A photo of Shiloh
She's a good girl
And we’re back!
Housekeeping notes: This Monday, paid subscribers got August’s ET Read Home, a little reading list by me for you for this, our moment.
Also for paid subscribers: I’m starting to think about what paid-only features to offer next year, in 2024. If you have any opinions on this—if you like the monthly questionnaire but not the reading list, for example, or if you think I should keep both, or if you’d rather something entirely new—please do feel free to let me know either in the comments or via email.
And anyone else should feel free to email (polite, constructive) feedback, too.
Finally, if you read Bad Jews, please consider voting for it for Hey Alma’s Best Jewish Non-Fiction Book of the Year (the year being 5783). My dad said that I should add, “and if you did not read Bad Jews, what the hell is your problem,” but I am going to instead go with, “if you did not read Bad Jews, consider reading and then voting for Bad Jews!”
And now onto news, views, and Jews.
THE NEWS
For the Forward, I wrote about what misogyny and antisemitism have in common for the “manosphere.”
For Slate, I wrote about why presidential debates don’t matter the way we think.
I was on Deutsche Welle’s Inside Europe podcast to talk about George Soros and his relationship to Europe.
From Balkan Insight: “Slovakia’s former police chief Tibor Gaspar, who is running in the upcoming early election on the slate of the steadily growing Smer party, was arrested last Friday and is facing several charges concerning corruption, abuse of power and establishment of an organized crime group.”
According to a new CBS poll, 61 percent of likely Republican primary voters who said honesty was very important to them are for Trump.
I liked this piece on how Spain won the Women’s World Cup despite everything.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin’s former “chef” turned mercenary leader turned one-time coup attempt leader, appears to be dead.
India became the fourth country to land on the moon!
MY VIEWS ON…
…the dog!
This morning, I asked my mom what the subject of the newsletter should be this week. She said, “the dog.”
So here is a photo of Shiloh, a good girl.
And my view on her is that adopting her is one of the best decisions we have ever made. She has been my research assistant for two books (i.e. she napped next to them on the couch). She makes sure I go for walks. Every road trip is more fun because she’s on it. Every day at home is, too.
I will be back next week with an actual essay. Until then, if you’re considering rescuing a dog, I highly encourage it.
AND SOME STUFF ABOUT JEWS
Mi Mundo En Ladino now exists to teach kids (and whoever else) Ladino using pictures.
There’s a new documentary on Bella Abzug.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, said in an interview that “my right, the right of my wife and my children to move around Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] is more important than freedom of movement for the Arabs. The right to life comes before freedom of movement.”
I thought this piece on a new Holocaust video game was really well done.
The same author, Andrew Lapin, has a piece on how “Jewish groups are joining an effort led by a Jewish organization for survivors of domestic abuse to back gun-rights restrictions for people convicted of domestic violence.”
New research on the medieval Jews of York!
That’s it for now! Hope to see you back here soon.
-ET