Rabbi, writer, teacher, and thinker, Mordecai M. Kaplan (1881–1983) was one of the leading Jewish personalities of twentieth-century America. Founder of the Reconstructionist movement, he was a maverick who reshaped religious faith and practice, generating controversy at every turn.

Join us with Jenna Weissman Joselit, author of the new biography Mordecai M. Kaplan: Restless Soul, as we explore the legacy of this influential and iconoclastic thinker and shed new light on the meaning of American Judaism, identity, the limits of belonging, and the role of faith in modern society.

Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) is widely considered one of the most creative cultural critics of the twentieth century.

Join us with Harvard University scholar Peter E. Gordon, author of the new biography Walter Benjamin: The Pearl Diver, as we look beyond the image of Benjamin as a tragic figure of German-Jewish history and explore his complex personality of unique and multifaceted gifts.

According to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), philosophy is a “battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.” This audacious idea changed the way many of its practitioners saw their subject.

Join us with Anthony Gottlieb, author of the new biography Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosophy in the Age of Airplanes, as we explore the life of one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century.

Music in this episode:

Symphony No.3 Poco Allegretto by Johannes Brahms