People Jew Wanna Know

Andrew Fox is the creator and composer of Slam Frank, the satirical hip-hop musical that reimagines Anne Frank's story. "Every woman is a Jew hiding in her own attic," the show proclaims. After going viral online, it made its off-Broadway debut in 2025 and was named one of the New York Times' best comedies of the year. A former nonprofit founder and educator who taught musical theater in China right before COVID, Fox also built the show's cult-famous social media presence himself from an Android.

In this episode, Fox makes his case for separating art from the artist. He describes how four Nick Fuentes fans flew in to see his show on the same night as a Satmar family, defends refusing to declare whether Slam Frank is Zionist or anti-Zionist, and explains why certainty is the real danger, and much more.

This episode is brought to you by The Five Books Podcast! Listen wherever you get your podcasts & check out www.fivebookspod.org

Follow Andrew on Instagram @andrewfoxmusic and follow the show @slamfrankmusical. See Slam Frank at the Orpheum Theater.
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What We Discuss:
00:00 Intro & Episode Agenda
06:26 Running the Slam Frank account as performance art
07:21 Teaching musical theater in China before COVID
09:41 What "woke" was, and why the arts won't grapple with it
11:08 The professor suspended for teaching a Mandarin filler word
15:19 Andrew's grandfather and the McCarthy era
17:20 Why Slam Frank refuses to declare a side
20:38 The night 4 Holocaust deniers and a Satmar family saw the show
35:04 The October 7th show and the man who stormed out
45:49 Separating the art from the artist — up to a point
50:22 A message against Jewish tribalism
51:19 Closing Remarks & Guest Nomination

Shanie Reichman is a rising star in the NYC Jewish non-profit scene. Today, she directs strategic initiatives at Israel Policy Forum and hosts the new podcast, Disputed Territory, where she makes the case for liberal Zionism to people who think the phrase is a contradiction.

In a conversation that's timely given the Israeli elections, Margarita brings her questions, her skepticism, and a genuine willingness to be educated — and Shanie delivers, right down to the logistics of how you could create a two-state solution or, as IPF calls it, a two-state outcome.

Follow Shanie on Instagram @ShanieMieka and listen to Disputed Territory wherever you get your podcasts. Check out IPF at www.israelpolicyforum.org

Support our work: buymeacoffee.com/peoplejewwannaknow

**What We Discuss:**
00:00 Intro & Episode Agenda
03:36 Nash Didan and an Aramaic-speaking family
07:30 How Shanie learned about the I/P conflict
10:00 What liberal Zionism actually means
14:00 Israeli elections and Netanyahu's cracking coalition
18:00 The Haredi draft, education, and the cost to Israel's economy
23:00 Haredi feminists and the fake primary that worked
28:00 Did October 7th shatter the status quo?
35:00 Should diaspora Jews have a say in Israel?
44:00 Closing Remarks & Guest Nomination

Rabbi David Wolpe has been described as one of the most influential Rabbis in America. He's known for his pointed debates on the importance of religion, his outspokenness on current affairs, and a desire to shape today's Jewish leaders and their passion for Judaism.

In this episode, Rabbi shares countless pieces of wisdom, an inside look at what's happening to Jewish denominations today, and opens up about his hilarious personality!

Follow Rabbi Wolpe on Instagram @davidjwolpe
Support our work: buymeacoffee.com/peoplejewwannaknow

This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Center for Jewish History.

**What We Discuss:**
00:00 Intro & Episode Agenda
02:24 From aspiring writer to accidental rabbi
06:00 Native to America but immigrants to Judaism
11:30 Why young Jews lost the sense of peoplehood
16:00 Talking to students at the Harvard encampments
19:30 Courage, competence, and turning the argument around
24:00 Is Orthodoxy the "original" Judaism?
29:00 What 30 years taught him about influence
33:00 Optimism, bots, and confusing your enemy
36:30 Closing Remarks & Guest Nomination

Lindsay Pinchuk built a seven-figure company from scratch, sold it, and became a mentor to hundreds of women over 40 who thought it was too late to start. Then, October 8th, 2023 happened. She posted a video in the parking lot of Whole Foods about what it felt like to be a Jewish American woman, and woke up to 100,000 views and a comment section full of "me too."
Three years later, speaking up for what's right didn't cost her the business. Inquiries went up 500%. If you needed a reminder that it's never too late to chase your dreams - this episode is it.
Follow Lindsay on socials @LindsayPinchuk and check out her work at www.lindsaypinchuk.comSupport our work: buymeacoffee.com/peoplejewwannaknowWhat We Discuss:
00:00 Intro & Episode Agenda
02:00 From advertising to Bump Club to Dear FoundHer
07:00 The Whole Foods parking lot video that changed everything
11:00 Fracturing, infighting, and why antisemitism shouldn't have a political party
15:00 Getting brands to work with Jewish creators
20:00 Why activism isn't a career (and why you need another lane)
28:00 What hundreds of female founders taught her
34:00 Raising two daughters after October 7th
40:00 The "From the River to the Sea" shirt and the letter to the principal
47:00 The SWEEP marketing framework
52:00 Closing Remarks & Guest Nomination

Gila Pfeffer lost her mother at 20 and her grandmother before that — both to cancers she carried the genetic blueprint for. So she did something very atypical at the time: a preventative double mastectomy in 2008, years before Angelina Jolie made the choice a norm. Unfortunately, Gila got breast cancer anyway. Both a previvor AND survivor, Gila is one of the funniest people you'll ever hear talk about all of it.

An award-winning author and humorist, Gila wrote her memoir *Nearly Departed* through the lens of her Orthodox Jewish life — Shiva, mikveh, wigs during chemo, the whole thing. This conversation lands during a week built for grief, and Gila makes the case that laughter isn't a betrayal of grief. It's the way through.

Follow Gila on Instagram @gilapfeffer and check out her novel, Nearly Departed, anywhere you get your books!

Support our work: buymeacoffee.com/peoplejewwannaknow

**What We Discuss:**
00:00 Intro & Episode Agenda
06:00 Writing Nearly Departed through an Orthodox lens
12:00 Same chemo as her mother, thirty years later
17:00 Phil, and the birthday that felt like a sign
21:00 Grief you don't expect — and its sixth stage
28:00 Emuna, agency, and choosing the mastectomy
35:00 Why teenage Gila would be shocked
40:00 How Margarita and Gila actually met (a Carnegie Hall heist)
45:00 Find a way to laugh
47:00 Closing Remarks & Guest Nomination