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Forward 50 2017
Barry Barish
He Won A Nobel Prize By Being A Great Scientist—And Better Manager Without Barry Barish, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory — which detected evidence of black holes at the other side of the universe — might never have observed anything. But for all his efforts as the director of the LIGO project during its years…
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Forward 50 2017 Ben Platt
From Camp Ramah To Broadway Star At the end of Ben Platt’s first film, “Pitch Perfect” (2012), there’s a moment when Platt steps into the spotlight for an a cappella solo. His profoundly nerdy character, Benjamin Applebaum — profoundly Jewish, too — looks so nervous, and so eager, that you think he might not actually…
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Forward 50 2017 Al Franken
The Former Funnyman Finds His Voice In The Senate Al Franken went from comedian to politician — and now he’s somewhere in between. The longtime “Saturday Night Live” funnyman swore off laughs as he ran to represent Minnesota in the Senate, wanting to prove to his constituents that he could buckle down and appropriately represent…
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Forward 50 2017 Robert Kraft
The NFL’s Best Owner, Loved By Athletes And Trump Alike Robert Kraft is one of the most successful owners in sports history. Since he bought the New England Patriots in 1994, the team has sold out every game and won five Super Bowls, including last January in one of the most exciting comeback wins of…
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Forward 50 2017 Jill Soloway
The TV Trailblazer Who Refuses To Conform Jill Soloway writes, produces and directs not one but two television series, both critically successful and reflective of Soloway’s own queer, feminist ethos. “Transparent,” the offbeat, profoundly Jewish Amazon series that made Soloway a multiple Emmy winner and a household name among television buffs, has recently been renewed…
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Forward 50 2017 Amichai Lau-Lavie
The Intermarriage Innovator Asking The Tough Questions Should a rabbi be permitted to marry a Jew and a non-Jew? This year, that question roiled the Conservative movement as it struggled to balance its embrace of modernity with the strictures of Jewish law and tradition. Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie put a face, and a proposal, to that…
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Forward 50 2017 Russel Neiss
Coding Teachable Jewish Moments On Twitter For Jewish educator and coder Russel Neiss, the election of Donald Trump has provided a series of teachable moments. And the Twitterverse is his classroom. Observing that the commander-in-chief was using micro-blogging to proclaim policy and appointments, Neiss constructed a code to automatically retweet statements from @realDonaldTrump as statements…
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Forward 50 2017 Rebecca Taichman
“Indecent” Director Celebrates Jewish Women Onstage When Rebecca Taichman, 47, won the 2017 Tony Award for best direction of a play for her work on “Indecent,” she was stunned. Still, she took the opportunity not just to thank those dear to her, but also to make a brief statement about ideals. “This is a story…
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Forward 50 2017 Richard Thaler
The Predictably Irrational Economist Economists long believed that people were rational actors — that they would spend their money in the most efficient way possible. However, Richard Thaler, along with fellow Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, was one of the few researchers willing to question that orthodoxy. Thaler’s creativity in pursuit of the truth led him…
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Forward 50 2017 Sandra Fox
The Feminist Yiddish Podcast Host Sandy Fox wanted to listen to a Yiddish-language podcast for people like herself. A young, feminist Yiddish speaker with friends and colleagues spread widely across religious and political divides, this New York University graduate student followed the do-it-yourself ethos of her generation and created “Vaybertaytsh,” the world’s first feminist Yiddish…
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Forward 50 2017 Josh Rosen
UCLA’s Jewish Football Superstar, Josh Rosen, Is Not Afraid To Speak His Mind Josh Rosen is one of the most talented college football players in the country. But in addition to making a statement on the football field, Josh Rosen might be just as noteworthy for his outspokenness off the field. The 6 foot 4…
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