Lawrence (Laurie) Baron, now retired, served as the Nasatir Professor of Modern Jewish History at San Diego State University. He served from 1988 to 2006 as director of SDSU’s Lipinsky Institute for Judaic Studies. He was the founder in 1995 of the Western Jewish Studies Association.
He writes two satire columns for San Diego Jewish World: “Humoring the Headlines” under his byline, and “Hounding the Headlines,” under the byline of his dog Elona.
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Books to his credit, available on Amazon, include:
Projecting the Holocaust into the Present: The Changing Focus of Contemporary Holocaust Cinema
The Modern Jewish Experience in World Cinema
The eclectic anarchism of Erich Muhsam (Men & movements in the history & philosophy of anarchism)
His most recent articles are:
“Making Room for the Jews: The House I Live In (1945),” AJS Perspectives, Summer 2023, 86-88.
“The Revolt of Job: Salvaging the Lost World of Rural Hungarian Hasidim,” Journal of Jewish Identities, 16:1-2 (January/July 2023), 181-198.
“Persistent Parallels, Resistant Particularities: Holocaust Analogies and Avoidance in Armenian Genocide Centennial Cinema, in Armenian and Jewish Experience between Expulsion and Destruction, ed. Sarah M. Ross and Regina Randhofer (Berlin: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2021), 267-296.
“The Pioneering American Jewish Women Directors from Elaine May to Claudia Weill,” Jews and Gender (Studies in Jewish Civilization), ed. Leonard Greenspoon (W. Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2021), 217-243.
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Hit the Road Juan (tune: Hit the Road Jack) By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−Today is World Refugee Day. To protest the event, President Trump commissioned the following song. It will be premiered after his speech at the celebration [campaign rally] he is holding at the Lincoln Memorial on July 4th. * Hit the road Juan […]
Humoring the headlines: June 20, 2019 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireThe Weekly Teeter By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−The Democratic National Committee winnowed down the field of its presidential candidates to twenty to participate in two debates of ten at a time. The DNC has decided to hold the debates on the old set of Hollywood Squares enabling each candidate to have a bathroom break while
Humoring the Headlines: June 15, 2019 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireThe Diary of Donald Trump By Laurie Baron In San Diego June 3, 2019: Today my family and I went to London. Who invited Tiffany? More people welcomed me than attended my inauguration. One Londoner carried a sign equating me with England’s democratic oranges: “Donald Trump=Magna Farter.” Others flew a blimp proving I was bigger
Humoring the headlines: June 6, 2019 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireSummer Blockbusters By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−Now that Memorial Day has passed, it’s time to preview the films that promise to be the biggest hits of the summer. * The Revengers: Payback: Supervillains conspire to destroy the reputation of Muellos, a mute hero who has documented their crimes and cover-ups. Led by Captain America is
Humoring the headlines: May 31, 2019 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireWhat Trump Was Thinking By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO-Trump outdid himself this week by making comments that were so patently false they would turn Pinocchio’s nose into a Redwood, but they all were true if we could hear what he was thinking immediately after making them. * I don’t do cover-ups (especially when I am
Humoring the headlines: May 24, 2019 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Lawrence Baron SAN DIEGO — Janet Brody Esser died early morning May 22 from cancer and injuries related to a recent auto accident. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she received her BA from the University of Iowa, MA in art history with an emphasis on anthropology and archeology from California State University, Long Beach,
Funeral May 23 for Prof. Janet Brody Esser Read More »
International, Lawrence Baron, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USANursery Rhymes from Alabama By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−I’m a little fetus, short and stout. Hear my heartbeat; I want out. If you abort me, you will fail. And your doctor will go to jail. * Mary had a pregnancy. She thought it was the flu. She found out one month in The stick had
Humoring the headlines: May 18, 2019 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireMy Kind of Guy: Trump’s Song to Viktor Orban (Melody: My Kind of Town) By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO- He is my kind of guy, V. Orban is. Need you ask why? V. Orban is. My kind of populist. Alt-right nationalist. And each time he turns back immigrants. Or surrounds himself with sycophants. Equates bad
Humoring the headlines: May 13, 2019 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireThe Trump-Putin Phone Call By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−Since the CIA surveils communications between American citizens engaged in suspicious activities with Russian officials it intercepted President Trump’s conversation with Vladimir Putin last week. That prompted me to tweet: “Federal phone tappers, if you’re listening, I hope you are able to release the transcript of that
Humoring the headlines: May 9, 2019 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – A 25-minute documentary on the life of Holocaust Survivor Ruth Goldshmiedova Sax, who recently died at age 90, had its premiere Sunday night at Tifereth Israel Synagogue on a doubly sad occasion. It was Yom HaShoah, which is the annual date for memorializing victims of the Holocaust, and
Film on Holocaust Survivor ‘Ruthie’ Sax premieres Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Lawrence Baron, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & BroadcastConsoler and Enabler-in-Chief By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−After the shooting at Chabad of Poway by a white supremacist armed with an AR-15 rifle, President Trump commented: “My deepest sympathies go to the families who were affected. Looks like a hate crime. Hard to believe!” * When asked the day before if he still believed there
Serious About the Headlines: April 27, 2019 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, San Diego County, USAAlternative Facts and Interpreting the Mueller Report By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−Conclusion of Volume 2 of the Mueller Report: “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are
Humoring the headlines: April 20, 2019 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireDisaster Advice from the Donald By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−As Notre Dame burned down, President Trump tweeted: “So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out.” Given his prior advice on how to handle catastrophes, I would have thought he
Humoring the headlines: April 17, 2019 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireSpace News By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−Scientists released the first photograph of a Black hole in the universe. Looking closely at it, Democrats in Congress expect that it looks a lot like redacted version of the Mueller Report Bill Barr will release next week. * Israel’s spacecraft Beresheet crashed during its attempt to land on
Humoring the headlines: April 11, 2019 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire