Lawrence Baron

Laurie Baron

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.

Humoring the Headlines: February 10, 2014

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Spectators were dazzled by the pyrotechnics, luminescent colors, and special effects of the opening ceremony at the Sochi Winter Olympics.  Although Russia claimed it cost a fortune to produce and featured thousands of Russians, conspiracy theorists suspect it was merely a holographic projection of scenes from Avatar and Tron. * Under […]

Humoring the Headlines: February 10, 2014 Read More »

Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Humoring the Headlines: February 6, 2014

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Archeologists have discovered a network of prehistoric limestone dwellings under Miami Beach.  While some of them speculate that the 2,000 year old structures were inhabited by the Tequesta Indians; others believe that they were originally built by one of the lost tribes of Israel because an inscription found in one of

Humoring the Headlines: February 6, 2014 Read More »

Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Humoring the headlines: February 4, 2014

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO-Since Hollywood loves sequels to successful movies and stories “ripped from the headlines,” production has begun on films that mix these genres.  Here are some scripts currently under consideration. American Tussle-An American diplomat futilely tries to convince obstinate Israeli and Palestinian leaders that making peace is better than descending into an

Humoring the headlines: February 4, 2014 Read More »

Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Humoring the headlines: January 31, 2014

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Venture capitalist Thomas Perkins apologized for drawing a parallel between the “progressive war on the American one percent, namely the ‘rich” and “Nazi Germany’s war on its ‘one percent,’ namely its Jews.” …This is a very dangerous drift in our American thinking. Kristallnacht was unthinkable in 1930; is its descendant “progressive”

Humoring the headlines: January 31, 2014 Read More »

Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Humoring the headlines: January 27, 2014

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―President Obama will deliver his annual State of the Union Address on Tuesday.  Cathy McMorris Rodgers will give the Republican response to the speech.  Mike Lee will follow her with the Tea Party response to the Address.  Finally, Rand Paul will follow him with a speech representing his idiosyncratic perspective.  If

Humoring the headlines: January 27, 2014 Read More »

Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Humoring the headlines: January 24, 2014

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO-The Russian police have alerted spectators at the Sochi Olympics to be on the outlook for several “Black Widow Terrorists, women from Dagestan whose husbands were killed by Russian anti-terrorist squads.  There are posters throughout the Olympic venues informing spectators how to identify these women:  If you meet a woman on

Humoring the headlines: January 24, 2014 Read More »

Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Humoring the Headlines: January 10, 2014

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―New Jersey Governor Chris Christie apologized for one of his aides ordering the closure of the George Washington Bridge’s entrance and exit lanes to and from Fort Lee, New Jersey, as a political reprisal either against the city’s Democratic mayor or the state’s Democratic Senate.  Although Christie hopes to weather the

Humoring the Headlines: January 10, 2014 Read More »

Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Humoring the headlines: December 31, 2013

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―The Affordable Health Care Act mandates that vending machines indicate the number of calories next to each of its products.  Since research indicates that many people ignore such information, Health and Human Services is considering posting a photograph of Chris Christie on the containers for high caloric snacks and sodas. *

Humoring the headlines: December 31, 2013 Read More »

Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire