The Nose Job Episode

This week on Unorthodox, everything you ever wanted to know about nose jobs, and their particular prominence in American Jewish life. Tablet Editor-in-Chief Alana Newhouse and Executive Editor Wayne Hoffman discuss their personal experiences with rhinoplasty. Dr. Jonathan Kaplan, a San Francisco-based plastic surgeon, breaks down exactly what happens during a nose job, and explains how “deviated septum” became a euphemism. Professor and art historian Matthew Baigell tells us about the first Jewish nose job, performed in Berlin in 1898, and how stereotypes of Jews and noses can be traced all the way back to the 1300s. Filmmaker Gayle Kirschenbaum, who documented her mother’s unsuccessful campaign to get her to agree to rhinoplasty in My Nose, tells us about coming to terms with her nose—and her mother.

We’ll be recording live at the Manhattan JCC on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. with special guests comedian Judy Gold and Father James Martin! Buy tickets here.

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This episode of Unorthodox is brought to you by PJ Library, the program that sends FREE Jewish books to more than 200,000 children around the world. Sign up at pjlibrary.org/unorthodox and they’ll send you a new book each month.

This episode is also brought to you by Wrestling Jerusalem, a unique film about Israel and Palestine, now available on DVD. Learn more at wrestlingjerusalem.com

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.