Новости за 06.08.2015

We’ve covered Jon Stewart quite a lot over the years—mostly because of his run as host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, which comes to a close on Thursday night, while keeping in mind his wonderfully Jewy given name, Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz. And, after 16 inspired years as a “fake” anchor, Stewart has deserved the attention: night after night he has trashed the messaging of network and cable news products, pricking at their methods with the sharp needle of media satire.

The recent rise in anti-Semitic demonstrations and violence, Jews are leaving Europe—particularly France, where over 500 such incidents were counted in just the few months following the Charlie Hebdo and Jewish market attacks. Yet Jewish immigration to Germany—of all places—is on the rise, with an estimated 40,000 new Jewish citizens, largely from Israel, in Berlin alone.

On Tuesday, President Obama met with Jewish community leaders at the White House for two and a half hours to explain the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Agreement. “He spent 45 minutes, laying out deal, speaking without notes,” said one participant in attendance. “He argued why the deal is better than the alternatives, even as he acknowledged that Iran is not a good actor. The meeting was very emotional, everything was out on the table.”

The world of romance writing isn’t all hearts and flowers.

A number of prominent writers in the genre have begun speaking out against a romance novel called For Such a Time by an evangelical Christian writer, Kate Breslin. Full disclosure: I have not read the entire book. I’ve read a sample chapter, the promotional copy and the reviews of people I trust. And to quote a great editor, “I don’t have to eat the whole egg to know it is rotten.”

Continue reading "A Romance Novel About a Nazi and a Jew? Читать дальше...

It’s Thursday, which means the latest episode of Unorthodox is here. Tablet’s newest podcast, part of Slate’s Panoply network, is a smart, fresh, fun take on Jewish news and culture. (If you missed our first episode, it’s here–what are you waiting for?) Episode 2, I can assure you, does not disappoint.

A few years ago, it was impossible to talk to anyone in the book business without contracting a sense of doom. Publishers had seen how quickly new technologies destroyed the once mighty music industry and left newspapers and magazines teetering on the brink; so it was only natural to assume that books would be next. Once Amazon produced the first cheap and appealing e-reader, the Kindle, it seemed a safe bet that the next step would be online file-sharing, free streaming, and all the other legal... Читать дальше...

Whatever else he may be—real-estate franchise ringmaster, reality show boss, the maharaja of merchandise, the GOP’s front-runner for now—Donald Trump, who will take his place onstage tonight for the first of too many debates pitting Republican presidential hopefuls against one another, is also heir to a precious Jewish tradition. He will, most likely, not be our next commander in chief; but he is, perhaps, our last great Vaudevillian.