For Jews, Texas is beginning to look more like France (that’s not a good thing)
Does Colleyville mean that more tears than we ever anticipated are in store for American Jews? Or that we have become exceptional in a French way?
In Paul Rudd’s extreme disappointment, a universal philosophy for 2022
In 2021, Paul Rudd was named the “sexiest man alive in America.” A recent statement suggests that he might also be the most philosophically astute.
In a notorious French internment camp, harrowing reminders of the consequences of extremism
Camp des Milles, an abandoned French tile factory that became a concentration camp, observes its 10th anniversary as a memorial site.
How a right-wing Jewish presidential candidate is channeling de Gaulle, X-Men and ‘The King’s Speech’
In announcing his presidential candidacy, the xenophobic pundit Éric Zemmour took his cues from a wide and baffling array of historical precedents.
What Hannah Arendt is telling us about Kyle Rittenhouse and Kenosha
Hannah Arendt’s reflections on the trial of Adolf Eichmann evoke parallels with the trial in Kenosha and how we think about justice and judgment.
In the rise and fall of a Jewish politician named Mandel, a cautionary tale for Josh Mandel
Like Senate candidate Josh Mandel, Georges Mandel was an ambitious arch-conservative nationalist disliked by members of his own political party.
The Jewish character on ‘Succession’ is reading Dostoevsky — what should we read into that?
On HBO’s ‘Succession,’ Josh Aaronson (played by Adrien Brody), is reading ‘Crime and Punishment. Foreshadowing? Antisemitism? Something else entirely?
A 94-year-old Holocaust survivor makes her feature film debut – and a new star is born
In ‘Trop d’amour,’ the actress and filmmaker Frankie Wallach turns her camera on her grandmother, a maker of kneidler and a survivor of Auschwitz.
Why just 850 books? Texas should investigate ‘Merchant of Venice’ and ‘Oliver Twist’ too
Maybe Matt Krause’s proposal doesn’t go far enough. Is it time to investigate ‘Merchant of Venice’ too because it makes readers ‘uncomfortable?’
In the face of the Houston Astros’ miraculous victory, Alex Bregman has become our most eloquent Jewish existential philosopher
Echoing the philosophy of the existentialist Albert Camus, Bregman once said, “This game is so great because it’s a game of failure.”