'Jewish Space Lasers': A Rothschild who debunks conspiracy theories By Asaf Shalev, JTA May 26, 2022 To a conspiracy theorist, last week seemed to offer evidence that the Rothschild family is plotting to undermine Elon Musk. It started when the Tesla tycoon bashed the Democratic Party and said in a tweet that he would switch to voting Republican. A user named David Rothschild responded, mocking Musk and portraying him as an entitled whiner… Read More
Books New book: A ‘Queer, Disabled’ early Zionist illustrates ‘roads not taken’ It’s hard to find a poster promoting early 20th-century Zionism that doesn’t depict a tanned, chiseled man toting a shovel or a gun. The posters were… By Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA May 24, 2022
Books Joshua Cohen’s satirical novel ‘The Netanyahus’ wins Pulitzer for fiction The 2022 Pulitzer Prize in fiction went to “The Netanyahus,” a scathing, satirical novel by Brooklyn writer Joshua Cohen that imagines a visit by the… By Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA May 9, 2022
Books Mikołaj Grynberg's haunting stories provide portrait of postwar Poland Perhaps the most notable Jewish literary event of 2022 has been the release of the English translation of “The Books of Jakob,” Polish Nobel laureate Olga… By Howard Freedman May 9, 2022
Books Claire Stanford's debut novel takes on our obsession with happiness Evelyn Kominsky Kumamoto, the protagonist of Berkeley-raised author Claire Stanford’s debut novel, works at the San Francisco headquarters of “the… By Andrew Esensten May 5, 2022
Books A.J. Jacobs on Jews, puzzles and how Sondheim changed crosswords Those who follow A.J. Jacobs’ masochistic career – in which he lived by the strictures of the Hebrew Bible for 365 days and thanked the countless people… By PJ Grisar, Forward Apr 22, 2022
Books In vampire novel, trans author Isaac Fellman sinks teeth into identity In his pre-transition life, Isaac Fellman worked as a paralegal, freelance proofreader and secretary at a car dealership. He was unhappily married. And he… By Andrew Esensten Apr 13, 2022
Off the Shelf Three new poetry books to savor during National Poetry Month The age of texting and tweeting has brought out the curmudgeon in me, in part because I sometimes feel as if I’m immersed in degraded written English.… By Howard Freedman Apr 12, 2022
Comics Cartoonist Liana Finck on rewriting Genesis, with God as a woman In Liana Finck’s Book of Genesis, Lilith is the Serpent, Joseph wears a merman tail and God is a woman. The New Yorker cartoonist’s latest graphic novel,… By PJ Grisar, Forward Apr 11, 2022