Relatively Speaking

This week on Unorthodox, we’re coming at you live from the JCC Manhattan with two great guests, an audience-wide game of Jewish geography, and much more.

Our Jewish guest is writer A.J. Jacobs, who holds the special distinction of being our first-ever guest back in 2015. He returns with his new book, It’s All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree, about his unlikely entry into the world of genealogy, culminating with his attempt to throw the world’s largest family reunion. He tells us about the famous—and infamous—relatives he discovered, the lessons he hopes his kids learn from his project, and, in a Maury-style twist, reveals which hosts are related to him.

Our gentile of the week is actor Kobi Libii, who played Cantor Duvid on Season 3 of Amazon’s Transparent and currently appears on Comedy Central’s The Opposition With Jordan Klepper. He tells us about meeting with rabbis and other Jewish leaders to prepare for the Transparent role, which required him to speak Hebrew, pivoting to political satire on The Opposition, and what he does to unwind from the absurdist news cycle he now covers.

We love hearing from you! Email us at [email protected]—we’ll share our favorite notes on-air.

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Unorthodox is a smart, fresh, fun weekly take on Jewish news and culture hosted by Mark Oppenheimer, Stephanie Butnick, and Liel Leibovitz. You can listen to individual episodes here or subscribe on iTunes.