Amanda Holmes reads Jessica Greenbaum’s poem “The Yellow Star That Goes With Me.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you’ll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.
This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch.
While today most American universities offer all sorts of dining accommodations, the on-campus dining scene in the 1950s was far less welcoming for students with specific dietary needs. For students who observed the Jewish dietary laws known as kashrut, and therefore didn’t mix milk with meat or eat pork or shellfish (among other restrictions), their options for elite colleges were narrowed even further, often to schools in big cities where kosher meat and other offerings could more easily be procured.
So when a kosher-keeping high school senior from New York City wanted to attend Brown in the late 1950s, he was directed to an observant Jewish home near campus in Providence, RI, where Miriam Smith cooked kosher meals for him and, soon, an increasing number of observant Brown and Pembroke students.
Episode 5 of Gatecrashers features reflections from Meryl Smith Raskin (Pembroke ‘66), Herschel Smith (Brown ‘62), Richard Hirsch (Brown ‘63), and others about Mrs. Smith’s kitchen and the fight to get the campus to provide—and subsidize—kosher meals. Scholars Rachel Gordan of the University of Florida and Zev Eleff of Gratz College offer a broader look at mid-century American Jewish life and the growth of America’s kosher food industry in the post-war period.
Most of our major divisions of time are based on some sort of natural event.
A year is one orbit of the Earth around the sun.
A month is one orbit of the Moon around the Earth.
A day is one rotation of the Earth about its axis.
However, one of the most commonly used units of time has no natural analog whatsoever.
Learn more about why there are seven days in a week and where the names for the day of the week come from on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Welcome to the Hellmouth Weirdos! Your favorite Morbid hosts Ash and Alaina are branching out from true crime and heading to Sunnydale for the ultimate Buffy the Vampire Slayer Rewatch podcast! Alaina is a Buffy superfan and Ash has never watched a single episode, so whether you’re Team Angel, Team Spike, or have no clue who those people are…they’ve got you covered! Join them each week as they slay their way through the series, episode by episode, re-watching, and watching for the very first time. They’ll break down Buffy and her friends adventures through weekly recaps, categories, and awards while Ash takes some (wooden stake) stabs at predicting what she thinks will happen next. They'll also welcome the occasional Buffy cast member, guest star, or celebrity superfan to join in the slaying.
In 2009, Hilary Mantel won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction for her novel Wolf Hall. Mantel died in September, and in this episode we hear former NPR host Liane Hansen's interview with Mantel just after she won the prize. In the novel, Mantel examines the reign of England's King Henry VIII through the life and relationships of his trusted advisor Thomas Cromwell – and the author says it's important not only to look at what happened in the past, but also to consider how it felt.
Every year parts of the planet are hit by devastating typhoons and hurricanes. They can cause billions of dollars of damage and can take hundreds if not thousands of lives.
But why do these storms exist? What causes their distinctive spiral shape with an eye in the middle? And why do they only appear in certain parts of the world at certain times of the year?
And while we’re at it, what is the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon anyway?
Learn more about hurricanes and typhoons and how they can become so deadly on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.