Big Bang Slice
Ep. 317: ‘Jeopardy!’ host Mayim Bialik on her ‘very, very Jewish’ new film, plus Eddie Chang on Buy Nothing groups, and a ‘Licorice Pizza’ review
This week, we’re deep dishing about Licorice Pizza.
Our Jew of the week is actress, neuroscientist, and Jeopardy! co-host Mayim Bialik, who makes her directorial debut with the “very, very Jewish” film As They Made Us. Mayim wrote the film, about a woman coming to terms with her father’s decline and death, at the end of the traditional Jewish year of mourning following her own father’s death in 2015. She tells us about the film’s casting (Dustin Hoffman and Candace Bergen play the parents to Glee star Dianna Agron), how Jewish mourning rituals deepened her connection to Judaism, and what she’s learned from hosting the iconic game show.
Our gentile of the week is Eddie Chang, who moderates the Buy Nothing Facebook group for New York City’s Upper East Side neighborhood. He tells us why he prefers sourcing items from the group’s 12,000 members to buying things on Amazon, the best things he’s found through the group, and what he’s learned about the power of community along the way. His question for the hosts is which Jewish TV show is superior: Seinfeld or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
We love to hear from you! Send us your emails and voice memos at [email protected], or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel.
Upcoming events:
May 15 — Mark Oppenheimer will be discussing his book Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood at Temple Beth Israel in Skokie, Illinois. 10 a.m. Central; tickets here.
May 22 (virtual) — Stephanie Butnick will be in conversation with authors Gary Shteyngart and Claire Stanford as part of the Jewish Book Council and the Jewish Museum’s Unpacking the Book series. 7 p.m. Eastern; register here.
May 25 — Mark, Stephanie, and Liel will be live in New York City for Central Synagogue’s Shavuot Boot Camp with Abigail Pogrebin. 5:30 p.m. Eastern; stream the event here.
Get all our events info at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.
To book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way, contact Tanya Singer at tsi[email protected].
Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.
UnorthodoxBonus: A Conversation With Tablet’s Editor-in-Chief Alana NewhouseTalking ‘Brokenism,’ America, and moreNovember 25, 2022- UnorthodoxTruly ThankfulEp. 339: Making challah with Molly Yeh, Michael Twitty on ‘Koshersoul’ cooking, and Shannon Sarna on ‘Modern Jewish Comfort Food’November 24, 2022
- UnorthodoxBuilding Bridges Ep. 338: Actor Eric Ladin on ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ and Jewish summer camp, interfaith leader Eboo Patel on embracing religious diversityNovember 17, 2022
- UnorthodoxSpirited DebateEp. 337: Letty Cottin Pogrebin reflects on her Jewish awakening and her Jewish identity within the feminist movementNovember 10, 2022
- UnorthodoxGenerally AssembledEp. 336: Live from the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly with Eric Fingerhut, plus ‘Rap Capital’ author Joe Coscarelli, new podcast merch, and moreNovember 3, 2022
- UnorthodoxAround the TableEp. 335: ‘Somebody Feed Phil’ star Phil Rosenthal on honoring his late parents on screen, and CBS Sunday Morning’s Faith Salie on raising Jewish children in a multifaith familyOctober 27, 2022
- UnorthodoxRaising the RoofEp. 334: Israeli actor Michael Aloni, Pastor Corey Brooks, JQY founder Mordechai Levovitz, and new Shabbat music from Yair RosenbergOctober 13, 2022
- UnorthodoxAbsolute CitronEp. 333: Celebrating Sukkot with a deep dive into the global history of the etrog, a visit to an etrog farm, and a look at Jewish co-housingOctober 6, 2022
- UnorthodoxThe Apology Episode, 5783Ep. 332: Stories of reckoning, atonement, and goats on our eighth annual Yom Kippur special September 29, 2022
- UnorthodoxFamily Hold BackEp. 331: Filmmakers Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein on ‘The U.S. and the Holocaust,’ and kosher cookbook author Kim Kushner on ‘The Modern Table’September 22, 2022
- UnorthodoxClass ActsEp. 330: Author Michael Lewis on life among the Jews and CNN’s Dana Bash on reporting on antisemitismSeptember 15, 2022
- UnorthodoxDog DaysEp. 329: Sociologist Ilana Horwitz on ‘God, Grades, and Graduation,’ Australian novelist Tim Winton on surfing and writing, plus an appeal to our listenersAugust 18, 2022
- UnorthodoxInside and OutEp. 328: Abigail Pogrebin on the new installment of ‘The Minyan,’ Allison Josephs on Hollywood’s portrayal of Orthodox Judaism, and a very Unorthodox fundraiserAugust 11, 2022
- UnorthodoxMoving ForwardEp. 327: For Tisha B’Av, we’re talking to Rebecca Soffer of Modern Loss about grief, and Walter Russell Mead about Israel and AmericaAugust 4, 2022
- UnorthodoxStaying CoolEp. 326: Singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb on the joys of summer camp, Cantor Yisroel Leshes on reinterpreting Yiddish jazz musicJuly 28, 2022
- UnorthodoxFunny GirlsEp. 325: Broadway casting shakeups, plus Iranian American comedian Negin Farsad, and ‘Batman’ producer Michael Uslan July 21, 2022
- UnorthodoxMellow YellowThe Gist host Mike Pesca on the value of disagreement, and Argentine journalist Javier Sinay on ‘The Murders of Moisés Ville’ July 14, 2022
- UnorthodoxGood SportsEp. 323: Hindu monk Swami Tyagananda on spirituality and the modern world, and forthcoming Tablet Studios podcast host Meredith Shiner on a Sandy Koufax tribute at Dodger StadiumJune 30, 2022