Can We Talk?

In June 2025, the thirteenth cohort of Orthodox women rabbis graduates from Yeshivat Maharat, the first Orthodox yeshiva in North America dedicated to ordaining women. In this episode, we look at the status of the so-called stained-glass ceiling for Orthodox women rabbis as they seek pulpit positions, and we talk about the unique challenges for women’s leadership in the Orthodox movement. We speak with Rabbanit Leah Sarna, Mahara...

For centuries, writing a Torah scroll was a sacred task reserved for men. But a couple of decades ago, a handful of women decided to pick up the quill‚Äîwithout waiting for permission‚Äîand paved the way for other women to do the same. In this episode of Can We Talk?, we hear from women who write Torah scrolls and explore what it means to inscribe yourself into tradition.

You can find Can We Talk? on Appl...

In this special Mother’s Day episode, Nahanni interviews her mother, Emma Rous, who died this winter. They talk about how Emma’s teenage activism in a Protestant youth group influenced her politics, her conversion to Judaism in 1971, memories of her first Yom Kippur, what it was like to invent her own Jewish identity, and how Judaism eventually became her home.

You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, ...

In honor of Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, we're sharing a podcast episode from Making Gay History’s current series about the Nazi era.

Frieda Belinfante was a Dutch musician and underground activist who risked her life to help save hundreds of Jews from the Nazis. She‚Äôs one of several LGBTQ people whose testimonies are featured in this Making Gay History series. Check out the...

At the Jewish Women's Archive, we‚Äôre closely following the attacks on democracy unfolding around us every day. In this special Can We Talk? audio essay, our own Judith Rosenbaum, JWA's CEO,  calls out President Trump's moves to erase the histories of women and other marginalized groups. A version of this piece first ran on the Jewish Telegraphic Agency's website.

You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,...

The climate crisis has entered an alarming new era. Since President Trump started his second term, the Environmental Protection Agency has fired scores of climate scientists and is trying to roll back climate protections and slash clean energy funding. For organizations like Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, it's been a giant step backward.

In this episode of Can We Talk?, we speak with Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, ...

As the war between Ukraine and Russia enters its fourth year, Nahanni checks in with Vlada Nedak, the CEO of Project Kesher Ukraine. While American officials try to broker a temporary ceasefire, attacks on the ground in Ukraine are intensifying. Dozens of people have been injured and killed in the past month, including children. According to Reuters, over 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since Russia invaded the country ...

In this special Purim episode, Talmudic TikToker and storyteller Miriam Anzovin joins us to talk about the darker side of the Purim story, especially the role of gender. We start with a dramatic retelling of the Megillah, with Miriam's very contemporary spin on the traditional tale. Then we take a closer look at the story's gender dynamics, which still resonate 2,500 years later. Happy Purim!

Content w...

Just over eight years ago, Judith and Nahanni were looking for solace after Donald Trump rode a xenophobic, misogynistic and hate-filled campaign to his first presidential victory. In a November 2016 episode of Can We Talk?, we turned to the poet Emma Lazarus, the Jewish woman who gave the statue of liberty a voice and transformed her into the symbolic mother of exiles. Now, as President Trump turns refugees and...

On August 4, 1869, a Jewish baby girl named Josie became Alaska‚Äôs first pioneer daughter. Josephine Rudolph was born in Sitka, Alaska to German immigrants, and returned to Germany when she was 6 years old. Seven decades later, her American birth saved her life when the Nazis came to power.

Josie‚Äôs story takes us from the muddy frontier town of Sitka to Hitler youth parades in Nazi Germany...