More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Judaism is a major monotheistic ethnic religion based on the teachings of the New Testament. It is not only a faith but also embedded in tradition, law, culture and history. Around 0.2 percent of the world population is Jewish.
When Albert Einstein wrote an obituary for Emmy Noether in 1935, he described her as a “creative mathematical genius” who—despite “unselfish, significant work over a period of many years”—did not get the recognition she deserved.
Noether made groundbreaking contributions to mathematics at a time when women were barred from academia and when Jewish people like herself faced persecution in Nazi Germany, where she lived.
Days before Purim, the Jewish “festival of the lots,” the Trump administration arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a U.S. green card holder whose spouse is a U.S. citizen, because of his role in anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian protest activity at Columbia University.
This is a terrible breach of civil libertarian principles and university cultures of critique and dissent. Immigration and naturalization are being pulled back, it seems, into an early-20th-century mode in which ambiguous standards of what constitutes acceptable or unacceptable political speech become grounds for admission or deportation from the U.S.
Behind some of the most fascinating scientific discoveries and innovations are women whose names might not be familiar but whose stories are worth knowing:
—Marie Tharp revolutionized oceanography by mapping the seafloor, uncovering a rift valley that helped prove plate tectonic theory.
—Margaret Morse Nice transformed ornithology with her empathetic study of song sparrows, pioneering methods still used today.
—Tu Youyou led groundbreaking research in Maoist China, extracting artemisinin from traditional medicine, which became a lifesaving malaria treatment.
—Emmy Noether, a mathematical genius praised by Einstein, overcame systemic barriers to make foundational contributions to theoretical physics.
—Chien-Shiung Wu, an atomic physicist, played a critical role in the Manhattan Project and experimentally disproved a long-standing nuclear theory … though her male colleagues received the Nobel Prize for the discovery.
Exploring the evolving identities and legacy of Frances Perkins, the pioneering labor secretary who navigated gender, politics and personal transformation in her groundbreaking career.
In Wicked, there are many parallels to our own universe: the rise of fascism in Oz; the vilification of a powerful woman (whose laugh some incidentally described as a “cackle”) concerned about the well-being of the most marginalized among us; a media enabling propaganda to villainize said powerful woman and prop up an empty shell of a man specializing in elaborate cons; and the failure of solidarity between women.
Part 1 ends with Elphaba’s ostracism from Oz, but the cinematic pan of her ascension in the sky looks less like tragedy and more like triumph. In times that require moral clarity, a perpetual outsider coming to self-actualization, freed from systems of power because she’s found her own, highlights that we have to look to different skies and different lenses to find a new kind of heroism.
Though her fame as a designer came through the success of her iconic wrap dress, Diane von Furstenberg has said, “I don’t think I had a vocation for fashion; I had a vocation to be a woman in charge.”
Towards the end of the exhibit—on display at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles until Aug. 31, 2025—a QR code directs visitors to sign up for her more recent innovation: the “InCharge platform,” which serves as “a place to rally, where we use our connections to help all women be the women they want to be.” Its aim urges women to make “first a commitment to ourselves” by “owning who we are” and then to use the platform to “connect, expand, inspire, and advocate.” It is her latest project in a lifetime of advocacy meant to strengthen women.
I am a Shakespeare scholar—one who has had the audacity to put the word “race” next to his name. I frequently receive angry emails from strangers, primarily men, who think my scholarship is disgraceful.
The future depends on how we understand and teach the past.
On Aug. 7, activists across the country observe Mothers’ Equal Pay Day, raising awareness for working mothers and the unique challenges they face. This day calls attention to the earnings gap between mothers and fathers and highlights workplace policies that are unfriendly to moms.
Together, we must work toward a world where women can care for themselves and their children without worrying about falling behind financially, and where professional progress doesn’t come at the expense of a healthy, supported family. Mother’s Equal Pay Day is one “holiday” that I would like to stop observing. Together, we can make this aspiration a reality.
Mexico just elected its first woman and first Jewish president: former Mexico City Governor Claudia Sheinbaum.
She bested her opponent, Xóchitl Gálvez, winning between 58.3 percent and 60.7 percent of the vote, according to the National Electoral Institute. Gálvez had between 26.6 percent and 28.6 percent.
Thanks to three decades of political innovation in Mexico, Sheinbaum, Gálvez and hundreds of other women received the chance to run for and serve in office.
In Surviving the Silence, Barbara Brass reflected: “We just thought it would be a story of us holding hands, going quietly into the sunset. But it’s not.”
Barbara Brass and Patsy Thompson’s ongoing story is one of love, commitment, and the power of individuals to make change.