Curated playlist

21st-century American Jews

Bob DylanAt a 1966 Manchester concert, Bob Dylan told his band to play loud after a heckler called him Judas.
Simon KinbergSimon Kinberg plays a banker in his own script for Mr. & Mrs. Smith. He began that screenplay as a film school thesis.
Woody AllenWoody Allen failed a film production course at New York University, then went on to direct Annie Hall.
Kate HudsonKate Hudson reached the end of a long awards season in 2025 with a striking comparison. Her first brush with acclaim, she said, had felt like a "shock entrance, or invitation, into this world." This time was different. When you have been…
Steven SpielbergSteven Spielberg walked into Universal Studios without a pass, and the guard waved him in.
Adam SandlerAdam Sandler once made a Western comedy that critics almost universally panned. On the 6th of January 2016, Netflix announced that the film, The Ridiculous 6, had been watched more times in thirty days than any other movie in the service's…
Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas insisted on giving blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo an on-screen credit for Spartacus.
Elizabeth TaylorAfter Rock Hudson said he was dying of AIDS, Elizabeth Taylor helped found a research foundation in 1985.
Ben StillerBen Stiller's films have grossed more than $2.6 billion in Canada and the United States, an average of $79 million per film. Behind that figure stands Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller, an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known…
Mel BrooksMel Brooks was 14 years old when he climbed onto a diving board at the Butler Lodge, a second-rate hotel in the Borscht Belt. He worked there as a pool-side tummler, an entertainer hired to keep the guests amused. On this day he wore a…
Amy FinkelsteinOregon held a Medicaid lottery in 2008, and economist Amy Finkelstein turned it into an experiment.
Howard Marks (investor)In 1995, Howard Marks and four partners left TCW to start Oaktree Capital Management.
Bryan BurkBryan Burk co-founded Bad Robot Productions with J. J. Abrams in 2001. He became its Executive Vice President.
Paul SimonPaul Simon, the American singer-songwriter and guitarist, nearly gave one of his best-known songs the wrong name. While writing music for the film The Graduate, he toyed with calling a new song "Mrs. Roosevelt." Art Garfunkel passed the…
Natalie PortmanNatalie Portman turned down a $2,000,000 prize in 2018. She skipped the Genesis Prize ceremony, and it was canceled.
Mila KunisMila Kunis was seven years old when she started school in Los Angeles without knowing a word of English. She has described how fast it all happened. "We arrived in New York on a Wednesday and by Friday morning my brother and I were at…
Mark ZuckerbergIn January 2024, Mark Zuckerberg turned to families of harmed children at a Senate hearing and apologized.
Ralph BakshiRalph Bakshi sold CBS a show it already owned. CBS had acquired the Terrytoons library in 1955 and forgotten it.
Seymour DrescherHistorian Seymour Drescher argued Britain ended the slave trade while it was still profitable.
Jake GyllenhaalJake Gyllenhaal, the American actor born on the 19th of December 1980, came close to playing two of the best-known superheroes in film. In 2003 he auditioned for Batman Begins and nearly won the part, which went to Christian Bale. A year…
Bob IgerBob Iger began on television sets earning $150 a week and later ran Disney twice.
Arthur MillerArthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman in less than six weeks. He finished the first act in less than a day.
Henry KissingerHenry Kissinger made a secret trip to China in July 1971. It helped end 23 years of diplomatic isolation.
Adam SilverFour days after a racist recording leaked, Adam Silver banned Donald Sterling from the NBA for life.
Alanis MorissetteAlanis Morissette recorded a demo cassette in August 1989 and sent it to Geffen Records. The tape has never been heard. It was stolen, along with other records, in a burglary of the label's headquarters in October 1989. Whatever it held is…
Robert Downey Jr.Robert Downey Jr. was too big an insurance risk to hire until Mel Gibson paid his insurance bond.
Larry LieberLarry Lieber could not say where he found the word uru, the name of the mystical metal from which Thor's hammer Mjolnir is made. It first appeared in the debut of Marvel's thunder god, in Journey into Mystery #83, cover-dated August 1962.…
Noam ChomskyNoam Chomsky wrote his first article at age 10, about the fall of Barcelona.
Phil SpectorPhil Spector's first number one song came from his father's gravestone.
Jennifer ConnellyJennifer Connelly was eleven years old when she walked into an audition for the director Sergio Leone and tried to pass as a ballerina. She had never taken a ballet lesson. She simply imitated what she imagined a dancer would do. Leone was…
Joaquin PhoenixJoaquin Phoenix had just flipped his car on a winding canyon road in Hollywood when a voice at the window told him to relax. It was the 26th of January 2006. Gasoline was leaking into the cabin. A shaken Phoenix answered, "I'm fine. I am…
Paul NewmanAt the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona, Paul Newman was 70 years and eight days old, and his team won its class. That made him the oldest driver to date on a winning team in a major sanctioned race. Newman was best known as a film star, and he…
Harvey WeinsteinHarvey Weinstein was thanked by name in 34 Academy Award acceptance speeches. That is as many times as God was thanked, and only Steven Spielberg, with 43 mentions, was thanked more often. The tally comes from an analysis of speeches made…
Goldie HawnGoldie Hawn was born on the 21st of November 1945, and her first major film role won her an Academy Award. That is a startling debut for a performer who, only a short time earlier, had been known for giggling her way through a television…
Milton FriedmanMilton Friedman argued the Federal Reserve let the money supply shrink by one-third between 1929 and 1933.
J. J. AbramsJ. J. Abrams wrote his first film score at age 16 for a horror movie. The 1982 low-budget film was called Nightbeast.
Noah WyleNoah Wyle won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for playing an emergency room doctor in The Pitt, three decades after his first Emmy nomination in 1995. The American actor was born in Hollywood in 1971. In the…
Billy JoelWilliam Martin Joel, better known as Billy Joel, left Hicksville High School in 1967 without a diploma. He had missed a crucial English exam after playing a late-night gig at a piano bar, where he earned money to help support his mother…
Sam Bankman-FriedSam Bankman-Fried played League of Legends while pitching investors. Sequoia later put in more than $200 million.
Marvin MinskyIn 1951, Marvin Minsky built the first randomly wired neural network learning machine. He called it SNARC.
Paul SamuelsonPaul Samuelson said he was born as an economist at age sixteen. It happened in a 1932 Chicago lecture on Malthus.
Alan GreenspanIn October 2008, Alan Greenspan told Congress his faith in free markets had a flaw.
Jonathan KasdanJonathan Kasdan first appeared on screen in 1983, playing the son of Harold and Sarah in The Big Chill, a film made by his own father. Today his name appears in credits as a screenwriter, director, producer and actor. The path between…
Gabor BorittGabor Boritt, a Hungarian-born American historian, reached New York with exactly one dollar in his pocket. He judged it the dirtiest city he had ever seen. He was a teenager, a refugee, and far from anyone who knew him. Behind him lay a…
Daniel YerginDaniel Yergin started his energy research firm with a two-dollar file cabinet.
Al AronowitzJournalist Al Aronowitz introduced Bob Dylan to the Beatles in a New York City hotel room on August 28, 1964.
Jon BernthalJon Bernthal was studying acting in Russia when he also won a place as a catcher for a Russian professional baseball team. Few American actors can say the same. That pairing of stage training and a ballfield, far from home, sets the tone…
David SternDavid Stern began shipping VHS tapes of NBA games to Chinese state television in 1987.
Benny BlancoBenny Blanco walked onstage on the 13th of June 2013 at the 44th Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony. The award in his hands was the Hal David Starlight Award, given to young artists who have already made an impression on the music…
Jordan BelfortJordan Ross Belfort is an American former stockbroker who spent 22 months in prison for fraud. He is also the author of a memoir that became a major film. For years he ran a brokerage that defrauded its own customers. Then he helped the…