Call Your Mother

On February 14, 2018, like any other day, Fred Guttenberg's two children left the house to go to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. But after a former student attacked the school with a semi-automatic weapon, 17 people did not come home that day, including Fred's daughter, Jaime. Jordana and Shannon speak to Fred about his grief, his close relationship with President-elect Joe Biden, and how he channeled his pain into action to combat gun violence in America.

Music:

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

In recent years, entrepreneur, activist, author, and Jewish mom of two Jenna Arnold criss-crossed the U.S., having conversations with countless groups of white women about their identities and their roles in our country. The result is her book, Raising Our Hands: How White Women Can Stop Avoiding Hard Conversations, Start Accepting Responsibility, and Find Our Place on the New Frontlines. Jordana and Shannon have a wide-ranging conversation with Jenna about what it means to be white and Jewish women in America. The trio discuss why talking about race can be difficult, how to learn from our mistakes, and how to start those much-needed "hard conversations with Uncle Bob on Thanksgiving."

Music:

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

On a “totally chill” late-fall day, Jordana and Shannon chat with multi-hyphenate author, photojournalist, and producer Deborah Copaken, who’s a columnist at The Atlantic and a writer for Netflix’s Emily in Paris. The mom of three was also once an avid biker — she’d bike 20 miles on the regular, without breaking a sweat. But then she got Covid-19 in March, and things haven’t been the same since. Deborah — whose memoir, Lady Parts, is coming out next year — chats with our hosts about living with long-haul Covid-19, detailing her struggle with breathing problems, heart-rate spikes, exhaustion, hope, and more.

Music:

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

Fertility struggles impact so many families in myriad ways — though often the burden and the blame fall on women. Dana Sussman's story flips the narrative, when she and her husband discover that her husband is not producing any sperm. Several uncomfortable and emotional surgeries later — plus countless doctors visits, egg retrievals, and more — the couple are now parents of two children. With remarkable candor, Dana shares her unique journey with Jordana and Shannon, and they also discuss the ways in which access to fertility treatments may be limited in the coming year, due to possible changes to healthcare access.

Music: 

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats
"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

Remember the measles outbreak in 2018 to 2019? Misinformation and distrust for the government were significant factors that contributed to the dangerous spread of the highly contagious disease within many ultra-Orthodox communities in New York. In December 2019 our hosts Jordana and Shannon spoke with Blima Marcus, a nurse practitioner and professor who helped curtail the spread in her community through education and compassion. In this week’s Call Your Mother Rewind, at a time in which Covid-19 infections are high within some ultra-Orthodox communities, we revisit our conversation with Blima, unpacking how misinformation and the perception of antisemitism remain relevant today.

Music:

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Sultry Glance" by Perfect Solution Music

"Study Session No Melody" by MellowSTU

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

We all need some good distraction right now. So this week, Jordana and Shannon chat with Lior Zaltzman — Kveller's associate editor and our in-house TV expert — about the best Jewish and Israeli TV to watch right now. From "Shtisel" to "Tehran," they discuss the recent shows that have brought them joy, and explore how Israel has gone from "Startup Nation" to TV Nation.

Music:

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

Now that there's a vacancy on the Supreme Court, many people are worrying about and talking about access to abortion here in the U.S. As such, we've decided to bring back a previous episode, which originally aired June 2019, that focuses on a very timely topic: stories of women who were already mothers when they made the choice to have an abortion. 

Music:

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

“Hip Hop Happiness” by Mellowsstu 

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan ft. Habit Blcx

During the Days of Awe — the time of introspection between between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — Jordana and Shannon speak with  educator, mom, and avid YouTuber Allie Barnes about setting intentions and goals for the coming year, staying positive, and finding connection with our community, even when we can't be together.

Music
"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

In this week's episode, Jordana and Shannon speak with Carly Pildis, a professional grassroots organizer and writer, about American attitudes towards Black Jewish identity, why BLM needs to be a Jewish issue, and her experience raising a black, Jewish child in America today.

Music

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

Jordana and Shannon speak with comedy writer and author Bess Kalb about her quarantine life as a new mom living with her own parents, writing for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and her recent memoir, No One Will Tell You This But Me. Her book is about an extraordinary love story — but not necessarily one you'd expect: It's a chronicle of Bess' relationship with her Jewish grandmother, a housewife who was anything but ordinary and who helped shape Bess' upbringing and sense of humor.  

Music:

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan ft. Habit Blcx

Music: 

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Funky and Groovy" by Unique Sound

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

Jennifer Weiner, the fan favorite and longtime New York Times best-selling author returns to the podcast to chat with Shannon and Jordana about her quarantine bubble with bubbe, “zhuzhing” up her Zoom room, and why some people won’t wear a friggin’ mask. “It seems like such a basic thing to ask people to do. You put your shirt on and your shoes on when you go to the 7-Eleven, so now we’re going to wear masks!”

Music:

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Funky and Groovy" by Unique Sound

"Rewind Back" by Marscott

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

Well, here we all are, on the cusp of a summer which for many of us will be with no camp, no vacation trips and few playdates --  but many, many opportunities to lose our shit with our kids. Carla Naumburg is a clinical social worker and the author of three parenting books. But the parenting book that was made for a pandemic is her most recent, How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t With Your Kids, which might be the ideal Father’s Day gift?

Naumburg talks to Jordana and Shannon about stress “in the Q,” triggers for rage, and ways to recalibrate our response to those little darling children who somehow always know how to push our buttons.

Music

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Sultry Glance" by Perfect Solution Music 

"Funky and Groovy" by Unique Sound

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan ft. Habit Blcx

A very special guest joins Jordana and Shannon for the last episode of Call Your Mother’s first season: Shannon’s husband Jonathan Goldberg, who shares the story of getting a vasectomy after the couple’s third child. The group talk about the theme of responsibility for birth control, while touching on everything from semen in popsicle trays to Japanese sex dolls to Fiddler on the Roof. The hosts call Simon Myerson in the United Kingdom, who shares his own vasectomy tale along with the immortal words, “attached to my junk.”

Music: 

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Funky and Groovy" by Unique Sound

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

Jordana and Shannon talk with Alysia Reiner. Alysia is known for her roles in Orange Is The New Black and The Deuce, but she’s a woman who wears many hats. She talks with Jordana and Shannon about activism, Judaism, producing, her new projects and her unique take on the world in which we live. Plus Shannon shares a tale of a wedding toast gone awry, and Gram reveals her disdain for certain extracurricular activities and glitter. 

Music:

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Jet Setter" by MellowSTU

"Funky and Groovy" by Unique Sound

"For Hip-Hop" by Marscott

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

Jordana and Shannon recorded this episode at a live Jewish National Fund event in New Jersey (on the very bima where little Jordana once became a bat mitzvah!), speaking with Israeli community center leader Michal Uziyahu about her life as a person and parent living in Israel next to the border with Gaza. She talks about red alerts, running for shelter, fears of balloons and kites -- and how she finds joy in living where she does. Plus Gram is a member of the studio audience and gets to give her two cents on whether or not parents should vet kids’ bar and bat mitzvah speeches.

Music: 

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Rewind Back" by Marscott

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

Shannon is back from maternity leave, and this week she and Jordana (and Shannon’s new baby Jude) sit down with ultra-Orthodox nurse practitioner Blima Marcus. Marcus helped stop the measles outbreak of 2019 in religious communities, and talks about how to confront and combat the spread of misinformation -- whether about vaccines or anti-Semitism -- with education and compassion. Also, Gram shares her own personal experience with measles.

Music:

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

"Sultry Glance" by Perfect Solution Music

"Study Session No Melody" by MellowSTU

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

In this reboot of a summer episode, Jordana and Shannon talk with Jason Rosenthal on the phone from his office in Chicago. Jason’s wife Amy, a well-known author, wrote a viral Modern Love piece in The New York Times entitled “You May Want To Marry My Husband,” which was published only days before Amy died of ovarian cancer. Jason talks about grief and loss, his new life in the wake of his wife and parenting the couple’s three children.

This episode is sponsored by A Good End podcast, a new Jewish conversation around death and dying in the 21st century.

Learn more at agoodendpodcast.com

Brought to you by 70 Faces Media and UJA-Federation of New York.

Music: 

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats

“Lo-Fi Afternoon” by Marscott

“Study Session No Melody” by MellowSTU

“Jet Setter” by MellowSTU

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

Jordana talks to Good Morning America’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton about her experience after Dr. Ashton’s long-time husband died by suicide. The two discuss the unique grief and blame cycle in the aftermath of suicide, as well as how Dr. Ashton managed her high-profile career during and in the wake of this life-changing event. Plus, Gram doesn’t pick up the phone -- but that’s okay.

Music: 

"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats 

“Sultry Glance” by Perfect Solution Music

“For Hip-Hop” by Marscott

"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)