Laurie Kamens
By Laurie Kamens
-
Culture Talking with Taika Waititi — before ‘Jojo Rabbit’
Editor’s note: Taika Waititi won the 2020 Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for “Jojo Rabbit.” But before he became a household name in the United States — he also directed the widely-beloved “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017) — he was the brightest light in filmmaking in his native New Zealand. To honor the Maori Jewish director’s groundbreaking Oscars victory,…
-
Culture ‘Oh Hello,’ Bernie Sanders, and the Rise of Old Jews Telling Truths
For one month this past winter, two cranky geriatric men and their small off-Broadway play challenged “Hamilton” as the most sought after ticket in New York. I was one of the lucky New Yorkers to see “Oh Hello, Live! on (Off) Broadway” during its sold out December run at the Cherry Lane Theater, and to…
-
The Schmooze Yo La Tengo’s New Groove
The fuzzed out dulcet tones of Yo La Tengo ring out on “Fade,” the band’s 13th studio album in a long and storied career that stretches nearly 30 years. Proudly hailing from Hoboken, New Jersey, the trio is composed of guitarist Ira Kaplan, his wife and drummer Georgia Hubley, and bassist James McNew, all of…
-
Books Q&A: Michael Ian Black on ‘Doing it Right’
Speaking with The Arty Semite over the phone, Michael Ian Black paused and said: “That’s weird. I’m in the hotel hallway walking towards my room. On the carpet I see a pair of underwear and recognize them as my own. Now why in the world is a pair of my own underwear sitting in the…
-
The Schmooze Q&A: Brittany Engel-Adams on Dance and Israel
After taking just a two week workshop with choreographer Ohad Naharin, dancer Brittany Engel-Adams knew she had to move to Israel. Growing up in West Palm Beach, Florida, Engel-Adams, 22, started studying ballet at the age of 9. She attended the Bak Middle School of the Arts and Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts,…
-
Books A Girl Who Slays Dragons, but Stops for Shabbat
Mirka Hershberg is a normal 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl. She attends school, polishes the candlesticks for Shabbat, does her homework, gives tzedakah, fights trolls and dreams of slaying dragons. Well, maybe not your typical 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl. Written by illustrator Barry Deutsch, “Hereville” is the story of Mirka’s quest for a dragon-slaying sword. Originally…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News Scoop: Heritage Foundation plans to ‘identify and target’ Wikipedia editors
- 2
Fast Forward Their Pacific Palisades synagogue is standing, but all three rabbis lost their homes
- 3
News ‘Do you have the Torahs?’ Synagogue races LA wildfire to rescue its past and future
- 4
Music For Bob Dylan’s biographer, ‘A Complete Unknown’ is a dream come true — even if it’s mostly fiction
In Case You Missed It
-
News LA fires won’t stop bar mitzvahs this Shabbat, as joy and pain meet
-
News HIAS cuts 22 staff even as it braces for Trump immigration crackdown
-
Fast Forward A synagogue that survived the Palisades fire has become a ‘refuge’ for many who lost their homes
-
News When fire spread to West Hollywood, a rabbi’s mom chose to grab candlesticks
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
