The Book of Schmutz: Ep. 183

Tradition, tradition! We sit down with legendary actress Jackie Hoffman, who plays Yenta in the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene's production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ in Yiddish, and Motl Didner, the Folksbiene's associate artistic director. Hoffman tells us about learning her lines in Yiddish and her favorite role of all time. Didner teaches us a few key phrases in Yiddish We also chat with Australian punk rocker-turned-novelist Bram Presser, who wrote The Book of Dirt which won the National Jewish Book Award for debut fiction. He tells us about discovering the real story of his Holocaust survivor grandfather's wartime years, which shapes the book, as well as his Yiddish punk background with the band Yidcore. We’re heading to Chicago! We'll be at the Logan Square Auditorium Wednesday, June 26 at 7 p.m. with special guest Blair Braverman, who recently became the second Jewish woman to complete the Iditarod. Presented with Hadassah Chicago-North Shore. Get your tickets here. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook group.