“There must be no tolerance for anti-Semitism in America,” Donald Trump told the Future Farmers of America following the mass murder in a Pittsburgh synagogue at a Sabbath service — the same Trump who said that some of the neo-Nazis chanting “Jews will not replace us” in Charlottesville were “very… More
This originally appeared in the Forward and is republished with permission. I would love to believe in petitionary prayer. Especially when life and death are at stake, a God who hears my supplications would be deeply reassuring. Despite my skepticism, I never pass up a chance in shul to say… More
This originally appeared in the Forward and is republished with permission. I was wondering if I was reading too much into the near-convergence of Sen. John McCain’s funeral; Labor Day, the traditional kickoff of the campaign season; and Rosh Hashanah, the start of the Jewish holidays of repentance and renewal.… More
This originally appeared in the Forward and is republished with permission. I recently returned from a Trump fast. It was actually a news fast, but since the news these days is pretty much all Trump all the time, a Trump detox is what it turned out to be. It was… More
This originally appeared in the Forward and is republished with permission. You must see the garden,” said the guard, in French, pointing to a door in the Delacroix Museum that my daughter and I hadn’t noticed. It led outside and down two sets of stairs to an exquisite courtyard, a silent oasis below… More
Media Impact Project Editor’s Note: Journalism can and does spur real change. The following two stories by our MIP guest blogger outlines how two reporters spotlighted serious problems in government agencies and helped initiate improvements. The first is a heartbreaking story involving the overwrought Child Protective Services in Rochester, New… More
Lately I’ve been doing a bit of VR bingeing. While I’m not a binge TV viewer, I cannot get enough VR when the opportunity presents itself. Luckily, I’m based in Los Angeles, where new media experiments are all the rage, and my job takes me to exactly the kinds of… More
I had the keen pleasure recently of speaking for the first time before a class of bright Emerson College LA students. The topic? The TV comedy of Norman Lear and my personal experience working for Norman at three different periods of my life. This was a Comm class, not a… More
ABC made the May 8, 2018 episode of “Roseanne” available in advance for comment by some thoughtful observers. When producer Tom Werner, an old friend, asked me if I had some scholars to suggest, I immediately thought of Amir Hussain and Sohad Murrar. Marty Kaplan, Director, Norman Lear Center Why… More
Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount, Los Angeles I watched the “Go Cubs” episode of Roseanne, which I think is extraordinary. When asked in surveys, most Americans indicate that they don’t know a Muslim, and so the images that they see on television are crucial, as they may be the… More