Tune in! The Yiddish Book Center's Podcast

Award-winning children's book author and artist (and native Yiddish speaker) Uri Shulevitz's illustrious career has included illustrating classic Yiddish children's tales by Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and I.L. Peretz. A retrospective of Shulevitz's work is now on exhibit at our neighboring Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Episode 0099 April 20, 2015 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

Jeff Gabel, founder of the Boston-based Kitchen Kibitz, tells us about his pop-up dinner project, which explores modern takes on Jewish cuisine. Gabel, an alumnus of our Tent: Food NYC, was recently named to Zagat's "30 Under 30" list of "rock stars" redefining Boston's dining industry. Episode 0098 April 7, 2015 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

In his new documentary, "Streit's: Matzo and the American Dream," director Michael Levine profiles the last family-owned matzo company in the U.S. and the integral role it's played for almost a century in its Lower East Side neighborhood. The film's release this spring coincides with a bittersweet development: the company's decision to leave the old neighborhood for a new suburban site. Episode 0097 March 25, 2015 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

For more than thirty years, Murray Spiegel and his longtime friend Rickey Stein have been on a quest to translate the Four Questions of the Passover seder into as many languages as possible, recording people from around the globe as they ask the questions in their native language. On this episode of Tune in!, Spiegel tells us about the project and the book that resulted from it: "300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions: From Zulu to Abkhaz." Episode 0096 March 19, 2015 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

Jeremy Cowan tells us how he combined his love of craft beer and of Jewish culture and literature to create his Shmaltz Brewing Company. Episode 0095 March 6, 2015 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

We visit with Aaron Rezny and Jordan Schaps, co-authors of the newly published "Eating Delancey." The book celebrates the delis and restaurants of the Lower East Side - including Sammy's Roumanian Steakhouse, Russ & Daughters, Katz's Delicatessen, Yonah Shimmel Knish Bakery, and Ratner's - and the classic food they're known for, through photographs, recipes, profiles, and personal reminiscences from celebrities ranging from Joan Rivers to Itzhak Perlman, Donna Karan to Jerry Seinfeld, Gene Simmons to Sandy Koufax. Episode 0093 December 18, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

Last month at Tent: The South, we caught up with Macy Hart, director of the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute for Southern Jewish Life, who talked with us about the history of the Institute and the role Jews have played in southern history and culture. Episode 0092 November 23, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

Aaron Lansky visits with Scott Davis, publisher of the recently released "Memories and Scenes: Shtetl, Childhood, Writers," an edition of newly translated stories by Yiddish writer Jacob Dinezon. Episode 0091 November 5, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

Painter Felix Lembersky resisted the strictures imposed by the state during the Soviet era to follow his own artistic inclinations, at great personal cost. Joel Berkowitz, director of the Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, talks about Lembersky's choices and his work, as the Yiddish Book Center hosts the traveling exhibit "Felix Lembersky: Soviet Form, Jewish Context," on exhibit in the Brechner Gallery through March 2015. Episode 0090 October 13, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

Three high-school students share what it's like to spend a week reading, discussing, and arguing about modern Jewish literature at the Great Jewish Books summer program. Episode 0089 October 2, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

Former Vermont Governor and Ambassador to Switzerland Madeleine Kunin tells us about the Lost Shul Mural Project. An effort is underway in Burlington, Vermont, to save its historic synagogue mural, a unique example of Eastern European Jewish folk art. Episode 0088 September 23, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

During a visit with Yiddish Book Center Steiner Summer Yiddish Program students Liza Wahlberg, Zeev Duckworth, and Michael Yashinsky, we learn what drew them to study Yiddish, what they've learned at the summer program, and how they imagine Yiddish will play out in their future. Episode 0087 September 10, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

For nearly thirty years Bess Selevan has been a zamler for the Yiddish Book Center. Over the years Bess has shipped over 3,600 books to the Yiddish Book Center. During our visit we learn what drew her to become a volunteer, what boxes she recommends for shipping, and much much more. Episode 0086 August 21, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

Aaron Lansky visits with Professor Devin Naar to discuss Ladino, the Judaeo-Spanish language which was developed in parallel with Yiddish. We learn about the origins of the language and Naar's groundbreaking work collecting Ladino books. Episode 0085 August 6, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

We visit with Myra Melamed, daughter of Yiddish singer Herschel Melamed, to learn about the recently produced CD, "Herschel Melamed: 18 Songs." Episode 0084 July 8, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

Curator Laura Kruger discusses the work of artist Nathan Hilu. Kruger is the curator of "Nathan Hilu's Journal: Word, Image, Memory" which is currently on exhibit in the Yiddish Book Center's Brechner Gallery. Hilu's work draws on biblical stories and his Lower East Side surroundings. Episode 0083 June 10, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

We visit with Anita Garlick, a ninety-year old 'sit-down' Jewish comedian who came to comedy late in life. Anita's comedy draws from her Jewish roots and her early exposure to the Borscht Belt comedians. Episode 0082 June 2, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

We visit with translator Faith Jones to learn about the recently published "The Acrobat: the Selected Poems of Celia Dropkin." Jones, who collaborated on the translation of Dropkin's (1887-1956) experimental poetry, shares a bit about the poet and reads a few verses. Episode 0081 May 14, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

We visit with author Alice Hoffman to talk about her latest work, "The Museum of Extraordinary Things." During our visit we learn about Hoffman's grandfather, a Yiddish writer whose work she found on the Yiddish Book Center's Steven Spielberg Digital Yiddish Library. Episode 0080 April 27, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

The 'Grandma' behind Grandma's Chicken Soup tells us how she launched a mail-order chicken soup business. From her kitchen to your table (matzoh balls included.) Try a bowl, visit www.grandmaschickensoup.com. Episode 0079 April 11, 2014 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts