Literature’s Enduring Obsession With Strange Sisters In Xenobe Purvis’s novel, a brood of odd siblings might be turning into dogs. Why should that be so scary?

In Xenobe Purvis’s novel, a brood of odd siblings might be turning into dogs, Talya Zax writes. Why should that be so scary?

Is starvation in Gaza really Israel's fault? The facts are clear Rising starvation in Gaza may have a number of factors. But Israel's wartime policies on humanitarian aid are inarguably among them.

For @forward.com, I wrote about how we know that Israel has been withholding food as a military tactic because Israeli officials have said versions of “we are withholding food as a military tactic” for the entirety of the war and pretending otherwise is willful ignorance forward.com/opinion/7586...

With ICE on the brink of receiving a massive increase in its budget, I delineated some of the things it has been doing with the money it already has. Gift link: wapo.st/4lv53Wh

Zohran Mamdani's victory proves it: The 'gotcha' mode of fighting antisemitism has to go Zohran Mamdani won New York City's Democratic mayoral primary despite allegations of antisemitism — a new playbook is needed.

For @forward.com, I wrote about the NYC mayoral election and how treating the fight against antisemitism in politics as a series of pop quiz questions or gotcha moments does nothing to make Jews safer and in fact leads to people taking antisemitism less seriously
forward.com/opinion/7320...

When the writer @alistairkitchen.bsky.social was stopped by Customs and Border Protection last week, after flying to Los Angeles from Melbourne, a border agent told him, “explicitly and proudly,” why he’d been pulled out of the customs line. nyer.cm/wVpy0on

📊The new Quinnipiac poll asked voters about antisemitism — and it turns out the more that a group believes antisemitism is a serious issue, the less likely they are to approve of how Trump is approaching it.

Finally, someone brave enough to ask just how much of Zohran's platform is a response to the Absolute Bagels 10-cent toasting fee

The two things I fear most after the horrifying attack on Jews in Boulder This latest violence against Jews will bring us deeper into a cycle where concerns of antisemitism are alternately dismissed and exploited.

For @forward.com, I wrote about the cycle of the exploitation and dismissal of antisemitism and Jewish safety
forward.com/opinion/7248...

The Most Infamous Narcissist in Literary History Gets a Smartphone A new stage production of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" conveys the cost of posturing online.

In a new stage production of "The Picture of Dorian Gray," the famed titular character is trapped in a performance unlike any other, Talya Zax writes:

So honored to have received this nod from Poynter! I loved writing the brief piece about Richard Serra that earned it — read here: forward.com/culture/art/...

Would You Trust Mozart to Solve a Murder Mystery? Why novelists love to imagine great historical figures as detectives

Why do novelists love to imagine great historical figures as detectives? Talya Zax on how these murder-solving characters let readers glimpse the minds of geniuses:

I loved writing about what Pope Francis' love for this Chagall painting suggested about his worldview

On the story of Passover and today's decision on Mahmoud Khalil by me for the Forward (story at link)

Chag Sameach forward.com/opinion/7119...

Campus arrest tracker: Who has been detained for 'anti-semitic' or 'pro-Hamas' activity? ICE has detained Mahmoud Khalil and other students and professors at Columbia University, Brown, Georgetown, on 'pro-Hamas' allegations.

The Forward is tracking the known ICE arrests for pro-Palestinian campus activity. The number currently stands at nine:
forward.com/fast-forward...