My latest: From Hamilton to Harry Potter, critics keep misreading popular culture and writing off things that their audiences love. I wrote about why this happens—and why it's a problem: newsletters.theatlantic.com/deep-shtetl/61…
Criticism isn't a purely popular enterprise, and critics have no obligation to follow the crowd. Sometimes, they have the obligation NOT to. But if they choose to write about the crowd, they ought to understand the crowd. newsletters.theatlantic.com/deep-shtetl/61…
(This piece about a contemporary reappraisal of these previously popular works in specific critical circles *today*, not the reaction at the time. If you found your way to this thread from someone who shared the article implying the opposite, you now know they didn't read it.)
In other news, it took a while, but today is the day!
Anyway, I'm off to rewatch Better Off Ted, which the public was wrong to disdain, and the critics were right to acclaim. Stay safe and don't believe everything you read on Twitter unless it insults the right people!
For folks in the back: I have no problem and often agree with critiques of Hamilton or popular stuff. That's not the subject of my piece. The problem the piece raises is critics *projecting those preferences onto the public,* something entirely different. newsletters.theatlantic.com/deep-shtetl/61…
As someone who reports on lots of controversial subjects, I'm used to being vehemently criticized for things I write. But this is the first time I'm being criticized for something I *didn't* write, due to transparent lies about a piece on Twitter. It's an interesting contrast!
Hey, we've all done it! It's rarer to see someone acknowledge that they hadn't read something and reevaluate their opinion afterward. I appreciate it!

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More from @Yair_Rosenberg

11 Jan
Did you see that clip of the CDC director claiming that people who died of covid were mostly those with comorbidities? Well, here's the full footage, where you can see that was a deceptive edit. She was actually talking about VACCINATED people who died of covid, not unvaccinated.
The CDC director cited a study showing vaccines work and that only those who are already very unwell die from covid after vax. Point: Get vaccinated b/c covid is much more dangerous if you're not. Twitter partisans then pushed a misleading clip of her words implying the opposite.
At this point, if you see anyone pushing the deceptively cut clip, or refusing to correct and remove their viral tweet of the false clip, you should judge and discount their future claims accordingly.
Read 4 tweets
10 Jan
This bizarre blurb for a new staging of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice is an alphabet soup of every prejudice except the one that actually appears in the play:
tfana.org/current-season… Image
Presumably the text of the play will make the anti-Semitism impossible to escape, but I guess whoever wrote this blurb figured that would not be a draw for their audience. Curious what the company itself thinks of how they're being advertised!
While we're on the subject of the Merchant of Venice and antisemitism, I highly recommend Dara Horn's essay on the topic and on how we are educated not to see prejudice that is right in front of our faces. We talked about it back in November: newsletters.theatlantic.com/deep-shtetl/61… Image
Read 4 tweets
10 Jan
Last week, a Utah magnate accused Jews of committing genocide using covid vaccines. It seemed like a fringe, even funny, story. But it's not. The false allegation of Jewish genocide has been pushed everywhere from Fox News to Hollywood. I wrote about why: washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/0…
Why do people love accusing Jews of genocide? Because it "weaponizes the greatest Jewish trauma against Jewish people. There is no better way to hurt someone than to fashion their own most painful experience into a club with which to beat them." washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/0…
"Casting Jews as the perpetrators of a new, fictitious Holocaust frees non-Jews from the obligation to learn the lessons of the actual Holocaust." washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/0…
Read 4 tweets
6 Jan
"Okay, now that we’ve dispensed with Israel-Palestine, it’s time to tackle something less controversial: critical race theory." My latest newsletter, in which I answer reader questions: newsletters.theatlantic.com/deep-shtetl/61…
To be honest, though, the best part of this newsletter is the stock photo and caption: newsletters.theatlantic.com/deep-shtetl/61…
Fun fact: This stock photo actually depicts a violation of traditional Jewish law. I'm surprised none of you have pointed that out yet.
Read 4 tweets
24 Dec 21
This is obviously pathetic on the dad's part, but also a good example of why the Bidens should have named their new dog "Brandon"
Guy was a jerk on a Christmas call for children with the president, and since there's no defense for that, he needs to be preemptively turned into the victim of this exchange with some bizarro fan fiction. Can't defend, so fantasize instead.
If you want to see how Twitter breaks people's brains and causes them to treat other human beings in cruel and pathetic ways for no real purpose, I encourage you to read these replies, then go spend some time with your family and friends doing something more worthwhile.
Read 5 tweets
22 Dec 21
My latest: Yair Lapid, the architect of Israel's new government, wants to unite the country’s Jewish and Arab mainstream against anti-democratic extremists. But will he find enough takers? My profile of the man slated to be Israel's next prime minister: newsletters.theatlantic.com/deep-shtetl/61…
Yair Lapid to me on why he has been pushing civil equality for Israel's Arab community: “When you are a citizen in a democratic country, you deserve the same rights as everyone else... It kind of amazes me that there is even a question mark on this.” newsletters.theatlantic.com/deep-shtetl/61…
Other Lapid lines:

- On patriotism: "You can’t talk from morning until evening about how much you love this country if you hate most of the people that live in it."

- On Israel's treatment of its Arabs: "There are no second-class citizens in a country that respects itself."
Read 4 tweets

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