PJ Grisar is a Forward culture reporter. He can be reached at grisar@forward.com and @pjgrisar on Twitter.
PJ Grisar
By PJ Grisar
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Forward 50 2018 Abby Schachner
Coming Forward Is No Joke It takes a lot of courage to be a performer and comedian. Illustrator and storyteller Abby Schachner may have more than most. In November 2017, Schachner was one of five women to speak to The New York Times about Louis CK’s inappropriate sexual behavior. The choice to come forward about…
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Forward 50 2018 Marc Maron
Next Stop Starring With His Hero, WTF?! Marc Maron, 55, didn’t start out as leading man material. Since 2009 his celebrated podcast “WTF with Marc Maron,” has famously hosted Oscar-winning actors, iconic musicians and even a sitting president — all from the clutter of his garage. But in the past two years Maron has gained…
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Forward 50 2018 Julie Cohen
For The Love Of RBG With all of the love out there for Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it was only a matter of time before a documentary came along. 2018’s “RBG” gave us a long-awaited cinematic look at RBG’s career that was met with near-universal acclaim — and even gave publicity to RBG’s…
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Forward 50 2018 Joe Weisberg
Mastermind Show Runner Joe Weisberg is the closest thing we have to a Jewish Ian Fleming. Creator of FX’s Emmy-winning spy series, “The Americans,” one of Weisberg’s first jobs out of college was at the Central Intelligence Agency. Weisberg eventually left the Agency to teach special education in Queens. He turned to TV writing in…
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Culture Should Linda Fairstein’s Involvement In The Central Park Five Case Keep Her From A Mystery Writing Award?
Mystery novels can be morally dubious. They often use horrific incidents to entertain and sometimes to titillate their readers. We can continue to enjoy them without too much compunction, however, knowing that the events are made up. So what happens when someone who supervised a real-world miscarriage of justice is being honored for her work…
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Film & TV The Secret Jewish History Of SpongeBob Squarepants
On November 26 Stephen Hillenburg, the unassuming marine biologist who reached millions with his cartoon creation SpongeBob Squarepants passed away from complications of ALS. Hillenburg was 57. Eternally optimistic, absorbent, yellow and porous, Hillenburg’s signature creation truly needs no introduction, nor does his permanent residence in a pineapple under the sea. But how did such…
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Culture Stephen Miller High School Clips Prove Some Folks Don’t Ever Grow Up
Almost none of us want reminders of our high school years made public. Then again most of us have some shame, something Stephen Miller, the man at the forefront of Trump’s most draconian immigration policies, appears to be lacking. On a November 25 episode of Hasan Minhaj’s Netflix series “Patriot Act,” which focused on immigration…
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Culture Aaron Sorkin Doesn’t Seem To Know Why His ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ Should Exist Either
Aaron Sorkin began his career with a staged courtroom drama, “A Few Good Men,” and is entering into a controversial late period with another. Like his biblical namesake, Sorkin has taken on a sacred cow, adapting Harper Lee’s beloved novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” for the Broadway stage. It’s a task he referred to in…
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