What if Being a Stranger Is Actually Your Superpower? | Better in Person
Angela Buchdahl was the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi, and now she is among the most influential rabbis in the world. She and Stephen Dubner talk about boundary-crossing, the aftermath of October 7, and whether you can be a good Jew without believing in God.
If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.
- Duration
- 34m
- Broadcast on
- 11 Aug 2026
- Audio Format
- other
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Angela Buchdahl was the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi, and now she is among the most influential rabbis in the world. She and Stephen Dubner talk about boundary-crossing, the aftermath of October 7, and whether you can be a good Jew without believing in God.
If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.
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This episode of Better in Person is presented by Chat GPT. Put Chat GPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Download the new Chat GPT Desktop app today. Hey there, it's Stephen W. The bonus episode you are about to hear is an interview with Angela Bookdoll, who is one of the most unusual and interesting rabbis you are likely to meet. This interview comes from a new video talk show we're making called Better in Person. You can watch it on the Freakonomics YouTube channel or on Apple Podcasts. But we also like to put out this audio version in case your eyes are busy and you only want to use your ears. As always, thanks for listening. Let's just pretend we're friends having a conversation. Great. And maybe by the end we will be friends. Yeah. You never know. I'm open to the possibility. Thank you. Absolutely. [MUSIC] This is Better in Person with Stephen Doppner and Angela Bookdoll. If you are a faith leader of any kind, being open to possibility is part of the job description. Angela Bookdoll has taken that openness a bit further and it has brought her much more attention than most faith leaders will ever receive. Here she is as a clue on jeopardy. Korea born Angela Bookdoll is the first Asian American to be ordained a cantor as well as this leader of a Jewish congregation. Ben. What is Rabbi? You got it. Bookdoll is a central synagogue in New York City. Her services are streamed globally and after the October 7th attacks in Israel, she got a lot of attention for rejecting a binary way of thinking about the crisis. And now Bookdoll is a New York Times best-selling author. Her memoir is called Heart of a Stranger. An unlikely Rabbi's story of faith, identity, and belonging. So I really love your book. I think it's- I appreciate that. Thank you. It's really well written. I mean, I know that it began as sort of one book and became a different one over time. Took a long time, right? Four or five years, I guess. It took me four years to write it because it's hard to find time to write in my day job. It's also very concise. So for people who haven't read it, you tell the story of your life, which is a really amazing story in really short chapters, which I appreciate because, you know? Our attention spans are short. Yeah. And you've become- I mean, I think it's probably not an exaggeration to say you're the most
Transcription truncated.
Angela Buchdahl was the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi, and now she is among the most influential rabbis in the world. She and Stephen Dubner talk about boundary-crossing, the aftermath of October 7, and whether you can be a good Jew without believing in God.
If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.