Julia M. Klein
@juliamklein.bsky.social
Freelance cultural reporter and critic, contributing book critic for the Forward, recovering political junkie
Matthew Pearl satirizes writers and the elite literary world in #TheAward. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/24/a...
Literary Cambridge, behaving badly - The Boston Globe
Matthew Pearl’s cleverly plotted literary satire "The Award" begins with an intriguing author’s note: “Some of this happened.” We may never know just what.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Matthew Pearl satirizes writers and the elite literary world in #TheAward. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/24/a...
In the U.S., Israeli heroine #HannahSenesh gets her moment.
In Israel, she's a national heroine — Americans are starting to understand why
Douglas Century's offers the rivieting story of the 23-year-old heroine who died while trying to save Hungarian Jews.
forward.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:22 AM
In the U.S., Israeli heroine #HannahSenesh gets her moment.
Bloomberg's Ellen Huet broke the story of the dark(er) side of OneTaste, which billed itself as a sexual wellness company. She's got all the salacious details in her new book, "Empire of Orgasm," which I reviewed for the Los Angeles Times.
Review: A California sex 'cult' became a Netflix hit. This new book unpacks even darker secrets
'Empire of Orgasm' chronicles the descent of a Bay Area-based wellness company that promised sexual liberation but ultimately morphed into a manipulative enterprise.
www.latimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Bloomberg's Ellen Huet broke the story of the dark(er) side of OneTaste, which billed itself as a sexual wellness company. She's got all the salacious details in her new book, "Empire of Orgasm," which I reviewed for the Los Angeles Times.
Did Alexander Hamilton have an affair with his sister-in-law? Biographer Amanda Vaill votes yes. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
‘Pride and Pleasure’ Review: The Schuyler Sister Act
Significant figures in the social and political circles that shaped revolutionary America, the Schuyler sisters found ways to influence the direction of a young country.
www.wsj.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Did Alexander Hamilton have an affair with his sister-in-law? Biographer Amanda Vaill votes yes. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
Following Gov. Josh Stein around western North Carolina this summer: dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/articles/bri...
Bridge Builder
Gov. Josh Stein ’88 on the politics of showing up and providing grounded leadership in a divided state
dartmouthalumnimagazine.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Following Gov. Josh Stein around western North Carolina this summer: dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/articles/bri...
A new exhibition in #Philadelphia assesses the impact of the #DeclarationofIndependence. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
‘The Declaration’s Journey’ Review: The Founding Document’s Freedom Trail
Philadelphia’s Museum of the American Revolution traces the complex legacy, at home and abroad, of the Declaration of Independence.
www.wsj.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:26 PM
A new exhibition in #Philadelphia assesses the impact of the #DeclarationofIndependence. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
To play in the women's orchestra in Auschwitz was a gruesome affair, but it was better than the alternative forward.com/culture/book...
To play in the orchestra in Auschwitz was a gruesome affair, but it was better than the alternative
In her new book, Anne Sebba traces the grim history of 'The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz.'
forward.com
September 22, 2025 at 9:30 PM
To play in the women's orchestra in Auschwitz was a gruesome affair, but it was better than the alternative forward.com/culture/book...
On the choreographic journey of #Penn alum Jennifer Weber: thepenngazette.com/move-mixer/
Move Mixer
thepenngazette.com
September 14, 2025 at 6:28 PM
On the choreographic journey of #Penn alum Jennifer Weber: thepenngazette.com/move-mixer/
www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
A new biography is revelatory about Lin-Manuel Miranda's early life and creative efforts.
A new biography is revelatory about Lin-Manuel Miranda's early life and creative efforts.
Review: Bad ‘Hamilton’ grade aside, a young Lin-Manuel Miranda overflowed with creativity
Daniel Pollack-Pelzner conducted more than 150 interviews for his portrait of Lin-Manuel Miranda, a joyous artist who absorbs useful lessons from nearly everything he hears, reads and sees.
www.latimes.com
September 12, 2025 at 7:29 PM
www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
A new biography is revelatory about Lin-Manuel Miranda's early life and creative efforts.
A new biography is revelatory about Lin-Manuel Miranda's early life and creative efforts.
In case you were wondering about the transition to #Taliban rule in #Afghanistan
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/29/a...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/29/a...
Their country has been riven by war, corruption, and extremism. How do the people of Afghanistan keep going? - The Boston Globe
Burrowing into both Afghan family life and the country’s convoluted politics, Åsne Seierstad's "The Afghans" follows three people over several decades, culminating in the dramatic first year of the Ta...
www.bostonglobe.com
August 22, 2025 at 5:37 PM
In case you were wondering about the transition to #Taliban rule in #Afghanistan
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/29/a...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/29/a...
Joshua Sharpe helps free an innocent man — and tells the tale.
Review | ‘The Man No One Believed’ recounts a shocking murder and delayed justice
Joshua Sharpe’s book is about the killing of a Black couple in 1985 at a Georgia church and the wrongful conviction that eventually resulted.
wapo.st
August 12, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Joshua Sharpe helps free an innocent man — and tells the tale.
forward.com/culture/book... Sam Wachman takes readers inside Ukraine in his debut novel.
Amid the terror of war in Ukraine, a stirring debut novel demonstrates the power of love and art
Set amid the terror of war in Ukraine, Wachman's debut is a novel of unmistakable authenticity and empathy.
forward.com
August 12, 2025 at 3:03 AM
forward.com/culture/book... Sam Wachman takes readers inside Ukraine in his debut novel.
Amid the terror of war in Ukraine, a stirring debut novel demonstrates the power of love and art forward.com/culture/book...
Amid the terror of war in Ukraine, a stirring debut novel demonstrates the power of love and art
Set amid the terror of war in Ukraine, Wachman's debut is a novel of unmistakable authenticity and empathy.
forward.com
August 12, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Amid the terror of war in Ukraine, a stirring debut novel demonstrates the power of love and art forward.com/culture/book...
‘The Man No One Believed’ recounts a shocking murder and delayed justice
August 2, 2025 at 12:29 PM
‘The Man No One Believed’ recounts a shocking murder and delayed justice
Reclaiming obscure Revolutionary artists' lives. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
‘The Painter’s Fire’ Review: Pictures From a Revolution
During the struggle for American independence, artists on both sides of the Atlantic were moved to capture the moment in paintings and sculpture.
www.wsj.com
July 31, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Reclaiming obscure Revolutionary artists' lives. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
They nurtured the fantasies of millions of readers — did they also pave the way for Donald Trump? forward.com/culture/book...
They nurtured the fantasies of millions of readers — did they also pave the way for Donald Trump?
In Michael Grynbaum's latest book, magazine moguls Si Newhouse Jr. and Alexander Liberman preside over the creation of a tastemaking empire.
forward.com
July 16, 2025 at 3:15 PM
They nurtured the fantasies of millions of readers — did they also pave the way for Donald Trump? forward.com/culture/book...
Philly's #MutterMuseum tackles the #pandemic, #vaccination, and the issue of trusted messengers. thepenngazette.com/trust-booste...
Trust Boosters
thepenngazette.com
July 13, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Philly's #MutterMuseum tackles the #pandemic, #vaccination, and the issue of trusted messengers. thepenngazette.com/trust-booste...
A 97-year-old #Holocaust survivor tells his amazing story. thepenngazette.com/survival-sto...
Survival Story
thepenngazette.com
July 13, 2025 at 10:19 PM
A 97-year-old #Holocaust survivor tells his amazing story. thepenngazette.com/survival-sto...
My travels to Argentina, and a book on the children stolen during the Dirty War, and the situation here at home -- all in an essay in The Atlantic www.theatlantic.com/books/archiv...
Between ‘the Drive to Forget and the Obligation to Remember’
Argentina’s unfinished reckoning shows how difficult it can be to recover from state terror.
www.theatlantic.com
July 12, 2025 at 2:55 AM
My travels to Argentina, and a book on the children stolen during the Dirty War, and the situation here at home -- all in an essay in The Atlantic www.theatlantic.com/books/archiv...
Reviewing a lovely Jill Bialosky memoir on a complicated mother. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
‘The End Is the Beginning’ Review: Her Mother’s Days, Unspooled
Jill Bialosky’s story of her mother’s life seeks to understand a complicated woman by moving in reverse.
www.wsj.com
July 2, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reviewing a lovely Jill Bialosky memoir on a complicated mother. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
Heather Clark's debut novel, "The Scrapbook," tries to wed WWII history with a contemporary love story. wapo.st/3TDXcd2
Review | ‘The Scrapbook’ considers the weight of history on a modern love
The first novel by Heather Clark, an acclaimed biographer of Sylvia Plath, is about a Harvard senior who falls for a seductive German visitor.
wapo.st
June 23, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Heather Clark's debut novel, "The Scrapbook," tries to wed WWII history with a contemporary love story. wapo.st/3TDXcd2
Review: Poignant Desi Arnaz bio spotlights drive and showbiz innovations of Lucy’s comic foil www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
Review: Poignant Desi Arnaz bio spotlights drive and showbiz innovations of Lucy's comic foil
Desi Arnaz played comic foil to his off-screen wife on 'I Love Lucy.' Behind the scenes, he revolutionized the TV business, as Todd Purdum outlines in his poignant biography.
www.latimes.com
June 4, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Review: Poignant Desi Arnaz bio spotlights drive and showbiz innovations of Lucy’s comic foil www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
Pam Jenoff's latest historical fiction takes on a Nazi concentration camp -- in a Paris furniture store. thepenngazette.com/department-o...
Department of Plunder
thepenngazette.com
May 16, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Pam Jenoff's latest historical fiction takes on a Nazi concentration camp -- in a Paris furniture store. thepenngazette.com/department-o...
Daniel Kehlmann's "The Director" takes on the exigencies of art and the politics of artistic complicity. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
Review: In this novel inspired by G.W. Pabst, Leni Riefenstahl is among the bit players
Daniel Kehlmann's 'The Director,' inspired by G.W. Pabst, grapples with the dangers of artistic complicity, in his case with Nazis during World War II.
www.latimes.com
May 16, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Daniel Kehlmann's "The Director" takes on the exigencies of art and the politics of artistic complicity. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...