• Episode 68 - Super Mitzvot Bros. ...With Special Guest Sparkle Peters
    Nov 20 2024

    November 20, 2024
    Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews
    Episode 68 - Super Mitzvot Bros. …with Special Guest Sparkle Peters

    The Nintendo video game company has been filling our homes with fun and excitement for many years. Some even say that the best video game of all time was Super Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Twitch streamer and podcaster, Sparkle Peters, joins us to discuss the innovation around the tutorial levels in video games, save skimming, and sometimes just throwing the instructions out all together. Plus, did you know that you’re remembering Rainbow Road wrong?!

    00:02:09 Super Mario Bros, World 1-1
    00:05:02 Teaching as you do, especially the act of mitzvot
    00:07:58 Learning right from wrong in real time.
    00:09:52 Video game tutorial levels… or not.
    00:15:46 Enjoyable puzzle games
    00:20:17 Getting gaming help
    00:24:45 Just doing, not being taught
    00:28:21 That’s enough rules, let’s just play the board game
    00:30:20 The E.T. Video Game
    00:32:04 Experiential educator playgrounds
    00:34:49 Does save scumming teach us?
    00:37:38 Mario Kart’s mandela effect
    00:40:05 Learning little by little

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    46 mins
  • Episode 67 - Grief, Loss, and Lifesabers
    Nov 6 2024

    November 6, 2024
    Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews
    Episode 67 - Grief, Loss, and Lifesabers

    Ethan opens his heart to all of us once again as we look back on a year of grief together with returning guest, Dr. Betsy Stone. We learn about the difference between the words grief and loss, share some of the meaningful practices during the mourning period, and hear what Star Trek has to say about the unexpected death of a loved one. We also teach Betsy what we’re supposed to call those plasma sword thingies in Star Wars. …Or maybe, she taught us?

    00:02:24 A one year check in
    00:04:19 Compounded grief
    00:11:07 The difference between grief and loss
    00:13:53 The burdens of grief on Deep Space 9
    00:18:21 The experiences of the facts of our stories change
    00:23:11 Something I talked about with my therapist…
    00:26:48 Art imitating life and life imitating art
    00:29:21 Holding joy and sadness, unlike giraffes
    00:31:46 The perfect structure for mourning
    00:34:43 Loss versus death
    00:41:02 Grief is multilayered and disruptive
    00:44:22 favorite pop culture stories centered around death or grief

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    52 mins
  • Episode 66 - Good Ideas Gone Wrong
    Oct 23 2024

    October 23, 2024
    Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews
    Episode 66 - Good Ideas Gone Wrong

    We recorded this episode in September of 2024, which means that we had to visit the future historical event of the time: the Bell Riots from Deep Space 9. Ethan walks us through this time travel Star Trek episode and we discuss what went wrong. They seemed like they had good intentions, but do good plans always go awry? We also visit some other future prediction events from other franchises. …Does Judaism ever predict the future?

    00:01:18 Isaiah 58:7-8
    00:03:26 Deep Space 9 travels back to 2024 in a transporter accident
    00:05:28 DS9 “Past Tense” Parts I and II
    00:10:01 Figuring out morality without violence
    00:12:20 Paving the road with good intentions
    00:15:21 No bowling balls in the pool!
    00:21:37 How will the Bell Riots directly affect change?
    00:27:53 Finding a home in other franchises
    00:34:09 Predicting the future in pop culture
    00:37:50 Does Judaism ever predict the future?

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    45 mins
  • Episode 65 - Sabra: The Hero Not The Hummus ...With Special Guest Sasha Kaplan
    Oct 9 2024

    October 9, 2024
    Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews
    Episode 62 - Sabra: The Hero not the Hummus …with Special Guest Sasha Kaplan

    The upcoming Captain America movie will include the first live action portrayal of the Israeli superhero Sabra. In this episode, we take a deep dive into Sabra’s first introduction into the Marvel Comics world, the possible powers and skills you may see on the big screen, and our predictions on what her story in the MCU will look like.

    00:02:41 A background on Sabra
    00:07:38 Sabra got a name change
    00:09:17 Sabra entering the MCU
    00:17:17 Revisiting Sabra’s troubling first comic story
    00:26:41 Sabra’s name and some more troubling backstory
    00:37:52 Sabra’s powers and skillsets
    00:43:07 Will her Jewish or Israeli background play a part in her MCU Story

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    51 mins
  • Episode 64 - The Good, The Bad, and The Antisemitic ...With Special Guest Dr. Linda Maizels
    Sep 25 2024

    September 25, 2024
    Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews
    Episode 64 - The Good, The Bad, and The Antisemitic …With Special Guest Dr. Linda Maizels

    It’s been almost a year since the attack on Israel on October 7. Since that time, it hasn’t just been the war that has taken over the news. It feels like there has been such a strong increase of antisemitism locally and around the world. We discuss centuries worth of antisemitism, we ask why it seems so acceptable today, and we try to find hope for the future. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of nerdy stuff, too. After all, we are talking about the struggle between good versus evil.

    00:02:32 The rise of antisemitism
    00:05:44 Do superheroes attract supervillains? Or the other way around?
    00:06:06 Gotham’s evil increases after Batman shows up
    00:11:44 Antisemitism turns the Jew into the scapegoat
    00:15:04 Does support increase only because the attacks are increasing?
    00:18:55 Antisemitism is feeling more acceptable, for some reason
    00:21:30 Do you share similar hope from the X-Men ‘97 series?
    00:25:28 Having difficult conversations with opposing opinions
    00:30:40 Got Hope?
    00:37:02 The resident pessimist mitigates hate through empathy
    00:39:11 Captain Benjamin Sisco and Gul Dukat
    00:44:25 Time to mention to MCU

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    https://www.torahsmash.com/post/episode-64-the-good-the-bad-and-the-antisemitic

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    50 mins
  • Episode 63 - The Rav and The Acolyte
    Sep 11 2024

    September 11, 2024
    Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews
    Episode 63 - The Rav and The Acolyte

    In today’s episode, we learn from each other as we discuss the newest Star Wars show, The Acolyte. We discuss the best and worst teachers among the sith and the jedi in the show. Also, did Darth Maul’s mommy make an appearance? Speaking of teaching, Ethan sith-splains Star Wars to his co hosts.

    00:02:23 The Master and their student
    00:03:39 “The desire of the wise is to learn, and a fool’s to teach”
    00:05:16 Appreciating the cast for a moment
    00:11:17 “A wise person is a student who makes their teacher wiser”
    00:15:07 Darth Maul’s Mommy?
    00:16:13 “To defend a country, you need an army. But to defend an identity, you
    need a school.”
    00:18:56 Ethan sith-splains Star Wars
    00:24:30 Darth Bortles is a great teacher
    00:26:30 “Educate a child according to their way.”
    00:30:46 Was it a new lightsaber set?

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    36 mins
  • Episode 62 - Deadpool and Lamed Vavnikim
    Aug 28 2024

    August 28, 2024
    Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews
    Episode 62 - Deadpool and Lamed Vavnikim

    There are so many people in our world who are making the world a better place. Judaism calls them
    lamed vavnikim, or the righteous 36. But what about the people in the void who are making our world a better place? Or those who are trying to find missing anchor beings to make their own world better for their girlfriend who doesn’t love them anymore? They’re good too, right? Well, maybe they’re not “Avengers good”, but, woo, they’re about to make a name for themselves here.

    00:01:24 Most people think they’re good people
    00:03:07 We know the right answer and these aren’t it
    00:06:11 Deadpool and Wolverine
    00:08:40 Thirty-Six (Plus) Righteous People
    00:12:00 The Thirty Six Graphic Novel by Kristopher White
    00:14:38 Barak’s rant about D&W plot holes
    00:19:51 Happy Hogan’s afikomen office
    00:24:11 Into the Void
    00:29:28 Wolverine variants
    00:33:17 Musical anchors
    00:35:27 Not one, but two (and a Peter)
    00:36:14 More likes and dislikes
    00:40:18 Deadpool 4?

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    46 mins
  • Episode 61 - Inside Mussar 2
    Aug 14 2024

    August 14, 2024
    Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews
    Episode 61 - Inside Mussar 2

    Emotions can sometimes be difficult to handle and we find that they’re also often pretty Jewish. Join us as we explore the two joyfully sad movies by Pixar, Inside Out 1 and 2, and the connections to a very popular Jewish practice. We let the little voices inside our heads out for this conversation and we share the emotions that we wish made appearances in the films. Plus a hot take: Bing Bong is Jewish.

    00:00:39 Step Inside RDY’s Mind
    00:02:04 Initial film reactions
    00:08:30 Favorite afikomen
    00:12:56 Saboteurs and Mussar
    00:19:39 Jewish guilt and nostalgia
    00:23:19 If can control our emotions, we show true strength
    00:31:23 Next is high school emotions
    00:34:25 The original five base emotions
    00:38:51 Other favorites and afikomen

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    43 mins