Avi's Conversational Corner

A podcast on culture, history, and politics in a broad perspective

About the show

Welcome! Here I will talk to a range of people on issues which interest me and I hope you, from religious slogans and wargaming to deeper political ideas to forgotten historical episodes. Bring up a chair, get comfortable, and enjoy!

  • Avi

Episodes

  • Episode 10: The Agony of the Kresy

    February 25th, 2020  |  37 mins 34 secs
    belarussians, gulag, hitler, jews, katyn, poland, poles, stalin

    Tim Bucknall discusses the destruction and rebuilding of the Polish borderlands and its community in WWII and beyond.

  • Episode 9: Spaceship Paganism and Transgender Souls

    February 4th, 2020  |  39 mins 40 secs
    antinatalism, mars, religion, science, transgender

    Rabbi Tzvi Kilov discusses the great potential of technology to reach into the beyond, the world of spirits and souls and God.

  • Episode 8: Conservative Orders and Hispanic Americans (Jos. Laughon)

    August 26th, 2019  |  47 mins 8 secs

    Joseph and I discuss the relevance of Russel Kirk, LA city traditions present and (possibly) future, and why Hispanic Americans are not the bogeyman the right claims it to be.

  • Episode 7: Cities and Transport

    August 19th, 2019  |  47 mins 28 secs

    Nathaniel discusses the past and present of cities and how to get around them, with an emphasis on Uber, Lyft, and other technological proposals.

  • Episode 6: Public Defense

    August 5th, 2019  |  36 mins 21 secs

    Zeke Webster discusses the good, the bad, and the crazy of being a public defender in the US.

  • Episode 5: Settlers and Religious Anthropology (Nehemia Stern)

    July 22nd, 2019  |  48 mins 59 secs

    Dr. Nehemia Stern discusses the challenges and nuances in taking religion and Israeli settlers seriously as a scholarly subject and as part of Israeli society.

  • Episode 4: Building Boys (Jennifer Fink)

    July 8th, 2019  |  41 mins 42 secs

    In this episode, I and Building Boys website creator Jennifer Fink discuss some of the most common misunderstandings of how and why boys do what they do, and positive ways to adapt and help them grow into good men.

  • Episode 3: The Jews of Vilna in WWI (Andrew Koss)

    July 1st, 2019  |  1 hr 9 mins

    Andrew Koss and I discuss the fate and struggles of the Jews of the Russian Empire, using the community of Vilna (Vilnius) as an example.

  • Episode 2: Wargaming and History (Zach St. Clair)

    May 28th, 2019  |  42 mins 4 secs

    I talk with Zach (Fuss to his Twitter friends) about the attraction and educational value of wargaming, including on the subjects of morality, history, and civics. Enjoy!

  • Episode 1: Sacred Slogans (Rabbi Joshua Yuter)

    May 21st, 2019  |  47 mins 40 secs
    politics, religion, slogans, tikkun olam, twitter

    A conversation with Rabbi Joshua Yuter about the use and abuse of religious slogans for political purposes, as well as the good and bad of social media pedagogy.