Tablet Studios

How to Be a Jew …. Who is Starting a Print Magazine, with Alana Newhouse

Tablet has launched a new print magazine, beginning this June.  Why start something so "old fashioned" in the year 2025? Alana Newhouse, our editor in chief, joins us to explain why the current media…

How to Be a Jew ... Who Says Yes to the Dress

Pnina Tornai became a recognizable name to Americans across the country as a personality and designer on TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress. She shares the surprisingly spiritual story of her success and…

How to Be a Jew … Like Israel's Most Famous Female Architect

Ada Karmi-Melamede is an architect who has designed famous buildings across Israel, including the Supreme Court building and the gateway to Ben Gurion airport.   Her daughter, filmmaker Yael…

S1E28 How To Do Activism Right, with Jay Ruderman, Tuly Weisz, and Pesach Wolicki

These days, it seems like everyone is a so-called activist. Activism itself seems to have morphed into something different; it’s not about organizing communities or advocating for legislation, it’s…

How to Be a Jew ... or an ally like Zarna Garg

Zarna Garg is a comedian whose standup centers around her life as an Indian mom in America. She joins us to discuss her new book, This American Woman: A One-in-a-Billion Memoir, as well as how she's…

S1E27 Israel’s Most Controversial Politician, with Itamar Ben-Gvir

There’s no more divisive Israeli public figure than Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir. Starting out his career as a Kahanist firebrand known for his controversial stances—like decorating…

How to Be a Jew … like Matisyahu

After bursting onto the music scene with his 2005 single “King without a Crown,” Matisyahu has built a career mixing a unique combination of reggae, hip hop, and deeply Jewish soul. We talk to him…

Passover Crossover - How to Be a Jew ... Like Dara Horn

Rootless is off this week for Passover, but we wanted to bring you an episode of How to Be a Jew we think you'll like. Like most Jews, the news of the murder of the Bibas children not only saddened…

Passover Crossover - Rootless - Why Dual Loyalty is Good for the Jews, with Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz

We're off this week for Passover, but we wanted to bring you an episode of Rootless we think you'll like. Rootless: Here's Why Dual Loyalty is Good for the Jews, with Rabbi Nolan LebovitzThe charge…

S1E26 Why Oct. 7 Victims Are Suing a Palestinian Mogul, with Gary Osen

When people concerned with the future of the Palestinian people talk about the future, they often say, hopefully, that change will come only once we can replace Hamas and other terror groups with…

How to Be a Jew … on Passover

This week on How to Be a Jew, we have questions, and answers too. As we all get ready for Passover we’re tackling some of the thorniest… and tastiest questions we’ve gotten. Need to save your matzah…

S1E25 Why God Was Right, with Mark Gerson

Like most highly successful entrepreneurs, Mark Gerson likes things he can measure, quantify, and know for certain. So as a student of the Torah, a question came to mind: If the Torah is supposed to…

How to Be a Jew … Like Ayelet Zurer

S1E24 How Israel Will Save Western Civilization, with Josh Hammer

In his new and best-selling book, Israel and Civilization, Josh Hammer makes a bold claim: the future of Western civilization depends on the State of Israel and the Jewish people thriving. He joins…

How to Be a Jew… Who Contemplates the Pig

For more than 3,000 years, prohibitions against eating pig has been central to Jewish dietary laws, but it’s also been a potent symbol of Jewish identity. Other non-kosher animals, like horses,…

S1E23 How Universities Lost Their Way, With Cary Nelson

Universities are meant to be spaces of free inquiry, knowledge, and rigorous debate. But according to academic and writer Cary Nelson, they’ve instead become hotbeds of ideological conformity—long…

How to Be a Jew ... At the World Championships

A few weeks ago, we brought you a conversation with AJ Edelman, the first Orthodox Jew to compete in the Winter Olympics and the pilot of the current Israeli bobsled team.Shortly after that…

S1E22 Why Dual Loyalty is Good for the Jews, with Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz

The charge of dual loyalty has long been a key weapon in the arsenal of anti-Semites everywhere. But in his new book, The Case for Dual Loyalty: Healing the Divided Soul of American Jews, Rabbi Nolan…

How to Be a Jew ... And an Accidental Gunslinger

Salvador Litvak, also known as the Accidental Talmudist, is the filmmaker behind the 2005 cult classic When Do We Eat and the author of Let My People Laugh: The Greatest Jewish Jokes of All Time!. He…

S1E21 Why Trump’s Deportation of Mahmoud Khalil is Perfectly Legal, with Ilya Shapiro

Last Saturday, ICE agents detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born Palestinian who was one of the leaders behind the year-long Tentifadah in Columbia University. Khalil and his group have repeatedly…