Give And Take

In this episode we are joined by Raphael Davidovich. He is the Rabbi of Cleveland's friendliest Orthodox schule. We touch on a host of issues including and especially what it means to be an American Rabbi when Israel is at war. You can find Rabbi Davidovich's podcast here: https://anchor.fm/raphael-davidovich Special Guest: Raphael Davidovich.

My guest is Rabbi Uri Allen. Rabbi Uri Allen is a guitar-playing Abba of three who loves cooking, traveling around the country to see his favorite band Phish and learning Torah. His passions in the rabbinate are in educating and teaching learners of all ages, working with young families like his own, and using music to add contour and depth to Jewish rituals and life. We had a great interfaith conversation that touched everything under the sun.

My guest is Benyamin Cohen. Benyamin Cohen manages the official social media accounts of Albert Einstein. He is the News Director of the Forward and was the founding editor of both Jewsweek and American Jewish Life magazine. His newest book is The Einstein Effect: How the World's Favorite Genius Got into Our Cars, Our Bathrooms, and Our Minds. (https://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Effect-Favorite-Bathrooms-Fascinating/dp/1728248388) It's a fascinating look into how Einstein's genius and science continues to show up in so many facets of our everyday lives and his enduring legacy as an unlikely pop culture icon. Special Guest: Benyamin Cohen.

My guest is Jane Rosenzweig. Jane has spent a career working in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion field in corporate America. She and I also spend entirely too much time on an app called Clubhouse, which is where we met. Special Guest: Jane Rosenzweig.

Work. Family. Church. Exercise. Sleep. The list of demands on our time seems to be never ending. It can leave you feeling a little guilty--like you should always be doing one more thing. Rather than sharing better time-management tips to squeeze more hours out of the day, Kelly Kapic takes a different approach in You're Only Human. He offers a better way to make peace with the fact that God didn't create us to do it all. Kapic explores the theology behind seeing our human limitations as a gift rather than a deficiency. He lays out a path to holistic living with healthy self-understanding, life-giving relationships, and meaningful contributions to the world. He frees us from confusing our limitations with sin and instead invites us to rest in the joy and relief of knowing that God can use our limitations to foster freedom, joy, growth, and community. Readers will emerge better equipped to cultivate a life that fosters gratitude, rest, and faithful service to God. Special Guest: Kelly M. Kapic.

My guest is Kirsten Powers. Her new book is Saving Grace: Speak Your Truth, Stay Centered, and Learn to Coexist with People Who Drive You Nuts. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08V4XDPZQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1) In it this CNN senior political analyst and USA Today columnist offers a path to navigating the toxic division in our culture without compromising our convictions and emotional well-being, based on her experience as a journalist during the Trump era, interviews with experts, and research on what leads people to actually change their minds. Special Guest: Kirsten Powers.

My guest is Mathis Bitton. He is a student of political theory at Yale University. His writing focuses on liberalism and its discontents, Confucian and Islamic thought, city-states, and institution-building. You can follow him on Twitter at @mlbitton. His recent piece, The Rise of Post-Liberal Man, sparked the conversation. You can read it here: https://quillette.com/2021/07/22/the-rise-of-post-liberal-man/

My guest is Mark Wildes. His newest book is The 40 Day Challenge. (https://www.amazon.com/40-Day-Challenge-Mark-Wildes/dp/1947857673/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=40+day+challenge+wildes&qid=1627318296&sr=8-1) Sometimes we are spiritually frozen. This book will thaw you out and heat you up - Nissim Black, Rapper and Businessman Written in an approachable, uplifting, and accessible style, The 40 Day Challenge is an invitation for people who believe there is more to life than the daily grind. It offers the reader easily digestible and compact Jewish wisdom, each day for the 40 days from Rosh Chodesh Elul leading up to Yom Kippur. Each daily reading is followed by a challenge question so it can serve as a spiritual diary as you approach the High Holidays. This year, instead of just “showing up,” prepare yourself with a Torah insight written by MJE Founder Rabbi Mark Wildes, who has spent his life inspiring Jews from all walks of life. Special Guest: Rabbi Mark Wildes.

My guest is Steve Krone. In addition to being an entertainment lawyer and a prolific film producer, he also was a Supreme Court clerk for Justices William J. Brennan, Jr. and David H. Souter. We talked about the two significant decisions the Supreme Court handed down this week. We also chatted a bit about film. Special Guest: Steve Krone.

In this episode I talk with Roifield Brown. Roifield Brown is an experienced podcaster and media strategist, with an impressive track record of helping companies enhance and grow their media properties to diverse audiences across a wide range of categories, including politics, history, culture and entertainment. Special Guest: Roifield Brown.

My guest is Rowan Williams. ‘As we contemplate the coming months, not knowing when we can breathe again, it’s worth thinking about how already the foundations have been laid for whatever new opportunities God has for us on the far side of this crisis.’ Rowan Williams offers these words of wisdom and many more in his new book Candles in the Dark (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NSRB4V5/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1). This powerful and timely book brings together the 26 weekly Christian meditations originally posted online from March to September 2020, during lockdown in the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, for the congregation of his local parish church. Candles in the Dark (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NSRB4V5/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1) is a lovely Christian book of comfort for anyone looking for the light in these dark times. Written with warmth and compassion, these meditations offer us hope and encouragement as we continue to endure the most devastating and disturbing wo

My guest is James Martin, SJ. His newest book is Learning to Pray: A Guide for Everyone (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0881RR2QZ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1). He is a Jesuit priest, editor at large of America magazine, consultor to the Vatican's Secretariat for Communications, and author of numerous books, including the New York Times bestsellers "Jesus: A Pilgrimage" and "The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything." Among his other books, "My Life with the Saints" and "Between Heaven and Mirth" were named by Publishers Weekly as "Best Books" of the year, and three of his books have received Christopher Awards. Father Martin is a frequent commentator in the national and international media, having appeared on all the major networks, and in such diverse outlets as The Colbert Report, Fresh Air, On Being, Fox & Friends, PBS's NewsHour, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Boston Globe, as well as on the History Channel, BBC, and Vatican Radio. Before entering the Jesuits in 1988, he gr

My guest is Nathaniel Popkin. His newest book is To Reach the Spring: From Complicity to Consciousness in the Age of Eco-Crisis. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KHKXQSW/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1) In the shadow of an escalating eco-crisis—a looming catastrophe that will dwarf the fallout from COVID-19—how can we explain our society’s failure to act? What will we tell future generations? Are we paralyzed because the problem is so vast in scope, or are there deeper reasons for the widespread passivity? Nathaniel Popkin explores the moral, social, and psychological dimensions of the crisis, outlining a path to a future spring. Special Guest: Nathaniel Popkin.

As computer technology advances with dizzying speed, human workers face an ever-increasing threat of obsolescence. In Human Work In the Age of Smart Machines, Jamie Merisotis argues that we can—and must—rise to this challenge by preparing to work alongside smart machines doing that which only humans can: thinking critically, reasoning ethically, interacting interpersonally, and serving others with empathy. The president and CEO of Lumina Foundation, Merisotis offers a roadmap for the large-scale, radical changes we must make in order to find abundant and meaningful work for ourselves in the 21st century. His vision centers on developing our unique capabilities as humans through learning opportunities that deliver fair results and offer a broad range of credentials. By challenging long-held assumptions and expanding our concept of work, Merisotis argues that we can harness the population’s potential, encourage a deeper sense of community, and erase a centuries-long system of inequality. Special Guest: Jamie Me

My guests are David Shields, Nick Toti, and Rachel Kempf. We talk about The Very Last Interview (Shields' forthcoming book), film-adapted by Toti and Kempf and released this month. Shields is the author of over twenty books including Reality Hunger, Other People, How Literature Saved My Life, The Trouble with Men, That Thing You Do With Your Mouth, etc. While The Very Last Interview will not be released until early 2022 by New York Review Books, Toti released the 30 minute short earlier this month via Vimeo. Special Guests: David Shields, Nick Toti, and Rachel Kempf.

My guest if Frederick Schmidt. He holds the Rueben P. Job Chair in Spiritual Formation at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL. He's also an Episcopal Priest. He recently wrote a piece entitled "6 Spiritual Truths that Won’t Change with the Election." It's a timely piece for reflection and discussion. Special Guest: Frederick W. Schmidt .

My guest is John Burke. His newest book is Presidential Playbook 2020: 16 Nonpartisan Solutions to Save America. (https://www.amazon.com/Presidential-Playbook-2020-Nonpartisan-Solutions/dp/1942586744/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=John+Burke+2020&qid=1602635276&sr=8-1) “And sometime, at some point, do something for your country.” That quote from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough resonated so deeply with Trek Bicycle President John Burke that he set out to write a book laying out his vision for the country, an America that can once again be a shining city on a hill. Burke says it’s time to cut through the political fog and deal with the facts: The U.S. is facing serious, long-term problems, and politicians in Washington, D.C. are ignoring them. These critical issues can be resolved, he says, with the determination and shared sacrifice of the American people. From battling climate change to saving Social Security, from reducing the risk of nuclear war to rebuilding crumbling roads and bridges, fro

My guest is Abdul El-Sayed. His new book is Healing Politics: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic. (https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Politics-Doctors-Political-Epidemic/dp/1419743023) From a rising voice in progressive politics, a combination of memoir, science, and public policy, diagnosing the challenges facing America and laying out a way forward A child of immigrants, Abdul El-Sayed grew up feeling a responsibility to help others. He threw himself into the study of medicine and excelled—winning a Rhodes Scholarship, earning two advanced degrees, and landing a tenure-track position at Columbia University. At 30, he became the youngest city health official in America, tasked with rebuilding Detroit's health department after years of austerity policies. But El-Sayed found himself disillusioned. He could heal the sick—even build healthier and safer communities—but that wouldn’t address the social and economic conditions causing illness in the first place. So he left health for politics,

My guest is Alan Jacobs. His newest book is Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader's Guide to a More Tranquil Mind (https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Bread-Dead-Readers-Tranquil/dp/1984878409/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1600890885&sr=8-1). W. H. Auden once wrote that "art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead." In his brilliant and compulsively readable new treatise, Breaking Bread with the Dead, Alan Jacobs shows us that engaging with the strange and wonderful writings of the past might help us live less anxiously in the present--and increase what Thomas Pynchon once called our "personal density." Today we are battling too much information in a society changing at lightning speed, with algorithms aimed at shaping our every thought--plus a sense that history offers no resources, only impediments to overcome or ignore. The modern solution to our problems is to surround ourselves only with what we know and what brings us instant comfort. Jacobs's answer is the opposite: to be in conversat

My guest is Ariel Sabar. His newest book is Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man and the Gospel of Jesus's Wife (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385542585/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0385542585&linkCode=as2&tag=arisab-20&linkId=9774cdc46b1a1eeccba87f6d0165a07c). In 2012, Dr. Karen King, a star professor at Harvard Divinity School, announced a blockbuster discovery at a scholarly conference just steps from the Vatican: She had found an ancient fragment of papyrus in which Jesus calls Mary Magdalene "my wife." The tattered manuscript made international headlines. If early Christians believed Jesus was married, it would upend the 2,000-year history of the world's predominant faith, threatening not just the celibate, all-male priesthood but sacred teachings on marriage, sex and women's leadership. Biblical scholars were in an uproar, but King had impeccable credentials as a world-renowned authority on female figures in the lost Christian texts from Egypt known as the Gnostic go