Seth Rogovoy, a contributing editor at the Forward, is the author of Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet (Scribner) and Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison (Oxford University Press).
Seth Rogovoy
By Seth Rogovoy
-
Culture The secret Jewish history of Dr. Dolittle
Robert Downey Jr. presumably had a better time making the new movie “Dolittle,” based on Hugh Lofting’s “Doctor Dolittle” stories and opening in theaters on Friday, January 17, than did his fellow Jew, Anthony Newley, who had a miserable experience on the set of the original 1967 “Doctor Dolittle” film version, which starred Rex Harrison….
-
Culture The Secret Jewish History Of Ludwig Van Beethoven
When you are 250 years old and world famous, you don’t have to wait until your birthday comes around to celebrate. Nor does the rest of the world. Which is why the celebration of a quarter of a millennium since Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth begins this December 16 (or 17; the date is a little…
-
Culture The Secret Jewish History Of The Rockettes
Is there anything more goyish than the Rockettes, the “precision-dance” troupe best known for its starring role in the annual “Christmas Spectacular” at Radio City Music Hall? Well, yes. As it turns out, the entire creative team behind the annual Radio City holiday event, which began in 1932, were Jewish men brought together by Samuel…
-
Culture Is ‘A Christmas Carol’ antisemitic?
Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” has been variously interpreted over the years as a humanist or secular parable, a pre-Freudian psychological thriller, an old-fashioned ghost story, an anti-capitalist screed, and, yes, a Jewish story wearing the cloak of Victorian England. It has also been mined for its anti-Semitic tropes, as has other work by Dickens…
-
Music The Secret Jewish History of The Who
Editor’s Note: On the occasion of The Who’s first new album in 13 years, we look back at the band’s secret Jewish history, which we first explored in 2015. If The Who’s visionary songwriter and guitarist Pete Townshend had had his way, “Tommy” — an allegory about a traumatized messiah — would not have been…
-
Music The Secret Jewish History Of Judy Garland
Fifty years after her passing, Judy Garland is having a moment. Renee Zellweger portrays her in the new feature film “Judy.” A new Showtime documentary, “Sid & Judy,” examines her life and career, focusing on her relationship with Sidney Luft, who served as her husband for 13 years and her manager for even longer. And…
-
Film & TV The Secret Jewish History Of Buster Keaton
Editor’s Note: Buster Keaton was born on this day in 1895. In honor of the 124th birthday of “The Great Stone Face, we look back on Keaton’s Jewish influences and collaborators. Had it not been for Erik Weisz, the Hungarian-born, Wisconsin-raised son of a rabbi, one of the most influential film artists of all time…
-
Music The Secret Jewish History of Olivia Newton-John
In a recent celebrity memoir, the author writes, “In 1933, my Jewish grandfather fled from Germany with his wife, Hedwig, to escape Hitler’s regime. He was not only a brilliant mind but also a humanitarian who helped Jews escape Germany. I’m extremely proud of my peace-loving grandfather.” The grandfather was Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Born,…
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion New York’s Israel Day parade was a shanda — but not because of Mamdani
- 2
News Nearly half of young U.S. Jews want to replace Israel with binational state, poll finds
- 3
Opinion Mamdani has made ample efforts for Jews. How come no one is telling that story?
- 4
News Floyd Mayweather showered cash on Jewish causes — and now he’s suing their ‘Robin Hood’ alleging $175 million got diverted
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward NYU student draws hate crime charges for flying flag with swastikas, Star of David over campus building
-
Yiddish פֿאָרשונגען פֿון וויכטיקע היסטאָריקער אויף ייִדיש — איצט אַרויס אויף ענגלישResearch studies in Yiddish by noted historians, now in English
דער באַגריף, ייִדישע אױטאָנאָמיע אין גלות — הײַנט פּאָפּולער בײַ קריטיקער פֿון ציוניזם — איז היסטאָריש ניט געװען קײן דערפֿאָלג.
-
Culture In the course of his 104 years, he resisted the Nazis, fought against blood libel and became a towering Jewish intellectual
-
Culture That time Allen Ginsberg wrote a Socialist poem — about Bernie Sanders