In HBO’s recent adaptation of the Philip Roth novel “The Plot Against America,” American Jews are coerced by Pres. Charles Lindbergh to move to rural parts of the country so they will become “Americanized” and shed their Jewish ways. In real life, however, it was Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt who wanted to do just that.…
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TV & Film
TV
In alternate history of ‘Hollywood,’ everyone can act out their ambitions
The “What if history were different?” trope has been very popular in recent years, but usually to imagine a worse future — as in “The Plot Against…
Celebrity Jews
Sarah Silverman is Santa Claus; Disney's Jewish prince; etc.
Let the experts talk, please Celebs have been holding court on social media throughout the pandemic, but now some of them are turning their Instagram and…
Film
Anti-Semitism examined as a social virus in new PBS doc
Any person who follows the news knows that anti-Semitism is on the rise around the world. As it has spread, so has our insight that this is a hatred with…
Film
Jewish Film Institute receives emergency grant from motion picture academy
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization known best for putting on the Oscar Awards, has given an emergency pandemic grant to the…
TV
Streaming show brings humor, matchmaking to the Closed-in People
As the pandemic ramped up and staying in became the norm, the newly unemployed Joti Levy wondered how she could be of service during such challenging…
Profiles
‘SNL’ newbie from the East Bay found her funny at Jewish summer camp
This piece was first published by the Los Angeles Jewish Journal and is reprinted with permission. When Chloe Fineman attended New York University to…
Celebrity Jews
Waititi to direct a Star Wars movie; Seth Rogen in a 'Pickle'; etc.
An American pickle of a story A man falls into a barrel of pickles and is brined. Is it a horror story? No, it’s “An American Pickle,” the new comedy film…
Comedy
Jerry Stiller, longtime comic who won fame on ‘Seinfeld,’ dies at 92
Jerry Stiller, the longtime Jewish comic who became best known for playing the belligerent character Frank Costanza on “Seinfeld,” has died. Stiller died…