PJ Grisar is a Forward culture reporter. He can be reached at [email protected] and @pjgrisar on Twitter.
PJ Grisar
By PJ Grisar
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Culture New York’s Gathering of Remembrance goes online for Yom HaShoah
New York’s Annual Gathering of Remembrance, which commemorates Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, typically draws over 20,000 people to Manhattan’s Temple Emanu-El. This year the venue is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but attendance is expected to grow substantially by taking the ceremony online. “I think this year we’ll see a broader audience…
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Culture The Jew-iest episodes of ‘The Simpsons’ will get you through quarantine
For many, comfort TV has an address: 742 Evergreen Terrace in Springfield, state unknown. This, of course, is where the Simpsons clan has lived since 1989. With a half-life roughly as long as that rod of uranium Homer flings off-screen in the opening credits, the show in its entirety runs longer, by far, than Shakespeare’s…
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Fast Forward Kelly Clarkson drops a new bop — in Hebrew!
A new song has us wondering — does Kelly Clarkson have what it takes to be a hit maker in Hebrew? On April 16, the inaugural winner of “American Idol” dropped the track “I Dare You” alongside international cuts of the song where she duets with singers from other countries. In the Israeli iteration, בוא…
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Culture In ‘Glengarry Glen Ross Jr.,’ American Girl dolls swear like salesmen
It’s a controversial truth, but a truth nonetheless; when kids curse, it’s funny. It was funny when Adam McKay’s toddler did it in “The Landlord,” it’s funny when Trey Parker’s tot does it on “South Park.” Kathryn Hahn and Ethan Sandler are aware of this, and as such, enlisted their kids in a performance of…
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Culture New York City’s cultural landmarks are asking Chuck Schumer for help
Over 100 New York cultural institutions — from zoos to performance venues — have delivered a letter to Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) requesting a robust relief plan for their industry to respond to the economic setbacks caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “Our sector was the first to be shut down by the government in response…
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Culture ‘Fauda’ season three makes a deep study of incidental trauma
If you follow “Fauda,” you know there are precious few constants in the lives of the characters. Refreshingly, the same goes for the show’s storytelling. With years-long gaps in production and a different players for each season, we find the central characters — elite soldier Doron and his team of undercover IDF operatives, known as…
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Music Why Bob Dylan is getting another 17 minutes of fame
At nearly 17 minutes, Bob Dylan’s coronavirus-timed release “Murder Most Foul” is his longest song — and it appears to be buying the 78-year-old songwriter more time in the spotlight. Despite, or perhaps because of, its formidable length, the tune has staying power. Many have taken the occasion of Dylan’s first original track in nearly…
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Culture Q&A: The 800-page book about cruelty that smells like bubblegum
You could be forgiven for thinking Adam Levin’s second novel, “Bubblegum,” might make for a fun and poppy read, partially because the book literally smells like its namesake treat. But the nearly-800-page tome, the “memoir” of the fictional Belt Magnet, a mentally ill author who intermittently speaks with inanimate objects, is no confectionery affair. Belt’s…
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