Mad Mahj: Ep. 297

Tablet Studios

Tablet Magazine

Judaism, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2021

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week on Unorthodox, we’re prepping for the great cream cheese shortage of 5782. First we call up friend of the show Joshua Malina, who wrote an impassioned essay in the Atlantic asking why, after such a public history of antisemitism, Mel Gibson is still getting work in Hollywood. Then we talk to Yonit Levi, Israel’s Channel 12 evening news anchor, who recently launched the podcast Unholy with The Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland. Our Gentile of the Week is University of Oregon professor Annelise Heinz, whose new book, Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture, delves into the Jewish community’s enthusiastic embrace of the tile game. Our 300th episode is coming up this month, and we want you to be part of it. Has Unorthodox meant something to you, or played a part in your Jewish journey? Has a particular interview made you think, or a special episode stuck with you? Share your Unorthodox story by recording a voice memo on your phone and emailing it to unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leaving a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you're calling from. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation at bit.ly/givetounorthodox. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube channel! Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, mugs, and baby onesies at bit.ly/unorthoshirt. Want to book us for a live show? Email producer Josh Kross at jkross@tabletmag.com. Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Sponsors: AJWS supports activism in 18 countries around the world, and when you donate to AJWS this holiday season, your gift will be matched to make double the impact. Give today at AJWS.org/unorthodox. Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards recognize 15 extraordinary Jewish teenagers with $36,000 toward their initiatives. Learn more and apply or nominate a teen at dillerteenawards.org/unorthodox. Harry’s is a great shave at a great price. Get $5 off any holiday shave set at harrys.com/unorthodox.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Unorthodox. The universe is leading Jewish podcast. I am Leah Lieberwitz, joined
0:11.4	today by the one and only the luminous, tabless deputy editor Stephanie butnik. Hello, Stephanie.
0:18.8	Hi, Leo.
0:20.1	So Mark Oppenheimer, Papa, as he's known around these parts, is on the last leg of his whirlwind
0:26.6	book tour. So he will be sitting this one out. But today, we bring you an interview with
0:32.6	Mahjong scholar Anali's Hines. I was not allowed to be on this interview because I still
0:38.9	haven't figured out what Mahjong is, as well as a conversation with Yonit Levy, the premier
0:45.4	Israeli news anchor about what's it like to cover politics in a country that has election
0:52.2	every Wednesday. We also have a very special treat following his creed occur this week about
1:00.4	why Mel Gibson still gets to make movies. Well, he says some problematic things about Jews.
1:06.7	Our favorite friend of the show, actor, writer, thinker, leader, Joshua Malina will be joining
1:12.8	us live from Los Angeles. But before we talk to any of these important and scholarly and
1:19.4	knowledgeable Jews and Gentiles, we speak of those Jews. We love most ourselves. Stephanie
1:26.4	how's it going? Leo, I want to say you've actually never gotten to intro the show before.
1:31.0	Never in its six year history. For some reason, when Mark's out, it's like, okay, Stephanie,
1:35.3	now you read the intro and it's like the third, you're the third choice.
1:39.2	I am the third most responsible adult in the team of three, which is pretty much the story
1:43.2	of my life. I'm very grateful to you for letting me do this. It's very funny because you
1:47.6	did a great job and you actually host your own podcast, a daily podcast where you get to
1:51.9	intro it every day. So if listeners to take one, that's why I do it. I'm like the member
1:56.3	of the beetle who left me like, oh, yeah, I'll show them that I could also write songs
2:00.6	by putting out a song every single day. That's amazing. Well, thank you for your kind words.
	...

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