Esther D. Kustanowitz is a Los Angeles-based writer, editor and consultant. She co-hosts The Bagel Report, a podcast about Jews and popular culture, and speaks about #TVGoneJewy, a term she invented to describe the increase of Jewish content on television. Follow her on Twitter @EstherK.
We look to spiritual leaders to guide us through challenging moments and inspire us, but where do they turn to for their own source of inspiration? Streaming services. “This past year has been hard in new ways, and when you live at your job and your job is often to help other people make it…
Cambria Gordon’s family sabbatical in Madrid in 2016 became more than a time away from her native Los Angeles. Gordon felt her identity — as a writer and as a Jew — blossom. She launched into a journey of research and inquiry that led to the writing and publication of her new young adult novel,…
A year into the pandemic, every organization has its COVID-19 pivot stories, but some had to pivot harder than others. At Beit T’Shuvah — the Los Angeles-based treatment center that uses a comprehensive program of Jewish spirituality, psychotherapy, and the 12-Steps of recovery – the robust in-person community was always a core part of the…
When he died on Valentine’s Day 2021 after a battle with leukemia, pop singer and LGBTQ+ activist Ari Gold left behind a legacy of love and pride in both his gay and Jewish identity. “He was a gay icon from a frum background,” said producer Howard (Zvi) Rosenman, a longtime friend of the Gold family…
Mike Myers, who brought the world Austin Powers, Wayne, Shrek and Fat Bastard, isn’t the first name you think of when it comes to Holocaust education, but there he was, popping up on Zoom, to speak–– movingly–– to hundreds of students from around the world about genocide and hate. “There’s a responsibility when you have…
If the name ‘Mankiewicz’ sounds familiar, you might be remembering Frank Mankiewicz, RFK’s presidential campaign press secretary who subsequently served as a President of NPR. Or Herman J. Mankiewicz, who wrote Citizen Kane with Orson Welles. Or Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Oscar-winning director, screenwriter, and producer, or screenwriter Don Mankiewicz. Dive into Wikipedia and you’ll be…
On a warm Friday near downtown Los Angeles, a line of locals stretches down 12th Street, from Union to Valencia. At the corner, they cross the street, looping back in front of the Pico Union Project. As they pass in front of the gate, a man wearing gloves and a mask hands them a bag….
It was during the traditional Muslim call to prayer when Rabbi Tova Leibovic-Douglas found herself becoming emotional. “I kept thinking about my Muslim friends who were not in one space with their family or friends for Ramadan and how beautiful and painful our world is,” she said. The rabbi was one of over 1400 participants…
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