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PODCAST

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That Shaped Them

Tali Rosenblatt Cohen

The Five Books celebrates the role of books in our lives. Each week we’ll talk with a Jewish author about five books in five categories. We’ll hear about: two Jewish books that have impacted the author’s Jewish identity; one book (not necessarily Jewish) that they think everyone should read - a book that changed their worldview. We’ll get a peek into what book they"re reading now, and we’ll hear the inside scoop on the new book they’ve just published. The Five Books creates a space for all

arts books

All Episodes

54:25

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl on Finding Yourself in the Story

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/10/28

Angela Buchdahl was born in Seoul, the daughter of a Korean Buddhist mother and Jewish American father. One of America’s most prominent rabbis, Rabbi Angela discusses her memoir Heart of a Stranger and the importance of finding yourself in a story. She shares how she discovered belonging within the Jewish narrative itself - seeing in Abraham and Sarah’s journey of boundary crossing a reflection of her own. In Jewish folktales, she recognized her own longing to reach deeper truths, and in Isabel

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49:17

Kitty Zeldis On Passing and the Relief of Being “Kitty”

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/10/14

At Vassar College, Kitty Zeldis confronted what she calls a “WASP tsunami,” sparking lifelong questions about what it means to be Jewish in a wider, often unwelcoming world. In our conversation, she reflects on how that tension shaped her new novel One of Them, and shares the moments and stories that shaped her Jewish identity: from a German-Jewish poet who challenged her assumptions about culture and belonging, to her parents’ formative years in Israel, to the haunting family memory of a murdered

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48:38

Ilana Kurshan on Books as Blueprints for Life

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/09/30

As we approach Simchat Torah, when we roll the scroll back to the beginning and start reading again, Ilana Kurshan’s Children of the Book: A Memoir of Reading Together reminds us of another sacred cycle: the books we read to our children again and again. Just like the Torah, those familiar stories shape us through their repetition, imprinting meaning with every return.In this episode, Ilana Kurshan invites us into a life shaped by books – first as a child so immersed in All-of-a-Kind Family that

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52:28

Sarah Hurwitz on Reclaiming Our Jewish Story

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/09/16

As Rosh Hashanah approaches - a time of reflection, renewal, and returning to our deepest selves - I can’t think of a better moment to listen to (and read) Sarah Hurwitz. Best known as a White House speechwriter, Sarah has turned her extraordinary gift with words inward, asking essential questions about how we have constructed our Jewish identities in her new book, As A Jew. Together we explore everything from why Jewish law insists on the tiniest ethical details to why “I don’t know” can be a

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48:37

Toby Lloyd on Biblical Horror and being a Jewish Atheist

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/09/02

Toby Lloyd discusses Fervor, his haunting debut novel inspired by a rereading of the Bible. Struck by the richness, ambiguity, and moments of horror in Genesis and Exodus, Toby explores how these ancient stories can speak to modern readers. We talk about his aim to write for a broad audience, the place of British Jews in the heart of English literature, and why Marcel Proust’s portrayal of Jewish identity feels as urgent today as it did a century ago.In Fervor, Hannah and Eric Rosenthal are devout

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41:10

Sharon Kurtzman on the Danger that Lingered Post...

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/08/19

Sharon Kurtzman shares how an interview with her mother became a defining moment of connection. She was haunted by her mother’s description of just how much danger still lingered after surviving the Holocaust and that revelation became central to her writing of The Lost Baker of Vienna, set in the years after WWII between liberation and immigration.She also shares how a childhood reading of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret planted the seed for her to define her own Jewish identity, and how

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45:47

Rachel Cockerell on The Zionist Dream That Sailed to...

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/08/05

On June 7, 1907, a ship packed with Russian Jews sets sail not to Jerusalem or New York, as many on board have dreamed, but to Texas. The man who persuades the passengers to go is David Jochelmann, Rachel Cockerell’s great-grandfather. The journey marks the beginning of the Galveston Movement, a forgotten moment in history when ten thousand Jews fled to Texas in the leadup to World War I.In a highly inventive style, Cockerell captures history as it unfolds, weaving together letters, diaries,

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34:31

BONUS: Introducing The Book of Life Podcast

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/08/01

In this bonus episode of The Book of Life Podcast: Jewish Kidlit (Mostly), host Heidi Rabinowitz talks to host of The Five Books, Tali Rosenblatt Cohen. Heidi and Tali trade recommendations for books new and old. If you’re keeping a list of great kids books with Jewish themes, this is a great episode for you! RECOMMENDED TITLES Book #1: Favorite Picture Books The House on the Roof by David Adler (Tali) The Rabbi and the 29 Witches by Marilyn Hirsh (Heidi) Savta Simcha series by

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52:52

Esther Levy Chehebar on Marriage, Sisterhood, and the...

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/07/22

The Cohen sisters are at a crossroads. And not just because the obedient middle sister, Fortune, has secretly started to question her engagement and impending wedding. Nina, the rebellious eldest sister, is single at 26 (and growing cobwebs by her community's standards) when she runs into an old friend who offers her a chance to choose a different path. Meanwhile, Lucy, the youngest, a senior in high school, has started sneaking around with a charming older bachelor.As Fortune inches ever closer

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57:19

Elizabeth Graver On Lost Worlds and New Doorways

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/07/08

A kaleidoscopic portrait of one family’s displacement across four countries, Kantika―“song” in Ladino―follows the joys and losses of Rebecca Cohen, feisty daughter of the Sephardic elite of early 20th-century Istanbul. When the Cohens lose their wealth and are forced to move to Barcelona and start anew, Rebecca fashions a life and self from what comes her way―a failed marriage, the need to earn a living, but also passion, pleasure and motherhood. Moving from Spain to Cuba to New York for an arranged

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45:02

Jessica Berger Gross on on Cultural Judaism and...

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/06/24

When Hazel Blum’s father gets a tenured job at a prestigious college, she and her family relocate from Brooklyn to a middle-of-nowhere college town in Maine. With her mother, Claire, a clothing designer, and her father, Gus, an American Studies professor, Hazel and her eleven-year-old brother, Wolf, spend the summer at the town pool, where they acclimate to their new lives and connect with the town’s sprawling community. That is, until a dramatic fallout on the very first day of her senior year tips

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49:06

Mary Morris on Hidden Histories and Jewish Identities

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/06/10

Thirty years ago, Laura’s mother, Viola, went missing. She left behind her purse, her keys and her mysterious paintings of a red house. Viola was never found, and her family never recovered. Laura, an artist herself, held on to the paintings. On the back of each work, her mother scrawled in Italian, “I will not be here forever.” The family never understood what Viola meant. Blending elements of true crime with settings that evoke Elena Ferrante, Laura follows her mother’s trajectory as she

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1:29

Announcement: Now an Always-On, Every Other Week...

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/06/03

Hi everyone! If you’re new here, welcome! At The Five Books, we’re all about connecting through stories. What role do books play in shaping who we are? Which beloved books do you share with your favorite author? What’s the next great read that might shift your worldview? Stick around and we’ll have your summer reading pile stocked in no time.In case you missed it, we’re moving to an every-other-week publishing schedule! That means no more long breaks between seasons – you’ll now be able to

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63:31

Rabbi Sharon Brous on Finding Her Place in the Jewish...

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/05/27

In a time of loneliness and isolation, social rupture and alienation, what will it take to mend our broken hearts and rebuild our society?Sharon Brous—a leading American rabbi—makes the case that the spiritual work of our time, as instinctual as it is counter-cultural, is to find our way to one other in celebration, in sorrow, and in solidarity. To show up for each other in moments of joy and pain, vulnerability and possibility, to invest in relationships of shared purpose and build communities of

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54:28

Jeremy Dauber on Jewish Literature, Pop Culture, and...

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/05/20

“Show me what scares you, and I’ll show you your soul.” In American Scary, noted cultural historian Jeremy Dauber draws a captivating through line that ties historical influences ranging from the Salem witch trials and enslaved-person narratives directly to the body of work we associate with horror today: from the taut, terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe to the grisly, lingering films of Jordan Peele. Jeremy Dauber is a professor of Jewish literature and American Studies at Columbia

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48:11

Jill Santopolo on Being a “Pizza Bagel”, and Fiction...

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/05/13

The long-awaited follow-up to the Reese’s Book Club pick and New York Times bestselling global phenomenon The Light We Lost: a thrilling love story about the roles fate and choice play in shaping a life.It’s been nearly ten years since Gabe’s been gone when Lucy finds a tiny piece of paper in a box of his old photos. An address in Rome. Why did Gabe keep it, and what was he doing in Italy? Lucy buys a last-minute ticket. Impulsive, but Gabe always brought that out in her. Lucy’s journey to uncover

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47:18

Allison Epstein on Taking on One of Literature’s Most...

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/05/06

Long before Oliver Twist stumbled onto the scene, Jacob Fagin was scratching out a life for himself in the dark alleys of nineteenth-century London. Born in the Jewish enclave of Stepney shortly after his father was executed as a thief, Jacob’s whole world is his open-minded mother, Leah. But Jacob’s prospects are forever altered when a light-fingered pickpocket takes Jacob under his wing and teaches him a trade that pays far better than the neighborhood boys could possibly dream.Fagin the Thief

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51:29

Nicole Graev Lipson On the Attention, Intention, and...

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/04/29

What does it take to escape the plotlines mapped onto us? Searching for clues in the work of her literary foremothers, Lipson untangles what it means to be a girl, a woman, a lover, a partner, a daughter, and a mother in a world all too ready to reduce us to stock characters. Whether she’s testing the fragile borders of fidelity, embracing the taboo power of female friendship, escaping her family for the solitude of the mountains, grappling with what to do with her frozen embryos, or letting go of

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60:57

Gayle Forman on Judy Blume, Taylor Swift, and the...

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/04/22

To say Alex has had it rough is an understatement. His father's gone, his mother is struggling with mental health issues, and he's now living with an aunt and uncle who are less than excited to have him. Almost everyone treats him as though he doesn't matter at all, like he's nothing. So when a kid at school actually tells him he's nothing, Alex snaps, and gets violent. Fortunately, his social worker pulls some strings and gets him a job at a nursing home for the summer rather than being sent to

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54:02

Jennifer Weiner on Pushing Back Against De-Jewified...

The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That... ·

2025/04/15

Cassie and Zoe Grossberg were thrust into the spotlight as The Griffin Sisters, a pop duo that defined the aughts. Together, they skyrocketed to the top, gracing MTV, SNL, and the cover of Rolling Stone. Cassie, a musical genius who never felt at ease in her own skin, preferred to stay in the shadows. Zoe, full of confidence and craving fame, lived for the stage. But fame has a price, and after one turbulent year, the band abruptly broke up. Now, two decades later, the sisters couldn’t be further

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