We’re baaaaack.

Hope you had a great (insert appropriate holiday here), but time to get back to work!  Or not!

Now, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the cool thing to do this year was watch a Big Bang Theory marathon on TBS.  The uncool thing to do was actually go out and party OR, according to many progressives and liberals, help amend existing literature that suspends an American’s rights to a speedy trial

“On the last day of 2011, President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2012 (NDAA)…One of the provisions included in the 2012 NDAA is one that allows for American citizens suspected of terrorism to be indefinitely detained in military custody without charge or trial. As Pfc. Bradley Manning begins the pre-trial hearing process after nearly 18 months of being held in military detention, the president has just signed into law a bill that will allow the military to treat American civilians in a similar fashion if they are suspected of conducting activities related to domestic terrorism.” — Amanda Fox-Roucher, “The NDAA Debate,” nexgenJOURNAL

And then we travel over to the other world and discover that fundamentalism isn’t just the dominion of Muslims.  In fact, mounting tensions between secular and ultra Orthodox Jews are revealing that going too far isn’t just the domain of one faith.

Naama Margolis, an 8-year-old from Bet Shemesh, is the most famous girl in Israel today. In fact, nobody can stop talking about her.

And why is that? Well, on Friday evening, Naama told her story on the most watched news show in the country. Interviewed by Channel 2’s Shai Gal, Naama told how she was afraid to go to school, just a few hundred meters from her house in Bet Shemesh, because Haredim cursed and spit on her for being dressed “immodestly.” — Ami Kaufman, +972, 12/25/2011

Have thoughts about this episode?  Tweet us at @thatsmyhummus or drop us a line on our Facebook wall.

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Here comes a Faiqa-less episode — her son was under the weather (and we hope he feels better!).  Fortunately, Shiny’s wife, Kyra, fills in on this episode of HTMH.  Kyra was involved with a National Geographic Channel special called Hitler’s G.I. Death Camp, chronicling the happenings in the Berga concentration camp where 350 American P.O.W.’s were subjected to forced labor and inhumane conditions.  You can find out more about it and see a clip here.  The program debuts on Sunday, December 18 at 9:00pm ET/PT.

We also switch gears and discuss Lowe’s home improvement’s decision to stop advertising on TLC’s series All-American Muslim.  Faiqa writes a powerful blog entry about it here.

… and that’s it for 2011! Thanks for listening and participating — we’ll see you in 2012!

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Does living in American make someone less Jewish?  Or Muslim?  In this episode, we discuss a series of commercials recently pulled by Israeli PM Netanyahu that were aimed at the U.S. Israeli expat community. Why were the commercials pulled and what do we think about that?  Well.  You’re going to have to listen to find out.

Then we switch gears and talk about what a commie that Kermit the Frog is. It ain’t easy being… red?

As always, hit us up on Twitter or Facebook if you have comments, questions or new ideas about the show.

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Well, it’s the week after Thanksgiving. Which means we’ve entered “The Holiday Season” — whatever that means!

And what exactly does it mean? What happens on that fateful Friday after Thanksgiving? Why do consumers go all crazy about getting that magical price on a plasma TV by camping out in the freezing cold for hours before?  Is this truly the way to spend the holiday? We talk a bit about how “Black Friday” has now become a part of our collective lives in the USA.

And after all of that — we (your favorite Jew and Muslim) delve into the “War on Christmas” — in which certain retail outlets have opted to use a more ecumenical “Seasons Greetings” instead of “Merry Christmas” to include a more diverse base of customers — and in which some have returned to “Merry Christmas” out of pressure by those who feel that Christmas has become an endangered species.  We have our own views on it as non-Christians. Listen and discover!

As always — we want to hear what you think! Hit us up on Twitter (@ThatsMyHummus) or Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/HeyThatsMyHummus/)  Add us! Like us! Let that be your gift to us.

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We talk about Thanksgiving and why nobody seems to want to talk about Mitt Romney.

I thought it was riveting.

To our American listeners, Happy Thanksgiving.

To our listeners outside the U.S., well, I suppose your turkeys are glad they don’t live in America.

So, there’s that.

To everyone: Thanks so much for your support, the downloads, your encouragement, the downloads, and of course liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

You’re the best listeners EVER.

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The Learning Channel debuted the first episode of its eight part series set in Dearborn, Michigan called “All American Muslim.” Mike and I had the chance to screen the first two episodes before they aired, and, of course, you want to know what we think.

And then there’s the Penn State thing.

Oy.

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Milestone: In this episode, we host our very first guest!!

Travel writer, blogger and our good friend, Britt Reints, answers questions about Catholicism and weighs in on how and how not to dress up for Halloween.

 You’ll notice that we’ve disabled the comments on our posts. 

If you have thoughts you’d like to share about this episode (or anything else!), we still want to hear from you! 

Please visit us on our Facebook page, send us a message via Twitter or e-mail us at hey@thatsmyhummus.com and let us know what’s on your mind.

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In this episode, we discuss gender in two very different contexts.

From the New York World:

On the morning of October 12, Melissa Franchy boarded the B110 bus in Brooklyn and sat down near the front. For a few minutes she was left in silence, although the other passengers gave her a noticeably wide berth. But as the bus began to fill up, the men told her that she had to get up. Move to the back, they insisted.

We then switch gears and discuss transgendered children in the context of a little boy who was recently admitted to the Girl Scouts of America.
If you enjoy this episode or previous ones, please consider giving us a quick review on iTunes.

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In this episode, we discuss why Muslims don’t get their drink on and petting zoos.

I think that pretty much sums it up.

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It’s the most reflective time of the year.  For Mike and the Tribe, at least.  We talked about Yom Kippur in this episode and then switched gears and discussed those crazy kids fighting corporate greed or… something.

Just so you know, we’ll be back next week because, what, Shiny has another observance this weekend?!

Yes, really.

Our next episode will be dedicated to questions you might have for our resident Muslim (me… no, I will not be talking about myself in the third person today).  E-mail us at hey@heythatsmyhummus.com or via Twitter  or Facebook.

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