As Rabbi Joy Levitt looked out on the Upper West Side one weekend afternoon, she saw a familiar sight: people going about their lives, trying to fill their time by… spending money. Not everyone was Shabbat observant, but for those who were, or who wanted to be, the JCC devised R&R, a weekly opportunity to be together as a family and a community: an inclusive alternative to the typical New York Saturday. For Friday evenings, there was Shabbat Shabbang, an event designed to welcome the community into the building for a meal, new friends, and fascinating programs. Leading the charge alongside Rabbi Joy Levitt was board member Alice Gottesman, who drew on her own fond childhood memories in supporting both programs. In this conversation, you’ll hear Joy and Alice discuss the founding of two programs that came to embody the Jewish values of the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan.

Learn more about Shabbat programming at the JCC at https://mmjccm.org/jewish-life/shabbat-holidays.

76West

28. Shabbat Reimagined, with Rabbi Joy Levitt and Alice Gottesman

Few families have had as profound an impact on the life of the JCC as the Meyerson-Hooper family.  From their earliest days as board members to participants in a full range of family programs and activities to their 2018 decision to name the organization after Marti’s mother Marlene, the Meyerson family bestowed an incredible personal and financial gift that will inspire donors and lay leaders for years to come.  In today’s episode, we learn about how Marti’s personal journey brought her to the JCC, and how her family’s deep love of the institution led to one of the most consequential moments in the history of the organization.

76 West

36. The Magnificent Meyersons, with Rabbi Joy Levitt and Marti Meyerson

Ma’yan: The Jewish Women’s Project was founded by the JCC in 1993 to serve as a catalyst and a resource for women working for change within the Jewish community. During its existence, Ma’yan promoted Jewish ritual from a new perspective through programs such as its feminist Passover Seder and innovative women’s Haggadah, while continuing to focus on advancing the status of womenstatus within the Jewish communal world. In today’s episode of 76West, Ma’yan Director Eve Landau and Cofounder Barbara Dobkin join Rabbi Joy Levitt to discuss the origins of the first women’s seder, and how the haggadah they developed is still influencing the way we think about the seder today.

Note: this episode contains an excerpt from Debbie Friedman’s “Miriam’s Song” from her January 1996 performance at Carnegie Hall.

To learn more about the Joseph Stern Center for Social Responsibility at the JCC, visit https://mmjccm.org/adults/social-responsibility-volunteering.

To order the Ma’yan Passover Haggadah, visit
https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Continues-Passover-Haggadah-English/dp/0966710711

38.  The Women’s Seder, with Rabbi Joy Levitt, Eve Landau, and Barbara Dobkin

Sloane Crosley (I Was Told There'd Be Cake, How Did You Get This Number, The Clasp) talks to The Lambert Center's Jason Blitman about her latest novel, Cult Classic. Sloane and Jason chat about the book's themes, beautiful cover art, the word "supposably," and whether or not mezuzahs are found on interior doors of synagogues. 

Sloane Crosley is the author of the novel The Clasp and three essay collections: Look Alive Out There and the New York Times bestsellers I Was Told There'd Be Cake and How Did You Get This Number. A two-time finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, she lives in New York City

To learn more about the JCC's arts programming, visit mmjccm.org/lambert

41. Sloane Crosley, Cult Classic

Gabrielle Zevin (The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry) joins The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman to talk about her latest book, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, which Publishers Weekly calls “a one-of-a-kind achievement.” Gabrielle and Jason talk about their shared experience of growing up in heavily Jewish populated areas, how we all play video games whether we know it or not, and how failure can be a creative place. 

Gabrielle Zevin is The New York Times and internationally best-selling author of several critically acclaimed novels, including The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, which won the Southern California Independent Booksellers Award and the Japan Booksellers' Award and was longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Award, and Young Jane Young, which won the Southern Book Prize. Her novels have been translated into 39 languages. She has also written books for young readers, including the award-winning Elsewhere, which is on Time magazine's 100 Best YA Novels of All-Time list. She lives in Los Angeles.

42. Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Erika L. Sánchez (I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter) talks to The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman about her new memoir in essays, Crying in the Bathroom, which Kirkus Reviews calls “a rewarding debut memoir in which a sensitive soul finds salvation in poetry and a life in literature.” 

Erika L. Sánchez is a Mexican-American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her debut poetry collection, Lessons on Expulsion, was a finalist for the PEN America Open Book Award. Her debut young adult novel, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, was a New York Times bestseller and a National Book Awards finalist. It is now being made into a film directed by America Ferrera. Sanchez was a 2017 to 2019 Princeton Arts Fellow, a 2018 recipient of the 21st Century Award from the Chicago Public Library Foundation, and a 2019 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.

43. Erika L. Sánchez, Crying in the Bathroom

Author Elissa Sussman and The Lambert Center's Jason Blitman talk about Sussman's new book, Funny You Should Ask, the importance of Jewish representation in fiction, rules of romance novels, and more. 

Elissa Sussman is the bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask and three young adult novels. She received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College and her MFA from Pacific University. She lives in her hometown of Los Angeles with her husband.

44. Elissa Sussman, Funny You Should Ask

David Krauss, principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, talks to The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman about what the title “principal trumpet” means, childhood as an “indoor kid,” and the little things he learns about music icons while talking to them on his podcast, Speaking Soundly.

David Krauss is the prodigious host of Speaking Soundly, co-founder of Artful Narratives Media, and principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. As a soloist, he has performed with the All-Star Orchestra on their Emmy Award-winning PBS broadcast and was praised by the American Record Guide for his "singing tone, which is luxurious and inviting." He has performed as guest principal trumpet with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic, as well as recorded for film and television, and played on several Broadway shows. David is a highly sought-after instructor at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes School of Music, Aspen Music Festival and School, and other top conservatories and music festivals throughout the United States.

47. Will Musician David Krauss’s Trumpet Disappear?

Chef Einat Admony, founder of the beloved falafel chain Taïm, as well as the acclaimed Israeli restaurant Balaboosta, talks to The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman about where her love of cooking comes from, tricks to feed picky eaters, and her newfound passion for performing stand-up. 

Einat Admony is author of the cookbooks Balaboosta and Shuk and chef/owner of New York City’s popular Balaboosta and Taïm restaurants, which have been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and New York Magazine, among many other outlets. When Einat is not at her restaurants, she can be found at her home in Brooklyn, cooking for the crowd of family and friends who regularly gather around her dining table.

48. Will Chef Einat Admony Redefine “Balaboosta”?

To kick off our season of 76West in celebration of our Books That Changed My Life Festival, The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman talks to designer Elizabeth Yaffe about the process of creating that thing you judge most about a book—its cover. 

Elizabeth Yaffe is a book cover designer and animator. She currently works in the Viking/Penguin Art Department at Penguin Random House. She has designed covers for authors including Amy Tan, Rebecca Makkai, Jami Attenberg, Kevin Wilson, Timothy Egan, and Sarah Thankam Mathews. She has animated covers for authors including Stephen King, Carola Lovering, Jesse Ball, and Chelsea Bieker. Originally from Philadelphia, she graduated from Pomona College with degrees in anthropology and media studies.

49. It’s Okay to Judge a Book by Its Cover—Elizabeth Yaffe, cover designer

Prolific author, illustrator, and graphic novelist Dan Santat chats with The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman about his process of writing and illustrating picture books, how writing graphic novels is his way of creating his own movies, and the catharsis of writing his memoir, A First Time for Everything. 

Dan Santat is the Caldecott Medal-winning and New York Times-bestselling author and illustrator of The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend and the road trip/time travel adventure Are We There Yet? His artwork is also featured in numerous picture books, chapter books, and middle-grade novels, including Dav Pilkey's Ricky Ricotta series. Dan lives in Southern California with his wife, two kids, and many, many pets.

51. From Falling in Love with Comics to Writing Graphic Novels—Dan Santat, Author + Illustrator

Jenny Jackson, executive editor at Knopf, talks The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman through the book publishing process, from acquiring a title to hitting the shelf. Jenny also talks about her experience on the other side as an author—her upcoming debut novel, Pineapple Street, will be released in March.

Jenny Jackson is a vice president and executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf. A graduate of Williams College and the Columbia Publishing Course, she lives in Brooklyn Heights with her family. Pineapple Street is her first novel.

52. What is the Value of a Story?—Jenny Jackson, editor and author

Ahead of a Community Recycling Day at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan on April 23, The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman talks to Christine Datz-Romero, co-founder and executive director of the Lower East Side Ecology Center. Christine talks about the history of the center, how e-waste works, and what it takes to compost at home.

53. Electronic Waste + Composting with Christine Datz-Romero, LES Ecology Center

Climate change has impacted the world since the beginning of time, which Peter Frankopan (The Silk Roads) details in his newest book, The Earth Transformed: An Untold History. A professor of global history at Oxford University, Peter shares his unique perspective on climate change with The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman, including how our society suffers from a soundbite version of history and how small lifestyle changes can have mighty impacts.

54. The Earth Transformed: A History of Climate Change with Peter Frankopan

From the clothes we wear to the sheets we sleep in, textiles are part of daily life, but have you ever really thought about how they’re made? In this episode, The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman talks to Preeti Gopinath, the head of the textiles program at Parsons School of Design at The New School. Jason and Preeti talk about what textiles are, how they’re made, and the impact they have on the world around us.

55. Textiles + Sustainability with Preeti Gopinath, Parsons School of Design

Bestselling author of Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel, talks to The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman as her final event for the paperback release of her latest novel, Sea of Tranquility. They also talk about why we’re drawn to post-apocalyptic fiction, what it’s like imagining the future of our world, and what she’s working on next. 

Emily St. John Mandel’s five previous novels include The Glass Hotel, which has been translated into 25 languages, and Station Eleven, which was a finalist for a National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, was the basis of a limited series on HBO Max, and has been translated into 37 languages. She lives in New York City and Los Angeles.

56. Emily St. John Mandel, Sea Of Tranquility

Bestselling author of The Guncle Steven Rowley talks to The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman about all sorts of things, including working as a gay author and, of course, his newest book, this month’s TODAY Show #ReadWithJenna pick, The Celebrants.

Steven Rowley is the bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus, a Washington Post Notable Book of 2016; The Editor, named by NPR as one of the Best Books of 2019; The Guncle, a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist for 2021 Novel of the Year and winner of The 22nd Thurber Prize for American Humor; and The Celebrants, a TODAY Show #ReadWithJenna pick. His fiction has been published in twenty languages, and all of his books are in development for feature film or television adaptation. Originally from Portland, Maine, he is a graduate of Emerson College and currently resides in Palm Springs with his husband, writer Byron Lane.

57. Steven Rowley, The Celebrants

First-time author Camille Kellogg talks to The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman about her novel, Just As You Are, a queer rom-com inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. 

Camille Kellogg is a queer writer based in New York City, where she works as an editor for children’s and young adult books. She studied English and creative writing at Middlebury College and attended the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference on a fiction scholarship. She’s passionate about queer stories, cute dogs, and bad puns.

58. Camille Kellogg, Just As You Are

Caldecott winner Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret) talks to the Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman about how his latest book, Big Tree, started as a Steven Spielberg film, and about the legacy of gay and Jewish children’s book authors.

Brian Selznick is the author and illustrator of many books for children, including The Invention of Hugo Cabret, winner of the Caldecott medal and the basis for the Oscar-winning movie Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese. Kaleidoscope, a novel in short stories, was called a "lockdown masterpiece" by the New York Times, and his newest book Big Tree, inspired by an idea from Steven Spielberg.

59. Brian Selznick, Big Tree

Tony Award winner J. Harrison Ghee talks to The Lambert Center’s Jason Blitman about their experience as the first nonbinary performer to win Best Actor in a Musical, living life as your most authentic self, and performing in a hit musical on Broadway. 

J. Harrison Ghee Broadway/International Tour: Some Like it Hot, Kinky Boots, Mrs. Doubtfire. Regional: The Color Purple, The Sting. Television: “High Maintenance” (Charles), “Raising Dion” (Kwame). Industrial: Tokyo Disney Sea’s Big Band Beat, Norwegian Cruise Line.

60. J. Harrison Ghee, Some Like It Hot

Welcome to the inaugural episode of 76West, featuring a discussion between author Colson Whitehead and JCC Executive Director Rabbi Joy Levitt. Author of the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Underground Railroad, as well as the books John Henry Days and Sag Harbor, Whitehead’s conversation with Rabbi Levitt tackles The Underground Railroad and the legacy of slavery in our country today. This talk was recorded at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan on May 17, 2017 in front of a live audience.

Produced by Megan Whitman and Eric Winick, with original music written and performed by Perl Wolfe and editing by Matt Temkin, 76West is brought to you by Zabar's and Zabars.com.

1: Colson Whitehead with Rabbi Joy Levitt

Episode 4 of 76West features Roxane Gay, author of the New York Times best-selling books Bad Feminist and Hunger, and the nationally best-selling Difficult Women, in conversation with Abigail Pogrebin. Gay’s writing has appeared in the NY Times, McSweeney's, The Nation, and other publications. She is also the first African-American woman to write for Marvel; her comic series, World of Wakanda, is set in the Black Panther universe. This talk was recorded before a live audience on October 8, 2018.

4: Roxane Gay with Abigail Pogrebin

Episode 6 of 76West features Abigail Pogrebin, journalist, author, and host of the JCC's What Everone's Talking About series, in conversation with JCC Executive Director Rabbi Joy Levitt.  Why does there seem to be a Jewish holiday every minute? And what makes these holidays so powerful and urgent in this modern moment? Abby Pogrebin asked these questions of over 60 rabbis and scholars, taking a deep, personal dive into the Jewish calendar for the first time -- researching and observing every ritual and fast. The resulting entertaining, humorous, and honest book was My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew. And on March 15, 2017, Abby told us where the journey took her and how she was changed by it.

6: Abigail Pogrebin with Rabbi Joy Levitt

This week, it's a discussion between actor, director, and writer Alan Alda and Abigail Pogrebin. For over a decade as the host of PBS' Scientific American Frontiers, and in his role at Stony Brook University's Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, Alda has been helping people grasp complex ideas. In his lively book, If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? the Tony- and Oscar-nominee, and seven-time Emmy Award winner uses his trademark humor to teach us how to better communicate and learn from each other. This conversation was recorded in front of a live audience on September 13th, 2017.

8: Alan Alda with Abigail Pogrebin

This week, a discussion between acclaimed cartoonist Roz Chast and Rabbi David Ingber, founder and spiritual leader of Romemu. Since joining the New Yorker in 1978, Chast has established herself as one of our greatest chroniclers of the anxieties, superstitions, furies, and insecurities of modern life. In this conversation, Chast references her best-selling book Can't We Talk About Some­thing More Pleasant?, which chronicles her relationship with her aging parents as they shift from independence to dependence. (While you don’t need the book to follow what Chast is referencing, you can view some of her cartoons here https://bit.ly/2DgFAx1)  The talk was recorded in front of a live audience on October 29, 2018, and was cosponsored by What Matters: Caring Conversations About End of Life (https://bit.ly/2K5T8wO), as part of Reimagine End of Life (https://letsreimagine.org), a citywide exploration of death and celebration of life through creativity and conversation.

9. Roz Chast with Rabbi David Ingber

Our tenth episode features a discussion between actor, activist, and author Alan Cumming and Abigail Pogrebin. Aside from his Tony Award-winning run in the Broadway musical Cabaret, audiences know Cumming from CBS's "The Good Wife," for which he received Golden Globe & Emmy Award nominations. In his talk with Abby, recorded before a live audience on May 6, 2015, Cumming discusses his work and his revelatory New York Times bestselling memoir Not My Father's Son.

10. Alan Cumming with Abigail Pogrebin

Episode 12 of 76West, our season two finale, features a discussion between American icon Candice Bergen and Abigail Pogrebin.  Acclaimed for her decade-long lead role in the recently revived Murphy Brown, Bergen's acting career – from Carnal Knowledge to Boston Legal -- spans television, film, and Broadway.  Her memoir, A Fine Romance, was an instant best-seller. This talk was recorded before a live audience on November 18, 2015.

12. Candice Bergen with Abigail Pogrebin

We open Season 3 with a discussion between one of America’s most admired public servants, Madeleine Albright, and author and former 60 Minutes producer Abigail Pogrebin. Aside from being the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state, Albright is also a former Ambassador to the United Nations. In this discussion, Secretary Albright and Abby discuss the Secretary’s book Fascism: A Warning, a personal, urgent examination of Fascism in the twentieth century and how its legacy shapes today’s world.  This conversation was recorded in front of a live audience on February 1st, 2019.

13.  Secretary Madeleine Albright with Abigail Pogrebin

This week on 76West, we bring you a conversation from 2011 between the late Nora Ephron and Abigail Pogrebin. Ephron was, as the NY Times put it in its 2012 obituary, “a journalist, a blogger, an essayist, a novelist, a playwright, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a movie director — a rarity in a film industry whose directorial ranks were and continue to be dominated by men.” Her screenplays include Silkwood, Heartburn, and When Harry Met Sally.  Her directorial successes include Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, and Julie & Julia.  The conversation was recorded before a live audience on February 16, 2011.

15. Nora Ephron with Abigail Pogrebin

This week on our podcast 76West, we’ll listen to a talk with New York Times reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, whose book The Education of Brett Kavanaugh investigates the formative years and confirmation of the Supreme Court justice. Asking the questions is Robin’s sister Abigail Pogrebin. To listen, subscribe in iTunes or Google Play, or stream at jccmanhattan.org/76-west.  This conversation was recorded before a live audience on November 3, 2019.

16. Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly with Abigail Pogrebin

This week, we’ll be listening to a discussion between famed singer-songwriter Judy Collins and Abigail Pogrebin.  Collins is a six-time Grammy nominee and winner of one, for her cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” in 1969.  Back then, she evoked the idealism and determination of a generation united against social and environmental injustices. Five decades later, new generations take inspiration from her 55-album body of work and discipline to thrive in the music industry for half a century. The talk was recorded on May 24th, 2012. Subscribe to 76West in iTunes or Google Play, or stream anytime from jccmanhattan.org/76-west.

17. Judy Collins and Abigail Pogrebin

This week we’re listening to a discussion between two-time Emmy and Grammy award-winning comedian Kathy Griffin with civil rights attorney Yetta Kurland. Griffin has performed for hundreds of thousands of fans around the globe, giving legendary standup performances in a class of their own. In 2014, Griffin made history with her 6th consecutive Grammy nomination and first win, joining Whoopi Goldberg and Lily Tomlin as the only other female comedians to ever win Grammy awards for Best Comedy Album. This conversation was recorded in front of a live audience on August 14th, 2019, and produced by Out at the J, the JCC’s program for the LGBTQ community. This episode contains explicit language.

18.  Kathy Griffin and Yetta Kurland

This week, we're listening to “Idealism and Activism: A Conversation” featuring Choreographer Bill T. Jones with Rabbi Ayelet Cohen. Jones is a multi-talented artist, choreographer, dancer, artistic director, and writer who has, over a 40-plus-year career, received distinguished honors including the National Medal of Arts, a MacArthur "Genius" Award, a Kennedy Center Honor, and two Tony Awards. Rabbi Cohen, a former center head at the JCC, is currently Senior Director of the New Israel Fund for New York and the tri-state region. Recorded before a live audience on January 18, 2016.

21.  Bill T. Jones and Rabbi Ayelet Cohen

On the season finale of 76West, we're listening to two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead in conversation with Ruth Messinger, former Manhattan borough president, global ambassador for American Jewish World Service, and current activist in residence at the JCC’s Joseph Stern Center for Social Responsibility. In this podcast, Whitehead discusses his New York Times best seller, The Nickel Boys, in which a strand of American history is dramatized through the story of two boys sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.  Recorded live on February 5, 2020, this event was presented in partnership with The Stern Center for Social Responsibility.

24. Colson Whitehead and Ruth Messinger

Welcome to 76West, the podcast of the JCC's Lambert Center for Arts + Ideas. 

76West meets at the intersection of arts and ideas. Revamped and reimagined, this new series hosted by arts producer Jason Blitman will feature conversations with today’s leading authors, artists, culture makers, and thinkers.

Previous guests include Alan Cumming, Roxane Gay, Colson Whitehead, and more.

You can find us wherever you get your podcasts. 76West is produced by Jason Blitman and Udi Urman, with original music written and performed by Perl Wolfe and mastering by Matt Temkin.

76West: A Podcast from the Marlene Meyerson JCC

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