PJ Grisar is a Forward culture reporter. He can be reached at [email protected] and @pjgrisar on Twitter.
PJ Grisar
By PJ Grisar
-
Culture A Holocaust Art Exhibit Was Vandalized, Again And Again. But Vienna Is Fighting Back.
On the night of Sunday, May 26, a public art installation in Vienna featuring portraits of Holocaust survivors was slashed with a knife by an unknown assailant. It wasn’t the first time. The installation by the German-Italian artist Luigi Toscana, called “Lest We Forget,” includes 70 blown-up photographs of survivors printed on eight-by-five foot weather-proof…
-
Culture The Secret Jewish History Of The Happy Meal
In June of 1979, 40 years ago, the world of picky eaters experienced a total game changer. That month, McDonald’s went national with a cardboard clutch containing a choice of hamburger or cheeseburger, a small drink, cookies, a small bag of fries and — of course — a toy. The Happy Meal, like the fast…
-
Culture From ‘The Black Dahlia’ To ‘Tulip Fever,’ Are Flower-Based Films Doomed To Fail?
In 1637, a craze for hybrid tulips brought the Dutch economy to its knees. The flowers were overvalued, creating the first speculative bubble on record. The phenomenon, called “Tulip Mania,” ended in financial ruin for many. Some 380 years later, a film called “Tulip Fever,” set during Tulip Mania and produced by Harvey Weinstein, also…
-
Culture ‘Anne Frank: The Musical’ To Premiere Off-Broadway In September
A musical adaptation of the life of Anne Frank will make its U.S. premiere at the Center for Jewish History this September. “Anne Frank, The Musical,” written by composer-playwright Jean-Pierre Hadida, made its debut in Paris in 2008. Hadida is not the first to attempt to tell Frank’s story in a musical; Enid Futterman and…
-
Culture Pulitzer-Winning Journalist Tony Horwitz Dies At 60
Tony Horwitz, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist whose work challenged labor practices and the cultural divides between the Northern and Southern United States, died on Monday. He was 60 years old. Horwitz’s wife, the Pulitzer-winning novelist Geraldine Brooks, told The New York Times that Hrowitz collapsed while walking in the Washington D.C. suburb of Chevy Chase,…
-
Music In Leonard Cohen’s Letters, A Window Into His Life And Work
Leonard Cohen’s status as a musical and literary icon is a matter of historical record. But what the notoriously stoic poet and songwriter thought of his rise to fame remains more elusive; it was information shared only with a few intimates, Marianne Ihlen foremost among them. Over 50 letters that Cohen sent to Ihlen, his…
-
Culture Film Forum’s Yiddish Film Series Speaks To The Jewish Soul
New York’s Film Forum set itself a real challenge in naming its series on Yiddish Cinema something as definitive as “The Jewish Soul.” Who could agree on what that soul looks like — and how could any lineup do justice to its ancient nature? While not comprehensive, the six films, presented by Kino Lorber from…
-
Culture Kafka Confidant Max Brod’s Stolen Archive Is Headed To Israel
In April, a court in Zurich ordered a huge cache of Franz Kafka’s manuscripts transferred from Switzerland to the National Library of Israel. Now, the personal papers of Kafka’s confidant, Max Brod, who safeguarded those powerful texts, are headed there too. In a May 21 ceremony at the Israeli ambassador to Germany’s residence in Berlin,…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 3
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
-
Fast Forward Betar ‘almost exclusively triggered’ UMass student detention, judge says
-
Fast Forward ‘Honey, he’s had enough of you’: Trump’s Middle East moves increasingly appear to sideline Israel
-
Fast Forward Yeshiva University rescinds approval for LGBTQ+ student club
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
