The Big Pictures: Ep. 235

This week on Unorthodox, we're talking Yiddish, curse words, and much more.

Our first guest is return Gentile of the Week John McWhorter, linguist and host of the Lexicon Valley podcast. John was a guest on the show back in 2016, and then we did an Unorthodox/Lexicon Valley crossover episode the following year. He returned to the show to tell us all about his upcoming book on curse words (note: this segment is definitely NSFW) and his enduring love of Yiddish. In addition to that interview, which was recorded in May, we check back in with McWhorter to discuss America's racial reckoning, and the language that surrounds it.

Then we hear from Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll, co-founder of Chochmat Nashim, an organization that supports women in Orthodox Jewish spaces. She tells us about the custom in some Orthodox communities in Israel and the U.S. to exclude images of women and girls from newspapers, advertisements, and even health brochures, which she is working to change.

As always, let us know what you think of the show. Email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at (914) 570-4869. You can also record a voice memo on your smartphone and email it to us.

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