Category: Material Culture

Why Jewish Books and Libraries Matter with Joshua Teplitsky

Early Modern, Early Modern Jewish History, History of the Book, Jewish History, Material Culture, Modern Jewish History

Joshua Teplitsky joins us to discuss his book Prince of the Press and the broader issue of the history of Jewish books and book collecting. Prince of the Press is a fantastic book, and it opens up a great set of issues about the meaning of books and libraries in Jewish culture, the process of accumulating and transmitting Jewish learning over the generations, as well as how we understand Jewish life in early modern Europe in the widest terms.

Continue reading

Censorship in Early Modern Europe and its Ramifications with Hannah Marcus

Early Modern, History of the Book, Material Culture

What is censorship? How can we identify it, and understand how it functions and what are its effects? Hannah Marcus joins us for a fascinating discussion about her research on the history of the censorship of scientific and medical texts in early modern Italy which opens up a wide-ranging set of issues about the nature of censorship in historical context and the control of knowledge in more recent times, too.

Continue reading

What Happens to Jewish Culture Without Jews with Alanna Cooper and Hillel Smith

American Jewish History, Anthropology, Art, Material Culture, Projects and Initiatives

What happens to our stuff when we’re gone? Hillel Smith and Alanna Cooper join the podcast to talk about their projects that consider what happens to Jewish communities and their stuff, both buildings and objects, especially when we look at communities and synagogues that shrink, disappear, merge together, or move from one place to another.

Continue reading