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Jan 14, 2025 | 
jewishreviewofbooks.com | Jesse Tisch |Akiva Schick |Joseph Epstein |Abraham Socher
Free Press 304 pp., $29.99 Simon & Schuster 464 pp., $20.99 Memoir is risky business. Its reputation? Slightly dubious. Its vices? Vanity, indiscretion, omission. Don’t trust it, said Orwell, unless it reveals something shameful. Even then, you might wonder why someone probes their past, poking around in the attic of their psyche. Why not let demons rest? If anyone understands these hazards, it’s Joseph Epstein, a great practitioner and skeptic of personal writing.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
commentary.org | Joseph Epstein
Whenever I am among people discussing politics and the discussion begins to turn contentious, I generally remind my companions that "I have never lost a political argument" and, after a brief pause, add, "but, then, neither have I ever won one." The reason for this seeming paradox is simple: To win an argument you need reason, and, when it comes to politics, you cannot, as Jonathan Swift had it, reason someone out of something into which he or she has not been reasoned.
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Dec 11, 2024 | 
wsj.com | Joseph Epstein
How many people recall the name Douglas Ginsburg? In 1987, Judge Ginsburg, then 41, was nominated by Ronald Reagan for a seat on the Supreme Court but withdrew from consideration soon after it emerged that he had smoked marijuana as a college student and professor. Judge Ginsburg retained his seat as a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, where he continued to serve with distinction and is still a senior judge. He has also taught at various law schools.
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Nov 21, 2024 | 
nationalreview.com | Joseph Epstein
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
msn.com | Joseph Epstein
Continue reading More for You Continue reading More for You
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Nov 5, 2024 | 
wsj.com | Joseph Epstein
A word I haven’t heard in conversation or seen in print for a long while is “opinionated.” Always meant critically, the word’s core definition is “conceitedly assertive and dogmatic in one’s opinions.” The reason I haven’t heard or seen the word much recently is that, with the advent of cable news channels, with their opinion-spouting panelists, opinionatedness became all but a profession.
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Nov 4, 2024 | 
msn.com | Joseph Epstein
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Oct 30, 2024 | 
jewishpress.com | Joseph Epstein
French President Emmanuel Macron has acted recently as if he were trying to seek re-election … in Yemen. He joined high-profile, far-left politicians, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Britain’s Jeremy Corbyn, earlier this month in calling for an arms embargo on Israel. Macron said Israel “must not forget” that it was created by the United Nations and thus should respect U.N. decisions despite the institution’s proven anti-Israel bias.
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Oct 20, 2024 | 
wsj.com | Joseph Epstein
WSJ Opinion: So Who's Normal, Trump or Harris? Your browser does not support HTML5 video. 0:00Paused0:00 / 5:55WSJ Opinion: So Who's Normal, Trump or Harris?Play video: WSJ Opinion: So Who's Normal, Trump or Harris? A little over two weeks before the presidential election and many independent voters, myself included, still haven’t decided how they will vote. I can’t vote for Kamala Harris.
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Oct 20, 2024 | 
wsj.com | Joseph Epstein
An error occurred. Please try again later. A little over two weeks before the presidential election and many independent voters, myself included, still haven’t decided how they will vote. I can’t vote for Kamala Harris. I find many of Donald Trump’s policies—his stand on closing the borders, his economic programs, his unflinching support for Israel—appealing but for one thing: the man who holds them.
