Episodes

  • How We Spent Our PopTorah Summer Vacation

    How We Spent Our PopTorah Summer Vacation
    Sep 19 2024
    The rabbis are back from break and ready to talk Torah! The summer of 2024 delivered epic superhero showdowns, headline-grabbing streaming series, and some family-friendly fare. As the summer heat fades, Rabbis Knopf and Olitzky dive into the season’s biggest pop culture moments, exploring their deeper meanings and connecting the dots to Jewish values and […]
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    36 mins
  • We’re All In on ‘Inside Out 2’

    We’re All In on ‘Inside Out 2’
    Jul 11 2024
    ‘Inside Out 2’ is the sequel to the critically acclaimed and widely beloved 2015 Disney/Pixar animated film ‘Inside Out,” and is proving to be just as successful. By depicting the inner life of an adolescent girl, these films explore how our emotions shape us, for good and for ill. The sequel adds to this by […]
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    41 mins
  • Dune: Part 2: More Power Dynamics, Less Platform Disruption

    Dune: Part 2: More Power Dynamics, Less Platform Disruption
    Jun 20 2024
    Dune: Part 2, now streaming on Max, continues the sprawling epic adapted from Frank Herbert’s legendary sci-fi series. Featuring an all-powerful psychotropic mineral, a race of space witches, personal force fields, giant sandworms, Dune explores themes such as power, greed, the nature of heroism, and intersectional liberation — topics about which Judaism also has a […]
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    56 mins
  • X-Mensches

    X-Mensches
    May 30 2024
    Marvel Animation’s X-Men ’97, now streaming on Disney+, is a reboot/sequel to the X-Men animated series that was beloved by older Millennials who grew up in the ‘90s. The sequel is smoother and shinier, but still possesses the same spirit that made the original series so popular: mutant melodrama and pulse-pounding action set-pieces, combined with thinly-veiled political commentary […]
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    44 mins
  • Are the Rabbis STILL Cray-Cray for Tay-Tay?

    Are the Rabbis STILL Cray-Cray for Tay-Tay?
    May 16 2024
    The third installment in PopTorah’s ongoing conversation about Taylor Swift, our resident rabbinic Swifties discuss her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department.” Spoiler alert: the reviews were decidedly mixed, and prompted some spirited conversation. We suspect many of you have strong feelings as well. Was it poetry? Or was it torture? (Don’t say we didn’t, […]
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    41 mins
  • Does Bustin’ Make You Feel Good?

    Does Bustin’ Make You Feel Good?
    Apr 25 2024
    The new film, ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,’ a sequel to the ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ is a thing that exists. But should it? Rabbis Knopf and Olitzky have feelings. Is there something strange in the neighborhood? Are we ‘ready to believe’? Or is it just a matter of “If there’s a steady paycheck in it, I’ll believe anything […]
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    45 mins
  • ‘Manhunt’ and the Pursuit of Justice

    ‘Manhunt’ and the Pursuit of Justice
    Apr 11 2024
    The new AppleTV+ series ‘Manhunt’, adapted from James L. Swanson’s eponymous book, follows the 12 day search for Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth. As the hunt for Booth unfolds, it exposes a deeper conspiracy — one aimed at restoring white men to political dominance, despite the South losing the war. In this episode, Rabbis […]
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    49 mins
  • The Poppys: PopTorah 2024 Oscars Special!

    The Poppys: PopTorah 2024 Oscars Special!
    Mar 28 2024
    The 96th Academy Awards are behind us, and Rabbis Knopf and Olitzky are here to talk about the Torah of this year’s nominees. In this special episode, we discuss Oppenheimer, Barbie, Poor Things, The Zone of Interest, and more! Who won, who lost, who was snubbed, who stirred controversy, and who got the coveted “PopTorah Bump”? […]
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    47 mins