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Podcast: New Books in Biography & Memoir
Episode: Aaron W. Hughes, "Jacob Neusner: An American Jewish Iconoclast" (NYU Press, 2016)
Description: Jacob Neusner (born 1932) is one of the most important figures in the shaping of modern American Judaism. He was pivotal in transforming the study of Judaism from an insular project only conducted by--and of interest to--religious adherents to one which now flourishes in the secular setting of the university. He is also one of the most colorful, creative, and difficult figures in the American academy. But even those who disagree with Neusner's academic approach to ancient rabbinic texts have to engage with his pioneering methods.In Jacob Neusner: An American Jewish Iconoclast (NYU Press, 2016), Aaron Hughes shows Ne...