Arts & Culture, Latest, Zoominars

The indomitable Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop with Mallory Lewis, Nat Segaloff and Sarah Breger

Famed ventriloquist and creator of the iconic puppet Lamb Chop, Shari Lewis was one of the few women to run her own television production company at a time when most women were shut out of the industry. Lewis and Lamb Chop entertained generations of children with their many television shows, including specials about Hanukkah and Passover. Mallory Lewis, Emmy Award-winning performer and daughter of Shari, and TV writer-producer Nat Segaloff, join Moment editor Sarah Breger for a conversation about Lewis’ stage and TV career, how Judaism influenced her work, the challenges of being a businesswoman in a male dominated field and how she and her puppet became iconic stars loved by millions. Mallory Lewis and Segaloff are the authors of the forthcoming book Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop: The Team That Changed Children’s Television.

This program is in celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month.

Continue reading

Arts & Culture, Holocaust Zoominars, Latest, Zoominars

Jan Karski: Witness to the Holocaust with David Strathairn, Derek Goldman and Amy E. Schwartz

Actor David Strathairn, nominated for an Academy Award for his role as journalist Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck, has dedicated himself to portraying great men. He’s currently performing as Jan Karski, the World War II hero who risked his life to carry his harrowing eye-witness report about the Holocaust from war-torn Poland to the Allied Nations and, ultimately, the White House, only to be ignored and disbelieved. Strathairn is in conversation with playwright Derek Goldman and Moment’s books and opinion editor Amy E. Schwartz about the play, Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski and why this courageous man’s story may be more relevant than ever.

This program is part of the Moment Theater Festival and part of a Moment series on antisemitism supported by the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation.

Continue reading

Latest, Zoominars

The Intersection of Music and Prayer with David Broza and Amy E. Schwartz

To internationally renowned Israeli singer-songwriter David Broza, music is a platform for dialogue and tolerance. Themes of social justice and peace are embedded in his music and are integral to his humanitarian work. Now Broza, known for his dynamic guitar performances, has put his prodigious talents to work creating new music for the Shabbat service. He is in conversation with Moment books and opinion editor Amy E. Schwartz about his new album, Tefila—prayer in Hebrew—which reimagines the service with genres such as pop, jazz, gospel, folk and classical for a fresh and engaging Shabbat experience.

Continue reading

Arts & Culture, Books Zoominars, Latest, Music Zoominars, Zoominars

The Story of Art Rupe and Specialty Records with Nadine Epstein and Billy Vera

Art Rupe, who died in April at the age of 104, was an independent record producer known for launching the musical careers of Lloyd Price, Little Richard, Sam Cooke and others, paving the way for Black music to crossover to White audiences and the new genre of rock n’ roll. Moment editor-in-chief and Billy Vera, a singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, Grammy Award winning music historian and author of Rip It Up: The Specialty Records Story is in conversation about Rupe’s impoverished childhood in a Pennsylvania town, his early affinity for gospel music, and how he turned down a scholarship to become a rabbi and instead headed to Hollywood, his legendary career, life philosophy and more.

This program is in celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month.

Continue reading

Arts & Culture, Latest, Zoominars

The Thrilling World of Brad Meltzer

Brad Meltzer is a New York Times bestselling author known for his legal thrillers, including the recently released The Lightning Rod. His non-fiction work includes a biography series for children with such titles as I am Anne Frank as well as the upcoming The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill. He is also the host of the tv shows Lost History and Decoded. Meltzer is in conversation with former CBS News correspondent and Moment contributor Dan Raviv about how his law school experience has helped him develop his stories, the extensive research that goes into each book, his commitment to educating children through his “I Am” series and how his concern about antisemitism has influenced some of his work.

Continue reading

History, Latest, Zoominar Library, Zoominars

Letters from the Lingerie Drawer: A Daughter’s Journey with Eleanor Reissa and Yehuda Hyman

What if you could suddenly see your parents’ lives before you were born? And they were Holocaust survivors, who had suffered greatly but still somehow found each other. This is what happened to Tony-nominated director and Broadway/television actor Eleanor Reissa when her mother passed away, leaving behind 56 letters she’d received from Reissa’s father in the years after he survived a death march. It took Reissa 30 years to have them translated from German and discover her parents’ story. She discusses what she learned and her recently released memoir, The Letters Project: A Daughter’s Journey, in conversation with playwright and artistic director Yehuda Hyman. Reissa also reads several selections from her book.

This program is in commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Continue reading

Arts & Culture, Black Jewish Relations Zoominars, Latest, Music Zoominars, Wide River Project, Zoominars

Blacks, Jews, Jazz & Blues with Loren Schoenberg, Eric K. Ward and Nadine Epstein

In the 19th century Black spirituals were inspired by biblical stories in the Old Testament, especially those we remember during Passover. In the early decades of the 20th century, Black and Jewish musicians, often living side by side in the same impoverished neighborhoods, connected through legacies of oppression. With the music industry one of the few fields open to them both, it’s no surprise that blues and jazz became rich, crossover genres. Join Loren Schoenberg, senior scholar at The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Eric K. Ward, executive director of Western States Center and Nadine Epstein, Moment editor-in-chief, for a conversation about these musical connections, the bonds and tensions, and a taste of the music itself including Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho and Go Down Moses to Bei Mir Bist Du Shein.

Continue reading

Latest, Science, Zoominars

Why You Should Know Your DNA: Genetics, Testing and Disease Prevention with Paul Root Wolpe, Ali Rogin and Emily Goldberg

You can’t change your DNA but understanding your genetic makeup might just save your life. Dr. Paul Root Wolpe, director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University and journalist Ali Rogin, author of Beat Breast Cancer Like a Boss: 30 Powerful Stories join JScreen genetic counselor Emily Goldberg for a conversation about the importance of knowing your risk for developing genetic diseases. Learn how to become a ‘previvor’ no matter your ethnic background or gender.

Continue reading

Antisemitism Zoominars, Books Zoominars, Foreign Affairs Zoominars, Jewish World, Latest, Religion, Zoominar Library, Zoominars

The Jews of Iran: Antisemitism and the Great Exodus with Roya Hakakian and Sarah Breger

While Jews have lived in Iran for centuries, today’s Jewish community numbers around 10,000, down from 100,000 Jews prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Roya Hakakian, author of Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran and A Beginner’s Guide to America: For the Immigrant and the Curious, shares what life was like prior to the revolution, the antisemitism that caused most Jews to flee and what life is like now for the Iranian Jewish community. Hakakian is in conversation with Moment editor Sarah Breger.

This program is part of a Moment series on antisemitism supported by the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation.

Continue reading

Antisemitism Zoominars, Arts & Culture, Latest, Zoominars

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.

Continue reading

Black Jewish Relations Zoominars, Latest, Wide River Project, Zoominars

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.

Continue reading

Latest, World, Zoominars

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.

Continue reading

«‹89101112›»