About this episode

Holly Rizzuto-Palker shares her experiences of raising an interfaith family while navigating the complexities of religion and identity.

In this Parenting Is a Joke Snack, Holly Rizzuto-Palker and Ophira Eisenberg trade deeply personal stories about building an interfaith family without reducing either tradition to a compromise. Holly reflects on growing up Italian Catholic, marrying a New York Jewish lawyer who initially assumed she was Jewish, and how surviving September 11 fundamentally changed the way she thought about faith, convincing her that her children needed a single spiritual foundation rather than two parallel traditions. She explains why she chose to raise her three children Jewish while fiercely protecting Christmas, Easter baskets, a twelve-foot Christmas tree, and her legendary Italian Christmas Eve celebration complete with karaoke, creating what she jokingly describes as a negotiated "contract" that satisfied everyone from Jewish in-laws to Santa Claus. The conversation moves easily between religion, identity, parenting, and comedy as Holly recalls her daughter's last-minute declaration that she didn't believe in God just days before her bat mitzvah, the secret baptism no one in her husband's family knew about, and the challenge of raising thoughtful kids without insisting they share every…

People in this episode

Host: Ophira Eisenberg

Guest: Holly Rizzuto-Palker

Topics covered

• interfaith family
• parenting
• religion
• identity
• comedy

Keywords

• interfaith
• parenting
• Jewish
• Catholic
• faith
• identity
• comedy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Italian Catholic, New York Jewish

More episodes of Parenting is a Joke

• Holly Rizzuto-Palker Went for Gymboree to Comedy · July 14, 2026 · 51 min
• Lizzie and Wendy Molyneux Trust Weird Kids · July 7, 2026 · 26 min
• Jo Piazza Sees Through the Trad Wife Dream · June 30, 2026 · 44 min
• The Automatic Family with Mike Albo · June 23, 2026 · 42 min
• Mike Albo Deserves to be a Daddy · June 16, 2026 · 46 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Parenting is a Joke podcast page.