Let My People Go

This week on Unorthodox, Jared and Ivanka go shul shopping in Washington, D.C.

Our Jewish guest is renowned biblical scholar Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, whose latest book examines the life of Moses, one of the most enigmatic biblical figures (you can read an excerpt here). She tells us about exploring the often overlooked aspects of Moses’s life—his speech impediment, for example, and the outsize role it played in his engagement with God and other people–and why she believes Moses is one of the most compelling literary characters of all time. (This segment is sponsored by Yale Jewish Lives.)

Our Gentile of the Week is linguist John McWhorter, author of the forthcoming book Talking Back, Talking Black. He tells us the latest linguistic trends he notices among his college students, why there’s no such thing as a safe space (or at least an unironic one), and why it’s OK to say ‘like’ a lot, as long as you’re not in a meeting.

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Thank you to all our listeners for your support and encouragement throughout 2016. We can’t wait to see what 2017 brings!

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.