Larry Josephson

Residence : New York, NY

Biographical Information
Larry Josephson is a veteran public radio host and producer whose work has been heard on NPR and Pacifica stations for more than 40 years. He has won the prestigious Peabody Award (the highest in broadcasting) and three Grammy® nominations for his work. Josephson recently completed an 8-hour documentary series, ONLY IN AMERICA, a history of American Jews, heard on 300 NPR stations nationwide. He produces and distributes CDs of Bob & Ray, the legendary humorists.

Discussion topics

• ONLY IN AMERICA: An Illustrated History of Jews in America, 1654- 2000--America has been the best place for Jews since the Diaspora. And now is the best time. Jews are on the Supreme Court, in government, academe, sports and politics. Al Gore chose Joe Lieberman, an orthodox Jew, to run for Vice-President in 2000.
  But it was not always so. The first 23 Jews in North America landed in New Amsterdam in 1654. Governor Peter Stuyvesant tried to expel them, calling them "this accursed race … blasphemers of the name of Christ." Despite hardship, antisemitism, discrimination and quotas, American Jews today are a success, unimaginable in "the old country."
  In his lecture Larry Josephson will play audio clips of John Lithgow reading Peter Stuyvesant’s letter to the Dutch West India Company requesting permission to expel the first 23 Jews, and the Company’s refusal (there were Jewish investors). You’ll hear Jerry Stiller and Zero Mostel read Bintel Briefs from the Jewish Daily Forward; archival recordings of Father Coughlin, the antisemetic radio priest, and Charles Lindbergh accusing Jews of advocating America’s entry into the Second World War.
  Josephson also tells the story of "The Jews Who Created Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood" – Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Harold Arlen, and the moguls Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer and Adolph Zukor, illustrated with clips from popular songs and films they created.
• Jewish Humor, Laughing Through the Pain--Larry Josephson plays audio examples of Jewish humor. He deconstructs its roots in the bittersweet experience of Jewish life. Josephson is a black belt Jewish joke teller.

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