Video: Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and Christopher Hitchens Debate God
Last night the popular Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and full-throttled non-believer Christopher Hitchens debated the existence of God before a packed audience at the Y’s Kaufmann Concert Hall. Both have recent books to help make their case: God Is Not Great and The Portable Atheist by Hitchens, The Broken American Male: And How to Fix Him and Shalom in the Home by Boteach. It was a spirited and contentious talk to say the least and we have the video to prove it. In the clip above, Boteach offers his image of God while Hitchens is convinced that God is man-made. Neil Gillman, Jewish philosophy professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary, was the admirable moderator.
The blogger from Brazilophile had high praise for Yamandú Costa’s performance at this past Sunday’s Brazilian Guitar Marathon:
A few years ago, at the Modern Sound, a CD by an unknown guitarist named Yamandú Costa was on display. I donned the headphones and was amazed by what I heard on track one, “Bejeiro” ("wizard") by Ernesto Nazareth. Nested in a volcanic flow of harmonic and rhythmic flourishes (which apparently come without effort to this very young guitarist) is a melodic and tonal sense so athletically exercised and acutely focused that the music simmers, soars, teases, sings, and, occasionally, roars.
Last night in New York I had the pleasure of catching the virtuoso live, performing Brejeiro and two other pieces, at the 92nd Street Y. And catching him walking by afterwards, I thanked him and said that he is the Brejeiro.
If you find yourself in the same hemisphere as Mr. Costa, do yourself a favor. Catch a show.
We posted a video of a Costa performance in case you were unlucky enough to be in another hemisphere Sunday. But we’ve got yet more guitar greatness lined up for this weekend, as part of the 92nd Street Y Guitar Institute: Uruguayan master Álvaro Pierri. Here’s some vintage footage of Pierri performing Spanish composer Federico Moreno Torroba’s Sonatina, 1st Mov.
Seinfeld co-creator Larry David was interviewed by his Curb Your Enthusiasm regular Susie Essman on the eve of the show’s season six opener back in September at the Y. The video clip above is from the season six DVD which was just released by HBO. Watch Larry as he gets in a quick workout before arriving at the famed 92nd Street Y.
If you missed the sold-out talk in September, you’re in luck. It’s included in the DVD’s bonus features.
On January 21, actors read staged monologues by seven award-winning playwrights—Paula Cizmar, Catherine Filloux, Gail Kriegel, Carol K. Mack, Ruth Margraff, Anna Deavere Smith and Susan Yankowitz—based on personal interviews and oral histories of seven women from Russia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Guatemala and Cambodia who overcame injustice to become leaders for change. Seven was developed in partnership with Vital Voices, a nonprofit organization which invests in emerging women leaders around the world, and directed by Evan Yionoulis.
Perhaps the most starkly emotive narrative of the set is Mukhtaran Mai’s story of survival and redemption. She was gang-raped by four men as retribution for an “honor crime” supposedly committed by her twelve year old brother (allegedly he held hands with a girl from a higher-caste tribe). A male tribunal from her village in Pakistan instituted the sentence. After her physical ordeal, she was forced to walk home in ripped clothing that rendered her virtually naked. Defying the tradition of committing suicide to restore honor to her family, she instead challenged the Pakistani legal system to punish her assailants. She was rewarded with a damages payment, which she used to build a school for girls. Susan Yankowitz, who worked with Mukhtaran Mai said, “It’s a very different process to put yourself in service to someone else’s voice.” They met in person three times, in a situation where neither woman spoke the other’s language. Yankowitz elucidated Mukhtaran Mai’s experience emphasizing, “She transcended the fate of women in her society to become a major force...and she did it in isolation and solitude, out of her own suffering.”
Read more and check out these upcoming events at the Y: Night of New Jewish Poetry (Jan 31) and Turkish novelist Elif Shafak (Feb 11)
Here’s an excerpt from a recent Bookforum feature on Elias Khoury, editor of the literary supplement of al-Nahar newspaper in Beirut and author of over ten books. His latest highly praised work, Yalo, was just published in English.
A Lebanese icon of international letters and activism, a novelist, playwright, and essayist, Khoury has experienced many of Beirut’s wartime milestones since the ’50s, and he joined the fighting in 1975. But soon after, realizing that Lebanon had so few written records that, in effect, the nation had erased its history, he looked beyond military resistance. He wanted to write, to materialize, as it were, a history. He took this further by separating literature and politics and conceiving of literature as a militant act. In 1993, he stated in the Beirut Review that “literature cannot be reduced to politics: I went through the war, and could not avoid writing about it. But literature is about rethinking everything, including politics; it is not mainly about politics.”
In reviewing the new novel, the article goes on to describe how the “intense interiority forces the reader to feel something beyond the story.” The LA Times has only fond words for his challenging style and adds:
“Yalo" establishes Khoury as the sort of novelist whose name is inseparable from a city. Los Angeles has Joan Didion and Raymond Chandler, and Istanbul, Orhan Pamuk. The beautiful, resilient city of Beirut belongs to Khoury.”
On Feb 4, the stage at the 92nd Street Y will belong to Khoury and Nigerian-born novelist Chris Abani for what promises to be a provocative and interesting evening.
Video: Alexander Scriabin, one of the great Russian composers, plays Etude Op. 8 No. 12.
On Feb 3, experts in Russian music convene at the Y to discuss the influential legacy of Alexander Scriabin, a favorite among pianists, known for his innovation and controversy. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia said of Scriabin that, “No composer has had more scorn heaped or greater love bestowed...” and Leo Tolstoy once described Scriabin’s music as “a sincere expression of genius.”
Those concerned about Jewish continuity would do well to change our community’s neglect of poetry, because there is a vital power in the authentic, rarely heard voices of Jewish poets — both literary ones like those reviewed here, and slam, freestyle and performance poets whose work is rarely captured aside from the perfect moment onstage, when the right rhymes seem to fall from the sky and the rhythms carry them into the bones of everyone who hears.
Rarely have I felt more electrically Jewish than at these performances — alchemies, really — in which word and sound and spirit intersect, or crash, or scrape against each other to make sparks. And let’s not forget the poetry found in Jewish hip-hop artists like Y-Love, or songwriters like Jeremiah Lockwood and Basya Schechter — musicians who’ve had more success than spoken-word artists but who ought to be ambassadors for new Jewish culture and identity, sent on all-expenses-paid trips to the hinterlands of North America (that is, cities not on a coast), where they will spread a kind of light that no amount of proselytizing can generate. Poetry is no longer the province of tweed, and it is exactly what is missing from many of today’s pews and pulpits.
In 1997, Madeleine Albright was named the first female Secretary of State and became, at that time, the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government. As Secretary of State, Dr. Albright reinforced America’s alliances, advocated democracy and human rights, and promoted American trade and business, labor and environmental standards abroad. She returned to the Y on January 20 to talk with James F. Hoge, Jr., editor of Foreign Affairs magazine, about the state of international relations and her new book, Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America’s Reputation and Leadership. In the video clip above she discusses democracy’s tarnished reputation and how to improve it.
Hoge’s Foreign Affairs Series at the Y continues on May 7 with Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International and host of Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria on PBS.
More tickets have just been released for the previously sold-out talk with iconic artist Jeff Koons and art critic/professor Katy Siegel on Tuesday, Jan 29 at the Y.
Above images by Koons: Triple Hulk Elvis I, 2007, oil on canvas. Balloon Dog (Blue), 1994-2000, high chromium stainless steel with transparent color coating. Lobster, 2003, polychromed aluminum, coated steel chain.
Bye-Bye, Winter Blues: Bowls, Bulbs and Butterflies
The blogger at “I Am Butterfly...” puts on a mini-exhibition of pottery she created at the Y. More pictures here. She says:
I took my first pottery class in college and adored it. Since then, I’ve looked at various courses here and there, but could never justify the expense. Finally, a year ago, Scott convinced me to start a class at the 92nd Street Y.
I’m so glad he did, because I love this class immensely. I start my fourth semester next Wednesday, and I can’t wait for it to begin.
If you’re looking to try your hand on the potter’s wheel, check out our popular ceramics classes.
Rosenblatt starts off by noting with mock solemnity that for 250 years Beet has been one of America’s most prestigious colleges. It began with the beneficence of Nathaniel Beet, “the wealthiest pig farmer in the New England colonies,” which accounts for the college’s porcine traditions, including its motto: ”Deus Libri Porci” (God, Books, Pigs). But recently the college has been wallowing in despair; its gigantic endowment has somehow withered away. As the novel opens, the craven chairman announces that he’s decided to postpone closing the college to give the faculty time to come up with a new curriculum that will “attract more paying undergraduates, more grants, more alumni gifts.”
Joseph Caldwell’s The Pig Did It serves the second, Irish breakfast-style.
The macabre comedy plays out in sparkling dialogue, including some hilarious speeches that are both incantations of Irish mythology and masterful bits of parody. Caldwell is a successful playwright, too, and his perfect ear for the non sequiturs of real conversation is a constant delight.
If you love the Irish, if you’ve ever fallen in love or been spurned in love—heck, if you love bacon—you must read this irresistible novel.
In February, Rosenblatt will be hosting and roasting with an academic roundtable in a square hole that includes Frank McCourt, Patty Marx and David Rakoff to discuss the new sage advice, “Don’t Go to College.” First, he takes his usual charming role as moderator of the Afternoon Night Table Series, featuring National Book Award winner Alice McDermott on Jan 30.
Dorothy Hamill’s 1976: Skating Through Life in a Year
Global warming or not, it’s definitely ice skating weather in New York right now. You can lace up at Wollman Rink in Central Park or if you prefer something less strenuous, watch the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on television this weekend. We’ve decided to go the retro route in the video above with classic Dorothy Hamill at the 1976 U.S. Nationals. It was the same year she won the World Championships and an Olympic gold medal.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and his wife, Elizabeth
It has been reported that Democrat Congressman Dennis Kucinich is abandoning his bid for the White House. From the Associated Press:
In an interview with Cleveland’s Plain Dealer, the six-term House member said he was quitting the race and would make a formal announcement on Friday.
“I will be announcing that I’m transiting out of the presidential campaign,” Kucinich said. “I’m making that announcement tomorrow about a new direction.”
