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―The budget deal forged by Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Patty Murray will end extensions of unemployment insurance for 1.3 million Americans. Since the current Congress s has passed fewer bills than any of its postwar predecessors, some deficit hawks have suggested docking the salary of its members because they haven’t […]
Humoring the Headlines: December 12, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―As happens this time annually, conservatives are decrying the secular war on Christmas. Having Christmas designated a national holiday, having a national Christmas tree, and having the media flooded with Christmas advertisements and messages from Thanksgiving until December 25th does constitute a war, but it is being waged against people who
Humoring the Headlines: December 8, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Benjamin Netanyahu had an audience with Pope Francis this week and gave him an autographed copy of his father’s book on the Spanish Inquisition. This has sparked a new fad among world leaders. The Japanese Prime Minister sent Present Obama John Hersey’s Hiroshima. The Dalai Lama brought a copy of his
Humoring the headlines: December 6, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―The White House has demanded that North Korea release Merrill Newman because he is 85 years old and in poor health. Joe Biden has been dispatched there to negotiate Newman’s freedom and is allegedly willing to trade two healthy forty-two year olds for the ailing Newman. * Amazon has announced that
Humoring the Headlines: December 2, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireSome songs for Chanukah By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO― Afghanistan (Tune: Oh Hanukah) Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Your future is certain. . Our troops will defend you To profit Haliburton. There’s no more Osama, To terrorize our land. But President Obama Still fears the Taliban. And while we are fighting, Iran is enriching its core. For domestic
Humoring the Headlines: November 24, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireSAN DIEGO―Republican Congressman Trey Radel of Florida pled guilty of cocaine possession and use this week and blamed his addiction on his alcoholism. This is the same excuse embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford gave for smoking crack cocaine. Reporters checking into the drinking habits of the two men have learned that they always ordered rum
Humoring the Headlines: November 22, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Last week President Obama admitted he had fumbled the ball in the rollout for the Affordable Health Care Act and pledged he would rectify his mistake: “If I fumbled the ball, I’m somebody who’s going to wait until I get the next play and run as hard as I can. We
Humoring the Headlines: November18, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Former President George W. Bush will speak tonight at a fundraiser for the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute, an evangelical Christian group whose aim is to convert all Jews to accelerate the Second Coming of Christ. Fending off appeals by Jewish leaders to cancel his talk, Bush’s public relations team has come
Humoring the headlines: November 14, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO-Now that Chris Christie has presidential momentum, the Tea Party is conducting opposition research to find skeletons in his past. One researcher is exploring a rumor about him being guilty of marital and political infidelity. Apparently there is footage of him in a threesome with a democratic president, and a tempestuous
Humoring the Headlines: November 11, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Since the HealthCare.gov website is still not working properly, Kathleen Sebelius is advising single applicants without health insurance to use the eharmony.com dating website in the hope they will meet and marry someone who already has health insurance. Reeling over charges of plagiarism, Senator Rand Paul has accused his critics of
Humoring the headlines: November 8, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Major cuts in the Food Stamp Program went into effect the day after Halloween. When criticized for reducing food subsidies for those who can’t afford to feed themselves, a number of Tea Party Republicans introduced legislation to hold Halloween on the last Thursday of every month to sweeten the lives of
Humoring the headlines: November 4, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Embarrassed over leaks that the NSA monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone, President Obama called her on a secure line to apologize. The next day he received a briefing from the NSA citing his conversation with Merkel verbatim and reminding him, “Espionage means you never have to say you’re sorry.”
Humoring the headlines: October 30, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — House Republicans are outraged over the glitches in the Affordable Health Care website. One was overheard saying, “If we would have known it would be done so incompetently, we could have spared voting over 40 times to repeal it and shutting down the government, spent our energy on voting
Humoring the headlines: October 25, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron If glitches continue to plague HealthCare.gov, the Affordable Health Care Act is slated to be renamed the Inaccessible Health Care Act. . Dan Snyder, the politically insensitive owner of the Washington Redskins, is considering less offensive names for his team. Possible alternatives are: The Washington Firewater Drinkers, The Washington Savages, and The
Humoring the Headlines: October 22, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire