Women in Intelligence
The first half of the last century saw women take on an extraordinary range of roles in British intelligence, defying convention and playing a pivotal role in both World Wars. Helen Fry’s ground-breaking, panoramic Women in Intelligence: The Hidden History of Two World Wars is full of hitherto unknown stories, taking us from Bletchley and […]
Itamar Rabinovich: Middle Eastern Maze
A rare event with the former Israeli ambassador to the US and chief negotiator with Syria in the mid-1990s. In conversation with journalist David Aaronovitch, Itamar Rabinovich provides an insider’s analysis of the Arab-Israeli conflict and peace process. His latest book Middle Eastern Maze covers the Abraham Accords, the new policies pursued by the Trump […]
Dannie Abse Centenary Celebration
Dannie Abse’s writing — both his poetry and his prose – is witty, colourful and profound, drawn from his Welsh background, his Jewish identity, and his experiences as a doctor. A sharp eye for humour and a deep humanity add to its potency. In this celebratory event, Maureen Lipman joins poet Jeremy Robson, a close friend of Abse’s […]
Genesis Emerging Writers 2024
The third edition of our Emerging Writers Programme in partnership with the Genesis Foundation culminates in this popular panel event, chaired by Bidisha Mamata. This year’s writers are: Sean Gilbert, Mariyam Karolia, Harriet Matthews and Susan Royston (fiction),Sharon Kanolik, Angus Reilly and Eleanor Thom(non-fiction); Beth Frieden, Michael Mullen and Evie Ward (poetry). Their mentors are: […]
Kindertransport and Beyond
85 years after the Kindertransport, children continue to flee their homes in search of safety. This special panel brings together expertise and personal experience spanning nine decades. Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines was one of 669 children rescued by Nicholas Winton from Czechoslovakia in 1939. In The Kindertransport: What Really Happened Dr Andrea Hammel explores some of the […]
Elif Shafak & Sarah Bernstein
Two of today’s most vital and highly regarded writers, together for the first time. 2023 saw author Sarah Bernstein named a Granta Best Young British Novelist and Booker shortlisted for Study for Obedience, the story of an unnamed Jewish woman’s move to the remote, unspecified country of her ancestors. And ahead of her highly anticipated […]
Burton & Taylor
It was one of the most iconic relationships of the 20th century, by turns triumphant and tragic, romantic and recriminative. Richard Burton emerged from the mists and brimstone of Wales to be the greatest theatrical animal of his generation; Elizabeth Taylor was the child actress turned Oscar winner, noted Jewish convert and much-married screen star. […]
Leonard Bernstein: Some Other Time
80 years after Leonard Bernstein’s early triumph On The Town hit Broadway, the classic New York musical provides our title as we celebrate him in conversation and song. Working with fellow theatrical legends such as Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins, Betty Comden and Adolph Green he created iconic shows, ballets and concert works, including West Side […]
The Last Consolation Vanished
On October 7 1944, a group of Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz rebelled, bombing Crematorium IV. The desperate uprising was defeated by the end of the day, with over 400 prisoners killed, including Zalmen Gradowski. The Last Consolation Vanished: The Testimony of a Sonderkommando in Auschwitz is the first full English translation of his extraordinary, powerful […]
Elon Musk’s Dangerous Turn
In a special online event in partnership with The Jewish Quarterly, award-winning journalist & author Richard Cooke joined Devorah Baum to discuss his longform JQ essay Dark Star, an in-depth exploration of Elon Musk and the transformation of the world’s richest person, from self-described moderate to trolling neo-reactionary and staunch advocate for hardline US conservatives.
Returning from Silence
Michèle Sarde’s lively saga mingles creative writing with family memories. It evokes the prickly, centuries-long life of the Jews in Salonica, with their nostalgia for the Spain they left behind. With the breakup of the Ottoman empire, they feel impelled to emigrate once more, this time to Paris. Through the narrator and her mother, we […]
Liberal & Illiberal Arts
How did Humphrey Bogart end up telling Lauren Bacall a Talmudic story in Key Largo and what does that have to do with Plato’s theory of recollection—or American Jewish assimilation? The answers can be found in the collection of witty, wise and whimsical essays (mostly Jewish, as the subheading says) from Abraham Socher. Subjects range […]