Melissa and I have been friends and kibbitzing for a long time. And much of that friendship has taken place while we were supposed to be writing. Both of us had published pieces on Jewish websites, but we noticed something missing: none of them seemed to speak to the real-life experiences of our demographic.
We were always talking about the grind of middle age.
Being in the middle of our families, in the middle of the country—and the joys that come with that too. Sure, there’s a time and place for articles about Jewish celebrities or baby names, but we were hungry for more.
Maybe it was an act of hubris, but we believed we could offer that “more.” We knew what we wanted to hear, what we wanted to talk about, and what our friends were discussing too.
Kibbitz cohosts, Andrea and Melissa hard at work on The Kibbitz
That’s when the idea for a podcast began to take shape.
It took months of conversations and planning, and of course, a lot of giggling—because we spend most of our time kibbitzing anyway. Calling the podcast The Kibbitz just made sense.
It was January 14th, on a gray, bitterly cold day when I hadn’t seen the sun in what felt like forever. I met Melissa at a coffee shop and told her I wanted to pitch our podcast idea to Cincy Jewfolk. I wrote a draft of the pitch, Melissa added to it, and we brainstormed a list of topics we wanted to cover.
We hit “send,” figuring we had nothing to lose.
Especially after October 7, we felt an urgency to get our voices out there—to support and speak up for Jewish moms, Jewish kids, and Jewish families. Cincy Jewfolk was already doing the work of building Jewish community through accessible, real-time storytelling.
No paywalls. No gatekeeping. Just connection.
And it worked.
We sent our pitch on a Friday, and by Sunday, we heard back that you liked the idea. There were contracts and conversations about moving forward.
Melissa and I each did a little happy dance—because our silly idea had suddenly become something real.
The author, Andrea Beck, Co-Kibbitzer (IE: Co-host of the Kibbitz)
What’s even better is how much joy this project brings.
We get to be ourselves, share our lives as moms, wives, friends—and we’ve created a space where others can talk with us, too.
It’s a joy to work with someone I respect as much as Melissa.
Though our personalities and upbringings are different, we bring out the best in each other.
We believe we’re particularly suited to host this podcast.
Not only because we’re middle-aged Jewish moms in the Midwest, but because we’re both writers who love using our words.
Melissa W. Hunter, Co-Kibbitzer (IE: Co-host of the Kibbitz)
Melissa has written a Holocaust memoir, a Jewish romance novel, and is currently working on a follow-up exploring her family’s Holocaust story. She also presents at the Holocaust and Humanity Center.
As for me—I have a background in academia. I hold a master’s and PhD in rhetoric, and I studied the writings of Jewish women in Cincinnati, especially how they used words to advocate for their place in American society. Ironically, that’s what I find myself doing now.
With The Kibbitz, we’re reclaiming the idea of “just talking” as something powerful.
During the pandemic, when everything—from religious services to school to meetings at our congregations—was virtual, we lost the in-between moments: the hallway chats, the quick check-ins in the bathroom, the lingering over coffee after a meeting.
We haven’t fully gotten those back yet, but we believe that kind of conversation—the spontaneous, warm, thoughtful kind—is foundational to building community.
That’s what The Kibbitz is. And we’re just getting started.
Come laugh, cry, and kibbitz with Andrea and Melissa!
Click here to listen right now!
