Culture in Quarantine: Theater, Radio, and More

Faced with the pandemic and the necessity of social distancing this March, YIVO quickly pivoted to online learning and Live online programming in order to provide for our community—both local and global. Here’s a roundup of our recent programs on theater, radio, and more Yiddish culture.

	Kate Flannery Aired: August 2, 2020 Interview | Actress Kate Flannery speaks with Shelly Freeman about Yiddish, its contribution to theater and comedy, and American Yiddish musical duo the Barry Sisters. Watch Now
	The Accidental Rise of the Modern Yiddish Theater Aired: July 23, 2020 Lecture | Alyssa Quint explores the particular social, commercial, cultural, linguistic, and historical circumstances that gave rise to the first public performances of Yiddish operetta in Romania and Russia from 1876 to 1883, a period considered the first chapter of the modern Yiddish theater. Watch Now
	Stutchkoff and Yiddish Radio Aired: July 20, 2020 Lecture | Amanda (Miryem-Khaye) Seigel explores Yiddish lexicographer Nahum Stutchkoff’s legacy within the “golden age” of Yiddish radio, drawing on his rich archive in the Dorot Jewish Division, New York Public Library. Part of the 2020 Yiddish Civilization Lecture Series. (Delivered in Yiddish) Watch Now
	The Barton Brothers, Mickey Katz, and Others: Yiddish-English Bilingual Parody Songs Aired: July 9, 2020 Lecture | Ronald Robboy explores music by the Barton Brothers, Mickey Katz, and Allan Sherman in the decades following World War II. Part of the 2020 Yiddish Civilization Lecture Series. Watch Now
	Eating Right and Left: Food and Political Alignment in the Yiddish Press Aired: June 29, 2020 Lecture | Eve Jochnowitz examines what values Yiddish writers in Europe, the Americas, and Palestine considered “liberal,” and how they saw food practices. Part of the 2020 Yiddish Civilization Lecture Series. (Delivered in Yiddish) Watch Now
	Dybbuks, Golems, S. An-ski, and Jewish Legends in Times of Fear Aired: June 3, 2020 Lecture| Gabriella Safran explores the roots of S. An-ski’s play, The Dybbuk, a story of possession set in a shtetl. Watch Now
	Bad Rabbi – Live Podcast Recording Aired: May 19, 2020 Podcast Recording | Charlie Buckholtz and Eddy Portnoy discuss Portnoy’s book, Bad Rabbi and Other Strange but True Stories from the Yiddish Press for this live recording of Buckholtz's Bad Rabbi Podcast. Watch Now