PJ Grisar is a Forward culture reporter. He can be reached at [email protected] and @pjgrisar on Twitter.
PJ Grisar
By PJ Grisar
-
Culture Daily distraction: Tomie dePaola, films from the Met vault and TikTok dances
Welcome to your daily distraction, our recommendations for ways to stay engaged and entertained while we socially distance ourselves to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak. You can find our past recommendations here; many of the opportunities we’ve highlighted are ongoing. And… it’s April. We hope that if you’re staying home with others they have not…
-
Culture Closed by coronavirus, Jewish museums consider an uncertain future online
As the world faces the novel coronavirus pandemic, the stewards of history face a unique challenge: How can museums continue to engage audiences while their physical buildings are shuttered in the interests of public health? The answer, for many, lies in retooling online infrastructure, bringing programming to social media and launching outreach campaigns. Museums are…
-
Culture The 1918 Marx Brothers musical stopped short by the Spanish Flu
In late September 1918, at the height of the Spanish flu outbreak, theatergoers in Grand Rapids, Mich. showed up in masks, found their seats and watched as the Marx Brothers failed to entertain them. The show was called “The Cinderella Girl” — and was changed later in its brief run to “The Street Cinderella,” according…
-
Culture Daily distraction: Freud solves mysteries, an ‘I, Claudius’ podcast and letter-writing
Welcome to your daily distraction, our recommendations for ways to stay engaged and entertained while we socially distance ourselves to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak. You can find our past recommendations here; many of the opportunities we’ve highlighted are ongoing. Greetings to you from my home office. Judging by Twitter — the 21st century town…
-
Culture As schools and synagogues go digital, this online Torah source is racking up record numbers
With everyone at home these days, web traffic is spiking and — apparently — online Torah is much in demand. Many schools have closed their physical campuses and moved classrooms online in an effort to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. The effects of these extreme measures has forced educators at Jewish day schools…
-
Culture ‘Unorthodox’ takes a story of spiritual exodus to uncharted territory
The most compelling parts of “Unorthodox,” Deborah Feldman’s 2012 memoir about her scandalous exit from the Hasidic community don’t have anything to do with her exit at all. After a captivating look at her childhood, rich with sense memory and intimate detail, Feldman chronicles her exodus from Satmar Williamsburg for a less restrictive community in…
-
Culture Bob Dylan gave us a 17-minute JFK murder ballad for our quarantine. Uh, thanks?
In this tough time, many artists are reaching their fans with new and unreleased work — oftentimes we wish they didn’t. That “Imagine” collab is roundly considered a travesty. I, for one, had no need of that pitchy, unused track from “Hamilton.” I must admit, however, that I didn’t expect Bob Dylan, infrequent Twitter user…
-
Culture What ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ taught me about being Jewish
Larry David exemplifies the ambivalence of American Jewry with itself
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
- 2
News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
Music After decades of waiting, we’re finally getting a Bob Dylan-Barbra Streisand duet
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Is ‘Andor’ about Jews, Palestinians — or both and/or neither?
-
Fast Forward Judge dismisses lawsuit against Zionist Organization of America leader Mort Klein
-
Fast Forward US reaches truce with Houthis hours after Israel bombs their airport in Yemen
-
Fast Forward Trump says only 21 hostages remain alive in Gaza: ‘3 have died’
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
