Music journalist and author of Genius & Anxiety Norman Lebrecht is joined by an illustrious trio to discuss the lyrics, lives and legacy of three of the greatest songwriters of all time – and play some songs. In Leonard Cohen: The Mystical Roots of Genius biographer and Jewish cultural expert Harry Freedman explores the sources the Canadian singer-songwriter drew on, including the Bible, Talmud and Kabbalah. Singer and composer Barb Jungr has given her acclaimed versions of the songs of both Cohen and the newly octogenarian Bob Dylan throughout her career, including her Hard Rain album and tour, which The Independent described as “the North American songbook’s climax revealed by its greatest interpreter. Einstein on the Run author Andrew Robinson celebrated Tom Lehrer’s 90th birthday with a noted Nature article, concluding that “his scathing creations remain one of the most original — not to mention mathematically elegant — bodies of artistic work to come out of the United States in the twentieth century”.

An event from Jewish Book Week 2022.