Notes on Camp
Episode 96: Everything you ever wanted to know about summer camp
Break out the bug juice—it’s summer-camp week on Unorthodox! We’re talking campfires, Color War, and Mark’s traumatic summer at a nudist camp.
Our first guest is Sandy Fox, a doctoral candidate studying language and everyday life in Zionist, Yiddishist, and denominational summer camps. She’s also the founder of Vaybertaytsh, a feminist podcast entirely in Yiddish. She explains how Jewish summer camps evolved in the postwar period (including a camp for children of Holocaust survivors), the outsize role summer camp plays in American Jewish consciousness today, and how Jews shaped Color War as we know it.
Micah Hart, co-host of the podcast Campfires and Color Wars, tells us about what summers were like as the camp director’s son, the difference between a Jewish camp and a camp where most of the campers happen to be Jewish, and what it means to be “camp hot.”
We also talk to writer Jordana Horn, who hated camp but whose kids love it—all six of them are attending some form of camp this summer. She tells us how Jewish camps give her children a space to develop their own Jewish identity and community, how social media has changed the camp experience for campers and their parents, and what really goes down when the kids ship out for the summer.
Plus, a special update from former guest H. Alan Scott. He talks LGBT politics, pinkwashing, and other takeaways from his first trip to Israel. Listen here.
We love hearing from you! Email us at [email protected]—as always, we’ll share our favorite notes on air.
This episode is brought to you by Harry’s. Go to Harrys.com and enter code UNORTHODOX at checkout to get a free post shave balm.
This episode is also brought to you by AT&T. Enjoy unlimited entertainment with unlimited data from AT&T. Learn more at att.com/unlimited.
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.
- UnorthodoxThe Conversion Episode, 2022Ep. 319: Our fifth annual Shavuot celebration of Jews by choice, featuring stories from Washington, D.C., to Jerusalem May 26, 2022
- UnorthodoxUnorthodox Comes Alive!Ep. 318: Congresswoman Elaine Luria and NFL hall-of-famer Bruce Smith, live from Virginia BeachMay 19, 2022
- UnorthodoxBig Bang SliceEp. 317: ‘Jeopardy!’ host Mayim Bialik on her ‘very, very Jewish’ new film, plus Eddie Chang on Buy Nothing groups, and a ‘Licorice Pizza’ reviewMay 12, 2022
- UnorthodoxThe MothershipEp. 316: Jewish Fertility Foundation; Ester Steinberg’s postpartum comedy special; a Fragile X diagnosis; a complicated college graduationMay 5, 2022
- UnorthodoxPuzzling ThroughEp. 315: A.J. Jacobs on crosswords, riddles, and Wordle, plus director Barry Levinson’s new film, ‘The Survivor’April 28, 2022
- UnorthodoxRootless CosmopolitansEp. 314: Barry Manilow on his new musical ‘Harmony,’ Andy Markovits on the power of a passport, and Tablet’s Maggie Phillips on religious literacyApril 21, 2022
- UnorthodoxBonus: Passover MelodiesMusician Josh Warshawsky sings us through the SederApril 14, 2022
- UnorthodoxA Passover to RememberEp. 313: Our hosts make this ancient holiday feel personal, relevant, and meaningfulApril 7, 2022
- UnorthodoxWhat’s Cookin’?Ep. 312: Massachusetts State Sen. Eric Lesser on inaugurating the Obama White House Seders, and Unorthodox producer Quinn Waller on learning to make chicken soup for PassoverMarch 31, 2022
- UnorthodoxWe Are FamilyEp. 311: Julie Platt on Jewish Federations (and her talented Jewish family), and Father Thomas Soroka on Orthodox ChristianityMarch 24, 2022
- UnorthodoxParty OnEp. 310: Reveling on Purim, celebrating 100 years of the bat mitzvah, and revisiting a ‘Preppy Handbook’ parodyMarch 17, 2022
- UnorthodoxPosted NotesEp. 309: A deep dive into our mailbox, plus TikTok sax star Evan Jacobson and journalist Shawn SetaroMarch 10, 2022
- UnorthodoxRocking and RollingEp. 308: Shlock Rock’s Lenny Solomon and Jane Austen scholar Devoney LooserMarch 3, 2022
- UnorthodoxGoing PlacesEp. 307: Tablet’s Armin Rosen and Vladislav Davidzon offer a window into UkraineFebruary 24, 2022
- UnorthodoxChasing MemoriesEp. 306: Tablet’s Wayne Hoffman on solving a family murder mysteryFebruary 17, 2022
- UnorthodoxOld SchoolEp. 305: Chuck Klosterman on his new book about the ’90sFebruary 10, 2022
- UnorthodoxComing in HotEp. 304: Jürgen Krauss of ‘The Great British Baking Show,’ and investigative journalist Carl BernsteinFebruary 3, 2022
- UnorthodoxHeroes and VillainsEp. 303: A conversation with Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Temple Beth Israel in Colleyville, TexasJanuary 27, 2022