Bad Jews — A History: Judaism Unbound Episode 352 - Emily Tamkin
Emily Tamkin is the senior editor, US at The New Statesman and author of a new book entitled Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to explore how the phrase "Bad Jew" has been mobilized throughout American history, how it's used today, and why it might be time to discard it.
[1] Purchase Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities by clicking here! Learn more about Emily Tamkin by clicking here.
[2] For a couple articles exploring elements Tamkin’s book, check out one (or all!) of these pieces:
‘Bad Jews’ describes a history of American Jewish infighting (JTA, Andrew Silow-Carroll)
American Jewish History is Full of ‘Bad Jews’ (Hey Alma, Evelyn Frick)
[3] Tamkin mentions Donald Trump’s recent remarks (doubling down on statements over many years) that American Jews are insufficiently supportive of Israel, and need to “get their act together.” For more on these developments, see this CNN piece by Paul LeBlanc.
[4] For the piece in Commentary that Tamkin references, calling explicitly for the execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, see “Anti-Semitism” and the Rosenberg Case: The Latest Communist Propaganda Trap” (yes, that is truly a real title, from 1953).
[5] A number of past Judaism Unbound guests are mentioned over the course of this episode. We encourage you to listen in to their episodes via any of these links:
[6] Two other episodes, with guests who were not mentioned directly, are also worth listening to in conjunction with this one! See Episode 291: Recipe for Disaster - Aimee Lucido for a conversation that revolves in large part around the phrase “not Jewish enough,” and check out Bonus Episode: Whose Judaism? - Becca Lubow for another exploration of related concepts.
