Matti Friedman in Conversation with Stephanie Butnick: Rethinking Jewish Identity, Beyond the West

Matti Friedman is an award-winning journalist and the author of five non-fiction books. His work has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Tablet, Smithsonian, and elsewhere, and he’s currently a columnist for the Free Press.

Matti’s most recent book is Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe was published in March 2026. His previous book Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai, was published in 2022 in the US, Canada, Israel, and Italy. His book, Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel, won the 2019 Natan Prize and the Canadian Jewish Book Award. Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier’s Story of a Forgotten War was chosen in 2016 as a New York Times Notable Book and one of Amazon’s 10 best books of the year. His first book, The Aleppo Codex, won the 2014 Sami Rohr Prize and the ALA’s Sophie Brody Medal. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Matti was born in Toronto and lives in Jerusalem.

Stephanie Butnick is the founder of GOLDA, the Jewish lifestyle guide, and the host of GOLDA Girls, the podcast for Jewish women with a lot to say. She’s a trusted voice on Jewish culture and identity, and also a recognizable one: Before launching GOLDA, she co-hosted Tablet’s hit podcast Unorthodox for nearly a decade. Stephanie is also the co-author of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia: From Abraham to Zabar’s and Everything in Between.