Phoebe Maltz Bovy Podcasts

Today: a post-Yom Kippur repentance fest. We discuss the teshuva of the recently resigned Speaker of House of Commons, Anthony Rota. Is it enough that Rota stepped down and apologized for unwittingly inviting a Nazi into Parliament for a standing ovation? Special guest David Frum joins to dissect what really matters here: Canadian carelessness. But…

Kat and Phoebe grope for answers to this week’s big philosophical questions: what is the best Broadway show at which to get to third base? Do the Russell Brand allegations represent a new frontier in age gap discourse? If you say Jann Wenner’s name three times, will he show up and harass your dinner party guests with unsolicited opinions about who …

With Rosh Hashanah in the near past and Yom Kippur on the horizon, it's time for Canadian Jewry's most important annual event: the Great Canadian Sermon Slam, hosted by Bonjour Chai. Just like last year, we're bringing you sermons from rabbis across the country to face off with their best sermons, speeches and spiels while vying for the grand prize…

Sarah discusses her recent New York Times essay, "Hate Gen X? Get in Line (Behind a Gen X-er)." Why are young people lumping together Boomers and Xers? Why do so many Gen X writers spend time railing against "woke" ideas? Is Elon Musk more defined by being Gen X or by being a billionaire? And why do Xers find Millennials so annoying? Recorded Septe…

As Rosh Hashanah draws near, we wanted to take our annual look back at the biggest news stories of 5783. To get a sense of what topics dominated the Jewish news landscape, Avi and Phoebe invite Marc Weisblott, managing editor of The CJN, to dissect the media trends, from Israeli politics to the neverending mission of ending Jew hatred. But before t…

Kat and Phoebe discuss body counts, TV nudity, and what you can do with a falafel in the shower. Links: Phoebe on body count discourse: "The question we must ask young women is this: who told you it was acceptable to have a high body count?" https://twitter.com/Sargon_of_Akkad/status/1698099127467336124 The Clerks scene: The falafel incident: https…

Historian Jeremy Dauber talks about his new book, "Mel Brooks: Disobedient Jew," which is part of the Yale Jewish Lives series. He discusses Brooks's Brooklyn childhood, his Borscht Belt years, writing on "Your Show of Shows" and working with Carl Reiner, his move to Hollywood, why parody was his main genre, and his comedic legacy. Recorded July 18…

One of this week's biggest online fights was between the Anti-Defamation League and Twitter (is anyone calling it "X"?)—or, more specifically, Twitter's CEO, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world. If you believe the ADL, since Musk took over, antisemitism has skyrocketed on the platform, as banned accounts got reinstated and free speech rules bec…

September is upon us: school supplies are being purchased, backpacks are being filled, books are being covered. In that same vein, it's time podcasts like ours take stock of Jewish day schools, which have historically been a pillar of Jewish communal life. We ought to regularly examine what's going right, what's going wrong and what trends have eme…

Claire Dederer talks about her new book, "Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma," a blend of cultural criticism and memoir in which she thinks deeply about the work of great artists who were also horrible people. Recorded July 24, 2023. Follow Culturally Determined on Twitter @CulturallyDet LINKS Claire's new book,"Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma" https://www.amazon…

Last week, Phoebe Maltz Bovy—who, when she's not co-hosting Bonjour Chai, can be found writing for the opinion pages of the _Globe and Mail—_penned a column for the national newspaper about a sexist backlash ongoing in Israel. The nation's emboldened religious right wing is rising up in a sort of antifeminist movement that has struck at the heart o…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss an alleged denial of service at a Manhattan bar, NYC Mayor Eric Adams' most recent horny-on-main incident, and romantic approaches for all genders. Kat and Phoebe's recent work: Unraveling the Secrets of the Barbieverse Here come the female…

In their long-awaited return to podcast form, Avi and Phoebe catch up on their summer break—including their thoughts on the blockbuster Barbie movie and its many Jewish links. After that, with so much mainstream discussion around feminism and body image dominating the media, they speak with Rabbi Minna Bromberg, the founder of Fat Torah, an organiz…

Art critic Kristian Vistrup Madsen discusses his essay on the 2000s, "Chains Or Whips? The Cruel Decade And Its Aftermath," in which he draws connections between Abu Ghraib, reality television, and Britney Spears to reflect on the culture of the Aughts. Recorded July 12, 2023. Follow Culturally Determined on Twitter @CulturallyDet LINKS Kristian's …

Kat and Phoebe discuss a young man's existential crisis over being rudely awakened by his girlfriend, the cultural significance of the Barbie movie, the hot pink aesthetic known as "Barbiecore", and the $5 million log cabin for a man and his dog. Links: The regretful Redditor: https://www.reddit.com/r/sex/comments/151hlva/my_gf_woke_me_up_with_a_bl…

By now, you've probably seen the takes: "Barbie is secretly Jewish," "Meet the Jewish woman who created Barbie," yadda yadda. Let's be honest: there's nothing especially Jewish about Barbie. It's a very gentile-looking doll that, despite her various impressive careers (astronaut, doctor, Olympic athlete), represents a physically impossible body typ…

Before advice columns were popular, the Forverts, originally a Yiddish newspaper in the early 20th century in New York, was running "A Bintel Brief", an advice column that encapsulated the immigrant Jewish experience and helped newcomers adjust to American life. Fast-forward more than 100 years, and the series has since spawned iterations on TV, ra…

Andrew Lipstein discusses "The Vegan," his new novel about a hedge fund founder who has an unusual moral awakening after a dinner party prank he pulls goes disastrously awry. The novel considers artificial intelligence, Brooklyn mores, our relationship with animals, psychiatry, responsibility, and more. Recorded July 7, 2023 LINKS Andrew's new nove…

Kat and Phoebe discuss plotting a murder with ChatGPT and the latest in academic diversity dramas. Links: With End of Affirmative Action, a Push for a New Tool: Adversity Scores Phoebe on the state of academic affairs: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-waterloo-attack-is-part-of-a-broader-trend-of-hatred-for-academia/ https://thec…

It's camp season, which means at least one thing: horny Jewish teenagers are probably hooking up right now, as you're reading this. Not only is this inevitable in the Jewish sleepaway camp world—it's implicitly encouraged. Jewish community leaders began promoting summer camp in the postwar era as a way of reaffirming Jewish identity, encouraging au…

This week, millions of Central Canadians woke up once again to the distant smell of what seemed to be campfires. As was the case weeks ago, Canada's wildfires are raging beyond Alberta and British Columbia this year—they're keeping Ontarians and Quebeckers indoors, along with much of the population of New England, New York and beyond. Given that mo…

Kat and Phoebe are joined by friend and favorite Leigh Stein to discuss bad advice, self-cancelled books, and the accessories of the middle-aged. Links: Roxane Gay's less-than-sound advice: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/18/business/roxane-gay-lgbtq-work.html Leigh on the bad precedent: https://unherd.com/thepost/elizabeth-gilberts-self-cancellati…

At 14, Hadley Freeman—now a prominent American-British journalist, then a teenager struggling with anorexia nervosa—moved into a psychiatric ward to treat her condition. She spent three years there, only to leave without truly recovering, instead spending more than a decade struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder, substance abuse and ongoing …

In early May 2023, a number of parents whose children attend Bialik Hebrew Day School in Toronto wrote an open letter to the school claiming that the institution's "sweeping effort" to introduce gender-identity topics (swapping haggadah references of "sons" to "children", for example) is "unacceptable and cannot be tolerated." The letter-writer sta…

In recent days, billboards have been popping up across New York City—and social media. Created by a company called JewBelong, the massive hot-pink ads display bold slogans in sans-serif font to raise awareness about Jewish issues. But what began as a cute (if cringey) taglines about Jewish acceptance have morphed into militant mottos demanding we #…

Kat and Phoebe share stories about mushrooms (not that kind), and mushrooms (yes, that kind.) Then: an allegedly scandalous review of Brandon Taylor's new novel, and the ensuing literary brouhaha. Links: The infamous review! https://slate.com/culture/2023/05/late-americans-brandon-taylor-twitter-novel-review.html Brandon Taylor in the NYT: https://…

On this week’s show, pop culture takes over. We’re talking about Taylor Swift’s probably-not-Nazi maybe-boyfriend, the biblical undertones behind the recently concluded hit TV show Succession (and the wave of Talmudic-style episode recaps) and give nachas to jazz musician Tevet Sela and the new HBO series Being Mary Tyler Moore.Then, to kick off Pr…

Back in March, Tablet published an article called “Wanted: More Rabbis", about how non-Orthodox seminaries are trying to adapt to changing communal needs and shrinking enrollment. It got us thinking: Does society really not have enough rabbis, or do we have too many? With synagogue attendance in decline, rabbis are different today than they were 50…

With early access for premium subscribers! Kat and Phoebe discuss a New Yorker article about a party for the post-cancelled and the extremely normal responses to it from fellow journalists. This Party Is Cancelled: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/the-party-is-cancelled Readers having a normal one: https://twitter.com/jeffiha…

On today's show, we reflect on the tragic death of Herschel Siegel. Siegel, an accepted and embraced gay Orthodox Atlantan who attended Yeshiva University, died on April 28 by suicide at the age of 25. As became evident after his death, Siegel struggled with mental health issues, and he never felt comfortable with how the Orthodox Jewish community …

Author Tom Bissell discusses his recent essay in Harper's, "Time Is a Violent Stream," about embracing Stoic philosophy after the death of his father. Why is Stoicism so useful during a time of crisis? What do contemporary popular books about Stoicism get wrong? Why do online reactionaries love Marcus Aurelius? Plus: Is Stoicism just for men? Recor…

Last Sunday, the Bonjour Chai team recorded a live podcast at Shaar Hashomayim in Montreal, as part of their day of learning about the future of Judaism. We invited Rabbi Shmuly Weiss, director of the Rohr Chabad house at McGill University, to guest host and give some insight into the inner workings of Chabad: how they're operating, what they've le…

With early access for premium subscribers! Kat and Phoebe discuss the death of a man on the New York City subway, and the discourse that ensued. Links: Freddie deBoer on fear: Jamelle Bouie on some key facts: https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/1655725142809387008 Elizabeth Spiers defends the honor of the subway: https://twitter.com/espiers/status/16…

Ross discusses his recent essay disputing that Trump and MAGA are on the wane. Is MAGA even separable from Trump himself to begin with? How do the dynamics of the 2024 GOP primary differ from those of 2016? Plus: Critiquing reactions from both left and right to the subway killing of Jordan Neely. Recorded May 9, 2023 Follow Culturally Determined on…

On April 19, Mark Oppenheimer—formerly a host of the popular Jewish podcast Unorthodox and an editor at Tablet—penned an open letter to Jessica Grose, a New York Times columnist who wrote a piece describing how she appreciates certain cultural-religious aspects of Judaism without accepting organized religion as a whole. Oppenheimer took issue with …

Self-described "Extremely Online" writer and podcaster Phoebe Maltz Bovy joins Aryeh to ponder whether Twitter is finally really and truly dead. Phoebe talks about how she lost her bluecheck before it was cool, Aryeh explains why he's not eager to join the Twitter knockoff Bluesky, and they wonder whether anything could ever replace the site's mixt…

Israel's 75th birthday has been a monumental one for a myriad reasons. A day that should have celebrated three-quarters of a century of having a Jewish homeland has instead been marred by arguably the deepest divisions the state has ever endured, nonstop political protests and controversial legislation looming on the horizon. On today's episode, we…

On Easter Monday, Quebec Premier François Legault tweeted out a column praising the province’s Catholic heritage. While Quebecois history is indeed steeped in Catholicism, the message flew in the face of Legault’s aggressive push for secularism in the public sphere, best exemplified by the recent Bill 21, which banned civil servants from wearing re…

Kat and Phoebe discuss the pros and cons of the downstairs loo, the rise and fall of the momfluencer, and whether society will ever flush itself of the ritual privilege check. Links: Caitlin Moran’s toiletless existence: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/64d060fe-d204-11ed-b1cd-5223fe349502 Phoebe on momfluencers: https://unherd.com/2023/04/momflu…

Kat and Phoebe discuss a recent series of branding controversies, how protoinfluencer Julia Allison walked so Dylan Mulvaney could run, and whether we can get a toilet sponsorship for Phoebe's yard raccoon. Links: Dylan Mulvaney on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dylanmulvaney Dylan Mulvaney's tampon content: Caroline McCarthy on Mulvaney's brand r…

As has become a tradition here at Bonjour Chai, we're going to turn to the Sephardic side of Passover celebrations with a deep dive into Mimouna and its surrounding culture. Joining us for this wide-ranging conversation is Christopher Silver, a professor of Jewish Studies at McGill University and the author of Recording History: Jews, Muslims, and …

Novelist and Internet activist Cory Doctorow discusses "enshittification," the term he coined for how online platforms start out great but gradually become nightmarish for users. How can we fight back against the forces of enshittification? Cory suggests some federal policies that would put power back in the hands of regular Americans. Plus: What m…

We’re proud to host our second annual Great Canadian Seder! Politicians and proletarians, cantors and comics, all coming together to share stories, songs, wisdom and musings from across the country. This year, we're joined at our virtual seder table by: Sami Elmagrehbi Cantor Eric Moses Ellin Bessner Mindy Pollak Ralph Benmergui Rabbi Gila Caine Op…

Kat and Phoebe discuss divisions of labor, poet finances, and the zombie discourse about reaction GIFs that makes us want to peel our faces off. LINKS: Anne Helen Petersen and the ongoing gospel of "men suck" Maggie Smith (the poet, not the Dame) on viral poetry and divorce Kat requests a cease-and-desist on digital blackface op-eds Phoebe on husba…

Will Sommer talks about his new book, "Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America." Why didn't January 6th deflate QAnon? How has conspiracy thinking changed the GOP? Is the "cabal" that Q believers see themselves fighting against just…capitalism? Plus: Do Fox News hosts believe their own nonsense? Recorded March 23,…

Journalist Nicky Woolf discusses his podcast "The Sound: Mystery of Havana Syndrome." What really caused the strange symptoms afflicting American diplomats in Cuba? What, if anything, do loud crickets have to do with it? Is the whole thing simply a mass delusion? And why hasn't Biden acted to undo the damage Trump did to Cuba? Recorded March 17, 20…

The "tradwives" trend has taken off lately—a lifestyle fad wherein "traditional wives" espouse their happiness in cooking, cleaning, keeping working husbands happy, and raising children with a constant smile. And with Passover coming up, we wanted to dive deeper into the phenomenon, and how it intersects with a new fashion fad Vogue dubbed "Torah-t…

The new urban, decentralized, personal style of Judaism is perhaps best exemplified by Base, an organization that first sprung up in 2015 out of New York. Rabbinic couples open up their homes for High Holidays, Shabbat meals and discussion groups, inviting mostly young adults to attend and find a physical place to connect with their Judaism. It's o…

Kat and Phoebe discuss the controversies we didn't mean to start, the Jewish tradwife philosopher polycules we shall not be participating in, and the fancy NYT real estate section stools we can't afford to sample. LINKS: Wait, is that price per stool? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/realestate/georgetown-home-renovation.html Kara Kennedy intervi…

For decades, young Jewish kids would often get books with titles like Great Jews in Sports or Great Jews in Entertainment as bar and bat mitzvah gifts. But this concept of cultural celebration seems to have quieted down a lot, given how Jews have assimilated into broader society and to point out Jewish involvement can more easily come off as gauche…