Lawrence (Laurie) Baron, now retired, served as the Nasatir Professor of Modern Jewish History at San Diego State University. He served from 1988 to 2006 as director of SDSU’s Lipinsky Institute for Judaic Studies. He was the founder in 1995 of the Western Jewish Studies Association.
He writes two satire columns for San Diego Jewish World: “Humoring the Headlines” under his byline, and “Hounding the Headlines,” under the byline of his dog Elona.
Books to his credit, available on Amazon, include:
Projecting the Holocaust into the Present: The Changing Focus of Contemporary Holocaust Cinema
The Modern Jewish Experience in World Cinema
The eclectic anarchism of Erich Muhsam (Men & movements in the history & philosophy of anarchism)
His most recent articles are:
“Making Room for the Jews: The House I Live In (1945),” AJS Perspectives, Summer 2023, 86-88.
“The Revolt of Job: Salvaging the Lost World of Rural Hungarian Hasidim,” Journal of Jewish Identities, 16:1-2 (January/July 2023), 181-198.
“Persistent Parallels, Resistant Particularities: Holocaust Analogies and Avoidance in Armenian Genocide Centennial Cinema, in Armenian and Jewish Experience between Expulsion and Destruction, ed. Sarah M. Ross and Regina Randhofer (Berlin: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2021), 267-296.
“The Pioneering American Jewish Women Directors from Elaine May to Claudia Weill,” Jews and Gender (Studies in Jewish Civilization), ed. Leonard Greenspoon (W. Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2021), 217-243.
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — With the death of Gene Wilder, the world lost someone who consistently made us laugh. Anyone who enjoyed movie comedies over the past 50 years feels this loss. The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Wilder began his career as a serious actor appearing on Broadway in One Flew Over […]
In memory of Gene Wilder Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & BroadcastIf you’re counting, this is the 250th “Humoring the Headlines” column By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO─ Donald Trump opened his third campaign office in Israel to court the votes of Israeli Americans. He and Bibi are jointly planning to found a branch of Trump University there where students will be able to major in the
Humoring the headlines: August 25, 2016 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USABy the author of Humoring the Headlines Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — All of a sudden Donald Trump fashions himself as a reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln who will emancipate African Americans from the slavery they have experienced under Democrats. “What the hell do you have to lose?’ he asks them when he addresses white audiences
Trump’s real feelings about African Americans Read More »
Lawrence Baron, USABy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO –I know I said I was taking a vacation for a week, but when Donald Trump invents a new word, I can’t resist jumping in. (Extreme Vocabulary by Donald J. Trump) Extreme Bedding: Courtship. Extreme Debting: Business strategy of borrowing more than you can pay back, declaring bankruptcy, and not paying your
Humoring the headlines: August 16, 2016 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USABy Laurie Baron The Art of the Steal: How to Win While You Lose by Donald J. Trump Freedom of the press means the freedom to sue if you don’t like how it covers you. “One of the things I’m going to do if I win… I’m going to open up our libel laws so
Humoring the headlines: August 10, 2016 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USASome campaign theme songs By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — Now that the conventions are over, both presidential candidates have released the anthems for their campaigns. I’ll Fix America by Donald Trump (Melody: God Bless America) “While there’s Muslim terror from abroad and near. Elect me president, you won’t have to fear. I’ll defend our
Humoring the headlines: August 8, 2016 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USABy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO─As a token of his support, an army veteran gave Donald Trump his purple heart. Now all Trump needs is courage and a brain to leave the threatening world haunted by a wicked witch that he has been campaigning against. * Advisers close to Trump are worried that his controversial
Humoring the headlines: August 4, 2016 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireDemocratic National Convention, Day 3 By Laurie Baron Donald Trump tried to steal the Democratic National Convention’s thunder by urging the Russians to release any of Hillary Clinton’s emails they have hacked. This can backfire in two ways. Either Vladimir Putin will create a new espionage agency called the KGOP, or it will demonstrate that
Humoring the headlines: July 28, 2016 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USADay two of the Democratic National Convention By Laurie Baron The Democratic National Convention has featured Andra Day, Alicia Keys, Meryl Streep, Sarah Silverman, and Paul Simon among other famous entertainers. Ticketmaster is currently negotiating with the Democrats to take this show on the road under the name Politpaloosa. * Congressman Joseph Crowley accused Donald
Humoring the Headlines: July 27, 2016 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USADemocratic National Convention, Day 1 By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — Unlike Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton will not appear at the convention every night. Instead she has placed a life-sized bobble head doll of herself in a pants suit near the podium to nod its head approvingly after every positive comment said about her. * Those
Humoring the headlines: July 26, 2016 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USAThe Republican National Convention Wrap Up By Laurie Baron Trump delegate Al Baldasaro of New Hampshire reiterated his belief that Hillary should be “put in the firing line and shot for treason.” Forget about fact checking. He needs tact checking. * Jerry Falwell Jr. praised Donald Trump as “America’s blue-collar billionaire,” but failed to mention
Humoring the headlines: July 22, 2016 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireGOP Convention Update By Laurie Baron The Republican Convention is turning out to be a succession of summer reruns and spinoffs: The GOP Lacks Talent: Where else could you see the dwarf star talent and mind of Scott Baio on display. Remember Scott? His last television show was the Nickelodeon series Sam and Cat in
Humoring the Headlines: July 21, 2016 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireThe Republican Convention Update By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO–On the first evening of the convention, Melania Trump delivered a speech, parts of which were flagrantly plagiarized from Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech to the Democratic Convention. The initial response of the Trump campaign was either that the charge of plagiarism was unfounded or that Hillary Clinton was
Humoring the headlines: July 20, 2016 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USABy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO─ Although Bernie Sanders finally endorsed Hillary Clinton, some of Bernie’s diehard supporters say they will vote for Trump rather than Clinton. My advice to them: after you have felt the Bern; you’re far safer feeling the lukewarm than playing with fire. * Next week’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland will
Humoring the Headlines: July 14, 2016 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire