The Jewish Angle

In May, The CJN's opinion editor, Phoebe Maltz Bovy, published her latest book, The Last Straight Woman . One of the most incisive reviews (from a Jewish writer, no less) was Virginia Karnstein, a PhD candidate whose research crosses feminism, antisemitism and vampires—and, sometimes, the middle of that unique Venn diagram. The Last Straight Woman does not focus on vampires, but it does look at th...

For decades, Jewish women played a central role in building feminist movements, shaping ideas about equality, activism, and social justice. Yet as of the last 30 years, they find themselves cast as symbols of privilege, whiteness, and oppression within the very spaces they helped create. How did that happen? Writer and scholar Kara Jesella joins Phoebe Maltz Bovy to discuss her new book, Feminist...

As the Western world grows more hostile to Jewish life—as exemplified by rising attacks on synagogues and Jewish schools, bullying and boycotts—one would think this strengthens the case for Israel's right to exist as a safe homeland for Jews. But Israel's existence, many anti-Zionists argue, is the very reason for so much antisemitism right now. On the flip side, several of those same anti-Zionist...

Hasan Piker, a left-wing provocateur with millions of digital subscribers, injected himself back into the news cycle after appearing alongside writer Jia Tolentino to discuss the ethics of stealing food from big-box grocery stores in the New York Times . Those who keep tabs on the world's most vocal anti-Zionists will recognize Piker's name—he's been called out by the ADL and other Jewish activist...

In the 1970s, in the wake of an emerging second-wave feminism, women's magazines were expanding rapidly with a unique style. Their focus, however, tended to exclude minorities. Jewish women were seen as privileged "others", not facing the same constraints as their gentile peers. That's why the Winnipeg-born Susan Weidman Schneider founded Lilith , a Jewish feminist magazine, out of New Y...

When best-selling author Meg Keene tried to pitch her latest novel, she was told—outright, by multiple people in the industry—that her book wouldn't sell. Not because it was too controversial, or violent, or suggestive, but because Keene herself is openly Zionist, and her book included authentic, lived-in Jewish and Israeli references and personalities. Keene isn't the only one facing this. In the...

Graham Platner is a progressive populist running to unseat longtime Republican Susan Collins in Maine. The military veteran's campaign has been fiery, to say the least, riddled with attacks about his past online comments and—notably for Jews—a tattoo that bore a resemblance to a Nazi symbol, which he's since covered up. But his Nazi-adjacent imagery didn't damage his reputation in the way people e...

Earlier this month, British vandals defaced a new location of Gail's, a bakery chain with 170 locations across the U.K. They smashed the store's windows, splattered it with red paint, and left pro‑Palestinian and anti-Zionist messages on its doors. One such message: "F*** Bain Capital." It refererred to an investment firm that manages USD$215 billion in global assets, including investmen...

Judy Blume, the acclaimed author of young people's novels, saw resurged interest in her work in 2023. One of her most famous books, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret , hit the big screen as an acclaimed feature-length film; that same year, Amazon released a documentary about her, Judy Blume Forever . Meanwhile, Mark Oppenheimer—a writer, podcaster, editor and teacher at the John C. Danforth Cen...

Kat Rosenfield doesn't write Jewish fiction. Her forthcoming book, How to Survive in the Woods , is a thriller set in the wilderness of Maine—not very Jewish. But that hasn't stopped random internet users from noticing her surname and making the link, sometimes with prejudice. The idea that an artist must be inextricably linked to their identity politics—and that Jews are inherently Zionists—is no...

Earlier this month, the federal Canadian government announced it would dissolve the offices of two anti-hate envoys: one for combatting antisemitism, and the other for combatting Islamophobia. In their place, the Heritage ministry said it would fold both into a new advisory council on equal rights reporting to the minister of cultural identity. If you ask Jonathan Kay, an editor at Quillette and f...

In Canada, Jewish girls seen as uppity and privileged have a nickname: the JAP, which stands for Jewish American Princess. Meanwhile, around the world, the stereotype persists, even if the name changes: spoiled Jewish girls have been called JPs and Becks in the U.K., or even Kugels in South Africa. Having lingered for decades, the stereotype has shaped both how Jewish women are perceived by non-Je...

Anti-Zionism is often presented as simply a political critique of Israel. But in reality, it frames Zionists as a hostile, genocidal group, while often collapsing Jews and Israelis into the same stereotype due to their support for the Jewish State. From that perspective, anti-Zionists can quickly fall into racist tropes against Israelis, flattening identities into caricatures and seeing scapegoati...

Lena Dunham’s latest Netflix rom-com series, Too Much, hasn't gained much traction since debuting in July 2025. In November, Netflix announced it was not renewing the series for a second season; the following month, it was ignored at the Golden Globes, despite strong casting and clever writing from Dunham, the Jewish showrunner behind the seminal HBO shows Girls. Nonetheless, The CJN's opinion edi...

In certain Orthodox Jewish circles, Reform Judaism is synonymous with far-left, queer, antifa-aligned eco-protesters—and, if your only information about such things comes from the internet, that perception may go unchallenged. Jesse—who does not publicize his last name, but writes a Substack under the pseudonym " Bagel Emoji "—wanted to see things for himself. He decided to explore the d...

Indiana University’s Jewish Studies program was thrown into turmoil after the quiet removal of its longtime director, Holocaust historian Mark Roseman. In his place, the administration installed Günther Jikeli, a non-Jewish academic with a reputation for a more combative, pro-Israel posture. Jikeli quickly attracted controversy, barring a student from using a "Free Palestine" avatar on Z...

Earlier this month, the New York Magazine cultural spinoff Vulture published an article by Andrew Ridker, "A New Jewish Plotline", asking whether Jewish writers should tackle different stories after what happened in Gaza—stop portraying themselves as victims, and address the fact that Jews are broadly affluent and powerful. But Phoebe Maltz Bovy questions the logic of this article , as i...

Zohran Mamdani, while running to be mayor of New York City, initially refused to disavow the slogan “Globalize the Intifada”. Once he did eventually reverse course on that, it came off more as politically expedient than a genuine act of bridge-building or moral leadership. That's how it struck Josh Yunis, a Jewish leftist who writes a Substack called The Diaspora. The incident felt part of a broad...

In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, other right-wing commentators are pushing their way into a more mainstream spotlight. To that end, Tucker Carlson recently hosted Nick Fuentes, a Christian nationalist and Holocaust denier, consequently enraging American Republicans who felt that his sort of extremist voice should be kept outside of the party's public dialogue. But Carlson platformed Fu...

Israelis breathed a collective sigh of relief after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire that included the return of the remaining hostages and and end to the fighting in Gaza. But the question remains: What comes next? What does the future look like for embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heading into next year's elections? How are Western political figures like U.S. President Trump per...

NOTE: Due to a technical error from our host server, this episode of The Jewish Angle did not release as scheduled in RSS feeds on Oct. 23. We are publishing it today instead. We apologize for anyone sincerely irritated by missing their weekly dose of Phoebe Maltz Bovy's opinion—but, hey, at least you get two this week. The U.S. government has, in recent weeks, began cracking down on controversial...

The Western world has never "defeated" bigotry in the way it hoped. Try as some might to stamp out racism in all its forms, there are still plenty of prejudices, from grade school hallways to the highest offices of government officials. Why would antisemitism be any different? It's a question posed by Ari Y. Kelman, a professor at Stanford's Taube Center for Jewish Studies. In a recent a...

The latest novel by British author Emma Forrest, Father Figure , is arguably the greatest work of Jewish literature in decades—at least, that's according to The CJN's opinion editor, Phoebe Maltz Bovy, who gave a glowing review to the new release on Sept. 29. But across the pond, the book has received a muted reaction. It hasn't been spotlit in any British book fairs; it's been largely ignored by...

Canadian patriotism has surged since U.S. President Donald Trump took office and waged a trade war with his country's northern neighbour. But while this flavour of patriotism has largely manifested in opposition to the United States ("Elbows up," etc.), one Jewish social psychologist, neuroscientist and writer wonders if Canadians could change that perspective. What if, instead of defini...

You may have new year's resolutions. But do you have Jewish new year's resolutions? Erin Beser, a Jewish educator and rebbetzin, does one each year with her family—sometimes just for the year, sometimes forever. First they gave up meat. Then they gave up screens. This year? Shopping—no more impulse buys, extra clothes or excessive gifts. In 5786, they're only buying what they need. Beser drew atte...