Join Justice Stephen Breyer for a conversation about why pragmatism matters and the consequences of textualism in Supreme Court decisions such as Dobbs and Bruen.
A conversation about the importance of folklore in both the Black and Jewish communities, from the golem and Anansi the Spider to Hip Hop and Jewish Jokes.
Join Merrifield Papp, author of the memoir Public/Private: My Life with Joe Papp at The Public Theater, and longtime friends Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody for a conversation about “how The Public Theater became a transformative beacon for social change and of the couple who created it,” and the Yiddishkeit that bonded Papp, Patinkin and Grody.
Journalist Dina Kraft, coauthor of My Friend Anne Frank: The Inspiring and Heartbreaking True Story of Best Friends Torn Apart and Reunited Against All Odds, shares stories from Hannah Pick-Goslar’s memoir.
Join David Broza and Moment Book & Opinion editor Amy E. Schwartz, for a conversation about Leonard Cohen, his legacy, why he was so beloved and what it was like to reimagine his songs.
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.
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.
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.
Dan Glickman has done it all – from serving in the U.S. House of Representative to becoming the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to serving as Chairman of the Motion Picture Association. In his new book, Laughing at Myself: My Education in Congress, on the Farm, and at the Movies, Dan shares how a Jewish midwestern kid with Russian and Eastern European immigrant grandparents made his way from Kansas to Washington, DC and Hollywood and survived to tell the story. Glickman is interviewed by his son, Hollywood producer and former president of MGM Motion Picture Group, Jonathan Glickman. Held in celebration of Father’s Day.
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.
In an era when a new wave of movies pushed the boundaries of mainstream filmmaking, Midnight Cowboy stands out as the riskiest, most unconventional, and most successful of them all. Glenn Frankel’s new book, Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic, explores the making of the only X-rated film to win a Best Picture Oscar and offers a window onto the creative ferment and social unrest that gripped New York and America in the 1960s: the rise of gay liberation, the treatment of sexual themes in popular culture, and the role of Jewish artists such as director John Schlesinger and star Dustin Hoffman. Glenn, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, in conversation with film historian and scholar Rebecca Prime, managing editor of Film Quarterly.
In 1975, journalist and humorist Calvin Trillin wrote about Jacob Schiff and his uncle Ben Daynovsky in the first issue of Moment, trying to figure out why his family entered the United States through Texas and not Ellis Island. Join Calvin, in conversation with Moment’s opinion and book editor Amy E. Schwartz to hear an update on his Jacob Schiff adventures all these years later and what he’s thinking about and working on today.
