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Setting Trump aside for a busman’s-holiday Britcom

7 0
22.05.2025

Did you ever have all your prior assumptions confirmed in one go? That would be the best way I could describe where things are at on my various North-American-Jews-today beats. First, we have the survey data indicating rather persuasively that American Jews are concerned about antisemitism but see Donald Trump as making matters worse. Did you know that American Jews tend to vote Democrat? You did, we all did. The people most in need of this information—namely anyone who imagines Trump’s anti-antisemitism campaign is at the behest of the majority of American Jews—are alas unlikely to take it in. One can simply keep showcasing it, lest anyone care. I remain pessimistic on that front, but flag and share this manner of info at a regular clip all the same.

Then there’s the yes mildly self-important New York Times video showcasing the old-news-to-us fact that three Yale professors—Jason Stanley, Marci Shore, and Timothy Snyder—left New Haven (for now, at least) for Toronto. The criticism of Trump strikes me as sound, though its precise relationship to these three people’s relocations remains tenuous. The video’s title, “We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S.,” hints that one is meant to connect these two facts, but deftly avoids causality. Snyder spells out that he is not fleeing Trump. These three fascism experts think Trump is fascistic. But also, these moves were already underway to varying degrees, and involve taking excellent jobs at a top university in a desirable location. There’s plenty more to say about Trump, but about these three professors’ new appointments, maybe not.

I feel as though I’ve said my piece on these matters, for now at least, and will take advantage of the subject-matter flexibility of this column to do something other than repeat myself. With that in mind, prepare to do a bit of time travel (or streaming, if you’ve got BritBox).

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If ever there was a show whose two lead characters mistakenly ping Jewdars, it would have to be Jonathan Creek, a 1997-2016 but new-to-me comedic mystery show, in which I am now only in 1999. I watched two full seasons with this Jewish-angle thought in the back of my mind, thinking there’d be no way to ever write about it because it’s so ineffable. What exactly was making me think this?

Some of it is about banter or sensibility. But also, Alan Davies, in the titular role, has a hair type I did not know gentiles let alone British ones were capable of possessing. (I’m not being entirely serious here. I am well aware that Jews look all different ways and that the very handsome actor Daniel........

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