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2011
“Friday Film: A Talking-Head Tribute to Lenny Bruce,” The Forward Arty Semite blog, May 6 2011
“Celebrities Get Twitter-Happy With News of Bin Laden’s Death”, The Forward Shmooze blog, May 2 2011
“Humane Matters”, Vegetarian Times, April/May 2011
“Long before becoming president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States in 2004, Wayne Pacelle went vegan…”
“Man Reclaims Klimt Painting Stolen by Nazis”, The Forward Shmooze blog, April 25 2011
“Jewcology: A Clearinghouse for Jewish Environmental Awareness”, The Forward, April 15 2011
“The website Jewcology.com launched late last year with guns blazing. A statement from 135 alt-Jewish heavyweights, from foundation executives to academics, supported its creation. A $50,000 grant from the Jerusalem-based ROI Community of Young Jewish Innovators funded its development. The global press trumpeted its debut...” Read more
“5 Questions for Fanya Gottesfeld Heller”, The Forward, April 15 2011
Comcast to Debut Holocaust Film Series”, The Forward Shmooze blog, April 11 2011
“13-Year-Old Bar-Mitzvah Mensch Helps Struggling Theater”, The Forward Shmooze blog, April 7 2011
“Nazis Invaded Long Island During WWII”, The Forward Shmooze blog, April 5 2011
“Will Sean Penn Play a Jewish Gangster?”, The Forward Shmooze blog, April 1 2011
“Jewish Students Flock to Lutheran College”, The Forward Shmooze blog, March 29 2011
“The Top Hebraic Moments of the Canadian Grammys”, The Forward Shmooze blog, March 28 2011
“Montreal Cabbie Can Display Religious Objects in His Cab”, The Forward Shmooze blog, March 25 2011
“American Apparel CEO Faces Four More Accusers”, The Forward Shmooze blog, March 25 2011
“Neo-Nazi Switches Genders, and Political Parties”, The Forward Shmooze blog, March 23 2011
“Man Who Blogs About Hasidic Neighbors Wins in Court”, The Forward Shmooze blog, March 22 2011
“NYC’s Jewish Street Fair King Upset Over Cuts”, The Forward Shmooze blog, March 17 2011
“Jewish Geisha Takes On Manhattan Bar,” The Forward Shmooze blog, March 17 2011
“Orthodox Neighbors Angry Over Pornographic Exhibit on Lower East Side”, the Forward Shmooze blog, March 16 2011
“Insights Into the Lives of Jewish Women”, Vista Art Network, March 13 2011
Canadian art site Vista Art Network reported live from the Toronto opening of Graphic Details.
“A Matter of Life and Death,” The Forward, March 11 2011
“The Royal Ontario Museum’s new megashow, ‘Water: The Exhibition,’ opens at a time when thorny policy challenges around water scarcity are gaining new urgency for Israel and its neighbors…” Read more
“Naked Cowgirl Can Keep Her Name, Free of Charge”, The Forward Shmooze blog, March 11 2011
“Will Eisner’s Hometown Spirit,” The Forward Arty Semite blog, March 8 2011
“New Shtetl Mag’s Agenda: ‘Sex, Drugs, and Talmud,'” The Forward Shmooze blog, March 8 2011
“Israeli Sports Hero to Be Inducted Into Jewish Sports Hall of Fame,” The Forward Shmooze blog, March 3 2011
“A Minyan of Jews Shines on Oscar Night”, The Forward Shmooze blog, February 28 2011
“Charlie Sheen Bites the Jewish Hand that Feeds Him”,The Forward Shmooze blog, February 25 2011
“Don’t Mess with Jewish Porn King Michael Lucas”, The Forward Shmooze blog, February 23 2011
“Gay Housing Project Slated for Palm Springs”, AOL Real Estate, February 15 2011
“Yad Vashem Gets Interactive with Google”, The Forward Shmooze blog, February 15 2011
“Justin Bieber’s Jewish Father Figure Talks to the Forward”, The Forward Shmooze blog, February 14 2011
“Jewish Editorial Cartoonist Rachel Gold Does Not Exist”, The Forward Shmooze blog, February 11 2011
“Did Snickers’ Super Bowl Commercial Have Anti-Semitic Message?”, The Forward Shmooze blog, February 9 2011
“NFL Owner Enlists Wiesenthal Center After Being Ridiculed”, The Forward Shmooze blog, February 7 2011
“Kvetch/Kvell”, The Forward, February 4 2011
“The Forward’s Michael Kaminer’s picks and pans from this week’s blog posts…” Read more
“Adrien Brody Tries His Hand at Super Bowl Commercials”, The Forward Shmooze blog, February 2 2011
“Trouble in Paradise? Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky Living Apart”, The Forward Shmooze blog, February 1 2011
“One on One with Candy Crowley”, Vegetarian Times, January/February 2011
“If it’s a person, place, or event of political significance in America, chances are that CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley has covered it…” Visit Vegetarian Times
“Kvetch/Kvell”,The Forward, January 28 2011
“The Forward’s Michael Kaminer’s picks and pans from this week’s blog posts…” Read more
“Jesse James Has More Nazi Photos”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 27 2011
“Jews Sweep Academy Awards Nominations”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 27 2011
“Jim Carrey Angers Hindus, Jews with ‘SNL’ Skit”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 24 2011
“Macy Gray: Fair-Weather Friend of Israel?”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 21 2011
“Bagels and Pigskin”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 18 2011
“Is It Immoral to Re-Steal Previously Looted Holocaust Memorabilia?”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 17 2011
“String of Anti-Semitic Attacks Damage Montreal Institutions”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 17 2011
“‘Catcher in the Rye’ Sequel Banned in US”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 13 2011
“Ukrainian Association Objects To Rights Museum’s Special Treatment of Holocaust”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 10 2011
“Hitler-Mocking Dog Makes Nazis Angry”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 7 2011
“Barbra Streisand in Talks To Star in ‘Gypsy’ Remake”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 7 2011
“IDF Catches Army Dodgers on Facebook”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 6 2011
“Gays Were Behing the Nazi Party and Other Strange Allegations”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 5 2011
“Designer Murder Suspect Fears Religious Violence in Jail After Watching ‘Oz'”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 5 2011
“New York Rabbi Sues Army Over Beard Ruling”, The Forward Shmooze blog, January 4 2011
2010
“Kvetch/Kvell”, The Forward, December 31 2010
“The Forward’s Michael Kaminer’s picks and pans from this week’s blog posts…” Read more
“The Business Secrets of the Talmud”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 30 2010
“Want to Be Closer to the Kotel? There’s an App for That”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 30 2010
“Report Finds German Civil Servants Contributed to Nazi Efforts”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 28 2010
“Hebrew Domain Names Now Available for General Public”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 28 2010
“New York Judge Approves Sale of Schindler’s List”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 27 2010
“For the Orthodox, Blurred Lines Between Private and Business Lives”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 27 2010
“War of the Bus Ads”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 23 2010
“Greek Bishop Blames Jews for Financial Woes”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 23 2010
“No Montreal Street for Mordecai Richler”, The Forward Arty Semite blog, December 22 2010
“Nurse Wins $40,000 in Sabbath Discrimination Case”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 21 2010
“Jimmy Kimmel Sued for Mixing Up Rabbis”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 21 2010
“Kvetch/Kvell”, The Forward, December 17 2010
“The Forward’s Michael Kaminer’s picks and pans from this week’s blog posts…” Read more
“The Case For (and Against) Watching Christmas Movies”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 14 2010
“South Asian Flavors Spice Up Toronto”, The Washington Post, December 12 2010
“It may seem as though Toronto is having an Indian moment. But in fact, this head-spinningly multicultural metropolis has long boasted one of the most vibrant South Asian immigrant communities in the world…” Read more
“Orthodox Couple Flips Their Wig on ‘People’s Court'”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 9 2010
“Will Leonardo DiCaprio Convert to Judaism?”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 7 2010
“‘Wandering’ Jews Head to Church”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 7 2010
“Taxpayers Will Cover Cosmetics Bill for Skinhead’s Murder Trial”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 6 2010
“Happy Hanukkah – Don’t Burn Your House Down”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 3 2010
“Kvetch/Kvell”, The Forward, December 3 2010
“The Forward’s Michael Kaminer’s picks and pans from this week’s blog posts…” Read more
“New York Vs. Washington: Whose Menorah Is Bigger?”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 2 2010
“Nazi Memorabilia on the Block, Again”, The Forward Shmooze blog, December 1 2010
“Embracing Judaism in Indonesia”, The Forward Shmooze blog, November 23 2010
“Paul Simon Is the Latest Jew to Release a Christmas Song”, The Forward Shmooze blog, November 19 2010
“Meet the Jewish Designer Favored to Design Kate Middleton’s Royal Wedding Gown”, The Forward Shmooze blog, November 18 2010
“Mike Tyson May Open Kosher Vegan Restaurants,” The Forward Jew and the Carrot blog, November 17 2010
“Pay Less for Phone Service”, All You, November 16 2010
“Phones let you do a lot more than talk these days,from messaging and sending photos to browsing the Web and shopping. But those activities come at a high cost…”
“Doctor Refuses to Operate on Man with Nazi Tattoo”, The Forward Shmooze blog, November 16 2010
“GE Adds ‘Sabbath Mode’ to Hundreds of Appliances,” The Forward Shmooze blog, November 16 2010
“Kvetch/Kvell”, The Forward, November 12 2010
“The Forward’s Michael Kaminer’s picks and pans from this week’s blog posts…” Read more
“Sculptures Deemed ‘Degenerate’ By Nazis To Go on Display in Berlin”, The Forward Shmooze blog, November 9 2010
“Inmates Rights Violated When Given Vegan Instead of Kosher Meals”, The Forward Shmooze blog, November 9 2010
“Germany Honors Jews Who Fought In World War I”, The Forward Shmooze blog, November 8 2010
“A Hotel for Orthodox Jews Opens in Brooklyn”, The Forward Shmooze blog, November 8 2010
“Jewish Donor Revealed, 80 Years Later”, The Forward Shmooze blog, November 8 2010
“German Police Shut Down Neo-Nazi Radio Station”, The Forward Shmooze blog, November 5 2010
“Busted: Cabbie Littered NY Streets with ‘Kill Jews’ Notes”, The Forward Shmooze blog, November 5 2010
“McDonald’s Supplier Will Stop Producing Kosher Meat”, The Forward Shmooze blog, November 2 2010
“Chicago LGBT Synagogue Was Alleged Target of Explosive Packages”, The Forward Shmooze blog, November 1 2010
“One on One with Alan Cumming”, Vegetarian Times, November 2010
“Triple threat” doesn’t come close to describing Alan Cumming, whose talent has blazed across movie and TV screens, theater stages, and concert halls...” Read more
“Tel Aviv and Beirut Compete for Gay Tourism”, The Forward Shmooze blog, October 29 2010
“Sarah Silverman, Ben Stiller in Celebrity-Studded Video for AJWS Benefit”, The Forward Shmooze blog, October 28 2010
“‘Fiddler’ Writer Joseph Stein Dies”, The Forward Shmooze blog, October 26 2010
“Godard to Skip Honorary Oscar Ceremony”, The Forward Shmooze blog, October 26 2010
“Kvetch/Kvell”, The Forward, October 20 2010
“The Forward’s Michael Kaminer chooses picks and pans from this week’s blog posts…” Read more
“Rudolf Hess Painting to Be Auctioned Off”, The Forward Shmooze blog, October 22 2010
“US Businessmen May Launch Israeli Baseball League”, The Forward Shmooze blog, October 18 2010
“The Berenstain Bears Get Biblical”, The Forward Shmooze blog, October 18 2010
“Fashion’s Newest It Guys”, The Forward, October 15 2010
“Scotland Honors Nazi-Fighting Polish Bear”, The Forward Shmooze blog, October 15 2010
“Jewish Principals of Brooklyn Health Care Company Under Fire”, The Forward Shmooze blog, October 15 2010
“Hitler on the Auction Block”, The Forward, October 8 2010
“The historical significance of paintings by Adolf Hitler is obvious. And a new cache of watercolors by der führer — discovered by an Austrian lawyer on an estate he recently bought — is expected to fetch nearly a quarter of a million dollars at an auction on September 30…” Read more
“One on One with Lisa Bloom”, Vegetarian Times, October 2010
“Lisa Bloom has garnered a reputation as a tough-as-nails advocate for civil rights… But at the home she shares with two rescue dogs, the 49-year-old marathon runner specializes in adventurous vegan cooking…” Read more
“Q & A: Claude Kelly”, Vegetarian Times, October 2010
“Claude Kelly’s not sure how he acquired the moniker Studio Beast. There’s a good chance it sprang from his writing monster pop hits for the likes of Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, and Kelly Clarkson…” Read more
“Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters Rebuffs ADL’s Anti-Semitic Allegations”, the Forward Shmooze blog, October 1 2010
“Biblical Clue in Computer Worm?”, The Forward Shmooze blog, September 30 2010
“Legendary Actor Tony Curtis Dies at 85”, The Forward Shmooze blog, September 30 2010
“Brooklyn Rabbi’s Son Dies in Sukkot Fire”, The Forward Shmooze blog, September 30 2010
“Jewish Women and the Art of Oversharing”, The Forward Sisterhood blog, September 24 2010
“Conn. Supermarket to Retain Kosher Departments”, The Forward Shmooze blog, September 24 2010
“Conservative Machzor Makes Room for Gay Jews”, The Forward Shmooze blog, September 23 2010
“Airport Strike in Israel Ends, but Damage Is Done”, The Forward Shmooze blog, September 14 2010
“Survey: One in Three Spaniards Is Anti-Semitic”, The Forward Shmooze blog, September 14 2010
“Homage to Fromage”, The Forward, September 10 2010
“Among her other achievements, Clare Burson may claim a place in history as the first composer of a song cycle inspired by a piece of cheese…” Read more
“Atoning for Your Texts on Yom Kippur”, The Forward, September 10 2010
“At first glance, the ads echo the old ‘You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s real Jewish rye’ ads..But in a $100,000 campaign that launches this week, the punims belong to scandal-bitten celebrities…” Read more“Jewish Cop Who Inadvertently Helped Advance Gay Rights Dies”, The Forward Shmooze blog, Sept. 8 2010
“Shabbat Dinner with Sarah Palin”, The Forward Shmooze blog, September 7 2010
“WWII Files: The Ballerina Was a Spy”, The Forward, September 3 2010
“The ballerina with an alias! The landlady with a weak heart! A mystery agent called “von Finckenstein”! In a movie script, it would sound so bad it’s good. But these are real characters in once-secret Word War II files from Britain’s M15 spy agency…” Read more
“Ritzy Philly Cemetery Makes Room for Jews”, The Forward Shmooze blog, September 2 2010
“Jews Dominate Vanity Fair 100 Most Influential Moguls List”, The Forward Shmooze blog, September 3 2010
“German’s Comments on Jews Met with Tepid Responses”, The Forward Shmooze blog, August 30 2010
“Challah-Loving Inuit Throat Singer Preserves Tradition”, The Forward Shmooze blog, August 30 2010
“Holy Days: A Guide for the Perplexed”, The Forward, August 27 2010
“For our forebears, the most cumbersome part of the High Holy Days was working toward a repeat appearance in the Book of Life. They didn’t have to worry about Tweeting in synagogue, entertaining vegan dinner guests, practicing synagogue-dating etiquette or purchasing tickets that equal a down payment on a country house…” Read more
“Gay Israeli Teen Kidnapped by Family”, The Forward Shmooze blog, August 26 2010
“Officials: Israeli Light Rail Survey Was Racist”, The Forward Shmooze blog, August 23 2010
“Chicago Festival Conflicts With High Holidays, Again”, The Forward Shmooze blog, August 20 2010
“‘White-Power’ Wear Grows in Popularity”, The Forward Shmooze blog, August 17 2010
“Kosher Meals Not Kosher Enough for Pedophile”, The Forward Shmooze blog, August 16 2020
“Fanta’s Nazi Roots”, The Forward, August 20 2010
“For those besotted by the Fantanas — the synthetic girl group pitching Fanta soft drinks — news August 5 that the sugary sodas have Nazi origins left a sour aftertaste…” Read more
“Post ‘Borat,’ Kazakhstan To Set Record Straight”, The Forward, August 20 2010
“Four years after the massively successful release of Sacha Baron Cohen’s offbeat comedy, a Kazakhstani filmmaker wants to set the record straight…” Read more
“Trials and Tribulations of ‘America’s Sexual-Harassiest CEO'”, The Forward Shmooze blog, August 6 2010
“9 Killed in Shooting at Jewish-Owned Beer Distributor”, The Forward Shmooze blog, August 4 2010
“Producers Plan to Dispute Holocaust Film’s R Rating”, The Forward Shmooze blog, August 3 2010
“Skinhead Headed to Jail Wants Tattoos Removed”, The Forward, July 30 2010
“A lot of people get second thoughts about tattoos; once you’ve sobered up, that dolphin or “I Love Maria” heart just doesn’t seem as cool. But Daniel Cowart has taken tattoo regret to new extremes..” Read more.
“Michael Jackson’s Affinity for Nazis and Judy Garland”, The Forward Shmooze blog, July 28 2010
“O, Ottawa. When Did You Get So Hip?”, The Washington Post, July 11 2010
“Was it possible that the parochial Ottawa of my childhood had actually become hip? To find out, I spent an early spring weekend navigating the compact capital. And I left planning a second visit… It felt lively, smart, quirky and confident: a city waking up to its own potential after many dreary years.” Read more Update: This story made the front page of the Ottawa Citizen and Metro, along with several radio programs and a ton of blogs!
“Modernism 2.0 in a Post-Holocaust Novel”, The Forward, July 2 2010
“With sly perversity, Marcel Möring declares on the overleaf of “In a Dark Wood,” his surreal, sprawling post-Holocaust epic: “This is a novel. Nothing in this book is true”… Read more
“CNN Fires Editor After Hezbollah Tweet”, July 8 2010
“Russian Spy Ring’s Jewish Connection”, July 2 2010
“Vodka Ad Too Sexy for Brooklyn Hasidic Community”, July 1 2010
all, The Forward Shmooze blog
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“Of Religion and Rubbers”, The Forward, June 25 2010
“‘It keeps adults safe.’ That’s the explanation Rabbi Melissa Simon hears parents give kids about the bowl of colorful condoms in the front office of Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, the West Village gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender shul where she’s a rabbinical intern…” Read more
“Springing From The Tar Heels: Revisiting North Carolina’s Jewish History, The Forward, June 11 2010
“The long history and deep roots of Jews in the Tar Heel state are coming to life in an ambitious new multimedia project that kicks off June 14 with an exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh..” Read more
“Jackie Mason Will Likely Skip His Daughter’s New Play”, June 30
“Oy Vey: A D.C. Restaurant Serves Up Jewish-Irish Fusion”, June 30
“Jewish-Style Deli Not So Jewish”, June 24
“Marijuana Kingpin Lived With His Orthodox Parents”, June 4
All, the ForwardShmooze blog
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“Use Your Social Network to Save”, All You, May 21 2010
“Social networking Web sites like Facebook and Twitter are a great way to keep in touch with family and friends—but did you know that logging on can also benefit your bottom line? More and more businesses are connecting with customers on the sites, offering sales and discounts that aren’t available elsewhere…” Visit All You
“Night at the Museum”, Advocate.com, May 19 2010
“Raleigh, N.C., already has a mayor, but if anyone qualifies for an unofficial title, it’s Larry Wheeler. The director of the North Carolina Museum of Art just crowned his 16-year tenure with an audacious $85 million expansion…” Read more
“Countdown to Summer”, Where (cover), May 2010
“Spring is in full swing, summer unofficially begins on Memorial Day (May 31), and the season of warm-weather food and drink has arrived. Here, a picnic basket of 13 crave-worthy restaurant bites and sips, each one bringing us closer to backyard barbecues, days filled with sunshine and nights under starry skies….” Read more
Israeli Apartheid Group Banned From Toronto Gay Pride Parade, May 25 2010
A Jewish Taylor Swift?, May 17 2010
Gay Tourist Robbed, Left Naked at Israel Intersection, May 11 2010
Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Name Misspelled on Hollywood Walk of Fame, May 6 2010
All, Blogs, The Forward, May 2010
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“The Jews from Ipanema”, The Forward, April 30 2010
“For a city whose symbol is a mountaintop statue of Jesus, Rio boasts vivid Jewish textures woven into the fabric of its history and daily life…” Read more
“New Visibility for Carolina Judaica Collection”, The Jewish Week, April 23 2010
“Outside its home state, the Judaica collection at the North Carolina Museum of Art has mostly flown under the radar. But with the long-awaited opening this week of the museum’s new 127,000-square-foot home here in North Carolina’s capital city, that’s about to change…” Read more
“Israel’s Competing Gay Tours”, The Forward, April 16 2010
“Tel Aviv has become the destination du jour for gay and lesbian travelers. So hot has the White City become that, as The New York Observer reported on March 26, rival gay tour promoters are fighting it out with competing spring trips…” Read more
“Canada’s Porter Airlines Focuses on the Details to Win Customers”, The Washington Post, April 11 2010
“As the plane’s propellers whirred, the flight attendant in the pillbox hat patrolled the aisle for a final check. The Toronto skyline, seemingly close enough to touch, receded into a postcard view as we floated up into the air…” Read more
“When in Toronto…”, The Forward, April 9 2010
“The Toronto Jewish Film Festival began in 1993 with 30 films and one screen, and has mushroomed into the world’s largest Semitic cinema event…” Read more
“Report: Landlords Behaving Badly”, The Forward, April 2
“After a five-year absence, the Village Voice’s list of “New York’s Ten Worst Landlords” has made a comeback. And, as it has been every year that the list has run — for the quarter-century I’ve lived in New York — my first reaction was to scan the roster for Jewish names…” Read more
A Hebrew School Dropout’s Guide to Religion and Weight Loss, April 30
“The Kosher Toothpaste Debate”, April 15
“Merissa Nathan Gerson: A ‘Yenta’ for a New Generation”, April 12
“Malcolm McLaren, Former Sex Pistols Manager, Dies”, April 9
Blogs, The Forward, April 2010
“Hot Lands of Clay”, The Forward, March 19 2010
“Considering how often the word “fragile” is used to describe Israel — its politics, peace, peoplehood — it makes perfect sense that a new exhibit at Toronto’s Gardiner Museum uses ceramic art to explore modern life there…” Read more
“Getaway: Research Triangle”, Atlanta Magazine, March 2010
“For food alone, the brain-powered triplet cities of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill make a tempting weekend escape; Bon Appetit crowned Durham-Chapel-Hill ‘America’s Foodiest Small Town” in 2008.But the region also boasts crackling cultural and music scenes—Durham is home to indie label Merge Records—and gets a jolt next month from the expansion of Raleigh’s North Carolina Museum of Art...” Read more
“In Good Humor”, InNewYork, March 2010
“Did you hear the one about the guy who walked into a gritty Hell’s Kitchen nightclub called The Improv in 1963? He witnessed the birth of something big – the modern stand-up comedy club, where up-and-coming funnymen and funnywomen relish the thrill of getting their first laughs and headliners test out fresh shtick….” Read more
“The Best Montreal Bagel… In New York”, The Forward, March 5 2010
“How do you explain the 90-dozen bagels in your trunk to a U.S. Customs officer guarding the Quebec-New York border crossing at midnight on a Friday? ‘We promised them a few bagels the next time around, and went on our way,’ said Jon Leitner, one of the drivers in question, jokingly…” Read more
“An Unorthodox (Orthodox) Production”, The Forward, February 26 2010
“You won’t find Congregation Me’Ever Lechomos in a directory of Toronto’s Orthodox synagogues. That’s because the name’s an alias for downtown’s Theatre Passe Muraille, now convincingly dressed up as a synagogue for its latest production…” Read more
“One on One with Carol Leifer”, Vegetarian Times, February 2010
“PETA videos aren’t usually laugh-out-loud funny — unless Carol Leifer’s doing the talking. ‘I recently became vegan,’ she says in her online testimonial, ‘because I felt that as a Jewish lesbian, I wasn’t part of a small enough minority”…… Read more
“Leaps and Bounds”, Vegetarian Times, February 2010
“Her propulsive leaps across the stage could symbolize Constance Stamatiou’s fast-rising career. A member of the acclaimed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater since 2007, the 25-year-old has danced principal roles in such signature Ailey works as Revelations….”
“New Haimish Brooklyn Deli Imports Canadian Bagels”, Forward.com, January 28 2010
“The news that Boerum Hill’s nouveau deli Mile End finally opened Monday warmed the hearts of Montreal expats — like me — across the tri-state area…” Read more.
2009
Guest, Peter Greenberg Worldwide, December 19 2009
On this nationally syndicated radio show, I was invited to talk about my Washington Post story about trusted traveler programs. Listen
“Customs Process Becomes Welcoming for Trusted Travelers”, The Washington Post, December 6 2009
“I can thank my sister’s baby for persuading me to enroll in a government-run “trusted traveler” program...” Read more.
“From Jewish Exiles to Sexual Exiles”, The Forward, December 4 2009
“A former executive of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society is about to shake up the world of refugee aid…” Read more
“Protect Yourself from Identity Theft”, All You, November 20 2009
“Every year, as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen… Banks, stores, and credit card companies are fighting back, and luckily, you can, too…”
“Brutally Frank” (book review), The Forward, November 13 2009
“‘Get to the point, I’m very busy.’ According to Stuart Weisberg’s ‘Barney Frank’… that’s Congressman Barney Frank’s standard response to phone-chat pleasantries like ‘How are you?’ It’s probably also how the powerful chairman of the House financial services committee would greet this exhaustively researched but overdrawn new biography… Read more
“Get Engaged to Your Community”, Together: Jewish Giving Today, Fall ’09
“Strengthening Our Mark”, Together: Jewish Giving Today, Fall ’09
Together was published in November 2009 for distribution at the annual General Assembly of Jewish Federations of North America — the largest philanthropy conference in the Jewish world. Both of these commissioned stories explore challenges facing fundraisers. Read more
“Arne Jacobsen: Dissecting a Distinguished 20th Century Architect” (moderator), 92nd St. Y, New York, October 13 2009
Read more about this featured talk – based on a story I wrote for the Forward – presented by the 92nd St. Y in New York.
“One on One with Jane Goodall”, Vegetarian Times, October 2009
“Nearly 50 years after she first joined legendary anthropologist Louis Leakey to study chimps in Africa, Jane Goodall, PhD, remains a force of nature herself…” Read more
“Pornographic Stimulus Plan”, The Forward, September 25 2009
“The bearded receptionist wears a yarmulke. In any other office, this wouldn’t seem remarkable. But this is the midtown Manhattan headquarters of Lucas Entertainment, one of the largest gay adult film companies in the world…” Read more
“My Father, Myself” (podcast), The Forward, September 15 2009
“In this podcast, Forward contributor Michael Kaminer speaks with former “Seinfeld” writer Carol Leifer about her new memoir, “When You Lie About Your Age, the Terrorists Win,” her relationship with her late father, working with Larry David, and what a body builder and a challah have in common.” Listen now
“The Queer Queen of Comedy”, The Forward, September 11 2009
“‘Carol Leifer Gets Weirder: Now Jewish, Lesbian, and Vegan,” an online gossip headline blared after the comedian filmed a Web ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals…” Read more
“In Fall and Winter, Festivals Show Off Montreal’s Cool Side”, The Washington Post, September 6 2009
“From Arab culture to Brazilian movies to Chinese lanterns, Montreal hosts a wildly diverse slate of festivals year-round. The best known, Just for Laughs and the Montreal International Jazz Festival, turn the city into a giant party every summer. Which is exactly why I love visiting in fall and winter…” Read more
“Father Patrick Desbois: A Priest on a Holocaust Mission”, The Forward, September 4 2009
“If the Rev. Patrick Desbois is bothered by the glances from late-lunching tourists at a midtown Manhattan hotel café, he’s not letting it show. These Friday afternoon guests probably didn’t expect to hear about mass graves, murdered babies and Nazi killing machines over their cappuccinos and sandwiches. But Desbois, in a casual black shirt and trousers, seems inured to the effects of brutal words…” Read more
“Furor Over Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibition”, The Forward (front page), July 17 2009
“Crowds at the Royal Ontario Museum’s heavily hyped Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition have far exceeded the museum’s own expectations…. But hosannas for the showing, featuring four scroll fragments on loan from the Israel Antiquities Authority and displayed in public for the first time, have not been universal…” Read more
“Where the Rooms Are the View”, The Washington Post, July 12 2009
“Long before Armani, Missoni or Starck slapped their signatures on luxury lodgings, Danish design deity Arne Jacobsen was putting his fingerprints all over the world’s first designer hotel…” Read more
“Skid Row to Hip in Toronto”, The New York Times, July 5 2009
“Named for a jumble of railroad tracks, the Junction section of Toronto was once a booming manufacturing hub, with lively pubs, hotels and shops. But industry declined and, in recent decades, the neighborhood withered as prostitutes and drug dealers staked their turf along Dundas Street West, the area’s main thoroughfare. “The pendulum, however, seems to be swinging back…” Read more
“What do the Egg, the Swan and the Ant Have in Common?”, The Forward, July 3 2009
“Appraisals of Arne Jacobsen’s life and work rarely take his Jewish background into account. But the 50th anniversary this year of Copenhagen’s Royal Hotel, one of the Modernist architect’s landmark achievements, presents an opportunity to reconsider a towering figure of 20th-century design — and how wartime experiences may have colored Jacobsen’s work…” Read more
“One on One with Brendan Brazier,” Vegetarian Times, May/June 2009
“He may be taking a break from competing in Ironman triathlons and ultramarathons, but high-performance athlete Brendan Brazier still seems to move faster than anyone else...” Read more
“Fjord Fiesta”, OutTraveler, May 2009
“Pack a sleep mask. Reykjavik basks in near-total daylight come late spring and early summer. Good thing the world’s northernmost metropolis offers enough distractions to fill several bright days — and nights….” Read more
“LABA and the Ripple Effect,” The Forward, May 1 2009
“From “absurdist rock cabaret” to giant sculptures to a “contact improvisation” workshop cheekily called “The Meating,” the LABA Festival will bring a wildly diverse mix of performances, art, lectures and readings to Manhattan’s 14th Street Y…” Read more
Table for One? Tips on Dining Solo (interview), Gay.com, April 8, 2009
“When on the road, we’ve all had to face the prospect of dining out alone. Many find the experience daunting and isolating. Author Michael Kaminer says it doesn’t have to be that way…” Read More
“Swap and Save”, All You, April 2009
“With money tight these days, people are looking for creative ways to get the things they need without buying them new or used…”
“Study Kicks off Gay Outreach Effort”, The Forward, March 6 2009
“Three-quarters of the rabbis who responded to an unprecedented new survey on diversity said they thought their congregations already do a “good to excellent” job of welcoming gay Jews. But for the gay Jewish advocacy group that undertook the survey, that’s precisely the problem…” Read more
Regular restaurant reviews, New York Magazine’s NYMag.com, 76 published, Dec. 2006-Feb, 2009
“Picture Tokyo’s hottest Italian restaurant, and you’ve got the idea behind Basta Pasta…” Read more “If eateries won awards for good intentions, Community Food & Juice would score a sweep…” Read more “Like a frat jock with the soul of a food geek, Village Lantern disguises its highly competent kitchen beneath the butch façade of a scruffy bar and live-music spot…” Read more
2008
“People of the Gallery”, The Jewish Week, December 16 2008
“The Jewish snowbirds from the Northeast and Midwest still make the winter pilgrimage, the traditional December passage to Miami Beach. But they’re now joined by thousands of artists, curators, collectors, social climbers and hangers-on from around the world who descend on South Florida for Art Basel Miami Beach…” Read more
Graphic Confessions of Jewish Women, The Forward, December 4 2008
“Before you even see her face, Vanessa Davis’ naked breast makes an appearance in the first panel of “Spaniel Rage,” her acclaimed book of diaristic comics. She’s vomiting into a garbage can on page two. By the third page, she’s servicing two clowns in an X-rated thought bubble…” Read more
“The Conversion Conundrum”, Jewish Living, November/December 2008
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“On a sunny Friday last May – Holocaust Memorial Day, as it turns out – thousands of Orthodox men and women woke up to learn they were no longer Jewish…” Read more
“Will 2009 Bring Brighter Days?”, CIBC One to One Insights, November 2008
“Could there finally be good news in a season filled with dire headlines? Avery Shenfeld, CIBC World Markets Senior Economist and Managing Director, thinks so. But whether government attempts to stimulate the economy will have a lasting effect beyond 2009 is another matter…” Read more
“Iceland’s Hydrogen-Powered Cars”, HybridCars.com, October 2008
“Until recently, Icelanders believed that using hydrogen as a vehicle fuel would offer an environmentally responsible alternative to petroleum…” Read more
“Eat Sheet: Coffee”, Portfolio.com, June 24 2008
“Just when you thought it was safe to order a grande half-caf, the coffee market is changing…” Read more
More stories
“How Gay Is Your Shul?”, Jewish Living, June/July 2008 “It’s My Party”, Jewish Living, March/April 2008 “Hip Hebraic Homepages”, Jewish Living magazine, January/February 2008 “Under My Skin”, Jewish Living magazine, November 2007 
“Stick to a smart holiday spending plan”, All You, November 2008“Stash More of Your Cash” (with Sharon Waldrup), All You, October 2008
“Lucky Strike”, Total Rewards (Time Inc.), Summer 2007 
Turkeys’ Day, All Animals (Time Inc.), Fall 2008 “Left Behind”, All Animals, Summer 2008 Alice O’Neil profile, All Animals , Spring 2008 “Dog Days at the Office”, All Animals , Summer 2007 Friends for Life”, All Animals , Spring 2007 
Previous life
Founder and president, MKPR, 1992-2006 
I founded the public-relations agency MKPR in 1992. To focus on writing full-time, I sold the firm in 2006. It’s now called PKPR. Out magazine was my first client. I worked alone, at home. By the ’90s, MKPR had 11 employees and clients like Bloomberg, Time Warner, and AOL. We were one of the first agencies to represent lesbian and gay businesses to general media. Same with online-media companies; back in 1994, we became one of the first PR companies to promote web businesses to consumers. The agency’s mission involved doing good while doing well, and doing it all with integrity Clients also included A & E, The New York Times, PlanetOut, The Advocate, PETA, Environmental Defense, and many more.
Books
“A Taste for Solitude: The Definitive Guide to Solo Dining in New York City”, PlanetOut, Fall 2004 Creator and author, “Table for One” Guidebooks Table for One New York (with Jonathan Boorstein), McGraw-Hill, 2001 Table for One Chicago (with Amy LaBan), McGraw-Hill, 2002 Table for One Los Angeles (with Merrill Shindler), McGraw-Hill, 2002 
The Mountain Bike Experience (with Dave King), Henry Holt, 1996\ 
Editor, Our Little Black Book of Shopping Secrets (with Joan Hamburg and Gerry Frank), Gerry’s Frankly Speaking, 1993
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Michael Kaminer >>>words and ideas 
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