Episode 20 and New Episodes Pages

Behold! Episode 20 of OMGWTFBIBLE with Leah Vincent is now available!!

This episode was recorded at Beauty Bar.

There are so many ways to listen to Episode 18!

You can listen using the embed above or here. OMGWTFBIBLE is now on SoundCloud! Explore our SoundCloud here.

You can also: subscribe in iTunes, subscribe via RSS, or listen via Stitcher!

ALSO: The episodes pages is now totally overhauled! Each episode now has an individual page, so you can navigate through them all easily and comment on each episode right here on OMGWTFBIBLE.com!

When’s the Next Episode Going Up?

I’m glad you asked! Especially since I just recorded a new episode but nothing was posted in all of April.

First of all, to answer your question, Episode 20 with Leah Vincent will go live on Jewcy.com a week from today, on May 8. It’ll show up in iTunes the next morning.

There’s more about the new podcast schedule under the fold. Continue reading

Listen to Episode 19 on Jewcy

This is totally what Pharoah looked like back in the day.

Episode 19 is now available on Jewcy!

This month, Rabbi Joshua Yuter joined me as we read chapters 42-44. When we started, Joseph was stuck in jail. By the end of the episode, through some very unlikely dream analysis, Joseph ends up running the show in Egypt. Along the way, Rabbi Yuter and I discussed an Orthodox approach to Biblical criticism, what Pharaoh’s birthday parties must have been like, and alternate analyses of Pharaoh’s dreams.

Here’s my attempt to modernize the interpretation of those dreams:

At that point, people saw dreams as either telling about a thing that had happened, reflecting a thing that’s going on right now, or as predicting the future. And people immediately say “OK what does this dream predict?” Which is not something that we do. Now we tend to think of dreams as reflecting a vulnerability, reflecting our unconscious. So I thought about that and tried to figure out what, if we were to use that kind of analysis, what Pharaoh’s unconscious might be saying.

What was Rabbi Yuter’s analysis? Listen to find out. But not here! Head on over to Jewcy.com to listen there, the ONLY place on the Internet you can get new episodes of OMGWTFBIBLE. Until tomorrow.

OMGWTFBIBLE is Getting Jewcy

jewcy_heart_omg_RGB I’m very excited to announce that Jewcy.com is now the Internet co-host of OMGWTFBIBLE. Starting with episode 19, recorded last night, new episodes will be available exclusively on Jewcy for a full day before they get released elsewhere. So if you want to get your OMGWTFBIBLE fix before anyone else does, point your browser to Jewcy.com in the week after each episode is recorded (Did I just say “point your browser?” What am I, somebody’s grandma?). Episode 18 with Ari Mandel is already up. Really, though, I’m just honored to be part of the blog network behind Jewcy, Tablet, and the Vox Tablet podcast.

As we geared up for this partnership, I sat down with episode 12 guest and Jewcy editor, Elissa Goldstein, to talk about the genesis (sorry) of the show and where it might go in the future. The whole interview is on Jewcy, but here’s a taste:

Where did the inspiration for OMGWTFBIBLE come from? How long do you think it will take to complete?

I find this question difficult to answer because I can’t really name one source of inspiration. To me, OMGWTFBIBLE is the merging of a few strands I was following at the beginning of 2012. I’d long been fascinated by how few people had read the Bible, let alone in the original Hebrew, and would sometimes drunkenly take a Tanach off my shelf and try to read the story of Tamar and Judah to people. In my stand-up, I started reading very loopy sci-fi stories I wrote when I was 9 and interrupting them with jokes about how silly they were. I had just learned about Mishnah Nazir and thought it was absolutely crazy and, for a week, was considering using the interruption story model for the Talmud: I’d project snippets of the Mishnah for stand-up audiences and translate them live, emphasizing their goofiness.

But then I realized I should go back even further.

– See more at: http://www.jewcy.com/jewish-religion-and-beliefs/omgwtfbible-comedy-podcast-david-tuchman#sthash.K2BIxb5s.dpuf

Pitch Like You Mean It (PresenTense Crosspost)

This post was originally written as part of my PresenTense NYC Fellowship. It also appears here.
I’m glad Purim happened during this year’s Fellowship. This year, I realized Megillat Esther contains the blueprint for the perfect pitch.

The stage for Esther’s pitch is set in Chapter 4 of the Megilla named for her. That’s when she learns, through Mordechai, of Haman’s plan of genocide for all the Jews in Achasuerus’ (or Xerxes’, if you’re nasty) domain. She’d like to petition the king to change his mind but, as she tells Mordechai, “any man or woman who goes to the king’s inner court without permission–there’s just one rule–they die.” It’s pretty clear her pitch is a risky one.

Esther goes anyway. After 3 days of fasting and market research (we can only assume), she enters the king’s inner court. Without permission. Achasuerus points his golden scepter at Esther, signifying he won’t kill her. Esther invites her husband and Haman to a string of parties, the second of which is her pitch meeting. When she finally pitches, in chapter 7, Esther demonstrates an intimate knowledge of her audience and the market context.

Episode 19 Live!

omg032014_high-resOMGWTFBIBLE is live on March 20!

This month, Rabbi Joshua Yuter will join me as we read about Yoseph’s time as a wannabe therapist in Egypt.

OMGWTFBIBLE Episode 19 Live
Stanton Street Shul
180 Stanton Street
March 20, 8PM
$FREE$

OMGWTFBIBLE Episode 18

Behold! Episode 18 of OMGWTFBIBLE with Ari Mandel is now available!!

This episode was recorded at A Gathering of the Tribes.

There are so many ways to listen to Episode 18!

You can listen using the embed above or here. OMGWTFBIBLE is now on SoundCloud! Explore our SoundCloud here.

You can also: subscribe in iTunes, subscribe via RSS, or listen via Stitcher!

What did you think of this month’s episode? What are your thoughts on Onanism? Did you have a weird experience with Rabbis and masturbation (hopefully not at the same time!)? Have anything you’d like to add on the whole Potiphar story? Let me know in the comments!

Tom Delays Hates Creativity

Hey, you! You know, that novel you’ve been working on for years? That beautiful work of art you threw your blood, sweat, and tears into? That business you built with your BARE HANDS? Continue reading

Episode 18 Live!

omgfeb20-1OMGWTFBIBLE is live on February 20!

This month, Ari Mandel (aka Rachmuna Litzlon) will join me as we read about Yehudah’s sexual misadventures in Timna and Yoseph’s sexual misadventures in Egypt.

OMGWTFBIBLE Episode 18 Live
A Gathering of the Tribes
285 E. 3rd Street, 2nd Floor
February 20, 8PM
$PAY if you want to

OMGWTFBIBLE Episode 17

Behold! Episode 17 of OMGWTFBIBLE with guest Matthue Roth is now available!!

This episode was recorded at the Stanton Street Shul.

There are so many ways to listen to Episode 17!

You can listen using the video above or here.

YouTube link is here.

You can also: subscribe in iTunes, subscribe via RSS, or listen via Stitcher!