The Arts

Colson Whitehead Wins National Book Award in Fiction

Colson Whitehead won the National Book Award in fiction on Wednesday for his bestselling novel and Oprah Book Club pick The Underground Railroad. His fellow winners that evening were Ibram X. Kendi in nonfiction for Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America; Daniel Borzutzky in poetry for The Performance of […]

Colson Whitehead Wins National Book Award in Fiction Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, USA

Trump supporters try to undermine Megyn Kelly’s book with an onslaught of negative reviews on Amazon

Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump are using online retailer Amazon to attack Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly through harsh reviews of her new book. More than 100 negative one-star reviews appeared on the Amazon page selling Kelly’s memoir “Settle For More,” within hours of its Tuesday release. Many of the comments came through a link

Trump supporters try to undermine Megyn Kelly’s book with an onslaught of negative reviews on Amazon Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, USA

Jordan, Abdul-Jabbar, Scully to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

NBA legends Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Barack Obama named 21 recipients for the honor on Wednesday that included the three sports icons. The medals, the nation’s highest civilian honor a president can award, will be presented at the White

Jordan, Abdul-Jabbar, Scully to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom Read More »

Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Did the Bard crib from another book on King Lear?

  1606, Shakespeare and the Year of Lear by James Shapiro published by Faber and Faber, 2015. By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — When I picked this book up at Luton airport, as I was about to board a plane, I thought I was going to read a historical novel. I couldn’t have been more

Did the Bard crib from another book on King Lear? Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Megyn Kelly thinks Roger Ailes would still be running Fox News if he had not been sued for sexual harassment

Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly believes Roger Ailes would still be her boss today if former colleague Gretchen Carlson had not sued him for sexual harassment. Appearing Tuesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” the first stop on the tour for her new book “Settle for More,” Kelly noted that Fox News contracts include arbitration clauses

Megyn Kelly thinks Roger Ailes would still be running Fox News if he had not been sued for sexual harassment Read More »

Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Israeli actress Dana Ivgy to teach at SDSU

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) —  Israeli actress Dana Ivgy will serve as a visiting lecturer at San Diego State University this spring. Ivgy, a multiple Israeli film award winner, will be in San Diego from Jan. 15 to May 5th. Ivgy is lecturing at San Diego State University through the Schusterman Visiting Israeli Artists Program, which is

Israeli actress Dana Ivgy to teach at SDSU Read More »

Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

62 films slated for upcoming S.D. Jewish Film Festival

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) – The 27th Annual San Diego Jewish Film Festival presented by the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, Jacobs Family Campus, will run February 8-19, 2017. The 12-day Festival is the largest Jewish cultural event in San Diego and draws over 17,000 attendees annually

62 films slated for upcoming S.D. Jewish Film Festival Read More »

San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Veteran PBS Journalist Gwen Ifill Has Died; She Was 61 Years Old

Gwen Ifill, the host of “Washington Week” on PBS and co-host of the PBS “NewsHour,” is dead at the age of 61, according to reports. Ifill joined PBS in 1999 as both the moderator and managing editor of “Washington Week,” the network’s Sunday-morning talk show. In 2013, PBS named Ifill co-host of the PBS “NewsHour,”

Veteran PBS Journalist Gwen Ifill Has Died; She Was 61 Years Old Read More »

Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Leon Russell dies at 74; hit songwriter, Wrecking Crew member, musical bridge builder

Leon Russell, instantly recognizable for his long white hair and a rich, hearty voice that drifted between country and soul, died Saturday in Nashville, Tenn. He was 74. Russell was lauded for swampy rockers such as “Delta Lady” and “Roll Away the Stone,” and for heart-rending ballads such as the oft-recorded “A Song for You”

Leon Russell dies at 74; hit songwriter, Wrecking Crew member, musical bridge builder Read More »

Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials

Jewish trivia quiz: Leonard Cohen, z”l

By Mark D. Zimmerman NEW YORK — Surely the most famous song written and performed by Leonard Cohen, who passed away last week, is Hallelujah. The song, with its Biblical references to Samson and Delilah and David and Bathsheba, has been covered by hundreds of performers, including Bob Dylan, Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainright, Willie Nelson and Justin

Jewish trivia quiz: Leonard Cohen, z”l Read More »

Mark D. Zimmerman, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Uncovered letters shed light on Jewish Austrian writer Stefan Zweig

The Jewish Austrian author Stefan Zweig corresponded with an aspiring writer for years before the Nazis rose to power in Germany. These previously unknown letters have now emerged decades after his death. Tel Aviv (dpa) – The letters from one of the most important writers of the 1920s and 1930s had sat in a bank

Uncovered letters shed light on Jewish Austrian writer Stefan Zweig Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Middle East

Israel’s president pays personal tribute to Leonard Cohen: ‘A giant of a creator, open to all people’

Rivlin: He added a depth of emotion to our lives; ‘Dance Me to the End of Love’ was the soundtrack to so many moments in ‘our life as a couple and a family’ By Times of Israel staff Leonard Cohen during a concert in Ramat Gan, Israel, September 24, 2009. (Marko / Flash90) Israeli President

Israel’s president pays personal tribute to Leonard Cohen: ‘A giant of a creator, open to all people’ Read More »

Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials