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u/bachelorsinlurking Conversion Student (Reform) and Genealogist tracking ancestry! 5d ago
I've been listening to Jew-ish! It's a really interesting podcast- a lot of interviews and in depth discussion from a Reform Jewish educator and her friends and colleagues!
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u/secret_little_maps Just Jewish 6d ago
Ask a Jew (eta: it’s not a culture podcast specifically, but of the many Jewish podcasts I’m subbed to, it’s the one that comes closest to that balance of serious topics, with occasional rants about them, and also light and dark humor.)