Episodes

  • Dune: Part 2: More Power Dynamics, Less Platform Disruption

    Dune: Part 2: More Power Dynamics, Less Platform Disruption
    Jun 20 2024
    Dune: Part 2, now streaming on Max, continues the sprawling epic adapted from Frank Herbert’s legendary sci-fi series. Featuring an all-powerful psychotropic mineral, a race of space witches, personal force fields, giant sandworms, Dune explores themes such as power, greed, the nature of heroism, and intersectional liberation — topics about which Judaism also has a […]
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    56 mins
  • X-Mensches

    X-Mensches
    May 30 2024
    Marvel Animation’s X-Men ’97, now streaming on Disney+, is a reboot/sequel to the X-Men animated series that was beloved by older Millennials who grew up in the ‘90s. The sequel is smoother and shinier, but still possesses the same spirit that made the original series so popular: mutant melodrama and pulse-pounding action set-pieces, combined with thinly-veiled political commentary […]
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    44 mins
  • Are the Rabbis STILL Cray-Cray for Tay-Tay?

    Are the Rabbis STILL Cray-Cray for Tay-Tay?
    May 16 2024
    The third installment in PopTorah’s ongoing conversation about Taylor Swift, our resident rabbinic Swifties discuss her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department.” Spoiler alert: the reviews were decidedly mixed, and prompted some spirited conversation. We suspect many of you have strong feelings as well. Was it poetry? Or was it torture? (Don’t say we didn’t, […]
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    41 mins
  • Does Bustin’ Make You Feel Good?

    Does Bustin’ Make You Feel Good?
    Apr 25 2024
    The new film, ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,’ a sequel to the ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ is a thing that exists. But should it? Rabbis Knopf and Olitzky have feelings. Is there something strange in the neighborhood? Are we ‘ready to believe’? Or is it just a matter of “If there’s a steady paycheck in it, I’ll believe anything […]
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    45 mins
  • ‘Manhunt’ and the Pursuit of Justice

    ‘Manhunt’ and the Pursuit of Justice
    Apr 11 2024
    The new AppleTV+ series ‘Manhunt’, adapted from James L. Swanson’s eponymous book, follows the 12 day search for Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth. As the hunt for Booth unfolds, it exposes a deeper conspiracy — one aimed at restoring white men to political dominance, despite the South losing the war. In this episode, Rabbis […]
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    49 mins
  • The Poppys: PopTorah 2024 Oscars Special!

    The Poppys: PopTorah 2024 Oscars Special!
    Mar 28 2024
    The 96th Academy Awards are behind us, and Rabbis Knopf and Olitzky are here to talk about the Torah of this year’s nominees. In this special episode, we discuss Oppenheimer, Barbie, Poor Things, The Zone of Interest, and more! Who won, who lost, who was snubbed, who stirred controversy, and who got the coveted “PopTorah Bump”? […]
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    47 mins
  • Making the Old ’Daily Show’ New, and Making the New Holy

    Making the Old ’Daily Show’ New, and Making the New Holy
    Mar 14 2024
    Jon Stewart’s back, baby! The influential Jewish comic who made ‘The Daily Show’ a cultural juggernaut before leaving in 2015 has returned, for a limited time, to his old seat. Does he have what it takes to make the show, and basic cable, relevant again? Is he the political savior we’ve been waiting for, who […]
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    46 mins
  • A Pretty, Pretty…Pretty Good Episode

    A Pretty, Pretty…Pretty Good Episode
    Feb 29 2024
    HBO’s long-running comedy series, Curb Your Enthusiasm, starring legendary comedian and ‘Seinfeld’ co-creator Larry David as a slightly fictionalized version of himself, is coming to an end with its 12th and final season. Rabbis Knopf and Olitzky take a look back at the hilarious highs and cringe-worthy lows of Larry’s many exploits, and discuss the […]
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    36 mins