Arts & Culture

Living, reading, watching and listening Jewishly—that’s the crux of Moment’s Arts & Culture section. Here you can find book reviews, poetry, fiction, art and music. Don’t miss our fantastic interviews with artists and musicians.

 hhihhh___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Book Review | Greed, Drugs and Philanthropy

In this time of corrective unnamings—to remove traces of admiration or gratitude for the morally reevaluated—the names of unrepentant slaveholders, Confederate generals, contemporary sexual predators and other assorted wrongdoers have been erased or proposed for erasure from college dorms, military bases, city streets and more.

Continue reading

mahjong

Book Review | Building Community One Tile at a Time

At the Museum at Eldridge Street’s Egg Rolls, Egg Creams and Empanadas street festival—a celebration of Ashkenazi Jewish, Chinese and Puerto Rican communities held each summer (pre-pandemic) on New York’s Lower East Side—groups of Chinese Americans and American Jewish women play mahjong side by side, sometimes pausing to teach younger festivalgoers how to play.

Continue reading

Jewish Pioneers in Television: The Next Generation with TV Historians Walter J. Podrazik and Harry Castleman

TV became the preeminent communication force in society from the 1960s onward, with Jews at the creative and business forefront. Walter J. Podrazik and Harry Castleman continue their entertaining survey of the medium’s history with a focus on influential figures such as Fred Silverman, Brandon Tartikoff, Barry Diller and Sumner Redstone and the groundbreaking shows they brought to the screen such as Seinfeld, Happy Days, Charlie’s Angels, Hill Street Blues, The Cosby Show, The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory plus made-for-TV movies and miniseries such as Roots. Their achievements paved the way for the growth of cable, and eventually streaming.

Continue reading

The Man Behind the Masks: Stan Lee and Marvel Comics with Journalists Abraham Riesman and Dan Raviv

Stanley Lieber, better known as Stan Lee, revolutionized the comic industry and helped create superheroes like Spider-Men, X-Men, Black Panther and more for Marvel Comics. Abraham Riesman, author of True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee in conversation about Lee’s complicated life and legacy with Dan Raviv, author of Comic Wars and former CBS News correspondent. 

Co-sponsored by Moment Magazine and the Association of Jewish Libraries in commemoration of Jewish American Heritage Month.

Continue reading

Crack, Bam, Dot: The Sounds and Stories of Mahjong with Author Annelise Heinz and Moment Deputy Editor Sarah Breger

Tiles clicking and clacking, women chatting – these are the childhood memories many Jewish women have of their mothers playing mahjong – a game still enjoyed today. How did a game from China make its way to America and how did it become so intertwined with Jewish culture in the United States? Annelise Heinz author of Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture takes us through the history of this beloved game. In conversation with Moment Deputy Editor Sarah Breger. In commemoration of Jewish American Heritage Month.

Continue reading