After finding a new audience through its weekly Throwback Thursday videos, the Ottawa Jewish Archives and the Ottawa Jewish E-Bulletin have joined forces to relaunch the podcast 613Archives, featuring a new format, co-host, and a renewed focus on the stories and artifacts that have shaped Jewish Ottawa.

The positive response to the videos showed Archivist Teigan Goldsmith Hitsman that there is a real appetite for stories from our past. Reviving 613Archives offered an opportunity to tell more of those stories in a longer format. 

“The reaction we’ve had online over the artifacts in our collection has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Goldsmith Hitsman. 

The revived podcast will offer listeners an opportunity to explore the history behind the artifacts in greater depth while introducing new stories along the way.

613Archives will take a different approach to storytelling, too. Instead of Goldsmith Hitsman sharing the story on her own, she will be joined by Ethan Rode, the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s Communications and Social Media Specialist and writer for the E-Bulletin. Together, they will talk about the artifacts and connect their histories to the present day, demonstrating how these stories continue to be relevant today.

“We’re really hoping that the audience enjoys this new format and the walk down memory lane we will be taking together,” Goldsmith Hitsman said.

Episodes will run the gamut of different stories, from the Shoah to the First World War, to the numerous ways in which Jews have contributed to life here in Ottawa. While the co-hosts don’t want to reveal too much before the first episode airs in November, both are excited for listeners to both learn about the fascinating history of our community while also learning about the intensive research process that is done for each artifact.

For the first episode, listeners will be introduced to an artifact that has never been featured in the Throwback Thursday series. Discovered almost by accident over the summer, the item led Goldsmith Hitsman and her summer student, Sophie Archambault, to uncover the fascinating history of the family connected to it.

The podcast’s return will also bring a change in where listeners can find it. In addition to traditional podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube, 613Archives will have a permanent home in the E-Bulletin at www.OttawaJewishBulletin.com. 

“I was so excited at the thought of relaunching the podcast in the E-Bulletin,” explained Rode. “We have already been sharing today’s stories with our community, but now there is an opportunity to tie the past into the present by giving 613Archives a permanent home in our publication.”

Beginning with the November issue, a new episode will be featured in the E-Bulletin every other month. The arrangement will give readers and listeners another way to discover the stories preserved at the Ottawa Jewish Archives, while connecting the podcast with the broader community through the E-Bulletin.

Those who want to follow along can subscribe to the E-Bulletin here to receive the latest episodes as soon as they are published.

To learn more about the work of the Ottawa Jewish Archives, click here or contact them directly by emailing [email protected].