About Jew Oughta Know
“I want to learn about Jewish history but don’t know where to start…”
Start here! Jew Oughta Know is a thoroughly researched podcast with well-crafted storylines and a fair treatment of history. It has thousands of listeners all over the world and over 500,000 downloads to date. This is the story of Jewish and Israeli history — from the ancient past to medieval philosophy to the triumphs and challenges of modern Israel — in episodes of about 25 minutes each.
This Substack supplements the podcast with timely newsletters of written content, including episode transcripts, short articles, and material not included in the podcast episodes.
Jew Oughta Know pushes against the conception of Jewish history as one long tale of persecution and sorrow. It’s instead an incredible intellectual journey and swashbuckling adventure. Lost relics, daring hostage rescues, divine miracles, brilliant philosophers, deep wisdom, great cities, larger-than-life personalities, and world-changing ideas are all part of one of the oldest civilizations on earth. Dive in!
Why Jew Oughta Know?
Jason Harris spent six years leading 545 young Jews (ages 18-26) on fourteen Brithright Israel trips. By the end of each trip, there were more questions than there was time to answer them. He kept track of the questions, determined to find a way to stay connected with his participants to fill in those gaps. Many more people told Jason they wanted to learn about Jewish history but didn’t know where to start.
The Jew Oughta Know podcast was born.
Every episode is Jason’s attempt to tell a story that he thinks people really ought to know.
But there is also a deeper purpose to Jew Oughta Know. Too many of Jason’s Israel trip participants admitted that they didn’t feel they could fully participate in Jewish life without grasping the basic knowledge around Jewish history, narrative, and especially modern Israel. Jews and non-Jews alike tell him they want to understand why history speaks so loudly to the Jewish people, why Israel is so important to the Jews, and how the past informs what we read in the news today.
A lack of knowledge shouldn't be a barrier to developing a meaningful connection to Judaism. Jew Oughta Know is here to help you begin or continue the lifelong journey that is Jewish learning. This isn’t THE history, and as many topics as are covered in a given episode, there are others not fully addressed. The perspective shared here is Jason’s — there are innumerable other valuable voices out there, too. But to the extent that this podcast and its accompanying website help you find the knowledge you’re looking for in a way that strikes you as impactful, meaningful, fascinating, and fun, then it has served its purpose. Enjoy!
About Jason Harris
Jason Harris is a Jewish educator and former politico with a passion for teaching Jewish and Israeli history.
He is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, with a B.A. in International Relations, and the Hornstein Program for Jewish Professional Leadership at Brandeis University, with master’s degrees in Near Eastern & Judaic Studies and Jewish Communal Service. He also holds a teaching credential for high school social studies.
Jason spent seven years on Capitol Hill as a senior congressional staffer to a U.S. Member of Congress. He specialized in speechwriting, drafting legislation, and advising on national and foreign affairs. He traveled the world in that official capacity and once got to meet Beyonce, which was really cool.
Eventually Jason decided it would be more rewarding to lead Birthright Israel trips, where sleeping is rare and falafel is plentiful. A Bay Area native, he plays guitar decently, sings terribly, stand up paddleboards frequently, loves Pearl Jam fervently, travels habitually, and keeps up on Israel and Jewish history incessantly.
