Talya Zax is the Forward’s opinion editor. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @TalyaZax.
Talya ZaxOpinion Editor
By Talya Zax
-
Culture Roald Dahl Denied Commemorative British Coin Over Anti-Semitism
Roald Dahl, who passed away in 1990, would have turned 100 in 2016. But the Royal Mint, which has a tradition of issuing commemorative coins for notable British figures’ significant anniversaries — recent among them Jane Austen and Mary Shelley — never introduced the author of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and…
-
Culture Why Pittsburgh Paper’s ‘Kaddish’ Headline Is So Meaningful
The course of history occasionally brings a front page that proves impossible to forget. The Chicago Tribune’s premature, incorrect declaration “Dewey Defeats Truman” on November 3, 1948; The New York Times’s “U.S. Attacked” headline on September 12, 2001; the ubiquitous “Nixon Resigns” headlines on August 9, 1974. For many, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s front page of…
-
Culture When Chagall Battled For Russia’s Soul
When it was over and done with, perhaps the main thing that stood out about the Soviet Union was its success in restricting the character of its citizens. As Masha Gessen wrote in her 2016 book “The Future is History,” in every totalitarian state “The shaping of the New Man is the regime’s explicit project.”…
-
Film & TV Jerome Robbins Was The Quintessential Jewish American Genius
On May 6, 1953, Jerome Robbins was front-page news in the Forward for an act that would haunt him for the rest of his life. An above-the-fold headline — published next to an unrelated photo of a handsome young harbor boss named Francis Kelly, who appeared to be wearing lipstick — read “Acclaimed Dancer Gives…
-
Culture Salman Rushdie Talks Philip Roth, Mel Brooks And Bagels
Salman Rushdie is on the phone, and there is much I’d like to ask. For starters: Did Bob Dylan deserve the Nobel? On second thought, maybe better to go with the old Forward standard: What’s your favorite bagel? After all, Rushdie is aware that the truth of a character often lies in the details. That…
-
Culture Anne Frank Was Remarkable. The Graphic Adaptation Of Her Diary Masks Her Brilliance.
ANNE FRANK’S DIARY: THE GRAPHIC ADAPTATION Adapted by Ari Folman Illustrated by David Polonsky Pantheon, 160 pages, $24.95 When I think of what Anne Frank looked like, I think of her eyes. In photographs they are deep-set and transparent, thoughtful and often joyful. Looks deceive, but in Frank’s gaze it is possible to locate the…
-
Culture Q & A: Rebecca Traister On Women’s Rage
Rebecca Traister and I spoke about women’s anger on an angry day, during an exceptionally angry week. It was the last Tuesday in September. The evening before, in the wake of the Deborah Ramirez’s allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had exposed himself to her, Kavanaugh and his wife, Ashley Estes Kavanaugh, had given…
-
Culture Memo To A Sexist Editor: You Are Not A Martyr
In Ian Buruma’s eyes, there is something cruelly ironic about the circumstances of his departure from the New York Review of Books. As the broadsheet’s editor-in-chief, he had published Jian Ghomeshi’s essay “Reflections from a Hashtag,” in which a man accused by over 20 women of sexual assault meditated on how social media scorn had…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Film & TV The new ‘Superman’ is being called anti-Israel, but does that make it pro-Palestine?
- 2
Fast Forward Tucker Carlson calls for stripping citizenship from Americans who served in the Israeli army
- 3
Opinion This German word explains Trump’s authoritarian impulses — and Hitler’s rise to power
- 4
News Meet the Jews who helped elect Zohran Mamdani
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion What exactly is going on between Israel and Syria — and is the prospect of peace dead?
-
Fast Forward Antisemitic assaults and vandalism are down on campuses but online bullying is up, Hillel finds
-
Fast Forward Transportation secretary grilled over decision to rehang Jesus painting at Merchant Marine Academy
-
Fast Forward ‘Passover Coke’ could become obsolete as Trump says Coca-Cola will use ‘REAL’ sugar in US soda
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
