A podcast celebrating Jewish women and the obstacles they have overcome throughout the centuries. Courtesy of Jewish Women’s Archive.March. For some people, the month is associated with St. Patrick’s Day or March Madness. For me, well, perhaps I’m just a geek because I always recognize March as Women’s History Month. There is even an International Women’s Day, March 8, a date that is officially recognized and not some made-up social media holiday for users to post about. In a decade of increasing misogyny and far-right beliefs regarding the roles of women in modern day, this month is more important than ever. I guess the most significant thing to remember is that if you don’t like women having rights, women making a difference in the world, or you just don’t like them…. then tough! They’re not going anywhere, and they never will.
I love March, and I’ve been wanting to talk about CAN WE TALK?, a podcast celebrating Jewish women from around the globe, for a while now. Before I get into it, let’s talk a little bit about the importance of this month. For me, I continue to be gob-smacked when people actually say that these modern times, either in America or internationally, aren’t “working” when women have more rights. Crazy, am I right? What is the big deal, after all, about women working? What’s the problem with women getting to do what they love and making an impact in society? How do people think it’s “better” for women to say at home and cook while their husbands bring home the bacon? I’m baffled. In addition, individuals who believe in equality may support women while shrugging at the thought of a month dedicated to the gender.
“What’s the big deal?” they may be thinking. “We get it. Women have more rights now. Why is everything about women?”
The answer is simple: women are tired of being silenced, and there is still work to be done. The fight isn’t over yet! A podcast like CAN WE TALK? is so powerful in this day and age because of the way it destigmatizes the centuries-old myth that women “can’t do things.” Produced by the Jewish Women’s Archive, an international organization dedicated to collecting and promoting the extraordinary stories of Jewish women, the podcast’s objective couldn’t be more straightforward: women are NORMAL. More than normal, they’re amazing! Look at the work they do. Look at their courage and the oustanding obstacles they’ve overcome. Look at how their passionate beliefs improved the world in some way. If you don’t like women, listen to this podcast and ask yourself this: what logical reason do you have for wishing they were silenced?
Described as a platform where “gender, history, and Jewish culture meet,” CAN WE TALK? is hosted by Jen Richler and Nahanni Rous. Richler graduated from Yale University and has extensive experience in freelance journalism, writing for outlets like Tablet Magazine, JTA, and The New York Times. Rous is also the senior producer of the podcast Making Gay History and co-producer of Those Who Were There: Voices from the Holocaust. The duo takes turns interviewing guests, and they keep the conversations concise and to-the-point. Episodes never drag on for too long. The interviewees are calm and collective in explaining their stories. Richler and Rous, similar to the name of the podcast, just want “to talk” and create a safe environment. Let’s not have a huge debate about women. Let’s just chat with them, see what they’ve done for their community, and understand how heroic they can be. And also, of course, let’s celebrate the fact that they’re Jewish!
The home of the podcast, the Jewish Women’s Archive, is extraordinary all by itself. This international organization, dedicated to collecting and promoting the extraordinary stories of Jewish women, draws more than three million visitors a year to its website, featuring the world’s largest collection of information on Jewish women. Someone who holds on to pathetic, archaic beliefs that Jews are “evil” and women don’t deserve rights would hit the floor upon visiting this website. It is absolutely remarkable, the names upon names upon names of Jewish women throughout the centuries who made an impact; women who challenged the status quo and the horde of misogynistic and antisemitic beliefs lunged at them. Organizations like this should exist forever because they show us that things can change. The people we may have vilified in the past for the most egregious of reasons can actually be saviours.
So who are some of the fantastic women CAN WE TALK? explores?
- Jodi Kantor, journalist and co-author of She Said, which premiered as a movie last year. Kantor sparked the “Weinstein effect,” as some people call it, when she and her co-writer, Megan Twohey, broke the story to The New York Times about the famed movie mogul’s sexual predation.
- Rabbi Minna Bromberg. After hearing an upsetting, fat-shaming comment made at a Hanukkah party, Rabbi Bromberg founded Fat Torah, a project to end fat stigma in Jewish communal life and talk about the different ways fatphobia is played out in Israel and the United States.
- Jewish mediums. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, séances were the talk of the town…and a lot of Jewish women led them! From London to Brooklyn to Cairo, these women used their spiritualisic beliefs to help those in grief.
- Dahlia Soussan, Ellanora Lerner, and Madeline Canfield, three of the founders of Jewish Teens for Empowered Consent, an initiative fighting to combat toxic hookup culture in Jewish youth spaces, like summer camp and high schools.
- Kryvyi Rih, Executive Director of Project Kesher Ukraine, a network of multigenerational women whose goal is to expand and empower female leaders across Jewish communities.
And there are plenty more! CAN WE TALK? reminds me a lot of Meaningful People, a similarly structured podcast about Jews making a positive influence in this world and practicing the Jewish concept of tikkun olam (“repairing the world”). Podcasts like these are so vital nowadays. The internet will forever be filled with misinformation. CAN WE TALK? clears the air and demonstrates the power and perpetual strengths of Jews and women. There’s no need to fret. No need to believe in ridiculous conspiracy theories that women or Jews are going to take over the world. To understand, all we need to do is be like Richler and Rous: just sit down, turn off that hateful noise coming our way, and have a chat.
To learn more about the Jewish Women’s Archive, visit JWA.org.
CAN WE TALK? is available to listen to on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.