Yiddish Radio Project

by Dave Isay, Yair Reiner

The Yiddish Radio Project is based on a series of stories featured on NPR's All Things Considered in the spring of 2002. The series highlights the golden age of Yiddish-American broadcasting in the 1930s to '50s. In its heyday Yiddish radio was heard from coast to coast, with a dozen stations in New York alone. All that survives from that incredible era are 500 hours of material preserved on 1,000 fragile discs--all of them rescued from storerooms and attics and even dumpsters, by one man, Henry Sapoznik, a musician and historian who has been on a fifteen-year mission to save every remnant from the "golden age" of Yiddish radio. This collection is an unprecedented intimate snapshot of American Jewish life during the '30s and '40s. The series features translations of the Yiddish language broadcasts by a cast that includes Eli Wallach, Carl Reiner, and Isaiah Sheffer.

Genres: History

120 pages, Audio CD

First published October 28, 2002

Reviews

[Neal Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful! I loved this audiobook. So much interesting information and to be able to hear the many clips of radio shows, advertising, stories, those beautiful Yiddish accents. HIGHLY recommended!!

[JZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

So fun! I'm going to listen again. Language brought alive.

Now, I am well aware that the world doesn't know much about Yiddish, at all. Being raised a good Roman Catholic girl, I didn't know, either. I still can't explain it much, but it isn't just a way to insult someone in that funny Jewish way. No. It was a language used in the Jewish neighborhoods of New York City, when it was more Big Cabbage than Big Apple. I don't know where it came from, but I do know that it was cobbled together from Hebrew, German, English, and every language in Europe that had Jewish speakers. There's a wonderful book called "The Joys of Yiddish" by Leo Rosten that sat on my language reference table for 40 years. I can't recall the details any more, and the book is gone.

I love language. And, for me, Yiddish is fun to try to translate. Hearing it spoken in a way that I had never heard it before has been such a delightful find, I can hardly stand it. This has opened a whole new world of old time radio, which has been a passion all my life when it was available, and now, so many of these shows are archived all over the internet. Also, I have the time to pursue this. Two hobbies brought together in a new way. I need a new copy of that book, too.
I found more books about it on GoodReads. lol How fun is that for a snowy March sick day?

So, yeah, a pretty good listen for everyone else, probably;


but for me: Priceless!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great! But I wish it had included some full episodes instead of just clips.

[Melvin Marsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio of a by-gone era. I wish they had not talked over much of the Yiddish in it!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great clips of Yiddish radio programs (with English translations). The down side is that it is clips and not full shows. The up side is that it contains a lot of great interviews from people involved with Yiddish radio.

[Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

fantastic.