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“I’ve been looking at [Keret’s] Substack and it’s so witty and enjoyable, and he’s clearly having a wonderful time doing it, I thought, ‘maybe I could do that’” — Salman Rushdie, The Guardian
Glad You Asked
Everything, Everywhere, All At Once
In the week of Holocaust remembrance, Yonit Levi of Channel 12 Israel and Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian invite Keret to their Unholy Podcast to reflect on his late mother, a survivor of the Shoah who never wanted that label, and give his take on the political turmoil (that seems to be as surrealistic as the film this episode is named after).
Also: the show's classic chutzpah and mensch awards – and a look at the gap between what Brits say and what they actually mean (also known as: the guide to understanding your British co-host).
Special thanks to Ira Glass and the team of "This American Life" for their assistance in the making of this episode.
"The Middleman"
“The Middleman“, an Arte mini-series starring Mathieu Amalric, written and directed by Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen, has premiered on the Arte channel May 7th 2020.
Watch online (French with English subtitles) at the Criterion Channel.
בישראל אפשר גם לצפות בסידרה ב-Hot VOD וב-Cellcom TV.
Random quote
I close my eyes and think back to the cashier at the grocery store. When we hugged I tried to be small, to be warmer than I really am. I tried to smell like I’d only just been born.
The Upgraded Me
In an overwhelming, unpredictable world, our virtual selves offer an appealing existential strategy.
— Illustration: Diego Patiño
Words Without Borders, 2010
I believe that there is a truth. I believe it is very difficult to articulate that truth. I try to go in that direction, but I don’t pretend I will get there.
New York Times, 2012
For Keret, the creative impulse resides not in a conscious devotion to the classic armature of fiction (character, plot, theme, etc.) but in an allegiance to the anarchic instigations of the subconscious. His best stories display a kind of irrepressible dream logic