Aug 1, 2013 | Jewish Experiences, mic, World Affairs
Published: mic (August 1, 2013) co-author Tillie Adelson Before we were columnists at PolicyMic, Tillie Adelson and I were just ordinary Jewish twenty-somethings visiting Israel for the first time through Yael Adventures. Yael, or Birthright as it is better known, is a program that offers a free trip to the Jewish State for young Jews between the ages of 18 and 26 who have never been there...
Jul 20, 2013 | Foreign Policy, Jewish Experiences, Media Issues, mic, Scandals, World Affairs
Published: mic (July 20, 2013) How does an American political historian cope with the death of Helen Thomas? She was a pioneer for female journalists, an old-fashioned shoe-leather reporter, an astute observer of Washington's grimy, smarmy underbelly who had personally interrogated every president since John F. Kennedy. When Stephen Colbert used the third act of his legendary 2006 White House...
Jun 16, 2013 | Arts and Entertainment, Class Issues, mic, World Affairs
Published: mic (June 16, 2013) co-author Tillie Adelson There is a phenomenon about celebrities that we have decided to dub the "Bono effect" or more currently the “Angelina Jolie effect.” In summary, it refers to the tendency of the rich and famous to engage in conspicuous charitable and/or philanthropic endeavors for reasons that smack more of self-aggrandizement than genuine nobility of...
Mar 10, 2013 | Foreign Policy, Jewish Experiences, mic, World Affairs
Published: mic (March 10, 2013) To anyone who may doubt the appalling nature of the late Hugo Chavez's mistreatment of his nation's Jewish community, it's worth noting that communist dictators are generally a pretty vile bunch. As such, it should go without saying that when one Marxist authoritarian feels compelled to call out another one on a humanitarian flaw, decent people everywhere should...
Mar 27, 2012 | Foreign Policy, mic, Terrorism, World Affairs
Published: PolicyMic (March 27, 2012) Of all my experiences as a graduate student, none can match the time I spent as a teaching assistant for Said Samatar. A professor of African History at Rutgers University-Newark, Samatar is the kind of scholar every up-and-coming aspires, or at least should aspire, to emulate: Intelligent, accessible, puckishly funny (he liked to prepare students for tests...