Kyiv Diary 3/25/2022: ‘People Just Want To Survive. So, They Adapt to War’
Despite feeling constant danger, life seems to go on.
The Hollywood Blacklist and Its Jewish Legacy with Glenn Frankel and Margaret Talbot
During the Red Scare and Hollywood blacklist period of the late 1950s, thousands of Americans, many of them Jews, were persecuted for their political beliefs, imperiling democracy. Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Glenn Frankel, author of three books exploring the making of iconic American movies, including Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic, discusses the role of studio moguls, some of whom were Jewish; the damage done by the blacklist; the period’s eerie similarities to our own troubled era; and more. Frankel is in conversation with Margaret Talbot, staff writer at The New Yorker and author of The Entertainer: Movies, Magic, and My Father’s Twentieth Century. This program is part of a Moment series on antisemitism supported by the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation.
Bridgerton, Gossip and Marriage: What Does It Mean to Know Your Partner?
The world of Bridgerton, with its focus on gossip and knowledge, is very reminiscent of the Jewish dating scene in the Orthodox world.
Kyiv Diary 3/21/2022: ‘Love Is in the Air’
Love is in the air. Love for Ukraine, for the beloved city, for the defenders, and for each other.
Our Ahistorical Antisemitism
Joshua Harmon’s new play Prayer for the French Republic draws us into the life of a French Jewish family struggling to decide whether it is safe to remain in the country they have called home for generations.
Kyiv Diary 3/20/22: ‘Heartbroken Adults Are Forced To Leave the Elderly Behind’
Moment is publishing regular updates from Helen, a Soviet American Jew living in Kyiv. Read all the diary entries here.
These last nights were quiet. But nevertheless, we...
Black and Jewish views on Critical Race Theory with Janet Dewart Bell, Mia Brett, Eric K. Ward and Nadine Epstein
Nothing shines a light on the political divide in the United States more than three words – critical race theory. What is CRT and why has it become a lightning rod issue at school board meetings, state capitols and around dinner tables across the country? Is systemic racism something we should be worried about, even in the Jewish community? What are memory laws and are they a threat to our democracy? And shouldn’t we all feel uncomfortable when learning about uncomfortable issues? Dr. Janet Dewart Bell, author of Race, Rights, and Redemption: The Derrick Bell Lectures on Law and Critical Race Theory and writer Dr. Mia Brett, joins Eric K. Ward, executive director of Western States Center and Moment editor-in-chief Nadine Epstein to discuss how intellectual conversations about the intersection of race and law developed in the 1970s have been misunderstood and led to this latest buzzword tearing communities apart. Our thinkers also discuss how CRT fits into the Black – Jewish conversation.
This program is part of The Wide River Project, a yearlong, joint initiative of Western States Center and Moment that will take a deep dive—and fresh look—into the art, history and issues that both unite and divide the Black and Jewish communities.
Kyiv Diary 3/17/2022: ‘The Situation With Israel Bothers Ukrainians a Lot’
The situation with Israel bothers Ukrainians a lot—and not only Ukrainians.
Esther Before Ahasuerus by Artemesia Gentileschi
Gentileschi, recognized as the finest female artist of the 17th century, developed a reputation for depicting women, particularly figures from the Bible and classical mythology.
Kyiv Diary 3/16/22: ‘This Night Four Buildings Were Bombed’
Moment is publishing regular updates from Helen, a Soviet American Jew living in Kyiv. Read all the diary entries here.
Four buildings were bombed and destroyed...
Russian Aggression through the eyes of Eastern Europe with Konstanty Gebert and Amy E. Schwartz
The war Russia is waging against Ukraine has scrambled the lives, politics and demographics of Eastern Europe. Konstanty Gebert, a reporter for Poland’s leading daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborska and a Moment contributing editor, offers encyclopedic historical expertise and keen political insights on what’s happening right now in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary and the surrounding lands, from the Baltics to the Balkans. Gerbert is in a wide-ranging conversation with Moment Book and Opinion editor Amy E. Schwartz.
“So, Are Jews a Race?” Lessons from Purim and Beyond
The story of Esther concealing her Jewishness to save her people should lead Jews to think about the politics of “passing” in 21st century America.