Noshing With Zeke Levine – June 9, 2022

Musician, Doctoral Candidate, and Translator from Yiddish of a book length collection of stories by the radical Yiddish humorist Sam Liptzin

This week, Ira spoke with Zeke Levine, musician, doctoral candidate, and translator from Yiddish of a book-length collection of stories by the radical Yiddish humorist Sam Liptzin (these translations of Liptzin's work will be available through Farlag Press in 2023). In this farveylerishe episode of Ira’s Everything Bagel, Zeke talks about how he went down the Yiddish rabbit hole at a young age; why he his writing his dissertation about the intersection of Yiddish folk music and American folk music; how he discovered the “radical humorist” Sam Liptzin at the Yiddish Book Center; why he was amazed at the sheer volume of Liptzin’s work; and how the prolific author’s humor is timeless.

Zeke Levine is a doctoral candidate in historical musicology at NYU, where his research focuses on the relationship between Yiddish folk music and the American folk revival. He also researches popular music of the 1950s and '60s, having written about Elvis Presley as well as the Grateful Dead. Zeke is also a musician, and in 2021 released a four-track EP called "Home Row," which is available for streaming.