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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Film & TV I built the ‘Seinfeld’ apartment from Lego — it nearly broke me
I grew up in a house with a framed cocktail napkin signed by Jerry Seinfeld and every episode of his sitcom taped on VHS. All this is to say that I have a long history of welcoming the man into my home and am pretty familiar with the layout of the “Seinfeld” apartment. That said,…
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Culture Will Spike Lee’s 9/11 series feature a conspiracy theorist who welcomes antisemitic canards?
Spike Lee’s searching curiosity makes him one of our best and most eclectic filmmakers. But sometimes he may be asking the wrong questions of the wrong people. As Jeremy Stahl reported Tuesday in Slate, in an advanced cut of the final episode of Lee’s new documentary miniseries on HBO, “NYC Epicenters 9/11–2021½,” the director devoted…
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Culture Haddish. Chomsky. Dershowitz. Who should be the next host of ‘Jeopardy?’
The nation’s favorite quiz show continues to have a host-shaped hole at its center with the sudden exit of Mike Richards. But who should fill it? For years, Ken Jennings seemed the heir apparent. But if we want to talk sordid remarks on podcasts (and Twitter), he’s not much better than Richards. The people want…
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Fast Forward Mike Richards steps down from ‘Jeopardy!’ gig after antisemitic comments unearthed
That was quick. Two days after The Ringer reported on Mike Richards’ past podcast remarks, in which the newly appointed “Jeopardy!” host made offensive remarks about poor people, Haitians and Jews, Richards announced he was stepping down. “It pains me that these past incidents and comments have cast such a shadow on ‘Jeopardy!’ as we…
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Culture In Netflix’s latest, a Nazi salute sets off the season’s best comedy
Netflix’s best new comedy ends its first episode with a Nazi salute. In the fictional lower-tier Ivy, Pembroke University, a popular professor, Bill Dobson, strides into his packed classroom. He writes “Absurdism” on the board and, right above it, that artistic movement’s partial impetus, “Fascism.” His students seem engaged and he continues with the lecture….
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Culture What Kushner pal Ken Kurson’s songwriting suggests about his latest charges
Author’s Note: After being pardoned by Trump for alleged cyberstalking, Jared Kushner’s longtime chum Ken Kurson is now facing similar charges. In light of this news, we are revisiting this article from October of last year, which plumbs Kurson’s musical oeuvre, a canon of paranoia and jealousy that gels quite well with the allegations. Ken…
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Film & TV Scarlett Johansson’s new baby is named Cosmo… like Kramer
Some people enter the world with a spasm of life, commanding attention as they jerk their way into existence. Kinda like how Kramer bursts into a room, only probably with more medical equipment and less studio audience applause. On Wednesday, a baby boy made one such entrance — at least if his name, like Moses…
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Culture Former Folksbiene CEO quits 6-figure job after résumé-padding investigation
The former CEO of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, who was recently found to have padded his résumé with fake jobs and professional honors, is resigning from his post at the University of Utah’s Pioneer Theatre Company, citing mental illness. “Despite many good things that have happened over the last two years under my direction,…
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Culture Why saying ‘L’shana Tova’ on Rosh Hashanah may not be the correct phrase
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Fast Forward Was the viral Ta-Nehisi Coates interview a hit piece or fair play? A journalism ethics expert weighs in.
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Culture How my odious cousin Roy Cohn was responsible for creating Donald Trump — and me
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Opinion This is the most disorienting Rosh Hashanah in memory
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Culture 5 Jewish things about the Mets — and why Jewish fans adore them
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Yiddish ווירטועלע ייִדיש־קורסן וועגן טעאַטער, גנבֿים און, להבֿדיל, די פּרשיותOnline Yiddish courses about the theater, thieves and the weekly Torah portion
די ייִדיש־פּראָגראַם פֿונעם אַרבעטער־רינג נעמט אויך אַרײַן באַשעװיס־זינגערס „מײַן טאַטנס בית־דין־שטוב“
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Culture New conspiracy theory just dropped — Jews are causing the hurricanes
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