PopTorah
JCast Network
PopTorah
Show overview
PopTorah has been publishing since 2019, and across the 7 years since has built a catalogue of 166 episodes. That works out to roughly 130 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 41 min and 53 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-US-language Religion & Spirituality show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 1 weeks ago, with 19 episodes already out so far this year.
From the publisher
Welcome to PopTorah with Rabbis Knopf and Olitzky. Rabbis Michael Knopf and Jesse Olitzky are lifelong friends, pop culture fanboys, and lovers of all things Jewish. Join them every other week for a conversation about what’s going on in pop culture from a Jewish perspective and about Judaism through the lens of pop culture.
Latest Episodes
View all 166 episodesChad Powers and the Trouble with Second Chances
We Still Believe in ‘Ted Lasso’
You Seem Pretty Sad for a “Spider-Man” So in Love
The Odyssey and the Long Road Home
A ‘Toy Story’ for the Anxious Generation
‘Disclosure Day’ Asks: Can We Handle the Truth?
Borrowed Time in The Boroughs
Hacking It: Ambition, Reinvention, and the Friends We Make Along the Way
Is The Mandalorian and Grogu the Way?
Man in the Mirror: Fame, Myth, and the Making of Michael (Special Live Episode!)
Faith, Friendship, and First Contact in Project Hail Mary
Unfortunately, it was ‘Paradise’
Sinners, Saints, and One Battle After Another: The 2026 Oscars Episode
In this special Oscars episode of PopTorah, we dive into two of the most talked-about films of the year: Sinners and One Battle After Another. Both films wrestle with big questions about morality, power, violence, and the stories people tell to justify their actions. What does it mean to be called a “sinner”? Are we trapped in cycles of […]
Power, Persona, and Purpose in Marvel’s “Wonder Man”
In this episode of PopTorah, we dive into Marvel’s newest Disney+ series, “Wonder Man.” This isn’t just another superhero origin story. The show explores the tension between public image and inner truth, the seduction of fame, discovering your purpose and finding your people, and the difficulty of balancing safety and freedom. It’s a meta Hollywood […]
If You Got It, Flaunt It: Mel Brooks at 99
In this episode of PopTorah, Rabbis Knopf and Olitzky talk about Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!, the HBO Max documentary celebrating Mel Brooks and a lifetime of unapologetic comedy. From The Producers to Blazing Saddles, Brooks never hid what he was doing or why — using laughter to mock power, puncture tyranny, and refuse the demand for Jewish silence or […]
Faith, False Prophets, and Fool’s Gold in Wake Up Dead Man
What happens when a miracle involves a murder — and who benefits when the truth stays buried? In this spoiler-filled episode of PopTorah, we dive into Wake Up Dead Man, the darkest and most theologically charged entry in Rian Johnson’s whodunit series. Set inside a fractured church community obsessed with power, purity, and control, the […]
Shadows, Light, and Stranger Things
Rabbis Knopf and Olitzky return to Hawkins for the final season of the Netflix juggernaut Stranger Things. Beyond monsters and nostalgia, the show offers a sobering meditation on fear, power, and the seductions of militarism and authoritarian control. Through a Jewish lens, the conversation explores what it means to grow up, take responsibility for one another, […]
‘Wicked’: For Good?
What does it really mean to choose the side of “good” — and what does it cost? In this follow-up journey back to Oz, Rabbis Knopf and Olitzky explore Wicked: For Good, the second chapter of Elphaba and Glinda’s story, and what it reveals about loyalty, love, sacrifice, and the messy moral terrain between heroism and […]
The Good, The Bad, and The ‘Wicked’
What does it mean to be good? And who gets to decide? In this magical episode of PopTorah, we dive into the world of Wicked, the spellbinding prequel to The Wizard of Oz that flips the script on the nature of good and evil. Join Rabbis Knopf and Olitzky as they explore how the tale […]
Undercover on Campus: ‘A Man on the Inside’ Season 2 and the Purpose of Learning
What does it mean to learn, to teach, to remain faithful to ideals in a changing world? Rabbis Knopf and Olitzky discuss A Man on the Inside Season 2 — campus mysteries, human motives, and the deeper questions this witty Netflix comedy invites us to ask. Rabbis Michael Knopf and Jesse Olitzky are lifelong friends, […]