Rank #1: Cults!!!
Did you guys know cults are super trendy right now? For this culty ep, Sarah gets learnt up on the ultra-Orthodox sect Lev Tahor, aka the “Jewish Taliban” and its shady leader Shlomo Helbrans, who moved the group all around the world to evade various criminal charges like kidnapping and child abuse. Lorraine discusses the Black Hebrew Israelites, specifically the controversial “black supremacist” group Nation of Yahweh. The gals also chat about Wild Wild Country and their run-ins with modern day cu
Apr 24 2018
54mins
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Rank #2: Extra Credit: Bloods/Crips pt. 1
Lorraine & Sarah break the Learnt Up mold to share stuff they learnt but didn't get to cover in past episodes. As diehard Learnters might recall from the gangsters episode (Learnt Up #15) - Lorraine did hours of research on the Bloods/Crips gang rivalry before ultimately deciding to discuss Mutulu Shakur. Well, prepare to get your wig peeled back (that's street slang for getting your head blown off) because TODAY she tells us about the Bloods/Crips origin story.
Jul 25 2017
25mins
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Rank #3: Sally Hemings and Chandra Levy
Lorraine and Sarah get learnt up on black and Jewish scandals!! On this episode, Lorraine digs into the herstory of Thomas Jefferson's relationship with his slave/half-sister-in-law Sally Hemings, while Sarah investigates the murder of DC intern/Jewish person Chandra Levy. Politicians be crushin' on Jewish interns, y'all! And slave masters be engagin' in some non-consens' nonsense with their property! Spoiler: None of this is romantic!!!
Jun 05 2017
1hr 15mins
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Rank #4: Chicken and Waffles and Pastrami Sandwiches
Lorraine and Sarah get their tastebuds learnt up! This episode brings you flavors stacked on flavors stacked on flavors that all come together in the perfect bite. (Side note: stay tuned for Perfect Bite, a new food truck concept.) Sarah enjoys baby's first trip to Canter's Deli, while Lorraine revisits Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles. (Spoiler alert: small portions and bad lighting. Sad!) Hey, did you know Moses ate bowtie pasta in the desert? You're welcome!
Mar 20 2017
36mins
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Rank #5: Richard Pryor and Gilda Radner
Lorraine and Sarah get their giggles learnt up! In this episode Lorraine and Sarah try to impress their fathers by digging deep into what makes them laugh. Lorraine tackles the legend of Richard Pryor while Sarah takes on the force known as Gilda Radner. Let them make you laugh while talking about things that make them laugh! Dig in and get LEARNT UP!
Mar 27 2017
39mins
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Rank #6: Hennessy & Kosher Wine
Lorraine and Sarah get learnt up on booze! Join the gals as they explore what Hennessy means to black Americans and why kosher wine is more than just Manischewitz -- and by "explore" we mean get pretty buzzed. Did you know cognac is made from grapes? Did you know certain kosher wine can't be handled by non-Jews? (Hands off, Chad.) If you like your podcasts like you like your men (unfiltered, uncut, and black and Jewish) this is the ep for you!
Oct 17 2017
56mins
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Rank #7: Extra Credit: Bloods/Crips pt. 2 and Orthodox Jews
Lorraine & Sarah keep the study party going by sharing stuff they learnt but never got to include in official Learnt Up curricula. Lorraine picks up where she left off on her Bloods/Crips dissertation, while Sarah dives into her independent study coursework on Orthodox Judaism. On this episode, both ladies reflect on what it must feel like to live and learn in insular, semi-cloistered communities.
Aug 01 2017
54mins
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Rank #8: Breaking the Glass and Jumping the Broom
Lorraine and Sarah get learnt up on traditions! Turns out, both black and Jewish peeps do some wacky shit at weddings. Sarah gets to the bottom of the whole "breaking the glass" thing, while Lorraine figures out what "jumping the broom" means. Plus, tune in for some tasty JewBoos and BlackBoos, and a miracle seltzer that doesn't make you fart!
Apr 04 2017
37mins
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Rank #9: This Is America!
Lorraine and Sarah take a break from their usual programming to discuss the much-buzzed-about This is America music video from Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover aka future EGOT 4 shore -- watch out Barbra Streisand. Lots to unpack in this vid: Black culture. Guns. Charleston. Jim Crow symbolism. Horses? Also, Sarah and Lorraine shout out their incredible moms in honor of Mother’s Day! If you like your eps short n sweet and relevant AF, you’re gonna dig this. “Don’t catch you slippin’ up!”
May 15 2018
31mins
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Rank #10: Blacks and Jews in LA!
In 1850, a census reported 8 Jews and 12 black people living in Los Angeles. The next year, thrown by the traffic and bad pizza, they all left. Just kidding, they stayed and built the city we know today! Join Lorraine and Sarah as they get learnt up on some of LA’s black and Jewish pioneers and their lasting contributions. Find out the origin story of Canter’s Deli, how Nat King Cole battled housing discrimination, and how a badass slave sued her master — and won.
Mar 27 2018
58mins
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Rank #11: Audre Lorde and Barbra Streisand
It's pride month and Lorraine and Sarah are getting learnt up on black and Jewish gay icons! Sarah discovers living legend Barbra Streisand aka Babs Bunny -- guess what, guys? Funny Girl is delightful AND one of two movies that are good despite being over 2 hours long. (The other is Titanic, duh.) This chick is the realest, and she never let the haters/the Hollywood machine change her face. The nose knows! Anyway, Lorraine schools everyone on black queer heavy-hitter Audre Lorde, the original Lorde!
Jun 12 2017
1hr 1min
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Rank #12: Sanford and Son & Mary Tyler Moore Show
Lorraine and Sarah get learnt up on sitcoms! Lorraine watches Sanford and Son, a groundbreaking show with a cantankerous black protagonist who pushed the limits of what you can say on TV. Sarah enjoys the Mary Tyler Moore Show for the first time. If you’re scratching your head, going “Wait, Mary Tyler Moore wasn’t Jewish,” congratulations! You know more than Sarah did when she (excitedly) pitched this topic. Dad is not proud.
Nov 21 2017
45mins
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Rank #13: Stereotypes
Lorraine and Sarah get learnt up on stereotypes! And by "learnt up" we mostly mean "nervous to talk about" (although Sarah wants everyone to know she *did* research the "Jews love money" stereotype, which is older than Shakespeare/whichever unsung dude wrote Merchant of Venice)! Anyway, Lorraine explains why she hates "black don't crack" and both gals secretly can't wait to be overbearing mothers with tons of snacks to share.
May 22 2017
50mins
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Rank #14: Bugsy Siegel and Mutulu Shakur
Lorraine and Sarah get learnt up on gangsters! Pew pew! Get ready for some organized notes on organized crime. 2Pac's stepdad Mutulu Shakur is a black nationalist revolutionary AND...bank robber?? Bugsy Siegel was a handsome Jewish mobster whose murder is still an open case, according to the "Beverly Hills Police Department" (a very fancy police department that solves very fancy crimes). Both badass dudes had accomplished way more at age 25 than Lorraine and Sarah may ever hope to!
Jun 27 2017
58mins
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Rank #15: Sharing the Shame with Ethnically Ambiguous Podcast
Lorraine and Sarah welcome two world news savvy guests, Shereen Younes and Anna Hossnieh, from Ethnically Ambiguous Podcast! Shereen and Anna keep it so so real as they get learnt up on The Rohingya Crisis that is currently unfolding in Myanmar - formerly Burma. The ladies discuss how much they hate oppression, love food and appreciate Steve Jobs’s Syrian identity! Subscribe to Ethnically Ambiguous podcast right now!
Nov 07 2017
48mins
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Rank #16: Eartha Kitt and Hedy Lamarr
Lorraine and Sarah get learnt up on black and Jewish SEX GODDESSES. Bow down, world. Eartha Kitt and Hedy Lamarr were more than just bodacious babes -- they also had big fat brains and controversial opinions that would change society FOREVER! Lorraine learns that Kitt went from being rejected and despised to adored many times in her life, just like Jesus. Meanwhile, Sarah tries to explain the technology Lamarr helped invent, but bleep bloop blop science is hard!
May 08 2017
1hr 2mins
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Rank #17: Allen Ginsberg and Langston Hughes
Lorraine and Sarah get learnt up on poetry! Sarah’s thoughts on Allen Ginsberg are just as cloudy and chaotic as Allen Ginsberg’s poems (sick burn!) and Lorraine feels threatened by Langston Hughes’ many accomplishments at such a young age. Put on your black turtlenecks, strap on those tiny hand castanets, spark up a “jazz cigarette,” and leave the squares at home, because this episode is for hep cats only.
Apr 24 2017
54mins
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Rank #18: Sharing the Shame with Dana Bell: Albert Einstein
Dear friend of the podcast, Dana Bell comes through to get learnt up on Albert Einstein’s life and many of his discoveries in math and science. Behind Einstein’s wild hair and crazy face, he kept a beautiful brain filled with complex thoughts on our universe. Dana tells us all about how - in addition to being a brilliant scientist - Einstein was also a leftist, socialist philosophy bro with anti-war sentiments as well as a deep love for his cousin-wife, Elsa.
Jun 05 2018
1hr 6mins
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Rank #19: Ralph Baer and Frederick McKinley Jones
Lorraine and Sarah get learnt up on inventors! Do you like playing video games and not eating rotten meat? Then you have a Jew Boo and a Black Boo to thank, respectively! Sarah discovers the only good thing that has ever happened at Port Authority, and Lorraine pays homage to the King of Chill (that prob wasn’t his nickname, but it could and SHOULD’ve been). And watch out, Mark Cuban, cuz the gals have some hot inventions of their own.
Oct 24 2017
37mins
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Rank #20: Invisible Man & Night
Lorraine and Sarah get learnt up on books! The Learnt Up hosts discuss Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Elie Wiesel's Night. If you're wondering how Sarah would react to surviving the Holocaust, this is the episode for you. If you want to hear Lorraine's answer to the question, "why do you need to be so black all the time?" (hint: "why do white people need to be so white all the time?"), you'll enjoy this listen. Watch out Oprah's book club! The Learnt Up book club has arrived!
Nov 28 2017
36mins
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