{"podcast":{"title":"The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That Shaped Them","slug":"the-five-books-jewish-authors-on-the-books-that-shaped-them-7105649","podcast_index_feed_id":7105649,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/TPG5767073783","website_url":"https://www.fivebookspod.org/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/f4455e5c-a100-11ef-8f4b-5bef350a0955/image/1e4a6b77a187fd738e31e8c0f8dc7ebd.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Tali Rosenblatt Cohen","episode_count":60,"summary":"The Five Books celebrates the role of books in our lives. Each week we’ll talk with a Jewish author about five books in five categories. We’ll hear about: two Jewish books that have impacted the author’s Jewish identity; one book (not necessarily Jewish) that they think everyone should read - a book that changed their worldview. We’ll get a peek into what book they're reading now, and we’ll hear the inside scoop on the new book they’ve just published. The Five Books creates a space for all listeners to explore what it means to live, write, and read as a Jewish American today.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-21T16:20:27.051592+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-five-books-jewish-authors-on-the-books-that-shaped-them-7105649"},"episode":{"title":"Matti Friedman on the Stories that Built a People","slug":"matti-friedman-on-the-stories-that-built-a-people","published_at":"2026-03-31T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-five-books-jewish-authors-on-the-books-that-shaped-them-7105649/matti-friedman-on-the-stories-that-built-a-people","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-five-books-jewish-authors-on-the-books-that-shaped-them-7105649","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/mgln.ai/e/51/tracking.swap.fm/track/tcQd6Q6C0RUUlOHq1Ytj/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/TPG5997072002.mp3?updated=1773807789","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/mgln.ai/e/51/tracking.swap.fm/track/tcQd6Q6C0RUUlOHq1Ytj/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/TPG5997072002.mp3?updated=1773807789","summary":"In this conversation, Matti Friedman reflects on the power of foundation stories to shape how we understand ourselves and where we come from – from Noah’s Ark, to the origins of the Bible, to Hannah Senesh and the other parachutists who landed in Nazi Europe during World War II. We also talk about what happens when we look more closely at these myths and encounter the flawed, human figures behind them - and why that often deepens, rather than diminishes, our admiration for their courage. Along the way, we also discuss Matti’s particular perspective as a Western-born journalist living in Israel, Michel Houellebecq’s Submission, and the gift of reading poetry in uncertain times. Matti’s latest book, Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe, has been awarded the Natan Notable Book award for Winter 2026 and was released last week. In Out of the Sky, Matti Friedman unravels one of the strangest episodes of World War II: In 1944, a team of young women and men who had escaped the Holocaust made the inconceivable choice to parachute back into Nazi-occupied Europe under the cover of a British military operation. Matti Friedman is the author of five works of nonfiction that have been translated into more than a dozen languages, each of which has appeared on numerous ‘best books of the year’ lists and have been awarded prizes and accolades including the Sami Rohr Prize, the ALA’s Sophie Brody Medal, and the Canadian Jewish Book Award, and more. Matti is a former Associated Press correspondent, his work has appeared in the New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, the Atlantic, and elsewhere. He currently writes from Israel for The Free Press. Matti Friedman's Five Books: 1. The Bible - Parshat Noach, the Story of Noah 2. Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard Friedman 3. Submissio…","meta_description":"In this conversation, Matti Friedman reflects on the power of foundation stories to shape how we understand ourselves and where we come from – from Noah’s…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3744,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-five-books-jewish-authors-on-the-books-that-shaped-them-7105649/episodes/matti-friedman-on-the-stories-that-built-a-people/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-five-books-jewish-authors-on-the-books-that-shaped-them-7105649/matti-friedman-on-the-stories-that-built-a-people.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}