A TV Legend Shares His Wisdom
Legendary TV director Jay Sandrich will be remembered for more than his body of work.
In September, a TV legend passed away. His name might not be familiar to you, but the shows he directed will be. He directed and produced such classics as Get Smart, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Soap, The Odd Couple, The Bob Newhart Show, and WKRP in Cincinnati, among others.
I had the good fortune of spending time with him and his wife, Linda, over the years. Some of his sage advice for leading a good life is presented in this article for Psychology Today.
Coming up…
On Monday, October 18 at 5:00pm Eastern, join me for Why Jews Need Democracy and Why Democracy Needs Jews: a conversation with Pulitzer prize-winning New York Times opinion columnist Bret Stephens.*
According to the FBI, in 2020, when there were fewer opportunities for people to be out and about, anti-Jewish hate crimes decreased by 29% compared to the year before. 2019 saw more anti-religious hate crimes against Jews than against all other religious groups combined. Despite the drop in numbers, however, in 2020, the majority of religious-based hate crimes were still perpetuated against Jews. Antisemitism is now rising to the point at which synagogues feel the need to increase security.
It is no coincidence that a rise in antisemitism occurs when democracy is under threat. Two-thirds of Americans are concerned, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.
When the health of democracy is in question, Jews are at risk. And when Jews are targeted, democracy is in trouble.
* Note: the conversation with Bret Stephens is an event for paid subscribers. A link will be sent in advance of the event.
On October 24 & 25, a special online event will be presented by the Combat Antisemitism Movement, the American Sephardi Foundation, and the Jazz Leadership Project: Combating Racism and Antisemitism Together: Shaping an Omni-American Future
Join Jazz great Wynton Marsalis, Writer and Entrepreneur Chloe Valdary, award-winning chef, TV host, and author, Andrew Zimmern, and a diverse group of other speakers for a series of conversations.
Andrew Zimmern and I will be speaking about the role of food and food culture in creating a sense of common humanity –– and an “omni-American” identity.
In Case You Missed It…
Jonathan Haidt and I discussed my Sapir Journal essay, Critical Race Theory and the ‘Hyper-White’ Jew.
The Unity Now Podcast invited me to talk about Habits of a Free Mind.
Jennifer K. Thompson and I talked about Habits of a Free Mind on the Civil Squared podcast.
Seven women of the Dossier Project spoke with me and some of my paid subscribers about their experience of DOS and NXIVM.
Joel Finkelstein, Director of the Network Contagion Research Institute, and I spoke about QAnon with People of the Pod.
On the Watching America podcast, I spoke with Dr. Alan Campbell about humanizing our ideological opponents.
Last weekend, I spoke at a conference held by a new Boston-based organization about why parents and educators are afraid to speak up when they see things that concern them –– and what to do about it. Parents Unite is a group of parents, students, and educators working to promote a private school culture that values and prioritizes critical thinking, diversity of thought, freedom of discourse, and self-expression. When the videos are available, I will send out the links.
News
In exciting news, I am among the new cohort of Senior Fellows for the Study of Liberalism and a Free Society at the Institute for Humane studies, where I have the great honor of participating with a thoughtful group of scholars to discuss challenges to the liberal ideal within and beyond the academy.
(If you’ll be in the DC area on Thursday, October 7, check to see if there are any tickets left for the 60th Anniversary Gala!)
More to come…