March Madness is at a fever pitch, and baseball season has just begun. We couldn't think of a better time to talk about the many contributions of Jewish folks to all levels of sports. Crack open your peanuts and Cracker Jacks and join us for this conversation with the legendary Alan Stein, founder of the Lexington Legends Minor League baseball team.

A couple episodes ago we explored Lexington's Jewish history, and now it's Louisville's turn! Join us for a deep dive with historian and museum consultant Carol Ely, author of "Jewish Louisville: Portrait of a Community." And later in the episode, the delightful Bob and Margie Kohn reminisce about growing up here, and Margie shares her family's multi-generational story of being Jewish in Kentucky... guaranteed to feel like a warm hug from your grandparents.

This month we're kibitzing with Dr. Raphael Finkel, a Yiddish scholar and educator who taught for almost 40 years at the University of Kentucky. We talk about the links between identity and language — Hebrew, Yiddish, English, and more — and the many fascinating ways they overlap for Jews in the United States.

This month on the Schmooze, Ohavay Zion legend Mike Ades takes us on a deep dive into the history of Jews in Lexington, and how Jewish life changed and evolved along with the city itself. And Janice Crane paints Rabbi Shani a vivid picture of what it was like to grow up here and how special the community has always been. Plus, big BIG news from Rabbi Ben. Don't miss it!

Going away to college is an exciting and sometimes scary time, especially for Jewish students at schools where there aren't large Jewish populations. This month, we reminisce about our own formative years in school. And we kibitz with Justin Sadle from the university of Kentucky about the value of helping Jewish students find and build community on campus.

We’re nearing the finish line of an unpredictable election season in the United States, so this month, we’re talking about the importance of civic engagement, and why Jews are called to live out our values by participating fully and enthusiastically in democracy. Our guest, Kentucky State Senator Dr. Karen Berg, says her political work is bolstered by a famous quote from Rabbi Hillel the Elder, a Jewish leader from the first century BCE: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” November is also Transgender Awareness Month, and Dr. Berg shares memories of her son Henry, and what she learned from him. “He was willing to share himself and his identity because he thought it would help create a better world,” she says. She also reminisces about growing up Jewish in Louisville, describes what it’s like to have your baby teeth used in art, and pushes back very passionately against one of our lightning round questions! We hope you get as much from this conversation as much as we did… and we hope you vote! (To see a picture of Dr. Harold Berg's mosaic in Keneseth Israel, visit our instagram @bluegrassschmooze)

There are foods everyone thinks of as Jewish — matzo ball soup, bagels and lox, you get the idea — but there's no one way to define Jewish food. Our guest this month, food historian Avery Robinson, says that because Jews have lived all over the world, "we are culinary chameleons." After Avery gives us some historical and cultural context, we zoom into the bluegrass state, and talk with chefs Sasha Chack and Amy Messer about creating Jewish cuisine with a Kentucky flair.

This is it, folks: the last episode in our first season! And it’s a pretty special one. The tables have turned, and our spouses, Ariane Barrie-Stern and Joseph Eskin, are interviewing US, in a conversation we had live at Ohavay Zion Synagogue in Lexington. We laughed, we almost cried, and Joseph broke some very big personal news… about Ben and Ariane. We can’t wait for you to hear it. But first we’ll talk about the month of Elul. Before we get caught up in the High Holidays, Elul reminds us to be strong and courageous, and ready ourselves to turn towards G-d. We’ll cover it all as we say goodbye to season one and turn towards season two!

This month on The Bluegrass Schmooze, we learn about Tu B’av, the Jewish day of love. And we’ll kibitz with Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky, a Kentuckian who moved away to lead a synagogue in New York City. Stick around for the end of this episode, when we share a big announcement about the future of our show!

Tikkun olam. It's a Hebrew phrase that means "repairing the world." And our guests on this episode say it's the principle that compelled them to sue the Commonwealth of Kentucky over its near-total abortion ban. We'll talk about that lawsuit, and how the law affects people trying to become parents through IVF. And we'll learn about the month of Tamuz, a rather sleepy month that hits just when the summer heat has us feeling ready for a nap.

We’ve been counting up to it for seven weeks, and it’s finally here: Shavuot, in the month of Sivan! On Shavuot, we celebrate receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai after a long journey through the desert. We’ll learn all about it this episode. And we’ll meet some Kentuckians who had revelations of their own. Hal Forbess and Ken Shuck are both Jews by choice, and they share their journeys with us, and with you.

When Ira Glass created "This American Life" in 1995, he wanted to expand on traditional news reporting and tell stories in new ways. Same thing in 2014, when he and members of his production team brought "Serial" to life and changed the podcasting world. But while he's known for innovation, he traces his own storytelling roots to older influences he experienced growing up in a Jewish community in the 1960s and '70s. Ira joined us for a conversation ahead of his appearance in Louisville on June 1. Find show details at LPM.org/ira

We talk a lot on our show about old times. Like, reeeally old times, from many thousands of years ago. But this month, Iyyar, we explore three holidays that commemorate more recent moments in Jewish history: Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Israel’s Independence Day, and Yom HaShoa, Holocaust Remembrance Day. And we kibitz with three Kentuckians who help educators teach about the Holocaust in ways that are ethical and engaging: —Janice Fernheimer is Zantker Charitable Foundation Professor of Jewish Studies, Professor of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies, and James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits Faculty Fellow at the University of Kentucky, and co-director of the University of Kentucky Jewish Heritage Fund Holocaust Education Initiative. —Karen Petrone is Professor of History and co-director of the UK-JHF Holocaust Initiative and a specialist in Russian and Soviet History. —Alice Goldstein has published widely on demographic studies focusing on population mobility in reaction to modernization, and on contemporary American Jewry. Alice is the author of Ordinary People, Turbulent Times, in which she tells the story of her own family’s resilience and escape from Nazi Germany. If you’re a middle or high school teacher in Kentucky, you can learn more about the University of Kentucky Jewish Heritage Fund Holocaust Education Initiative and sign up to participate at holocausteducation.uky.edu.

Animator and theatre creator Yehuda Husband shares his journey to Judaism, and how his intersecting identities shape him as an artist and father.

On this episode, we learn the story of Purim & kibitz with "The Bourbon Rabbi," Chaim Litvin.

Two rabbis and a comedian walk into a bar... ok, we're still workshopping the punchline. But this month we're kibitzing with Jewish comedian Ariel Elias! Ariel lives in New York City, she’s been on Jimmy Kimmel Live and featured in Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, and Good Morning America… and she grew up right here in Kentucky. And we’ll talk about the month of Adar Rishon, or, Adar One. This year there are two of 'em, because it's a leap year — a phenomenon that happens seven out of every 19 years. We'll explain it all in This Month in Judaism, and we won't make you do any math.

This month in Judaism, Tu BiShvat reminds us to be thankful for the natural world, and hold onto hope for springtime. And we meet Leon Wahba and Captain Promotable Jordan Disney. Both served at Ft. Knox — Leon in the 1960s and Jordan, currently. They kibitz about Army life, whether the kosher meals are edible, and how being Jewish impacts military service... and we ask them where the gold is.

This month, we’re breaking down kashrut, or kosher — the dietary laws governing what Jewish people do and don’t eat. They cover both the food itself, how it can be combined, and how meat should be prepared (animals must be slaughtered a certain way to minimize their pain). And we’ll kibitz with Top Chef Sara Bradley, who’s running a restaurant and raising a family in Paducah, KY, where the Jewish community is much smaller there than it used to be. We’ll learn what changed, and also how to make the perfect brisket. Grab a snack before pushing play; this episode will make you hungry!

Why were so many classic Christmas songs created by Jewish songwriters?

And we kibitz with University of Kentucky President Dr. Eli Capiluto about education and the power of knowledge.