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LBI Presents

A Podcast with Mark Oppenheimer from the Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

LBI Presents
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German Jews in Love
Episode 1: Archives of Love. Love is one of the great constants of human history—and German Jews are no exception. LBI’s archive contains countless memoirs, letters, and diaries that demonstrate the complex romantic lives of German Jews going back centuries. In this episode, Mark Oppenheimer sits down with Christian Bailey, the author of German Jews in Love: A History. They touch on the transition from arranged marriages to love matches, the dynamic between mixed-faith couples in the 1930s, and how the Third Reich impacted the sex lives of German Jews.
Washington Heights, Mathias Family
Episode 2: Where to From Here?. Many Jews scrambled to leave 1930s Germany and Austria and ended up all over the world. Mark and historian Hasia Diner dive into the complexities of immigration during one of the most tumultuous moments of the 20th century - highlighting less discussed destinations like Shanghai, the Dominican Republic, and Kenya.
Einstein Cups
Episode 3: History in a Box. The archive at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York is a real treasure trove. You’ll find everything from Albert Einstein’s childhood hot chocolate cups to amulets meant to protect you from demons. In this episode, Mark talks to Markus Krah, LBI NY’s Executive Director, on why preserving and showcases these amazing artifacts is more important than ever. But first, archivist Michael Simonson takes us on a ‘tour’ of the archive.
Salzburg 1922
Episode 4: The Art of Exile. Among the hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees who flooded out of Nazi Germany were countless artists, writers, and musicians. Alexis Rodda, an opera singer and music researcher, has devoted her career to studying just one of them: a composer named Egon Lustgarten. Today, Alexis and Mark discuss how exile impacted Lustgarten’s music—and how starting over in a new world changed a whole community of musicians, for better or for worse.
Andrew Romay
Episode 5: Fact, Fiction and Finding Yourself. The archive and library at LBI contain over 2000 memoirs. On this episode, Mark and literary critic Ruth Franklin, author of A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction, discuss the line between fact and fiction in memoir writing and the evolution of Holocaust memoirs from firsthand accounts to books written by second and third generation authors.
Unpacking Exile intro panel
Episode 6: Ghosts of Your Family Past. On this episode, we bring you two stories of people who unexpectedly unearthed their personal histories with the help of LBI and its archive. Danny Shot, a poet from the Bronx, stumbled across a familiar face at an LBI exhibit—and discovered the double life of a mysterious relative. And Elliot Aronstam, a Brooklyn native, found himself literally buried in letters in a script he couldn’t read. Luckily, LBI was able to decipher a family story he never thought he’d learn.
Helen and Eve Hesse Collection
Episode 7: Life Doesn’t Last, Art Doesn’t Last. In the 1960s, artist Eva Hesse found herself at the center of the iconic New York contemporary art scene. A Jewish refugee who escaped Austria on the Kindertransport as a toddler, Hesse went on to become an icon of post minimalist art. Elisabeth Sussman is a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She’s written and edited books about Hesse and has curated exhibitions of her work. On this episode, Elisabeth and Mark discuss Hesse’s personal history, artistic style, and legacy.
Couple Reading Aufbau
Episode 8: Propaganda for Breakfast. In 1933, Joseph Goebbels said that the Nazis could never have taken power without the radio. Heidi Tworek is a professor of history at the University of British Columbia and author of News From Germany: The Competition to Control World Communications, 1900-1945. On this episode, she joins Mark to tell the incredible story of how the Nazis broadcast their propaganda not just in Germany, but around the world.
Terezin, Starving People by Norbert Troller
Episode 9: Food as Power. You may have heard of the transit camp Theresienstadt as a place of hope and resilience throughout the Holocaust. But the music, art, and recipes found in the Czech ghetto after the war only tell one part of the story. Today, historian Anna Hájková, author of The Last Ghetto: An Everyday History of Theresienstadt, joins Mark to discuss the complexities of life at Theresienstadt, including class structure, the barter system, and most importantly, food.
Augenspiegel
Episode 10: A 16th Century Flame War. In the Holy Roman Empire in the early 1500s, there was a campaign to burn all Jewish books. A legal scholar named Johannes Reuchlin wrote a pamphlet called Augenspiegel that convinced the powers-that-be that these texts had historical and scholarly value. Historian and author Erika Rummel joins Mark to tell this remarkable tale, which features everything from political power grabs to bribery to a Middle Ages version of a flame war.

Introducing LBI Presents

LBI Presents is a new podcast from the Leo Baeck Institute, New York. It’s hosted by author and journalist Mark Oppenheimer. Mark chats with key experts as we dive into LBI’s vast archive and explore the remarkable lives and histories of German-speaking Jews…beyond the stories you already know. Join us as we bring history to life—and better understand ourselves through the lens of the past.

Starting October 24, LBI Presents will be released bi-weekly every Tuesday. (LBI’s other podcast, Exile, will return in 2024.)

The Leo Baeck Institute, New York | Berlin is a research library and archive focused on the history of German-speaking Jews.

Antica Productions produces award-winning non-fiction podcasts, films, and series which inform and inspire audiences around the world.

Building on Success of Exile, LBI Plots Return to the Earbuds

In its first 12 episodes, LBI’s podcast, Exile, was downloaded over 100,000 times. Based on that success, we plan to bring you a new season of gripping stories from the archives and launch a new series that will delve deeper into and beyond the themes raised by the stories of Exile.

LBI has started production on new episodes of Exile, our podcast featuring mini documentaries exploring Jewish lives in the shadow of fascism. The episodes will follow the format of the first seasons, in which Mandy Patinkin narrated the stories, aided by voice actors reading primary sources from the archives and interviews with scholars, descendants, and witnesses. The podcast will again be a co-production with the award-winning Canadian firm Antica, and season three will drop in 2024.

“I was thrilled to learn that over 80 percent of listeners who start an episode of Exile listen all the way to the end,” said LBI Executive Director Markus Krah. “Given the source of these stories, that is an unprecedented level of engagement with our collections – which are the core of our enterprise.”

Before the new episodes of Exile arrive, LBI will also pilot a new format called LBI Presents, in which author Mark Oppenheimer chats with key experts as we dive into LBI’s vast archive and explore the remarkable lives and histories of German-speaking Jews. This new podcast will feature a mix of dynamic conversations, live events, and archival sources, all exploring such fascinating topics as the romantic lives of German Jews after the war, the role of food in resistance, and much more.

Finally, in late 2023, the LBI will launch a German-language version of the first 12 episodes of Exile hosted by award-winning German actress, Iris Berben. Iris is known to the German audience as a friend and supporter of the Jewish community and an active fighter against antisemitism. Produced in partnership with the German Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb), the German-language podcast is also a co-production with Antica. It will feature the same high production value as the original, with sound design, voice actors, and expert interviews.

Season 1 Episodes

German Jews in Love
Episode 1: Archives of Love
Washington Heights, Mathias Family
Episode 2: Where to From Here?
Einstein Cups
Episode 3: History in a Box
Salzburg 1922
Episode 4: The Art of Exile
Andrew Romay
Episode 5: Fact, Fiction and Finding Yourself
Unpacking Exile intro panel
Episode 6: Ghosts of Your Family Past
Helen and Eve Hesse Collection
Episode 7: Life Doesn’t Last, Art Doesn’t Last
Couple reading Aufbau
Episode 8: Propaganda for Breakfast
Terezin, Starving People by Norbert Troller
Episode 9: Food as Power
Augenspiegel
Episode 10: A 16th Century Flame War