Dear Ukrainian Cousins

Dear Ukrainian Cousins

Until last month I didn’t know you existed. I didn’t think there were Jews in Ukraine. Well, maybe a few. Old, visibly Orthodox, living a 21st century version of the lives my grandparents left over 100 years ago. That changed the day Russia invaded, when I...
#MeToo and the men who didn’t

#MeToo and the men who didn’t

I started my career in film production when there were almost no women on the set. The few I met were great but that’s another story. One night, soon after I’d broken in, I was with the crew in a bar after the shoot. Out of nowhere, the sound man put his...
Welcome to the Inner City

Welcome to the Inner City

Last Friday, when I learned of the renewed investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails, I knew I’d be spending Saturday knocking on doors. I wanted to do my part, and was eager to know if the latest news had changed anyone’s mind. When I learned the location I was to...
Je Suis Not Quite Sure

Je Suis Not Quite Sure

As I watched the fear generated by the attacks in Paris morph into fear of Syrian refugees in America, I was curious to know more about Americans’ reactions to immigration over the years. When did it begin? At what point were there so many new arrivals that the...
Another Polar Vortex? Time to reread The Tempest.

Another Polar Vortex? Time to reread The Tempest.

It’s been quite a year: Record cold, snow and ice throughout the eastern U.S. California faces catastrophic drought; southern England was battered by wind and rain; volcanoes devastated Indonesia. And high above the earth, clear air turbulence played havoc with jet...
Nelson Mandela: forgiveness, strategy and virtue

Nelson Mandela: forgiveness, strategy and virtue

I’ve always thought of forgiveness as a virtue, something that good, moral and kind people do better than the rest of us. Nelson Mandela showed me a different perspective.Before the extensive coverage that followed his death, I knew he forgave his enemies and led...