meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Tablet Studios

Respect Your Elders: Ep. 240

Tablet Studios

Tablet Magazine

Judaism, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 13 August 2020

⏱️ 62 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week on Unorthodox: The Israeli hockey star playing for Auschwitz. Our first guest is Esther Povitsky, who played Maya on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend“ and whose new Comedy Central stand-up special is “Hot For My Name.” Esther tells us about growing up in Skokie, IL, why she decided to include her parents Maury and Mary in her special, and how her Jewish identity has influenced her comedy. Next we talk to Natan Sharansky, the legendary refusenik (the term for Jews who were refused exit visas by the Soviet authorities). He was imprisoned for nine years — at one point being held a Soviet gulag — and after his release he emigrated to Israel, where he served as a member of the Israeli Parliament and the head of the Jewish Agency. He tells us about his new memoir, “Never Alone: Prison, Politics, and My People,” and what he's learned over a lifetime of activism. Joan Knows Best is a weekly video series featuring Joan Nathan cooking her favorite Shabbat recipes with her son, David Henry Gerson. This Friday, August 14, at 1 p.m. EDT, they'll be making a rhubarb tart with fresh strawberries and currant glaze. Tune in on Tablet's Facebook page, and get the recipes and more info here. Let us know what you think of the show! Email us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave us a voicemail at (914) 570-4869. You can also record a voice memo on your smartphone and email it to us. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our recording sessions on our YouTube page! Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, mugs, and baby onesies here. Sponsors: Harry's: Get a free Harry's trial shave set at harrys.com/unorthodox. Harry’s is donating $1 million worth of shaving supplies to hospitals across the U.S.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

What better way to be proudly Jewish right now than with our book, the newest Jewish

0:06.2

Encyclopedia?

0:07.2

It's the perfect coffee table book for your proud Jewish home, and it covers everything

0:11.3

from Jewish history, pop culture, holidays, and of course food,

0:14.9

all with our trademark, irreverence, and love.

0:17.5

Our publisher is offering a special 20% discount on newest Jewish and their entire Hanukkah shop.

0:22.4

So head to Artisan Books.com

0:24.0

and use the code unorthodox at check out.

0:26.5

That's Artisan Books.

0:28.2

Discount code, unorthodox, all caps.

0:37.0

I just like can't feel my face. All right, take a story. This is unorthodox universe's leading Jewish podcast.

0:40.0

I'm your host Mark Oppenheimer joined as ever by tablet deputy editor Stephanie Butnik.

0:44.8

Hello.

0:45.9

And the editor at large, Leel Leibowitz.

0:49.6

Shalom Shalom.

0:51.3

He's so large this week, he landed Natan Sharansky, the great hero of Soviet Jewery.

0:56.2

So we're going to run Leel's interview with Major General Sharansky. And Leel and Stephanie speak with Esther Povitzky,

1:02.1

who you know if you watch Crazy Ex-girlfriend because she played Maya from the office, the office friend, the obsequious office friend of Rachel Bloom's character, and she just released her new stand-up special on Comedy Central.

1:13.6

I have to say I like this because last week we were talking about the Soviet Jewry

1:16.3

movement with Adam Eli and now this is sort of like when we got Matthew Weiner to talk

1:20.5

about Madman and Nick Hornby to talk about high fidelity.

1:24.2

Hi Fidelity.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Tablet Magazine, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Tablet Magazine and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.