PJ Grisar is a Forward culture reporter. He can be reached at [email protected] and @pjgrisar on Twitter.
PJ Grisar
By PJ Grisar
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Culture The ‘Borat’ sequel trailer proves America’s still divided — on whether or not people know Borat
There are benefits to Sacha Baron Cohen’s supreme secrecy. He is, as far as we know, the only major star to make and release a feature film in media pandemic — and hardly anyone knew he was working on it. Following a few months of rumors and speculation, Baron Cohen dropped the trailer for “Borat…
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Culture Do the ‘Proud Boys’ know their anthem was written by a gay Jew?
Perhaps the most curious fact about the Proud Boys, the violent far-right group President Trump appeared to call up to the reserves in the first 2020 presidential debate, is how they got their name. The name can be read as an unapologetic affirmation of the things they stand for — which, according to the Southern…
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Culture ‘Heil Honey, I’m Home!’ — the secret history of the scandalous Hitler sitcom you never saw
“Of all the shows I’ve done and made, this one gets the most comment. And yet, it’s never really been seen or aired,” said the veteran British TV writer Geoff Atkinson. He was speaking about “Heil Honey, I’m Home!,” a comedy series that aired a single, infamous episode in the United Kingdom on September 30,…
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Culture ‘Borat 2’ is coming for Mike Pence — but what can it say about Trump’s America?
My wiiife. If you read that in the voice of the fictional Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev, British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s most celebrated creation, you’re not alone. While we last saw Borat nearly 15 years ago, his elongated reference to his spouse has clung to our brain’s language centers with the tenacity of Gorilla Glue….
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Film & TV In ‘The Other Story,’ a tale of forgiveness as faith and family collide
_Author’s note: ‘The Other Story’ is playing September 28 as part of the Marlene Meyerson JCC’s online “Forgive Me Film-a-thon.” Marking the occasion, we’ve republished our review from July 1, 2019._ When children leave the insular world of Haredi Judaism, many parents sit shiva for them. Some choose to not even speak the child’s name…
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Film & TV In ‘Tehran,’ an agent caught between Iran and Israel can’t find her way home
In an early episode of the spy thriller “Tehran,” a Mossad agent makes a house call. Yael Ashrafi (Liraz Charhi), the handler of hacker and series protagonist Tamar Rabinyan, pays a visit to her Mr. Rabinyan. She wants to know if Tamar might still have family in Iran and if, after ditching a reckless contact…
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Culture Documentarian Ric Burns on why there will never be another Oliver Sacks
In 2015, shortly before he died at the age of 82, Oliver Sacks was eating from a Tupperware container of green Jell-O, when he decided to tell a room full of people something deeply revealing. “Time was – it doesn’t occur now, but it used to occur until a few years ago – when I…
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Culture Why did The Guardian say Ruth Bader Ginsburg ‘abandoned’ her faith?
In the wake of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, obituaries across the country lauded the jurist for her contributions to America’s judiciary system and civic life. But one contained a claim about Ginsburg’s personal life that left some Jews puzzled, and others outraged. The Guardian’s September 18 obituary initially declared that the justice had “abandoned her…
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