Nothing new under the sun
On not knowing what to write
And we’re back!
Housekeeping notes: August’s ET Ask Home will be out for paid subscribers this coming Monday. It’s a very fun one.
And now onto news, views, and Jews.
THE NEWS
For Slate, I wrote about Bawaal, a new Bollywood movie about a couple that improves their relationship by going to WWII/Holocaust sites, and how it serves as an accidental example of how knowing "the Holocaust happened and was bad" doesn't constitute remembrance
I wrote about “illegal land grabs” and Israeli settlement expansion for The UnPopulist.
Unfortunately British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s tweet about sitting in Margaret Thatcher’s old Rover and talking about freedom shall live in my head for the rest of my days.
I went to see Beyoncé with my sister when the Renaissance tour came to New York (technically New Jersey) this past weekend. I would not say it was life changing, because I already Bey-lieved, but I would say it was life affirming.
It turns out that the North Carolina politician who ran for the North Caroline House of Representatives as a pro-choice candidate and then “flipped” once elected had actually been encouraged to run by Republicans.
Stores can’t sell most incandescent lights anymore.
And, of course, former President Donald Trump was indicted for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
MY VIEWS ON…
…not knowing what to write about this week!
Originally, I was going to write about going to see Beyoncé with my sister and what a special experience that was, but I don’t really feel like there’s a lot new to say there. Beyoncé, as you may have heard, is an incredible performer who puts on these giant shows with astounding attention to detail. I loved the experience of being there and singing along. I teared up when she brought out Blue Ivy. My sister and I laughed about funny little moments that happened on our way to and from and sitting there. It was, to me, a special evening that I’ll remember for a long time. “Remember this moment,” Beyoncé told us, and I will. “Remember what you were wearing,” she said, and I’ll remember that, too, because I was in a jumpsuit and my sister was like, “who wears jumpsuits to a concert?” But none of that really needs to be written. “Beyoncé is incredible” is so widely recognized that putting that in this little newsletter seems kind of silly.
Then I was thinking about writing about how nice it is to recognize when friendships aren’t new anymore, and have grown into something closer and more comfortable. This week I spent time with friends whom I have known for six years and a decade, and in both cases I thought, “wow, this is a really special thing we’ve managed to build and hold onto.” But, again, I don’t know that “friendship is nice” is something that you need to read here.
Then I thought I could share the story of my July, which started out with me being really frustrated that people weren’t replying to my emails and I couldn’t get my pieces published, but which turned out to be a very productive month, but “freelancing is frustrating and precarious yet also something rewarding” is also nothing novel.
But at this point I’ve been typing for long enough that I think I will just send this, a little piece of writing on not knowing what to write, and on how there’s nothing new under the sun, but also, yes there is, because we all must feel the sun’s warmth for ourselves, an original experience every time.
AND SOME STUFF ABOUT JEWS
From the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle: “Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers will be sentenced to die. After deliberating for about 11 hours, a federal jury imposed the death penalty on the killer for each of the 22 capital offenses he faced.”
New polling drives home how unpopular Netanyahu et al’s judicial reforms are among Israelis.
Liam Hoare wrote for Haaretz about why Austria doesn’t have a Holocaust museum.
Amira Hass wrote an incredibly strong piece about the occupation.
The New York Times has a profile of the particle physicist heavily involved in Israel’s protest movement.
The Workers Circle left the Conference of Presidents because “our focus on democracy is not being reflected by this organization’s representation of us.”
“Foreign Minister Eli Cohen aims to change the Israeli embassy in Bucharest's official policy of not holding any contacts with the far-right AUR party.”
That’s it for now! Hope to see you back here soon.
-ET