by Matthew Friedman | Feb 20, 2026 | Music
I came to avant-garde art music fairly early (and fairly easily), through the soundtrack album for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and my friendship with Robert Kermode. Robert had similarly obscure interests, and we played a game of trying to find the most...
by Matthew Friedman | Jan 8, 2026 | Commentary, Politics
There was a time when any one of these things would have sparked a national crisis: The illegal and unconstitutional attack on a sovereign nation and the abduction of its leader; the persecution of a celebrated war hero, astronaut and elected official solely because...
by Matthew Friedman | Dec 28, 2025 | Essays, Music
Outrage flooded into the aisles of the Théâtre des Champs Elysées on the night of 29 May 1913, and spilled into the streets of Paris’s 8e Arrondissement. The premiere of Le Sacre du Printemps, a new ballet staged by Sergei Diaghilev’s Les Ballets Russes,...
by Matthew Friedman | Nov 12, 2025 | Commentary, Jewish Life
A couple of weeks ago, I had lunch with a friend from work. It’s something that I rarely have time to do, given my insane teaching schedule, so I welcomed the opportunity to sit down and have a friendly chat. The chat, over macaroni and cheese from the Whole Foods...
by Matthew Friedman | Oct 3, 2025 | Essays, Jewish Life, Politics
In May, I started writing an essay pushing back against the dominant Maximalist Zionist narrative that criticism of the State of Israel and support for Palestinian civil rights and national autonomy is antisemitism. I documented the history of the rhetorical equation...
