Archives: Podcast

In this episode of Space Midrash, Jacob discusses the death of Spock in the Start Trek movie, Start Trek Two, Wrath of Kahn. In unpacking some of the plot and motif, Jacob explores how Spock’s funeral scene relates to the Jewish pracitces of Kaddish and Shiva. From there, Jacob probes why he thinks we need… Continue reading 4: Sitting Shiva for Spock

In episode 3 of Space Midrash, Jacob probes the Overview Effect, its implications on Jewish civilization, and what that means about narrative collapse. The Overview Effect is a philosophy of social evolution in the space age by Frank White inspired by his interviews with astronauts about their experience. In his opening monologue, Jacob jests on… Continue reading Ep. 3: How do we see ourselves (from space)?

In Episode 2 of Space Midrash, Jacob introduces the first 16 Jewish Astronauts and the Jewish objects they brought into space. In his opening monologue, he probes why there’s a higher percentage of Jewish astronauts than Jews from the general population as well as confront the misconception that there were only 2 Jewish astronauts. [2:04]… Continue reading Ep. 2: Which Astronauts are Jewish?

In episode one of Space Midrash, Jacob introduces himself, presents the space-related headlines which inspired this show, and provides his commentary on why those news headlines matter. Links: Jewish Space Lasers is just the most recent incarnation of anti-Semitic stories Space Court would be more than an international trade court, it’d be interplanetary Orthodox religion… Continue reading Ep. 1: What does the Space Age mean for the Jews?