Can We Talk?
In each episode of Can We Talk?, the Jewish Women’s Archive features stories and conversations about Jewish women and the issues that shape our public and private lives. Visit us at jwa.org.
Episodes
Pass the crackerjacks! It's the inaugural season of the Women’s Pro Baseball League. This is the first women’s professional league in the US since the women of the All-American Girls Baseball League got their chance on the field while the men were off fighting in World War II. In this episode, we take in a WPBL game and hear from league Commissioner Justine Siegal about her Jewish upbringing, her love of...
For the last of our summer re-releases, we're sharing the second episode in our two-part series on Joan Rivers. It features a conversation between Joan and her longtime friend and comedy partner, Treva Silverman. Joan and Treva talk about what it was like to be women in comedy in the 60s and 70s, how they got their start driving to gigs in the Catskills in Joan’s beat up old car, and the origins of some of the...
Feminist pioneer Gloria Steinem died on September 2, 2026. In this special episode, JWA's CEO Judith Rosenbaum remembers her lunch date with Gloria 21 years ago, the feminist legacy of Gloria's grandmother Pauline Perlmutter Steinem, and Gloria's affirmation that she "threw her lot in" with the Jewish people. We also hear Gloria Steinem's own voice from her participation in JWA's 25th anniversary celebration in 2021...
Whilethe podcastis on hiatus, we're listening back to some of our favorite Can We Talk? episodes. This time, an episode featuring a 2006 interview with Joan Rivers from JWA's documentary Making Trouble: Three Generations of Funny Jewish Women. This is the first episode in a two-part series about Joan Rivers.
You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTub...
While the podcast is on summer hiatus, we're listening back to some of our favorite Can We Talk? episodes. First up, an episode from 2020 called Coming of Age with Judy Blume. To mark the 50th anniversary of the iconic novel Are you There God, It's Me Margaret? Nahanni and Judith re-read the book with their pre-teen daughters, Shalvah and Ma'ayan. Then they got together to discuss the book—what felt date...
Sheket bevakasha! We're in the thick of summer, so we're talking about—what else?—camp! In this special summer episode, Nahanni, Judith, and Jen talk about The Floaters, a fun new movie set at a Jewish summer camp, and how the film fit—or didn't—with their camp experiences and their kids'. Then, Shai Korman, who produced the film along with his sisters Becky and Lily, joins the conv...
In this episode of Can We Talk?, Jen Richler, Nahanni Rous, and Judith Rosenbaum recap the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 podcast seasons, revisiting episodes about a Jewish woman in a Japanese internment camp, America’s first TV mom, a Tel Aviv–Ramallah romance, and much more.
You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe s...
Sari Bashi’s memoir Upside Down Love chronicles the tumultuous early years of her relationship with Osama (a pseudonym for the man she eventually marries). Sari is an Israeli Jewish woman and Osama is Palestinian. The book is set between Tel Aviv, where Sari lived at the time, and Osama’s home in the West Bank city of Ramallah. In this episode of Can We Talk?, Sari describes the physical a...
UK-based columnist and author Hadley Freeman joins us to discuss the wave of violent attacks on British Jews, which has spurred UK prime minister Keir Starmer to declare antisemitism a crisis. In her Sunday Times column, Hadley writes frequently about antisemitism, gender, and politics. She is also the author of several books, including House Of Glass, about her grandmother’s family during ...
For generations of readers, Judy Blume's novels made growing up feel less lonely. In this episode, Judith Rosenbaum talks with Mark Oppenheimer, author of a new biography of Blume, about their favorite Blume titles, what’s Jewish about her work, and why her novels are radical in ways people often overlook. Throughout the episode, listeners share what Judy Blume's books mean to them.
You can find Ca...
It is a tense moment in the war between the United States and Israel, and Iran. A temporary ceasefire is set to expire, and it is unclear whether diplomacy will resume or violence will erupt again.
Roya Hakakian is a writer, journalist, and political commentator and the author of Journey from the Land of No, a memoir about growing up Jewish in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution. She and her family fled Iran for the...
What does it mean to be a third-generation descendant of Holocaust survivors? Jen reflects on her grandparents' experiences in the Holocaust—the ones they shared and the ones they didn't—and her responsibility to learn about and share them with her children. She also talks to Rachael Cerrotti, creator of We Share the Same Sky, a podcast about her journey tracing her grandmother's Holocaust s...
In the years since her death, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been remembered as a feminist icon and, more recently, a figure some blame for the Court's sharp rightward turn, the fall of Roe v Wade—even the decline of American democracy. In this episode of Can We Talk?, we take a new look at RBG’s legacy. Actor Michelle Azar, who brings Ginsburg to life in the one-woman show All Things Equal, talk...
The word zaftig has been used to describe everyone from 1930s burlesque dancers to Marilyn Monroe to buxom bubbies. But what does it really mean? Is it only for women? And is it a compliment—or an insult?
English-Yiddish dictionary editor Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath helps answer these questions in our latest "Word of the Week" episode. Comedian Judy Gold, Talmud explainer Miriam Anz...
In this bonus episode of Can We Talk?, Jen Richler talks to Stephanie Butnick, founder of the Jewish lifestyle newsletter GOLDA, about sparking Jewish joy through rituals, books, art—and shopping.
You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
Love Can We Talk? Please leave us a rating and...
To mark our 10th anniversary, we're re-releasing our pilot episode about...pilots! Elynor Rudnick and Zahara Levitov grew up on different continents: one in America, one in British-ruled Palestine. In the 1940s, they were both young Jewish women with pilot's licenses. During some of the most turbulent years in modern Jewish history, their stories were woven together—not by fate, but by flight. Plus, Deb Dreyfu...
From "Jewess Jeans" to "Coffee Talk" to "Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy," Jewish women have left their mark on Saturday Night Live as cast members and as characters. In this episode of Can We Talk? we look at the evolving role of Jewish women on the show over its 50 years on TV. Original cast member Laraine Newman talks about how her Jewish identity influenced the characters she played, and ho...
Step into the history of queer Jews in Washington, DC, as Nahanni tours the Capital Jewish Museum’s current exhibit, “LGBTJews in the Federal City” with curators Jonathan Edelman and Sarah Leavitt. Through artifacts, photos, and oral histories, the exhibit looks at decades of federal discrimination and the fight for equality, the AIDS epidemic and national response, and the transformation of Jewish...
Guita Sazan grew up in a Jewish family in Tehran in the 1960s and 1970s, during the reign of the Shah. She was a teenager during the Islamic Revolution against the Shah and was inspired to join the struggle, even becoming a practicing Muslim. But as time went by, the new regime became more and more repressive, until finally Guita realized her own life might be in danger unless she fled the country. Guita joins us to...
On October 9, 2023, two days after the Hamas attack, Israeli trauma therapist Merav Roth visited survivors of Kibbutz Be’eri in the hotel they had been evacuated to. Some had seen family members murdered; others were raped or fled homes that were set on fire. Merav stayed and worked with them for weeks. She also helped organize hundreds of therapists to provide emergency aid to survivors. For the ...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.