Best Antica Productions Podcasts (2025)

1
Bonus Episode: Composing 16 Sunsets with Bleeding Fingers 58:07

2d ago58:07

58:07

In this special bonus episode of 16 Sunsets, host Kevin Fong talks to composers Christian Lundberg and Russell Emmanuel, of Hans Zimmer's renowned Bleeding Fingers Composers Collective about the creation and evolution of the compelling suite of themes that underscore the 16 Sunsets series. They discuss how they approached the challenge of capturing…

1
Best of Exile: Jackie Gerlich - The Road From Vienna to Oz 32:42

3d ago32:42

32:42

As we prepare our fifth season of Exile, we’re looking back at our favorite episodes from seasons 1-4. Each re-release brings back a unique, fascinating, and often heart-wrenching story from the Leo Baeck Institute Archives. Leo Fuks is a born performer. So when, in 1936, a vaudeville impresario shows up to recruit him, 10-year-old Leo is more than…

1
Best of Exile: Before Dr. Ruth 45:06

11d ago45:06

45:06

As we prepare our fifth season of Exile, we’re looking back at our favorite episodes from seasons 1-4. Each re-release brings back a unique, fascinating, and often heart-wrenching story from the Leo Baeck Institute Archives. Known for her candid talk and blunt advice about sex, Dr. Ruth Westheimer is the world’s most renowned psychosexual therapist…

1
Bonus Episode: Rob Kelso - Inside the Cathedral of Mission Control 47:50

17d ago47:50

47:50

In this bonus episode of 16Sunsets, we present the interview performed Kevin Fong and Andrew Luck-Baker with former NASA flight director Rob Kelso—a man whose career spans the whole of the Space Shuttle era and whose stories offer a rare glimpse behind the consoles of Mission Control. From the first flight of Columbia to the secret world of classif…

1
Best of Exile: Love in the Time of Fascism 36:49

19d ago36:49

36:49

As we prepare our fifth season of Exile, we’re looking back at our favorite episodes from seasons 1-4. Each re-release brings back a unique, fascinating, and often heart-wrenching story from the Leo Baeck Institute Archives. In Nazi-occupied Austria, a young man named Kurt Kleinmann comes up with a plan to escape: write to Americans - strangers - w…

1
Best of Exile: Summer in Caputh 31:59

26d ago31:59

31:59

As we prepare our fifth season of Exile, we’re looking back at our favorite episodes from seasons 1-4. Each re-release brings back a unique, fascinating, and often heart-wrenching story from the Leo Baeck Institute Archives. At the height of his fame, a shirtless, barefooted Albert Einstein escapes the bustle of Berlin for a simpler life. The best …

1
Columbia Returns 57:38

1M ago57:38

57:38

April 12th 1981. Bob Crippen and John Young are in orbit around the Earth. Travelling at 17,500 miles an hour, with the world turning majestically beneath them, they witness 16 sunrises and sixteen sunsets every 24 hours. They have survived the violence of launch but the mission has run into a potential life-threatening problem. Crippen has just be…

1
Best of Exile: Librarian Turned Spy 40:41

1M ago40:41

40:41

As we prepare our fifth season of Exile, we’re looking back at our favorite episodes from seasons 1-4. Each re-release brings back a unique, fascinating, and often heart-wrenching story from the Leo Baeck Institute Archives. A young, Jewish librarian in New York named Florence Mendheim risks her life to spy on the growing Nazi movement in America. …

1
Columbia Rising 46:49

1M ago46:49

46:49

April 12 1981. STS-1. Space Shuttle Columbia now stands proud on pad 39A at Cape Canaveral. After more than a decade of development, planning and assembly, NASA approaches its moment of truth. The most complex flying machine ever built, two and half million moving parts, hundreds of mission critical components with no back up, brought together in a…

1
Bonus Episode: Terry White – Tile by Tile – Protecting The Shuttle 40:27

2M ago40:27

40:27

As we get nearer to STS-1 and that first all-up test of Space Shuttle Columbia, we wanted to take a look at one of the technical challenges that caused that first launch to slip back from 1979 to 1981: the thermal protection system that kept the extreme temperatures of launch, life in orbit, and re-entry from damaging the spacecraft and putting the…

1
Episode 24: Breaking Atoms, Breaking Barriers 38:38

2M ago38:38

38:38

At the dawn of the 1930s, Germany is a physics powerhouse, where great minds like Albert Einstein and Max Planck have revolutionized the scientific landscape. But a talented young physicist named Trude Goldhaber struggles to make her voice heard in a male-dominated field. Trude perseveres, despite the pressures of antisemitism and misogyny all arou…

1
Episode 23: Song of Resistance 33:03

2M ago33:03

33:03

For Karl Adler, there is nothing more powerful than music. While recovering from an injury sustained as a soldier in World War I, Karl pursues his goal of changing the way music is taught in Germany. And for a while, he’s successful – until a former student (and member of Hitler’s Brownshirts) falsely reports him for sexual harassment. Forced to st…

1
Abort, Abort, Abort! 1:02:55

2M ago1:02:55

1:02:55

The command ‘Abort RTLS’ was the last thing that astronauts on board the space shuttle wanted to hear from mission control. It meant that one or two of the shuttle’s main engines had failed in the first couple of minutes after lift-off and that the crew’s only hope of a safe landing was a blood-curdling manoeuvre at super-sonic speeds. The Return t…

1
Episode 22: Simson & Co: A Family Forged in Steel 29:43

2M ago29:43

29:43

The Simson family business has been manufacturing everything from firearms to vehicles for decades. But when the Nazis take over, they’re not happy to learn that a Jewish family is supplying weapons to the German army. After a new law forces the Simsons to relinquish their company to the Nazis, the family flees to the United States. Fifty years lat…

1
Episode 21: The Heiress Who Helped End School Segregation 35:10

3M ago35:10

35:10

Hilde Mosse comes from one of the wealthiest families in Berlin and stands to inherit an enormous fortune. But she longs for something more meaningful than the luxurious lifestyle her family provides. So Hilde decides to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. As the Nazis take power in Germany and the Mosse family is forced to flee, Dr. Hilde Mosse…

1
Anatomy of a Firecracker 1:01:50

3M ago1:01:50

1:01:50

Getting the 100 tonne space shuttle orbiter from the pad to orbit demanded a launch system like no other before it. A huge external fuel tank containing hundreds of tonnes of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fed the orbiter’s three powerful main engines. But that wasn’t enough to lift the fully fuelled shuttle off the launch pad. Two towering boos…

1
Episode 20: From Cradle to Grave 31:19

3M ago31:19

31:19

Jacob Jacobson dedicates his life to archiving the history of Jews in Germany. For years, nobody pays much attention—until the Nazis take power. Suddenly, Jacobson’s meticulous research is being used to destroy the people whose history he wanted to preserve. Unwittingly, Jacobson has also become an invaluable asset to the Nazis. Can he protect hims…

1
Episode 19: Core Strength: The Story of a Pilates Icon 41:17

3M ago41:17

41:17

Carola’s dream is to be a dancer. In 1935, she moves from Germany to Paris to pursue a career on stage. But as a young, Jewish performer, Carola struggles with a lack of fulfilling work, dwindling funds, and a rising tide of antisemitism. Carola’s strong will carries her through the perils of Nazi-occupied France, losing the love of her life, and t…

1
Bonnie Dunbar: Orbit By Design 39:16

3M ago39:16

39:16

Before we get back on the road to the historic launch of STS-1, we have another special episode to share with you. This time an interview recorded by Kevin Fong and Andrew Luck-Baker with former mission specialist astronaut Bonnie Dunbar while they were touring the U.S. gathering material for this podcast. She’s now a professor of aerospace enginee…

1
Charlie Bolden: Cold War Warrior 27:27

4M ago27:27

27:27

For this holiday special episode, we’re bringing you something different - a conversation that captures a remarkable moment in space history, told by the incomparable Major General Charles F. Bolden Jr. Charlie, as he's known to his friends, carved a path from the Marine Corps to the stars, becoming not just a fighter pilot and astronaut, but one o…

1
New Frontiers 55:31

4M ago55:31

55:31

Now that the Space Shuttle Enterprise has successfully flown over the Mojave Desert, NASA needs to press ahead. Next stop is low Earth Orbit but first, this new star ship needs a crew. No longer the preserve of white male military pilots, the next generation of astronauts would need to have a variety of different skills and expertise. They would al…

1
Enterprise! 58:06

5M ago58:06

58:06

12 August 1977. In the air, high above the Mojave desert, Apollo 13’s Fred Haise is at the controls of the Space Shuttle prototype. Alongside him is Gordon Fullerton. Cruising at 27 thousand feet, the vehicle is bolted to the back of a Boeing 747. It is the mother of all piggy-back rides. But this 68-tonne spacecraft is about to get its wings, as t…

1
Secret War 41:31

5M ago41:31

41:31

A space shuttle stands on the pad, seething in the darkness, ready to go. Its mission is high speed espionage. Launching into the night sky, it heads north toward the pole, lining up over the Soviet Union. This is no science mission, but part of a highly classified military plan, which sees the Shuttle become an instrument of the Cold War. That req…

1
The Dreamers 39:09

6M ago39:09

39:09

It’s 1968 and humanity reaches the Moon, but back on Earth, NASA is fighting for its life. As Apollo 8 makes history, the space agency faces a crisis. With the Vietnam War raging, political assassinations and social unrest gripping America, public interest in space exploration is dwindling, even before Neil Armstrong takes that one giant leap for m…

1
16 Sunsets is on the Launchpad! 21:30

6M ago21:30

21:30

Buckle up for 16 Sunsets! 🚀 Join host Dr. Kevin Fong and executive producer Rami Tzabar in this pre-launch episode as they share the story behind this new podcast exploring the origin and history of the Space Shuttle, culminating in the daring first mission of Columbia in April 1981. Discover how this ambitious project took flight, who's along for …

1
Introducing 16 Sunsets 0:31

7M ago0:31

0:31

Get ready for "16 Sunsets," a thrilling 10-part podcast series that dives deep into the dramatic history of NASA's Space Shuttle program. Join award-winning storyteller Kevin Fong as he takes you on a journey from the audacious first flight of the Shuttle Columbia in 1981 to the incredible challenges faced by its engineers and astronauts. Featuring…

1
Episode 18: The Heroes of Neu Isenburg - A Sanctuary Under Siege 32:25

8M ago32:25

32:25

For years, Emma Haas and Helene Krämer have been the dedicated stewards of the Neu Isenburg Home, a sanctuary for orphaned Jewish children and vulnerable women. When the devastating events of Kristallnacht leave the home in ruins, Emma and Helene must find a way to protect the people in their care—and to escape the looming Nazi threat themselves. L…

1
Episode 17: "Hopefully It’s Not Too Late By Then" 37:14

9M ago37:14

37:14

Robert Bachrach is a buttoned-up doctor and dedicated researcher. Leo Hochner is a bon-vivant and art connoisseur who breeds small dogs. Both bachelors, they are part of a close network of friends from Vienna who are scattered across the globe after the Nazis take power in Austria. When Robert takes his life in New York after a humiliating arrest u…

1
Episode 16: The Artist Who Made Beauty Out of Destruction 34:47

9M ago34:47

34:47

To Samson Schames, art is everything. When fleeing the Nazis lands him in an English internment camp for enemy aliens, he doesn’t let the squalid conditions curb his creativity—in fact, he thrives. Using the debris of destruction as material for his work, Samson cultivates an artistic vision that captures the horrors of war unlike any other. Learn …

1
Episode 15: The Model Ghetto 41:22

9M ago41:22

41:22

In 1943, 13-year-old Zuzana Justman and her family are sent to Theresienstadt, a transit camp and ghetto in occupied Czechoslovakia. While the Nazis claim Theresienstadt was a model ghetto with a thriving cultural life, Zuzana and her family face starvation, illness, and fear of the mysterious transports that take her loved ones away, never to retu…

1
Episode 14: Jackie Gerlich - The Road From Vienna to Oz 32:42

9M ago32:42

32:42

Leo Fuks is a born performer. So when, in 1936, a vaudeville impresario shows up to recruit him, 10-year-old Leo is more than happy to join his troupe, and his parents reluctantly agree. As Leo, now known as Jackie Gerlich, travels the world and dips his toes into Hollywood, his family is left behind to grapple with the terror of rising antisemitis…

1
Episode 13: Lily Renee's Glamorous Revenge 37:04

9M ago37:04

37:04

Exiled from her comfortable life in Vienna and left to fend for herself on the Kindertransport, Lily Renee Wilhelm has no idea what her future holds. She ends up in New York and, on a whim, applies to a comic book illustration job. She endures rampant sexism in the boys’ club atmosphere of the comics industry, but soon makes a name for herself as t…

1
LBI Presents - Episode 10: A 16th Century Flame War 24:13

1y ago24:13

24:13

In the Holy Roman Empire in the early 1500s, there was a campaign to burn all Jewish books. A legal scholar named Johannes Reuchlin wrote a pamphlet called Augenspiegel that convinced the powers-that-be that these texts had historical and scholarly value. Historian and author Erika Rummel joins Mark to tell this remarkable tale, which features ever…

1
LBI Presents - Episode 9: Food as Power 28:25

1y ago28:25

28:25

You may have heard of the transit camp Theresienstadt as a place of hope and resilience throughout the Holocaust. But the music, art, and recipes found in the Czech ghetto after the war only tell one part of the story. Today, historian Anna Hájková, author of The Last Ghetto: An Everyday History of Theresienstadt, joins Mark to discuss the complexi…

1
LBI Presents - Episode 8: Propaganda for Breakfast 31:31

1y ago31:31

31:31

In 1933, Joseph Goebbels said that the Nazis could never have taken power without the radio. Heidi Tworek is a professor of history at the University of British Columbia and author of News From Germany: The Competition to Control World Communications, 1900-1945. On this episode, she joins Mark to tell the incredible story of how the Nazis broadcast…

1
LBI Presents - Episode 7: Life Doesn’t Last, Art Doesn’t Last 28:03

1+ y ago28:03

28:03

In the 1960s, artist Eva Hesse found herself at the center of the iconic New York contemporary art scene. A Jewish refugee who escaped Austria on the Kindertransport as a toddler, Hesse went on to become an icon of post minimalist art. Elisabeth Sussman is a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She’s written and edited books about Hesse, …

1
LBI Presents - Episode 6: Ghosts of Your Family Past 26:47

1+ y ago26:47

26:47

On this episode, we bring you two stories of people who unexpectedly unearthed their personal histories with the help of LBI and its archive. Danny Shot, a poet from the Bronx, stumbled across a familiar face at an LBI exhibit—and discovered the double life of a mysterious relative. And Elliot Aronstam, a Brooklyn native, found himself literally bu…

1
LBI Presents - Episode 5: Fact, Fiction, and Finding Yourself 29:48

1+ y ago29:48

29:48

The archive and library at LBI contains over 2000 memoirs. On this episode, Mark and literary critic Ruth Franklin, author of A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction, discuss the line between fact and fiction in memoir writing and the evolution of Holocaust memoirs from first hand accounts to books written by second and third gen…

1
LBI Presents - Episode 4: The Art of Exile 21:41

1+ y ago21:41

21:41

Among the hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees who flooded out of Nazi Germany were countless artists, writers, and musicians. Alexis Rodda, an opera singer and music researcher, has devoted her career to studying just one of them: a composer named Egon Lustgarten. Today, Alexis and Mark discuss how exile impacted Lustgarten’s music—and how sta…

1
LBI Presents - Episode 3: History in a Box 20:14

1+ y ago20:14

20:14

The archive at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York is a real treasure trove. You’ll find everything from Albert Einstein’s childhood hot chocolate cups to amulets meant to protect you from demons. In this episode, Mark talks to Markus Krah, LBI’s Executive Director, on why preserving and showcases these amazing artifacts is more important than ever. …

1
LBI Presents - Episode 2: Where To From Here? 35:29

1+ y ago35:29

35:29

Many Jews scrambled to leave 1930s Germany and Austria, and ended up all over the world. Mark and historian Hasia Diner dive into the complexities of immigration during one of the most tumultuous moments of the 20th century - highlighting less discussed destinations like Shanghai, the Dominican Republic, and Kenya. LBI Presents is a production of t…

1
LBI Presents - Episode 1: Archives of Love 27:46

1+ y ago27:46

27:46

Love is one of the great constants of human history—and German Jews are no exception. LBI’s archive contains countless memoirs, letters, and diaries that demonstrate the complex romantic lives of German Jews going back centuries. In this episode, Mark Oppenheimer sits down with Christian Bailey, the author of German Jews in Love: A History. They to…

1
Introducing LBI Presents 2:19

1+ y ago2:19

2:19

LBI Presents is a new podcast from the Leo Baeck Institute, New York. It’s hosted by author and journalist Mark Oppenheimer. Mark chats with key experts as we dive into LBI’s vast archive and explore the remarkable lives and histories of German-speaking Jews…beyond the stories you already know. Join us as we bring history to life—and better underst…

1
Unpacking Exile 1:12

2y ago1:12

1:12

This marks the end of our second season of Exile. But if you happen to be in New York, please join us starting March 22, 2023 for the companion exhibit, Unpacking Exile. Explore the letters, personal documents, books and pictures that helped us tell these stories. Exile is a production of the Leo Baeck Institute, New York | Berlin and Antica Produc…

1
Episode 12: Before Dr. Ruth 45:06

2y ago45:06

45:06

Known for her candid talk and blunt advice about sex, Dr. Ruth Westheimer is the world’s most renowned psychosexual therapist. But beneath her joyful demeanor is a chaotic story about her youth—a girl named Karola Ruth Siegel left orphaned and stateless. How does she harness all of this uncertainty - and the sexual awakenings of adolescence - to ma…

1
Episode 11: Art at the End of the World 40:30

2y ago40:30

40:30

Joseph Roth and Stefan Zweig are two of the most celebrated Austrian writers of their time. Despite their contrasting lives and demeanors, they become fast friends and develop a brotherly bond. But when Hitler comes into power, tensions loom over their friendship. In the end, both men can’t save each other from hopelessness in exile. After his deat…

1
Episode 10: From Refugee to Radical 44:09

2y ago44:09

44:09

When a young Eva Kollisch arrives as a refugee in New York in 1940, she finds a community among socialists who share her values and idealism. She soon discovers ‘the cause’ isn’t as idyllic as it seems. Little does she know this is the beginning of a lifelong commitment to activism and her determination to create radical change in ways that include…

1
Episode 9: The Missing Maidens 27:36

2y ago27:36

27:36

In 1933, Nazis steal the art collection of a prominent German-Jewish publishing family, the Mosses. Decades after the war, the family is still trying to do what they can to get it back. But a beloved sculpture, the Three Dancing Maidens, is still missing…and it might be hiding in plain sight. The LBI Library and Archives contain extensive materials…

1
Episode 8: Shanghai - The Last Resort 34:42

2y ago34:42

34:42

In the early days of World War II, artist Hans Jacoby and his wife, Emma, are desperate to flee Germany. Most of the world has shut its doors to European Jews, yet there’s one surprising exception: Shanghai. Along with thousands of other Jews, they arrive in Shanghai, believing they’re safe. But even this far from home, they can’t escape the horror…

1
Episode 7: Love in the Time of Fascism 36:49

2y ago36:49

36:49

In Nazi-occupied Austria, a young man named Kurt Kleinmann comes up with a plan to escape: write to Americans - strangers - who share his last name and ask for help to get a visa. Just as he begins to lose hope, he gets a response from New Yorker Helen Kleinman. Little does he know, Helen will save his life…and capture his heart. The Kurt and Helen…

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