What are the most active and educational religious podcasts and blogs?

Question

I’m looking for more Jewish blogs and podcasts to subscribe to, and not wishy washy “Jewish life” ones full of dubious recipes and pop culture tie-ins. I’m looking for intermediate-level, English-language (with Hebrew in the teachings, of course) drashot, shiurim, sermons, and scholarly essays. Topics like Torah study, Halakha, liturgy and holidays, ideally published on a timely schedule. Media to help me keep learning while I’m walking, washing dishes or sitting on the bus.

Any suggestions?

Podcasts are the higher priority for me. I’m currently subscribed to the Ziegler Torah podcast feed (that’s where my partner is in rabbinical school) and the Park Avenue Synagogue lecture series, and I love their teachings, but they’re too infrequent for my huge appetite.

I’ve perused a related thread from two years ago, What are the most essential Jewish websites?, and there are a few good blogs listed there, but many of the sites are no longer maintained, and many also lack the RSS feeds I’d need for subscribing, especially the audio resources.

Thank you, and Shabbat shalom!

Answer 1

Here are three Torah podasts that I have found valuable, and that I think could fit your needs. All of them are ongoing, updated at least weekly.

• Torah Tidbits Audio is a weekly radio show by Phil Chernofsky. His main focus is the weekly parsha along with any upcoming holidays. He also likes to talk about the Jewish calendar, the land of Israel, and the Hebrew language. He plays Jewish songs to break up the show. I have enjoyed this show a great deal and learned a lot from it, partly because I happen to be very interested in a lot of the same things that Chernofsky is into. He does a great job of making his show accessible to people with a wide range of backgrounds. There's an RSS feed available via Arutz Sheva. The associated print publication, Torah Tidbits, is also great. I don't think there's an RSS feed for it, but you can sign up to receive an email when he puts up a new issue, which is available in PDF and plain text.

• Ki Mitzion Teitze Torah (KMTT) is a [supposedly] daily Torah Podcast, from Yeshivat Har Etzion. (I say "supposedly" because it looks like they've lately been putting up two or three classes each week.) The podcast consists of up to five weekly classes on different topics, which are switched up each semester. I have particuarly enjoyed classes on philosophical topics by R' Ezra Bick, in which he delivers deep insights from medieval thinkers with a conversational delivery that I find engaging.

• OU Torah Podcasts from the Orthodox Union offers a whole bunch of podcasts, updated on various frequencies from daily to sporadic. I haven't listened to most of them, but I listen to Nach Yomi, which teaches one chapter of the post-Pentateuch books of the Bible per day, completing the whole set every ~2.5 years. They switch lecturers at the beginning of each book. The classes tend to stick pretty close to the text of the chapter at hand, explaining what's going on according to the various commentaries. I'm using this series (plus actually reading the chapter on paper before listening) as a way of becoming familiar with the parts (read: large swaths) of the Bible that I've had little experience with. These lectures were recorded two cycles ago and a re-run each cycle, and I believe similar is true of other of the daily podcasts (e.g. Daf Yomi), so the content's not necessarily new, but it is realeased daily anew via RSS.

I wish you great success in making good use of your downtimes!

Answer 2

Really, it should be Danny Schoemann giving this answer, but i'll do him a favor and recommend his Halocho a Day blog. It has English language, intermediate level halachot, and can be quite informative. In fact, i'm adding it to my reading list right now. :)

Answer 3

As far as parsha podcasts go, I highly recommend the Pardes Podcast, produced by the eponymous institute. It is weekly updated with a good d'var torah from varying rabbis at the institute, and generally these tend to be good, serious looks at the Torah, pretty well informed by traditional rabbinic sources.