Ira’s Everything Bagel | US Arts and Culture Podcasts

This week on “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Ira sits down with Simon Rogers, author of "What We Ask Google: A Surprisingly Hopeful History of Humankind," for a fascinating and unexpectedly uplifting conversation about the stories hidden inside the world’s largest dataset—our searches.
Simon shares how Google Trends became a powerful lens into human behavior, capturing everything from life’s smallest moments (“how to boil an egg”) to our deepest emotions around grief, parenting, and connection. What began as a personal exploration—sparked by the loss of his mother—evolved into a groundbreaking narrative that blends data, storytelling, and humanity.
Along the way, Simon discusses his unlikely journey from someone who once disliked math to becoming a pioneer in data journalism, how he learned to tell compelling stories through numbers, and why our collective search habits reveal far more commonality than division.
This episode explores:
How our everyday questions reflect shared human experiences
Why data can tell emotional, deeply personal stories
The emerging “science” of understanding humanity through search
How technology—and even AI—shapes the way we think and learn
Insightful, thought-provoking, and surprisingly hopeful, this conversation will change the way you think about every search you make.
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A FAMILY’S DARK LEGACY—AND THE COURAGE TO TELL IT

This week on “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Ira sits down with New York Times bestselling author Phyllis Karas to explore the powerful and deeply personal story behind her book, "Curse of the Blumenthals."
Wearing the title “cousin” as a badge of honor, Phyllis shares why she felt compelled—after years of waiting—to finally confront her family’s past. What began as a personal journey evolved into a four-year investigation involving genealogists, librarians, family letters, and long-buried photographs.
At the heart of the story are two defining events—an accident and a murder—that cast a long shadow over generations of the Blumenthal family. Phyllis discusses the emotional weight of revisiting painful memories, including visiting a cousin in prison as a child, and the difficult choices she faced in deciding what to include in the book.
Blending her journalistic instincts with intimate family knowledge, Phyllis peels back layers of secrecy to reveal how trauma shaped the lives of fifteen cousins—and how understanding the past may offer a path toward healing.
This is a conversation about truth, legacy, and the courage it takes to face “the elephant in the room”—because every family has a story… and some stories demand to be told.

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BRETT HELLINGS TAKES A “CHANCE ON LOVE” — AND TEAMS UP WITH ROCK LEGENDS

Singer-songwriter Brett Hellings joins Ira for a lively and insightful conversation about music, creativity, and the power of taking risks.
In this episode of “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Brett discusses why he chose to remain an independent artist and why the freedom of the indie path has been such an incredible experience for him. He shares how technology has empowered artists to create and release music on their own terms—and why he encourages fellow musicians to “go find yourself” creatively.
The conversation also dives into Brett’s energetic party anthem “Here to Have a Good Time,” which gained attention on the syndicated radio show hosted by rock legend Alice Cooper, and how a surprising collaboration helped shape his latest work.
Brett’s new single “Chance on Love” features an extraordinary lineup of musicians, including guitarist Richard Fortus of Guns N' Roses, bassist Darryl Jones of The Rolling Stones, legendary drummer and bassist Charley Drayton, and acclaimed multi-instrumentalist Carey Frank.
The result is a soulful power ballad about love, connection, and the life-changing possibilities that come when we take a chance on someone else—and ourselves.
Along the way, Brett reflects on why he still isn’t jaded after decades in the music business, how gratitude shapes his outlook, and how fatherhood helps him slow down and appreciate the creative process. For Brett, songwriting is a lifelong calling—one where the goal is simple: don’t let the ego get in the way of the music.
Photo by Michael Halsband
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FROM REFUGEE LETTERS TO A POWERFUL FAMILY STORY

A box of forgotten letters. A family history waiting decades to be uncovered.

This week on “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Ira sits down with Charlie Scheidt, co-author (with Kat Rohrer) of "Inheritance: Love, Loss, and the Legacy of the Holocaust, "for a deeply personal conversation about family memory, trauma, and the responsibility of telling difficult stories.
Charlie recounts the moment in 1988 when his mother revealed the existence of a trove of family papers and letters written by relatives fleeing Nazi persecution during the the Holocaust. For decades, the documents sat largely untouched as he grappled with their emo-tional weight.
Everything changed during a 2009 trip to Frankfurt, when Charlie realized the time had come to confront the past—not only for his own family, but for future generations.
In this episode, Charlie discusses:
The powerful first-person letters written by refugees escaping Nazi Europe
Why many survivor families avoided talking about the past
His surprising collaboration with filmmaker Kat Rohrer—whose grandfather had been a committed Nazi
Their research trips beginning in 2016 to uncover missing pieces of family history
The emotional challenges of confronting generational trauma
How different branches of his family coped with exile and identity
The reactions of relatives when he began writing the book
And what he hopes readers will ultimately take away from these stories
Charlie also reflects on growing up in a tight-knit German-Jewish refugee community in New York and leading Roland Foods—the company founded by his parents—for nearly five decades before dedicating his time to supporting refugee advocacy and humanitarian causes.
This is a moving conversation about memory, resilience, and why preserving personal histories matters now more than ever.
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