Pop Culture Parasha Podcast Launch – Inspired by a love of pop culture and parasha study, PCJE students Valerie Brown and Shoshana Gottlieb have launched a weekly podcast, Pop Culture Parasha. Each week they’ll choose a piece of iconic pop culture to connect to the weekly Torah reading, exploring how classical biblical themes and tropes continue to inform media. Can The Simpsons teach us anything about Gan Eden? Is Hocus Pocus based on Vayera? The answer may shock you! Join Valerie and Shoshana as they learn the parasha in the room next door to the Pardes Beit Midrash. You can find the parasha every Wednesday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Anchor FM.
Meet the Hosts
Valerie Brown (she/hers) is entering her third year at Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies (PEP 21, PEEP 19). Prior to discovering a love for Torah, Valerie worked as a graphic designer in Washington, D.C. She was an early adopter of Netflix Instant, as it was known in those days, and has been rewatching Gilmore Girls on loop since 2014. Other favorite activities include making art and reminding her two kittens that she rescued them from a dumpster.
Shoshana Gottlieb is a writer, playlist maker and screen fanatic originally from Sydney. Before joining PEP and deciding to become an educator, Shoshana had dreams of writing the next big romantic comedy. In her spare time, she watches TV and movies, reads and writes about them, and dreams of a world where good films about Jews exist. Her mother thinks she would’ve made a great doctor.
