Transcending Jewish Trauma with Jo Kent Katz
Clarissa digs into a topic that has come up in many of the conversations on this podcast; Intergenerational Trauma. The study of this phenomenon is relatively new, but it’s resonated with many Jews whose ancestors’ survived violence and persecution. To take a closer look at this, she talks to Jo Kent Katz, a Therapist, Ritualist, and Political Educator. In 2020, Jo launched a website called “Transcending Jewish Trauma” to help Jews unpack and heal from inherited unconscious beliefs and behaviors associated with ancestral trauma. Included on the website is a map that explores the many manifestations of collective trauma experienced by white Ashkenazi Jews living in the US.
Persian Jewish Culture, Stigmas, Taboos, and Mental Health, with Nicole Nowparvar
Forty years ago, thousands of Jews fled Iran after the Islamic Revolution, settling primarily in Los Angeles. Nicole Nowparvar is a member of that Persian Jewish community. She’s a psychotherapist, and the cofounder of Chaya, a community of intimate gatherings for Jewish Iranians. In this conversation, Clarissa talks with Nicole about how social, familial, and cultural expectations shape the community and the way that Chaya is helping individuals navigate what it means to be Jewish Iranian in the U.S.
The Caged Bird Tweets of Freedom: Black Jewish Life and Twitter, with Jesi Taylor Cruz
Clarissa talks to journalist and graduate student of philosophy Jesi Taylor Cruz about her paper “The Caged Bird Tweets of Freedom: On the Digital Hypervisibility of Black Jewish life.” They discuss race and racism in the Jewish community, and the ways in which digital spaces, and Black, Jewish Twitter (Jwitter), in particular, has offered Black Jews a way to build community on a global scale.