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.
Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado recently claimed that teachers “are putting litter boxes in schools for students who identify as cats.” This new conspiracy theory espoused by other ultra-conservative Republicans is an extrapolation of their campaign against adjustments schools have made for transgender pupils. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Satire: Feline Fabrications Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron Worried about all the legal problems his father-in-law is facing, Jared Kushner persuaded him to attend Yom Kippur services to atone for his sins. Donald agreed only on the condition that he didn’t have to fast and could call DoorDash to deliver him a Big Mac, fries, and diet Coke at lunch
Satire: Donald Trump’s Yom Kippur Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
Many readers of San Diego Jewish World know Baron via his political satire columns, but I asked my colleague to put his hat back on as a Holocaust scholar to assess how well Burns’ documentary had covered the subject.[Donald H. Harrison]
Pros and Cons of Ken Burns’ Holocaust Documentary Read More »
California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Jewish History, Lawrence Baron, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USABy Laurie Baron (Melody: Oklahoma) Mar-a-Lago, where the lackies come to kiss Trump’s ring Where secrets are stored since he likes to hoard Believing that he owns everything. Mar-a-Lago, where agents confiscated files. And he felt maligned since in his mind They’re declassified, no grounds for a trial. We know they belong to the land,
Now that the political stunt of shipping undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers to blue states under false pretenses has become the policy of Republican Trump-wannabe governors, Democratic officials should respond in kind. Without requiring them to pay me a fee for political consulting, here are my suggestions. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Satire: Goosing the Gander Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireI am finding the 11 days of mourning ceremonies between the death of Queen Elizabeth II and her burial next Monday archaic, pompous, and tedious. If only she were Jewish, we would be spared the redundant rituals, and much time and money could be saved not only by the United Kingdom but also by all the countries dispatching their leaders and reporters to cover the event. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Satire: If Queen Elizabeth Were Jewish Read More »
International, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron President Biden received scathing criticism for labeling MAGA Republicans “semi-fascists.” I selected some quotations from MAGA leaders to test the validity of his characterization. “The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church. That is not how our Founding Fathers intended it. I’m tired
The Semi-Fascist MAGA Menace: The Truth is Funnier (and Scarier) Than Satirical Fiction Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireDonald Trump has claimed that he had a “standing order” to declassify any documents he took from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago resort. The following are other standing orders found by the FBI in the files it seized there. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Satire: Standing Orders Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
You keep saying that you are my owner.
And I’m here to bring you joy.
You’re mistaken who’s in charge here
And don’t realize my wagging’s just a ploy. {Elona Baron as translated by Laurie Baron]
These Paws Are Made for Walking Read More »
Jewish Fiction, Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Laurie Baron The Keller Independent School District in Keller, Texas, has removed the graphic novel The Diary of Anne Frank by Ari Folman from its libraries in response to a complaint lodged by irate parents that it is not age appropriate for children to read unless they do so under adult supervision. Here’s the
Satire: Anne Frank’s Dirty Diary Read More »
Holocaust, International, Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA(Tune: You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away) By Laurie Baron I’m accused, so abused. Once again a martyr. DOJ discredits me, Makes my next run harder. How can they even try They know I always win? Rigging votes to keep me out. Soon I’ll be back in. Hey, I should have hid the files
By Laurie Baron CPAC has kept its acronym but changed what it stands for: Conspirators Planning Authoritarian Coups. This change is reflected in this year’s conference program. Viktor Orbán replaced Vladimir Putin who canceled because he hadn’t finished writing his scheduled speech on “The Only Good Neighbor is An Annexed One.” After Orbán bragged how
By Laurie Baron Families of victims of 9/11 are protesting the holding of the LIV tournament at Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, because LIV is funded by Saudi Arabia which they blame for abetting the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. Trump claims this is merely a sporting event that has nothing
By Laurie Baron The House of Representatives passed the Right to Contraception Act to protect “a person’s ability to access contraceptives and to engage in contraception, and to protect a health care provider’s ability to provide contraceptives, contraception, and information related to contraception.” The text of the bill, however, was considerably abridged from the original
Satire: The Unexpurgated Draft of the Right to Contraception Act Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire