The Jewish Music Scene


You don’t have to own an iPod to know there’s a burgeoning Jewish pop music scene. Writer and critic George Robinson recently sat down to assess that scene with concert promoter Michael Dorf and DJ Handler, who produces hiphop records and runs a new Jewish music web site, Shemspeed.com. We’ll also hear from a couple of the artists who attended Shemspeed’s launch party this fall. Click here for a list of songs heard in the podcast.


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Getting Our Groove Back


In his book, Getting Our Groove Back: How to Energize American Jewry, Scott Shay proposes some innovative solutions. He speaks with Dr. Marc Kramer of RAVSAK: The Jewish Community Day School Network.


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The New Jewish Food Movement


Three thousand years of Jewish food traditions are challenged by modern dilemmas including pesticides, packaging, and new ideas about kashrut and ethics. How does Jewish tradition inform these issues—and how do contemporary food issues strengthen Jewish tradition?

Nigel Savage, founder and executive direct of Hazon (www.hazon.org), an organization dedicating to creating a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community, moderates a panel discussion about the new jewish food movement featuring Simon Feil, Leah Koenig, Linda Lantos, and Lisa Kleinman.


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French Seduction


Eunice Lipton, an art historian and writer who has lived in Paris for 9 years, speaks about her memoir, French Seduction, with journalist Nola Weinstein.


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Returning to Cuba 

 

Cuba was once home to a rich, vibrant Jewish community—but today, just a few traces of that community remain. A new book by Ruth Behar, an anthropology professor at the University of Michigan, tells the story of Cuban Jews, including Behar’s own family. “An Island Called Home: Returning to Cuba,” recently published by Rutgers University Press, portrays Behar’s exploration of her roots and looks at the present and future of Jews in Cuba. 


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The Porcelain Monkey


Shira Nayman reads from her story “The Porcelain Monkey,” which appears in her first book of short stories, Awake in the Dark, recently released in paperback by Scribner.


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