Jonathan Weisman, "Semitism"

Jonathan Weisman discusses his book, "semitism", at Politics and Prose on 3/22/18.

The Trump era has coincided with a rise in anti-Semitism and Weisman, a novelist and deputy Washington editor of The New York Times, has been targeted on Twitter by neo-Nazis. Noting both that the images they threw at him are rooted in ancient stereotypes and that the Trump era is shockingly tolerant of such speech, Weisman began to explore the rise of the alt-right in general. His thought-provoking account of today’s political atmosphere proposes that Jews can best respond to anti-Semitic slurs by uniting to help groups that are under attack not only from the alt-right but also from the White House: immigrants, black activists, and gay and Muslim communities.

JONATHAN WEISMAN is Deputy Washington Editor of The New York Times and author of the novel, No. 4 Imperial Lane, which was a Chautauqua Prize finalist, Amazon Best Book of the Month, and Great Group Reads Pick at the Women's National Book Association. He has reported for The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and others. He is the father of two teenage daughters, and lives with fellow writer Jennifer Steinhauer in Washington, D.C.

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Produced by Tom Warren