We Are Family: Ep. 105

This week on Unorthodox: We recap the Butnick-Cohen nuptials (mazel tov!), Liel has a big reveal, and our guests wrestle with complicated legacies—both personal and political.

Our first Jewish guest is Annabelle Gurwitch, the author of Wherever You Go, There They Are, a funny, wise memoir about the families we’re born into—and the families we choose. She talks about growing up with a fabulist father, becoming a drug mule for her elderly mother, her colorful Southern Jewish clan, and the various tribes she’s joined over the years in her quest for belonging.

Our gentile of the week, director Dylan Kussman, comes with a bonus Jewish guest—actor/writer Aaron Davidman. They’re the creative duo behind Wrestling Jerusalem, a new film adaptation of Davidman’s one-man play that explores the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lens of 17 characters from a range of religious, political, and ethnic backgrounds. Kussman explains what attracted him to a story about one of the world’s most controversial conflicts, and Davidman tells us how he recovers from his marathon stage performances. Wrestling Jerusalem is showing at Symphony Space in New York City through September 17.

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