Unforgettable. Unforgivable. Irresistible. Political. Pleasurable. Inimitable. Videological. Inspirational. Dispiriting.
LETTY COTTIN POGREBIN. NEWSLETTER #76. MAY 29, 2020
UNFORGETTABLE
* Last Sunday, The New York Times published a sea of words that were worth a thousand pictures. If you only get the paper online you may have missed this incredible visual, a first for the paper of record. Here's the behind-the-scenes story of how that historic front page came to be.
UNFORGIVABLE
* On Memorial Day weekend, a time of national mourning for those lost in war, and of despair and distress for those threatened right now by the spread of the virus, the President played golf, insulted women (Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Stacey Abrams) and Tweeted conspiracy theories. While millions of Americans are taking care of a sick spouse, friend, or grandparent, delivering food to EMS workers, or waiting two hours on the phone for help with unemployment insurance, Trump is calculating how to move the GOP Convention to Florida and spin the death toll of 100,000 into a ticket for his reelection.
* Trump says thanks to a video that declares, "The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat." Words fail.
IRRESISTIBLE
* I thought I'd had it up to here with pandemic memes, but these strike me as worth passing along.
POLITICAL
* From this NY Times parody to God's ear. If only . . .
* History via hats
* Political theorist Michael Walzer deconstructs how "a smart health commissioner, a strong civil service, and a mayor willing to break the rules of the free market" averted a smallpox epidemic in NYC in 1947.
PLEASURABLE
* The power of art to transform
INIMITABLE
* This month, Gloria Steinem was due in Stockholm to receive an award from "Jewish Culture in Sweden." Instead, she was interviewed in isolation in her NYC apartment. (While answering questions about her circumstances, Gloria put it in perspective, remarking that Nelson Mandela, Anne Frank, and others endured years of far worse confinement in far smaller spaces. More here on Jews in Sweden)
VIDEOLOGICAL
* Jim Carrey reacts appropriately to Donald Trump's blitherings about "Obamagate."
* Jake Gyllenhaal and Mairi-Clare MacLean sing "Across The Way" a poignant duet about a man and woman meeting through their windows 60 feet apart during the lockdown.
* This is how eight outstanding female journalists, including Abby Phillip (above) feel about being dissed, denigrated, and delegitimated by the Orange Menace."Like a Kidney Stone"
* If you've been watching "Mrs. America," about Phyllis Schlafly and the Equal Rights Amendment, you may be interested in the views of four observers brought together by Judith Rosenbaum, director of the Jewish Women's Archive to discuss the series in depth. I'm pleased to have been included in the panel along with Joyce Antler, Jen Deaderick, and Samira Mehta.
* And not to overdose, here's my Moment magazine column on where "Mrs. America Gets it Wrong," in particular, its distortion of the Gloria Steinem character.
* Randy Rainbow's latest parody sums up the president's behavior as, "Distraction... Deception.. Deflection....Inaction..Infection...Obsession" to the tune of "Tradition" from Fiddler On The Roof.
* Every time I watch Spike Lee's Valentine to NYC it lifts me up and breaks my heart.
INSPIRATIONAL
* CODE NAME MADELEINE: A Sufi Spy in Nazi-Occupied Paris by Arthur Magida. Goodreads raves about this riveting biography calling it, " both a compelling, deeply researched history and a thrilling tribute to Noor Inayat Khan (above), whose courage and faith guided her through the most brutal regime in history." Arrested by the Nazis, she twice tried to escape but was caught, thrown in solitary, then executed at Dachau. Buy from an independent bookstore (or Amazon. )
* In their 80s, the careers of 8 female artists, including sculptor Diane Simpson (above) skyrocketed
DISPIRITING
* Idealistic left-wing Jews are leaving Israel for good having given up on the country's commitment to protect democracy, advance equality and negotiate an equitable peace with its Palestinian neighbors.
STAY SAFE. STAY STRONG. STAY HOME. -- Letty
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