Television

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Collection

Bertha Klausner

Bertha Klausner was an influential literary agent in New York and Los Angeles. One of the earliest female literary agents, she represented major writers and cultural figures throughout the twentieth century.

Bonus Episode: Our Hot Summer Picks

In this special summer episode, Judith, Nahanni, and Jen each share something they've read, watched, or listened to this summer that Can We Talk? listeners will love.

Collage with image of Kristen Bell and Adam Brody acting in Nobody Wants This with a heart.

The Problematic Portrayal of Jewish Women in Netflix's Nobody Wants This

Zoe Moore

The Jewish women we meet throughout Nobody Wants This are portrayed as male-obsessed and manipulative villains.

Topics: Television
Collage with stars and Spock and Captain Kirk and stars and a hand making a Vulcan salute

The Jewish Collective Seen in Star Trek

Maya Braiterman

I enjoyed the show's covert Jewish content throughout the series, but I most appreciated episode eighteen of the second season for its beautiful Holocaust allegory.

Topics: Television
Image of Paris Geller and Rory Gilmore sitting on a coach with a checkered background

Ambitious, Bold, and Overlooked: Unpacking Gilmore Girls' Paris Geller’s Jewish Identity

Liza Feinstein

When does Paris get to be Jewish, and when is her Judaism forgotten?

Topics: Television
Collage with mage of Lady Bird and her mom driving in a car and trying on a dress

Lady Bird: The Story of a Teenage Girl

Lea Davis

Rather than a typical high school romance, Lady Bird offers the viewers a complex, messy, and emotionally resonant story about the love between a mother and daughter.

Topics: Television
Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Mager Officiating Meredith Marks' Bat Mitzvah

Reality TV Meets Jewish Tradition

Catherine Horowitz

JWA chats with Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder about what it was like to officiate Meredith Marks' bat mitzvah on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.

Episode 115: Dr. Ruth's Radical Legacy

The iconic Dr. Ruth Westheimer died earlier this year at the age of 96. Dr. Ruth was a trailblazer for her candid and joyful talk about sex, regularly using words like "masturbate" and "vibrator" on the air, and talking about sexual pleasure— including women's sexual pleasure—at a time when few others did. In this episode of Can We Talk?, we remember and celebrate Dr. Ruth. Historian and author Rebecca Davis explores Dr. Ruth's radical legacy and actress Tovah Feldshuh reflects on their friendship. Plus, archival tape of Dr. Ruth herself dishing out sex advice to her devoted listeners.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

The Radical Legacy of Dr. Ruth

Rebecca L. Davis

The history of sex and sexuality in America is replete with episodes of repression and censure. But from Dr. Ruth, we learn an alternative narrative of joyful candor.

black and white drawing of people dancing in couples at a ball, circa 1800s

Scandalous Dance Scenes, Romance Plots, and Jewish Literary Modernity

Sonia Gollance

Long before Fiddler on the Roof, Jewish writers used partner dance as a powerful metaphor for social changes that transformed Jewish communities.

Collage of the Gilded Age

Where are the Jews? A Look into "The Gilded Age "

Frieda Belasco

The Gilded Age portrays a more diverse cast of characters than many other all-white historical shows, however the question remains: where are the Jews? 

Topics: Television
Collage of Golems

Finding Meaning for a Golem in Unlikely Places

Sydney Burgess

The one thing all traditional golem depictions have in common is their sanctity. However, this most important facet has practically disappeared from the media.  

Collage of "The Baby-Sitters Club"

Netflix's "The Baby-Sitters Club" Brings Humanity to Girlhood

Lily Katz

What can tweens turn to in order to feel heard, understood, and empowered?  I believe the answer lies in the first season of Netflix’s adaptation of "The Baby-Sitters Club."

Topics: Television, Feminism
Collage of a Barbie Doll

The Real-World Impacts of Barbie Dolls

Elah Tuchshnieder

Despite her being a doll, I believed Barbie was the beauty standard. That all changed when I saw the Barbie movie this summer.

Collage of a Gravestone

Finding Humanity in the Zombies of "The Last of Us"

Talia Waxman

Sometimes in the show, humanity emerges from these dysfunctional, robotically behaved individuals, leaving viewers with hope for us all. 

Avatar the Last Airbender logo over purple background with Jewish stars

The Surprising Jewishness of Avatar the Last Airbender

Sam Mezrich

ATLA's Air Nomads are based on Tibetan Buddhism, according to the show’s creators. Yet I also feel that there are also a lot of similarities between the Air Nomads and the Jewish people.

 

Topics: Television, Children

Episode 95: Word of the Week: Shiksa

From Portnoy’s Complaint to Seinfeld, the word “shiksa” is firmly embedded in popular culture. Where does the word come from, and how has its meaning changed over time? In this episode, we’re bringing back our “Word of the Week,” feature, where we dig into one word and explore how it relates to Jewish women. Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Keren McGinity, and Kylie Ora Lobell give us their takes.

Peggy Charren

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Peggy Charren on July 23, 2001, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Charren talks about her family background, her advocacy for children's television programming through Action for Children's Television (ACT), her passion for literature, her marriage, and her reflections on her life and activism, including receiving prestigious honors.

Collage of Fran Fine and Janice Litman-Goralnik on pink striped background

Celebrating the Jewish Women of The Nanny and Friends

Ava Weinstein

In Janice from Friends and Fran from The Nanny, I see some of myself—a chatty Jewish woman with curls and a loud laugh—and I never found Janice annoying, or saw Fran as anything less than who she is: funny, beautiful, independent.

Collage of Alexa and Brennon Lemieux from Netflix's Love is Blind on purple patterned background

Celebrating An Inter-religious Couple on Love Is Blind

Sonia Freedman

Although I was somewhat unimpressed by Love Is Blind’s surface-level coverage of inter-religious relationships, it was beautiful to watch the Lemieux fall in love despite their very different backgrounds.

Collage of Julia Haart and a megillah scroll on an orange gradient background

Julia Haart: The Anti-Esther

Aviva Schilowitz

Queen Esther used her power to save and lift up other Jews. That’s my version of Jewish power and feminism. But Julia Haart, the star of My Unorthodox Life, uses her power as a weapon against other Jews.

Cartoon roll of film with a menorah on light pink background

Spiritual Jewish Representation on Film: Next Year’s Hanukkah Gift?

Samantha Berk

Watching the Hallmark movie Eight Gifts of Hanukkah, I felt like I could relate spiritually to a Jewish character portrayed in mainstream media for the first time. 

Collage of characters from TV show Bumper in Berlin on pink gradient background

The Pitch Perfect TV Spin-Off Offers Lots of Bumper And Little Feminism

Miriam Niestat

The first episode’s failure to pass the Bechdel Test was my first hint that Bumper in Berlin would not be the continuation of the Pitch Perfect movies I expected. 

Samantha Pickette Headshot and Book Cover

Q & A with Samantha Pickette, Author of "Peak TV's Unapologetic Jewish Woman"

Sarah Jae Leiber

JWA talks to Samantha Pickette about her new book and about how TV is establishing a new version of the Jewish woman. 

Jewish Women and Comedy

This article looks at the place of American Jewish women in comedy. It chronicles the reasons comedy has been a difficult field for women and looks at the careers of several remarkable women who found success in different eras and forms of comedy.

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