Uriel Weinreich’s First Yortsayt (1968)

Jun 6, 2016

This episode, originally broadcast on April 7, 1968, commemorates the first anniversary of linguist and lexicographer Uriel Weinreich's untimely death at a young age. Guest Dr. Mordkhe Shaechter talks about Weinreich’s impressive life accomplishments in education and scholarship, including the writing of College Yiddish and his founding participation in the Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry project.

Host Luba Condell ends the program with a pitch for YIVO’s upcoming annual conference.

From 1963-1976, YIVO had its own program on WEVD, the radio station established by the Socialist Party of America in 1927 (its call letters stand for the initials of American socialist leader Eugene V. Debs), which was purchased by the Jewish Daily Forward in 1932 and became a major venue from Yiddish programming. 

YIVO used its spot on WEVD for Yiddish-language interviews and discussions with leading New York Yiddish cultural figures, as well as for reporting on its own scholarly and cultural work.

A new podcast of this program in the order in which it was originally broadcast will be posted here every two weeks.

Series curated by Matt Temkin, YIVO Sound Archives.

Listen to the program

[This program is in Yiddish.]