By John Rolfe / Red Hook, N.Y. He’s senile and confused. He doesn’t know where he is or what day it is. He wanders around looking vacant. He’s clumsy and frail. The White House staff is afraid he’ll trip over an electrical cord and crack his head open. Such is the daily drumbeat of falsehoods about President Joe Biden. Most of it comes from right-wing opponents and media, but even many Democrats and liberal pundits like Michelle Goldberg are joining the “Biden is too old” chorus. You’ve probably heard about the July 12 poll of registered voters conducted by the New York Times and Siena College that said only 26 percent of Democrats want Biden to seek re-election in 2024. The main objections: his age (79) and his job performance. (At a paltry 32 percent, Biden’s approval rating is below Donald Trump’s at a similar point in Trump’s term.) When I watch Biden, I see a man who looks and sounds his age, but is hardly a doddering, disoriented old fool. I have to laugh when Trump supporters say Biden makes no sense when he speaks. Trump sounds far more incoherent, and at 76 is not much younger or more vital. But when Biden misspeaks or falls off a bike, as he did in June, he is fair game for those who say he is incapable of being president. Some even claim with great certainty that he will resign before the end of his term. Biden is, by many reliable accounts, still mentally sharp and in good physical condition. We take for granted that he has the weight of the world on his shoulders and precious few allies to help him carry it. Yet he is doing as good a job as he possibly can with the terrible cards he’s been dealt: an ongoing pandemic, worldwide inflation, obstructionists in Congress, bitter social polarization, the war in Ukraine, global warming, and the list goes on. If I had to deal with all that, I’d be a gibbering wreck wandering around in a daze. But Biden continues to fight his thankless fight and is apparently still the only Democrat who can beat Trump in a rematch. The Times/Siena poll says if the election were held today, Biden would prevail by a slim margin of 44 to 41 percent (assuming Trump and his allies in red state legislatures don’t succeed in overturning the result). But whether Biden can do the impossible — unite a country that is rapidly becoming a federation of entrenched red and blue states — is a key question. As it is, a Biden vs. Trump rematch is a very unappealing choice for most Americans, especially younger ones. According to the poll, only six percent of those under age 30 want Biden to run again. However, Trump shouldn’t breathe easy. A whopping 70 percent in the same age group have soured on him. Spotty track records aside, this is no country for old men (or women), even though many of our key leaders are of considerable vintage, among them Mitch McConnell (80), Nancy Pelosi (82) and Chuck Schumer (71). Already the oldest man ever elected president, Biden would be 82 at the beginning of a second term. He’d also be an even more inviting target. In our youth-fixated culture, the elderly are one of the last remaining groups whom it is acceptable to mock and ridicule. The belief that they are incompetent, unproductive and heavily dependent on others starts early. "Age stereotypes are often internalized at a young age — long before they are even relevant to people," psychologist Becca Levy told the American Psychological Association. (APA). Levy says that by the age of four, children are familiar with age stereotypes that are reinforced during their lifetimes by media and entertainment as well as societal attitudes. Heck, I can attest to that. I drive a school bus, and when my elementary school passengers asked how I old I was, one cried, “That’s really old! You’re going to die soon!” I’m 64. The truth is that even though my carcass is creakier and my memory a little more sieve-like than it was in my prime, I’m still feeling good and energetic, though. Working and remaining active into your 70s and even 80s is no longer rare. According to the APA, Americans over the age of 85 are the country’s fastest growing segment of the population. Nearly 35 million are 65 or older. But age is a double-edged sword in politics. On the one hand, there is a demand for younger, more vital candidates who can tackle the country’s complex problems and forcefully engage the other party in the war for America’s direction. On the other hand, in uncertain times people tend to cling to the familiar. Joe Biden is certainly familiar. Having held elected national office since 1972, he represents the old tried-and-true, moderate status quo. Of course, familiarity breeds contempt, as the old saying goes. So does age. That is just one more unenviable fact of life in the world Joe Biden has on his shoulders. That he would want to keep that weight there until his mid-80s suggests he is either very noble or quite foolish. John Rolfe is a former senior editor for Sports Illustrated for Kids, a longtime columnist for the Poughkeepsie Journal/USA Today Network, and author of The Goose in the Bathroom: Stirring Tales of Family Life. His school bus drivin’ blog “Hellions, Mayhem and Brake Failure” is parked on his website Celestialchuckle.com (https://celestialchuckle.com) with the meter running.

By Jessie Seigel / Washington, D.C. A June survey by Harvard’s Center for American Political Studies and the Harris Poll— in part a poll of the “approval and mood of the country”—suggested that 64 percent of voters believe Biden, who is 79 and would be 86 at the end of a second term, is too old to be president. And according to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll, 64 percent of Democrats want a different presidential nominee in 2024. Biden’s age and job performance were the top reasons reported by this poll. This survey contacted only 849 voters nationwide, reaching them by phone between July 5-7, 2022. The Times/Siena poll also stated that just 13 percent of voters said the United States is “on the right track,” while 77 percent said it is “headed in the wrong direction.” But polls are only snapshots of moments in time. And surveys billing themselves as measuring the “mood” of the country are measuring something so vague and changeable as to be utterly useless. Furthermore, surveys based on questions like the Times/Siena poll’s: “Do you think the United States is on the right track or is it headed in the wrong direction?” are too general to have any validity unless they specify the right or wrong direction on what? And ask who the respondents hold responsible for that right or wrong direction. (E.g., for those who think the daily or weekly mass murders the nation has been experiencing is a “wrong direction,” who do they consider responsible and why?) Not to mention that questions that are multiple choice or require a yes or no answer are often leading questions that do not permit nuanced responses and may place the desired reply into the respondent’s mind and mouth. Instead of conducting such polls or simply reporting their results, poll takers and news outlets that love them would do better to provide specific information about what voters are dissatisfied with. And then address who those voters consider responsible for the “wrong” direction. Polls are often used as much or more to push public opinion as to reflect it. The concerns about Biden’s age began with Republican propaganda that the liberal media as well as many Democrats have simply picked up, parroting the Republican talking points. Monkey hear, monkey repeat. In promoting the notion that Biden is too old to run again, the New York Times' chief White House correspondent, Peter Baker, advanced the view that the White House is “determined to guard him against unscripted interactions with the news media.” As support for this statement, Baker notes that Biden has held only 16 news conferences since taking office, less than half as many as Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush had held by this stage of their presidencies. It also points out that he has only given 38 interviews, while Trump gave 116, Obama 198, and W. Bush 71. However, as Baker admits, Biden has made himself more accessible than past presidents in other ways, taking questions informally after speeches and other events 290 times, compared with 213 by Trump and only 64 by Obama. Even the foreign press is piling on. As evidence of Biden’s aging, NDTV in New Delhi, India, has argued that on the weekends, Biden “often disappears to one of his two homes in Delaware for two or three days. White House correspondents only see him once, at a distance, when he goes to Mass.” NDTV added the opinion that, “when G7 leaders posed for a photo at a June summit, it was impossible to ignore the age gap between Biden and Canadian premier Justin Trudeau, 50, or French President Emmanuel Macron, 44.” NDTV’s coverage reeks of journalistic irritation that it is not getting the access it wants. So what if Biden goes to Delaware on weekends? Other presidents have gone to Camp David. The last one spent most of his time at Mar-a-Lago. So what if Biden is provided some privacy when he goes to Mass? As for the G7 photo, are we meant to decide our next leader based on physical appearances? Voters may do that, but a responsible media should not be promoting such shallow decision-making. The most bluntly forthright of those attacking Biden based on age has been the Times’ Michele Goldberg. While noting that “many of the crises driving down Biden’s approval numbers are not his fault,” Goldberg wrote, straight out: “I hope he doesn’t run again, because he’s too old.” Goldberg follows her newspaper’s line of so-called analysis, writing: “Biden has always been given to gaffes and malapropisms, but there is a painful suspense in watching him speak now, like seeing someone wobble on a tightrope.” She also repeats the argument that he has participated “in fewer than half as many news conferences or interviews as recent predecessors.” But to which predecessors is Goldberg referring? To Trump, who never missed an opportunity to push himself forward, though he made no sense—contradicting himself within just about every sentence? Or to Obama, one of the greatest orators in our 200 year-plus history, with whom no current speaker could compare? Why doesn’t Goldberg think to contrast the articulate Biden’s occasional gaffes with those of George W. Bush, who—without a Biden-like stutter to overcome—mostly couldn’t put two words together without a malapropism? And Bush’s foot-in-mouth disease did not keep him from serving two terms. Goldberg also suggests that Biden’s staff “often seems to be keeping him out of view.” But that assessment misses the likely effort of Biden and his administration to present themselves as the un-Trumps. Rather than exhibit Trump’s “vampiric thirst for attention” which Goldberg references, Biden may be bending over backwards to be low-key. Just do the job, Joe—a job that, these days, is a job for Job. Despite acknowledging that Biden “is still sharp and engaged in performing the behind-the-scenes duties of his office,” Goldberg is obsessed with the age of our leaders writ large. She argues that we are being “ruled by a gerontocracy.” She cites the ages of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is 82 years old; House Majority Leader Steney Hoyer, 83; and Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, 71. Notably, Goldberg does not mention Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who, at 80 years old, wields more power than the Senate majority. By raising Nancy Pelosi’s age, Goldberg defeats her own argument. Because Pelosi is a prime example of the need for someone with age and experience who knows the ropes and how to pull them. Pelosi (fortunately) and McConnell (unfortunately) are extremely effective leaders. Policy, not age, should be the consideration in choosing a leader. What do they stand for? What do they fight for? What have they managed to accomplish against what odds? And how can the voters get them what they need to overcome those odds when the odds are overwhelming? President Biden has numerous achievements to his credit: passing a big Covid-19 relief bill, cutting child poverty, and signing a bipartisan infrastructure law. He has restrengthened the U.S. position in NATO and its reputation around the world, and led in the support of Ukraine against the Russian invasion. In addition, faced with the right-wing Supreme Court’s overturning of the constitutional right to an abortion, Biden issued a presidential guidance document last Thursday, July 14, which protects emergency abortions nationwide. The presidential guidance relies on federal legislation on medial emergencies signed into law by President Reagan. Where state law conflicts with federal law on this, not only can a hospital comply, legally it must comply with federal law. This is only a beginning move by Biden’s administration to work around the Supreme Court’s decision. Biden’s efforts for social and climate spending have been watered down and thwarted by conservative Democratic senators like West Virginia’s Joe Manchin and Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema, in consort with Mitch McConnell’s Republicans. But the cure for that is getting enough Democrats elected to the Senate to get rid of the filibuster and make the Manchin-Sinema efforts to obstruct irrelevant. There is one point which Goldberg makes with which I do agree: “by receding so far into the background, [Biden] forfeits the ability to set the public agenda.” Goldberg adds: “You can’t spin away a bad economy, but you can draw attention to its bright spots, like a 3.6 percent unemployment rate. Americans overwhelmingly sympathize with Ukraine, and with a rousing enough message, some might be willing to accept the pain of high gas prices as the cost of standing up to Vladimir Putin. To rally them, however, it’s not enough for the administration to repeat the phrase 'Putin’s price hike.’" However, these weaknesses have nothing to do with age. They are the result of Biden’s nature and his administration’s stylistic choices. Biden’s problem is not his age, but his mild nature and insistence on being the un-Trump. His idea of recreating “normalcy” seems to be bending over backwards to eschew politics in order to bring back the rule of law. This is resulting in law that has no teeth. When we needed an attorney general who would prosecute lawlessness at the highest levels of government, Biden appointed a man who apparently is so afraid of appearing political that he is allowing the destruction of democracy. We have long needed Biden to ascend his bully pulpit and bellow: “Give me more Democrats. It’s the only way to rid the Senate of the filibuster so we can stop Republican obstruction and pass legislation the nation needs.” However, it was only sometime in the last couple of weeks that Biden finally addressed this need, pleading to donors at a fundraiser, “We need two more senators.” But Biden and every Democratic leader should be roaring that need, hammering it home to Democratic voters and the general public, not merely to donors. And not merely begging for only two. Biden’s limitation is that he is no Roosevelt, who developed uniquely creative solutions for huge problems, and who brought his conservative Supreme Court to heel by threatening to expand it—even though his Democratic Congress did not end up supporting the expansion. Nor is Biden a “Give ‘em hell, Harry” Truman—a fighting spirit we need in a leader now. Goldberg claims the Democrats have “a number of charismatic governors and senators they can turn to” as presidential candidates in place of Biden. But she does not name one. Although I may agree that we need one, right now, I don’t see someone charismatic emerging. And do we really want another primary season with as many as 23 candidates engaged in crowded debates, creating a soundbite show rather than a true debate of issues? Furthermore, while pushing Biden to take stronger actions is needed, tearing down Biden may well weaken him sufficiently for Trump or some Trumpist Republican to win in 2024. It is a conundrum. We don’t quite have the leader we need for this battle. But given the fragile state of democracy and how a Republican win in 2024 would end that democracy, we can’t afford to risk losing the leader we’ve got. Political columnist Jessie Seigel had a long career as a government attorney in which she honed her analytic skills. She has also twice received an Artist’s Fellowship from the Washington, D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities for her fiction, and has been a finalist for a number of literary awards. In addition, Seigel is an associate editor at the Potomac Review, a reviewer for The Washington Independent Review of Books, and a dabbler in political cartoons at Daily Kos. Of this balance in her work between the analytic and the imaginative, Seigel jokes, “I guess my right and left brains are well-balanced.” More on and from Seigel can be found at The Adventurous Writer, https://www.jessieseigel.com.

By Laurence Lerman / New York City In their time, Ivana and The Donald, as she dubbed him, were the best show in town. The NYC tabloids followed their every gaudy move; the two were regular fixtures in gossip columns, society pages, premiere and party round-ups in the 1980s and 1990s. Ivana was unceremoniously knocked off of her throne in 1992 when the future ex-president ostentatiously took off with another woman. But Ivana was a one-name celebrity in her day, sharing the excess and glitz that the Trumps became famous (infamous?) for. Czech-born, she was a businesswoman, a media personality, an author, a model and a skier who joined her homeland’s junior national ski team back in the 1960s. Ivana died on Thursday, July 14, at the age of 73. It was reported by the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office that her death was due to blunt impact injuries to her torso she sustained after she had fallen down the stairs of her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The office ruled it an accidental death. Ivana Marie Zelníčková married billionaire New York City real estate developer Donald Trump in 1977 (she had met him a year earlier when she was in NYC with a group of models) and they were immediately embraced by the city’s media machine, led by venerable daily tabs the New York Post and the Daily News. It was on the front pages and headlines of the tabs that New Yorkers and the rest of the country got to know Ivana and her husband, along with the glamourous, extravagant, borderline-ridiculous and oh-so-tabloidish lives they led as a Manhattan power couple. Like most high-flying media figures—and super-rich people—we only “know” them from what’s reported. And, in the case of the Trumps, it was parties, dinners, openings nights and Ivana’s glittering jewels and designer dresses. It was high society, all right, just a lot more flamboyant than, say, the Rockefellers. And, for both their parts, Ivana and Donald sure seemed to love being photographed and written about. The media frenzy around the pair kicked into overdrive a decade or so later, when the tabs got wind of trouble in the Trump marriage. Rumors (eventually confirmed) had it that Donald was engaged in an extramarital affair with a woman named Marla Maples. Maples’ relationship with The Donald, and Ivana and Donald’s subsequent struggles, separation, arguments over prenuptial agreements (there were four of them negotiated over the years) and divorce, were covered almost daily during this period, as was Donald’s subsequent public romance and marriage to Maples. Through it all, platinum with a ‘do piled high on her head and oversized earrings dangling to her shoulders, Ivana continuing to strike all the right poses in her pics (be they black-and-white or, if it was Us Weekly or People, in living color). Every aspect of the couple’s coming apart served as a chapter in the serialized tale. Even the Trumps’ retaining of their powerhouse divorce attorneys was news at a time when choosing divorce lawyers wasn’t necessarily considered to be legitimate news. (Ivana went with Robert Cohen, who later went on to represent Maples in her divorce from Donald, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and, more recently, Melinda Gates; Donald was repped by Jay Goldberg, who later wrote about the experiences in his 2018 book The Courtroom Is My Theater.) Even after her divorce from Trump was finalized in March, 1992 on the grounds of “cruel and inhumane treatment by Donald,” Ivana’s image still popped up regularly in the tabs, be it at a charity function at the MET or a dinner at the Central Park boathouse. Though the past 30 years found Ivana developing her own lines of clothing, jewelery and beauty products for the Home Shopping Network, penning an advice column for the supermarket tabloid Globe and authoring several books, it was her actual presence on the scene that garnered the attention. Her subsequent marriages to Italian businessman Riccardo Mazzucchelli and, later, to Italian actor Rossano Rubicondi, didn’t receive all that much coverage on these shores. (Both marriages ended in divorce, with the latter one lasting less than a year.) Ivana’s post-divorce relationship with Donald—with whom she shares three now-adult children–Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric–who are newsmakers in their own right—appeared to be a respectful and practical association. One substantial wrinkle came in 2015 when the Daily Beast published a eyebrow-raising story claiming that in a sworn divorce deposition by Ivana from 1990, she stated that her husband had raped her in a fit of rage in 1989. It’s an allegation Trump denied, and Ivana quickly reconfigured her claims, saying that the story was “totally without merit” and that the violation was not “to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.” Still, the story was colorful enough to make the papers. But it was already 2015, past her time in the spotlight. Ivana didn’t make the front page, a place where her ex-husband would continue to show up with disturbing regularity. Laurence Lerman is a film journalist, former editor of Video Business--Variety's DVD trade publication--and husband to The Insider's own Gwen Cooper. Over the course of his career he has conducted one-on-one interviews with just about every major director working today, including Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, Kathryn Bigelow, Ridley Scott, Walter Hill, Spike Lee, and Werner Herzog, among numerous others. Once James Cameron specifically requested an interview with Laurence by name, which his wife still likes to brag about. Most recently, he is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the online review site DiscDish.com.

Fred Plotkin, a pleasure activist and passionate Italy and culinary expert, speaks each Friday with leading people in the arts FRED PLOTKIN is one of America’s foremost experts on opera and has distinguished himself in many fields as a writer, speaker, consultant and as a compelling teacher. He is an expert on everything Italian, the person other so-called Italy experts turn to for definitive information.  Fred discovered the concept of "The Renaissance Man" as a small child and has devoted himself to pursuing that ideal as the central role of his life. In a “Public Lives” profile in The New York Times on August 30, 2002, Plotkin was described as "one of those New York word-of-mouth legends, known by the cognoscenti for his renaissance mastery of two seemingly separate disciplines: music and the food of Italy." In the same publication, on May 11, 2006, it was written that "Fred is a New Yorker, but has the soul of an Italian."

One film journalist’s stream-of-consciousness cinematic journey through the pandemic, Part 92 By Laurence Lerman / New York City Reel Streaming puts the usual fare on hiatus for a week to honor the passing of a pair of well-regarded and very recognizable character actors. Both worked well into their later years and their deaths by natural causes, though sad, give us reason to celebrate their lengthy careers, familiar faces and colorful supporting presences on screens big and small. Indeed, their appearances in projects served as effective, almost comforting signifiers of the genres for which they were best known as they provided able support for each tale’s protagonist. I’m referring to Tony Sirico, a colorful and imposing gangster type, who passed on Friday, July 8, at an assisted living facility in Fort Lauderdale, Fla at the age of 79; and L.Q. Jones, best known for his turns in western movies, who died on Saturday, July 9, at his Hollywood Hills home at the age of 94. The two men were both gunslingers in their own unique ways. Tony Sirico was a decidedly city-slickin’ cowboy, one with a more urban bent who brandished a Saturday Night Special rather than a six-shooter. L.Q. Jones, meanwhile, was one helluva man of the west, whether he was wearing the white hat or the black hat, both of which he donned with ease. Sirico was best known for his portrayal of colorful New Jersey gangster Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri, a loyal enforcer for Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano, in HBO’s groundbreaking series The Sopranos (1999). Paulie, a tough guy who he earned his “Walnuts” moniker because he once hijacked a truck that he thought was carrying TV sets but was filled instead with nuts, was one of The Sopranos’ most well-drawn characters, a fan favorite from the outset. He was splendidly conceived and written by Sopranos creator David Chase and brought to eccentric, almost-lovable life–well, as lovable as a murderous enforcer could be–by Sirico, who in real life had trod down the gangster path for years. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Gennaro Anthony Sirico Jr. claimed to have had his first criminal skirmish as a teenager, when he stole nickels from a newsstand. Dropping out of high school, Sirico worked construction for a while but then beginning running with the kind of connected crowd that got him involved with armed robbery, extortion, coercion and felony weapons possession. By the time he reached his mid-30s, Sirico had been arrested 28 times and done two stints in prison totaling nearly three years. While he was serving a stretch at Sing Sing, he saw a performance by a touring troupe of actors, all ex-convicts. “When I saw them, I said to myself, ‘I can do that,’” Sirico said. So when he was back on the outside, Sirico gave acting a shot. And for a decade and change, he appeared in dozens of small TV and movie roles, usually as a hoodlum or ex-con or some other variation of tough guy. During this time, he appeared in films by two of New York’s greatest New York filmmakers: he was gangster Tony Stacks in Martin Scorsese’s mob classic Goodfellas (1990) and he showed up as threatening presence in a bunch of films by Woody Allen, including Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Mighty Aphrodite (1995), Everyone Says I Love You (1996) and, later, Café Society (2016) and Wonder Wheel (2017). But that was all a run-up to his six-year role as The Sopranos’ eccentric but formidable Paulie Walnuts, a germ-phobic, tracksuit-wearing, joke-cracking, TV-loving, silver-haired-wing-tipped and occasionally murderous henchman who at one point admits to protagonist Tony Soprano that he had once seen a therapist, from whom he “learned some coping skills.” We’re assuming Sirico wasn’t coping all that well during his younger years. For nearly 70 years, since his debut in the recurring role of cowboy Smitty Smith in the first season of the TV’s Cheyenne, L.Q. Jones was a regular fixture in westerns on in both TV and film, as indispensable as the horses he rode in on. Born in Beaumont, in southeastern Texas, Jones completed his high school education and served in the Navy before attending a couple of small Texas colleges and the University of Austin for a few years. He then gave stand-up comedy, professional baseball and ranching a brief try before turned to acting after corresponding with his former college roommate, Fess Parker, the soon-to-be-star of the long-running NBC series Daniel Boone (1964). After making his film debut in the 1955 war movie Battle Cry under his birth name Justus McQueen, the fledgling actor adopted the name of his character in that film, L.Q. Jones, as his stage name for all his future roles. Cheyenne was first up and the newly monikered Jones was immediately embraced with supporting work in a corral full of western TV shows. Jones was featured regularly in such series as Laramie (1959), Wagon Train (1959), Klondike (1960), Have Gun – Will Travel (1962), Rawhide (1963) and Gunsmoke (1963. By the mid-Sixties, His roles on TV westerns gave way to parts on the big screen, in films including Apache Rifles (1964), Nevada Smith (1966) and Hang’em High, a 1968 Clint Eastwood vehicle that found a nefarious Jones slipping a noose around the star’s neck. It was around this time that Jones became a member of filmmaker Sam Peckinpah’s posse, appearing in such notable efforts by the revisionist western director as his seminal The Wild Bunch (1969), as well as Ride the High Country (1962), Major Dundee (1965), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) “Sam was a genius and I loved him, but he was a basket case. He drove everybody nuts,” Jones said of the bad boy filmmaker in a 2017 interview. “But you couldn’t back off with Sam or he’d be on you like a duck on a June bug.” Jones even got his shot behind the camera, directing the forgotten western The Devil’s Bedroom (1964) and the post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama A Boy and His Dog (1975), a cult favorite based on Harlan Ellison’s 1969 novella. Though he began to act less in the late 1990s, he would still pop up to lend some authentic western flavor to the occasional movie or TV production—as a former rodeo star in A Prairie Home Companion (2006) and as a Wyoming land baron in the TV flick The Jack Bull (1999). One of Jones’s most memorable later roles was in Martin Scorsese’s 1995 crime epic Casino (1995) as Pat Webb, a county commissioner in ‘70s Las Vegas who is determined to keep Mafia elements out of his beloved town. During a tense where he confronts Robert De Niro’s casino operative Sam “Ace” Rothstein, Jones (wearing snakeskin boots in a striking contrast to De Niro’s Italian loafers), coolly drawls, “Your people will never understand how it works out here. You’re all just our guests, but you act like you’re at home. Let me tell you somethin’, partner…you ain’t home. But that’s where we’re gonna send you if it harelips the governor.” Spoken like a real cowboy. From the get-go, audiences could feel that there was a helluva lot of Sirico in Paulie Walnuts, just as L.Q. Jones’ gallery of western figures drew a lot from its leathery creator. Neither of the two ever picked up any major awards, but they were both winners. Laurence Lerman is a film journalist, former editor of Video Business--Variety's DVD trade publication--and husband to The Insider's own Gwen Cooper. Over the course of his career he has conducted one-on-one interviews with just about every major director working today, including Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, Kathryn Bigelow, Ridley Scott, Walter Hill, Spike Lee, and Werner Herzog, among numerous others. Once James Cameron specifically requested an interview with Laurence by name, which his wife still likes to brag about. Most recently, he is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the online review site DiscDish.com.

By Naomi Serviss / New York City The near-perfect new Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim’s most often performed musical, Into the Woods, is a magically imagined smorgasbord of mashed-up fairy tales, served with a hearty side of beans. Songwriter and lyricist Sondheim, one of the most important figures in 20th century musical theater, passed away last fall. This Broadway revival of a sold-out concert version at City Center’s Encores! series will tickle your fancy if you appreciate crisply articulated Sondheim wit and stellar acting. The set (sparingly designed by David Rockwell) isn’t lavish, a nod to the bare-bones Encores! version, but brilliantly arresting. Birch trees gracefully drift down from the sky when needed for dramatic (mis)adventures. These solid sentries are stand-ins for the dark and (sometimes) creepy woods. Such is life in this metaphorical playground, a mélange of Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault fairy tales. “Into the Woods” had its debut at San Diego’s Old Globe Theater in 1986. It hit Broadway in 1987, then was revived in 2002, directed by James Lapine. I attended a wonderfully entertaining Shakespeare in the Park production in 2012. The cast included Amy Adams, Donna Murphy, Denis O’Hare and Chip Zien, all Broadway/film pros. Set designers created a Disneyesque Swiss Robinson Family Treehouse-like construction that blended effortlessly with the glorious Central Park trees rustling in the wind. It was hyperreal, a waking dream, under the stars. A bucket-list moment for some. Joined with a sea of worldwide humanity who stood in line for hours to score free tickets. It’s a New York thing, for bragging rights. Live outdoor theater! Where anything can happen… No one dropped a line when a raccoon appeared on stage and swiftly dashed to freedom. It earned enthusiastic applause. Meanwhile, back at the St. James Theatre, conductor Rob Berman spins gold with a stream-lined 12-piece orchestra throughout the near- three-hours-long show, graced with Jonathan Tunick’s playful orchestrations. The actors are top-drawer, seemingly able to inhabit complicated lyrics with precision enunciation and emotive body language. And great timing. Credit must be given to the two sound designers, Alex Neumann and Scott Lehrer. Their technical mastery becomes obvious upon realizing that your ears aren’t reverberating from screechy (over-amped) high notes. And garbled words. Sondheim and Lapine’s musical journey gathers ancient folk tales retold for generations. Wishes may come true, but second-guessing and anxiety won’t be far behind. Little Red Riding Hood (hilariously overplayed by Julia Lester) wants to have her cake and eat it, too. She gobbles bakery sweets and bread intended for Granny and engages with a wily Wolf (Gavin Creel, pulling double duty as Cinderella’s fella). There’s even a wistful cow puppet (Milky White), craftily handled by Cameron Johnson. She steals hearts with a flick of her head. She’s an audience favorite for good reason. Joshua Henry’s prince pines for Rapunzel, the one with the endless braid. When the curtain falls concluding Act One, things seem copasetic. Wishes granted, quests fulfilled. You know, happily ever after. Not so fast. For those unfamiliar with Act Two, it essentially eviscerates the previous one, in a fun, entertaining way! The evil stepsisters, stepmother and princes are dressed to the nines by costume designer Andrea Hood. The audience was rapt the day I attended. Nary a cell phone mishap nor an inappropriate audience ad lib was heard. Sidebar: Too many musicals are not only over-amplified, but sung so quickly you can’t help but wonder what the heck was said. You won’t have that problem in this show. These people can act! And sing! Clearly! With passion and humor! The Baker (Brian d’Arcy James, who was out when I saw it) and his wife, a take-charge Sara Bareilles, the storied composer and lyricist of Waitress form the heart of the story (for me). She’s also played the lead Waitress role on many memorable occasions. The Baker couple’s wish is for a child. Red Riding Hood, sweet-toothed and snarky (Julia Lester) encounters the devilish wolf (Gavin Creel). That encounter proves to be a teachable moment because Red learned that nice is different than good. The marquee cast includes Phillipa Soo (Eliza in Hamilton), Patina Miller, who inhabits a diabolical witch persona, and Joshua Henry (Carousel) as a gobsmacked prince-in-love with a long-tressed lass stuck in a tower. What to do?
 What to do? This brilliant production of Lear deBessonet’s contemporary classic is certainly Tony-worthy, thinking ahead. Once wishes come true, then what? Boredom, dissatisfaction, sorrow, a little adultery, and disappointment. Not to mention death’s terrible shroud throwing shade over the kingdom and its subjects. Existential questions weave their way throughout the play, with threads of innocence unraveling. The deeper you venture into the woods to learn harsh life lessons, the more human you become. Life might seem less magical, but you’ll never really be alone. “There are giants in the sky!” There are big, tall, terrible, awesome, scary wonderful Giants in the sky!” An awesome, wonderful one arrived there last November. Naomi Serviss is a New York-based award-winning journalist whose work has been published in The New York Times, Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Highroads (AAA magazine), in-flight publications, spa and travel magazines and websites, including BroadwayWorld.com

By Carly Mitchell / New York City (The author, a public-school teacher, is using a pseudonym for professional reasons) Two weeks ago, on July 2, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an ob-gyn and assistant professor at Indiana University School of Medicine reported, as required by the Indiana Department of Health, that she had performed an abortion. The patient? A 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio. Ohio had immediately outlawed all abortions after six weeks of gestation following the Supreme Court’s June 24 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The young girl in question was raped in early May, which meant she was six weeks and three days into her pregnancy. But neighboring state Indiana allows abortion for up to 20 weeks after gestation, so the girl was taken across state lines for the procedure. The explosive facts of the case garnered national attention, again bringing focus to the turbulent national relationship between Democrats and Republicans. After the case was initially reported, conservative media outlets fixated on the idea that the young girl did not exist, that the case was created by left-wing pro-choice liberals who were trying to make a point. President Biden even weighed in on the disturbing incident. In a speech on July 8, Biden recounted the case and passionately declared that a “10 year-old girl should not be forced to give birth to a rapist’s child” and chastised the Supreme Court for overturning Roe. Last week, police reports were released that proved that the story was in fact true. Gerson Fuentes, a 27-year-old man, admitted to raping the 10-year-old twice.  That didn’t stop the political fireworks. Right-wing pundits quickly shifted talking points, and conservative news outlets such as Fox News focused on the fact that Fuentes is an illegal immigrant from Guatemala. To make matters worse, Todd Rokita, the Republican Indiana Attorney General, announced that he plans to investigate the case, which generated  rumors that Dr. Bernard had improperly reported the procedure. Jim Bopp, a lawyer for the National Right to Life Committee who had helped draft the Ohio law, took it even a stop further. On Thursday, July 14, Bopp told Politico, "She would have had the baby, and as many women who have had babies as a result of rape, we would hope that she would understand the reason and ultimately the benefit of having the child." As the facts of the case unfold, I wonder what the young girls in my seventh-grade classroom would think about the way our country is responding to this tragedy. What must it be like to come of age during a time when the decision as to what a woman should be able to do with her body is up for debate (again)? How does a young woman grapple with the fact that there are people out there who deny this terrible event ever happened, or even that the victim exists? One of the most disturbing aspects of this situation to me is the sad fact that a 10- year-old is now a symbol of our country’s failure to protect women, and even worse, young girls). When this child enters her classroom in the fall, will she be able to laugh and play with her peers as every 10-year-old deserves? Will she be protected? Exploited? I was already worried sick about the effects of overturning Roe v. Wade, but now the impact of the decision is rearing its ugly head, and the young women in our communities are being pushed into the belly of the beast. Carly Mitchell (a pseudonym) is a public-school teacher in Brooklyn N.Y. who loves to learn, to educate, and to expose the hypocrisy of New York City politicians.

By Andy Borowitz July 13, 2022 WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has accused NASA’s James Webb telescope of finding new galaxies for Jewish space lasers to destroy. “It’s bad enough that the Rothschilds’ lasers are wreaking havoc on our own solar system,” the Georgia congresswoman told reporters. “Now, thanks to the so-called Webb telescope, no corner of the universe will be safe from the international banking family’s ravaging space-beams.” Declaring her solidarity with “all galactic victims of interstellar Hebraic weaponry,” Greene proposed defunding NASA unless it “stops doing the bidding of the Jewish laser cartel.” “I stand with the people of the Carina Nebula,” she said. “I, too, am from another planet.”

The Insider: Hi Bradford! Thanks for talking by text with The Insider. We are interested in hearing about your pandemic experience. Let’s start with a few bio questions. Where do you live? Bradford Shreve: I am a new transplant to the Lower East Side but for the past 12 years, I lived and worked in Hell’s Kitchen and the Upper West Side. The Insider: So you’re a Manhattanite? Bradford Shreve: Yes, after so many years I feel I can say that I am a Manhattanite. The Insider: Where are you from originally? Bradford Shreve: I grew up in Northern California and went to the University of California, Santa Cruz. The Insider: What kind of work do you do? Bradford Shreve: I am a personal trainer with 13 years of experience in New York City The Insider: Before the pandemic started, where were you seeing your clients? At a gym? Bradford Shreve: Yes. I trained clients at a corporate gym while also training clients privately in my building’s gym The Insider: And did that change when the pandemic started? Bradford Shreve: Yes. For me the first month or so of the pandemic I was sick with Covid, so I didn’t train at all for about four weeks. The Insider: Wow! You caught it early. Was that in March 2020? Bradford Shreve: Yes, my first symptoms (a sore throat) appeared on March 12. I remember that the day before, Tom Hanks made the news as the first celebrity to catch the coronavirus The Insider: That was really a confusing time, I think. No one really understood what Covid was or how you caught it. How did you find out that you had it? Bradford Shreve: It was a very confusing and uncertain time. I concluded that I had Covid-19 after a few days of not having any sense of smell and taste. I googled “loss of smell and taste,” and that’s when I realized that my symptoms were consistent with Covid. At that time no tests were available, so I could not scientifically prove that I had it until eight weeks later, when I found a medical office testing for antibodies. The Insider: Were you very sick? Bradford Shreve: I never required hospitalization, but the experience of Covid without any reliable information made the experience very traumatic psychologically. One night I had an anxiety attack because I thought my body was failing, but it was all in my head. The Insider: Yes, that would be very frightening! Were you able to see a doctor at all during that illness? Bradford Shreve: I did talk to a doctor over FaceTime and I called a psychiatrist friend of mine for advice The Insider: Were you otherwise in good health, or did you have an underlying condition? Bradford Shreve: I think because I was in good health, my body was able to fight it off and recover. But it took four weeks before I felt I was out of the woods. The Insider: How long was it before you could go back to work? What were you told about quarantining? Bradford Shreve: Once my energy returned, I started training virtually and by May I started meeting clients outside with masks to train. I remember it felt kind of risky to be outside, but I felt confident that with precautions we could train safely. The Insider: By any chance, did you go to Central Park? I heard about people doing that. Bradford Shreve: Yes, I got a bike trailer and lugged weights and equipment to Central Park. Another outdoor gym that popped up was at DeWitt Clinton Park. It was a beautiful thing to see so many people taking charge of their fitness outside and being creative within the confines of the situation The Insider: That’s great! How long did you do that for? Bradford Shreve: Outdoor sessions continued all summer even into winter 2021. It was actually very fulfilling to train outside in the elements and for a while at least we didn’t miss being indoors The Insider: What had you been told medically about your immunity at that point? Did you doctor tell you that you were still vulnerable to getting Covid again, or did you feel you were immune? Bradford Shreve: I felt very confident that my immunity would hold up, at least until the emergence of the delta variant. Again, the data just wasn’t there yet so all of my info was through first-person accounts and searching the Internet. One of my favorite sources was Dr John Campbell on YouTube. I felt he was a reasonable source that would scour the medical publications and share it on his YouTube channel. The Insider: And then what happened? Bradford Shreve: By 2021, I think the CDC and WHO finally caught up with their studies. Teatments were improving, so the fear and threat perception started to wane. Also more and more studies supported the notion that natural immunity was a good protection The Insider: So did you move your training sessions back to inside? Bradford Shreve: When gyms reopened, I would train a few clients inside at a small mom & pop gym, masked, and usually just us—gym traffic was very light.  I also continued to train many sessions outside The Insider: Did you get sick again anyways? Bradford Shreve: The only time I had to stop working was this past June when I tested positive with a home test. My symptoms were very mild—pretty much just a sore throat for three days. It’s worth appreciating that we now have home tests. Thinking back to March/April 2020 ANY test would have been extremely helpful. I got vaccinated in May 2021 with J & J. I followed up with a Moderna booster right before the Omicron wave in December2021/Jan202. Not sure if it was because of my fresh booster, but I managed to avoid Covid in that wave despite multiple exposures The Insider: I should ask you how old you are. Bradford Shreve: I’m 45 The Insider: So you had one initial J & J shot in May 2021 and a Moderna booster later that year? Bradford Shreve: Correct. I waited awhile for each shot. I think I wanted to spread the shots out over more time to make it last longer. The Insider: When they started indicating that the J & J vaccine was not as effective, were you concerned? Is that why you got Moderna next time? Bradford Shreve: Yes, I had read that mix & match was even better than sticking to one brand so I decided Moderna was the best performer (at least thru Delta—Omicron hadn’t happened yet) The Insider: So you had Covid in March 2020 and in May 2022. Did you have it a third time as well? Bradford Shreve: I was sick for a week in July 2021, but I never tested. At the time because it was so mild, I didn’t even consider Covid, but looking back, it was a real possibility. I think because my first experience was so traumatic, I didn’t even want to revisit those memories so I kind of brushed it off. Also, I don’t think tests were widely available yet, so it was easier to avoid The Insider: So you assume that you’ve had Covid three times? Bradford Shreve: Unscientifically, yes The Insider: Since you’re such a health-oriented person, I would imagine that that would be very distressing. Bradford Shreve: Yes. But the Covid experience actually galvanized me as a fitness trainer. I saw how important my health was for me to fight off the virus without any help from the medical institutions. Suddenly I saw my profession not as a luxury service, but as a life-saving practice. Now I see my training others to live healthier lives as an essential service. The Insider: That makes good sense! During your three Covid experiences, did you ever take any kind of Covid medicine? Bradford Shreve: This latest round I received Paxlovid from the New York City Health Department. It was delivered to my apartment at no cost. Such a different experience from two and a half years ago! The Insider: Yes! Did it help? Bradford Shreve: I didn’t really notice any dramatic change. My symptoms were already getting better when I started taking the pills. The worst part was having to stay home for seven days while I continued testing positive . For my work, it was an unexpected 7 days of “unpaid leave” The Insider: Having gone through this three times, are you afraid of the boom dropping again? Bradford Shreve: I see the trend that Covid is developing into another mild illness that is less and less fatal. From the virus’ perspective, it wants its host to live and spread more illness. So the early version that I had was too aggressive to sustain. It seems that its evolution is to be less severe and more contagious. That being said, I think it’s too soon to completely let my guard down. So I continue to be as healthy as possible and take precautions when possible. I may not fear for my life, but I don’t want to lose another week of work… The Insider: Last question: What’s your pandemic lifestyle like now? Are you always masked? Do you go inside restaurants? Have you been to the movies or to Broadway? Bradford Shreve: I consistently wear my mask in subways, and I have seen a bunch of Broadway shows masked. I do some things indoors without masks like restaurants. I think I will always use a mask in high-traffic areas but I also feel confident about being indoors without a mask in smaller groups. For me it’s always a risk/reward ratio and as the days and weeks move on, I am willing to take on a little more risk as our knowledge and treatments improve. The Insider: Thanks so much for talking with us! I have to ask you—were you an English major? You’re a great writer! Bradford Shreve: Haha! I have a graduate degree in acting so I have been exposed to a lot of great writers The Insider: It shows! Bradford Shreve: Thanks. This was a great conversation. The Insider: I really enjoyed talking with you, too!

By Bonnie Fishman / San Francisco Bay Area We’re officially in the dog days of summer, the hottest, most sultry time of year, when we can’t do enough to cool down. The Old Farmer’s Almanac lists the traditional time of the dog days: the 40 days beginning on July 3 and ending August 11, coinciding with the heliacal (at sunrise) rising of Sirius, also known as the Dog Star. That actually has nothing to do with lazy dogs laying around in the shade to stay cool. I don’t know about you, but my craving for cold, crisp salads kicks in right about now. It’s also a great time of year to be inspired at farmers’ markets, the greengrocer, and in your own garden, where you can procure a variety of greens and other vegetables. There are infinite combinations for salad, which can serve as a starter, a side dish, or an entrée. The best part about making them this time of year is that it rarely requires turning on your stove or oven. The downside is that patience is of utmost importance with the usual chopping and slicing. Look at it this way: while preparing your vegetables, you can hone your knife skills! And for goodness sake, get a decent chopping knife, please! A sharp one at that. I eat salad almost every day for lunch. It is a ritual for me. I swim a mile, come home, shower, make my salad and spend 30 minutes eating it and watching House Hunters International. God help you if you drop by or call me during my “decompression” time of day! It’s followed by fresh coffee and a nosh (that I baked, of course). The base of my everyday salad is cabbage. I cannot resist the crunch. Then I add at least one other green–arugula, spinach, romaine hearts, or even iceberg lettuce. I slice up some fruit–apple, orange, pear, or peach; a veggie with spice, such as radishes or poblano peppers; and some nuts–toasted slivered almonds or dry-roasted peanuts. Lastly, I include some goat cheese, plus balsamic vinegar or lemon juice. I had to cut out the olive oil because I realized I was going through a liter of it a month. I don’t miss it now. Every salad needs an ample amount of coarse salt and pepper. These simple seasonings take the taste to the next level. There are at least two styles of salad: composed or tossed. Particularly when you make a composed salad (see recipes in previous columns of mine for Tuna Nicoise and Beet and Orange Salad, you will want to have all of your veggies sliced evenly, with an even thickness, even shape. Arrange the colors so that not all your reds, such as beets and tomatoes, are sitting next to each other on the plate. I recommend an oil-based dressing so the opaqueness of, say, a Green Goddess, doesn’t mask the beautiful presentation. One last tip: try using a larger plate than you think you need. You don’t want to make a “heap” of a composed salad. All of these tips will give your salads a more professional look. About tossed salad. Well, it’s tossed! Unless you’re adhering to a specific recipe, I suggest you use a combination of greens. It’s infinitely more interesting and tasty. I remember decades ago when field greens came on the market. The packers did the mixing for you. I was so enamored with that product at the time. My staff used to call it “garden clippings” or “mulch.” I’ve lost interest because it’s so limp in texture. That’s the same reason I don’t use just spinach leaves. They flatten down in a salad. Make sure the base of your greens is crunchy. I use romaine hearts, my absolute go-to. I try to incorporate at least one very dark green for contrast–arugula, spinach or kale. Even try chopping up some fresh herbs to give the salad a delicious lift. What you add to your salad next is wide open. I begin by thinking of a flavor profile that I want to achieve. Is it Indian, Tex-Mex, Italian, French, or Southern? I find vegetables, fruits, nuts and/or cheeses that fit those categories. Selecting a protein is really the easiest because most are interchangeable. I like to cook the protein shortly before I serve the salad so that it is a little warm, while the rest is cold. Finally, consider the dressing. Bottled dressing is unacceptable! Making your own vinaigrette is so easy. I don’t even bother hauling out a blender or food processor. I mix it all in a clean jar and shake. My usual ratio is one-third acid to 3 parts oil. Of course, include your seasonings such as minced garlic or shallots, dijon mustard, spices, salt and pepper. Maybe add herbs. One of my favorite flavor combinations is Tex-Mex. Today, I’m making a tossed salad with grilled corn and poblano peppers, cherry tomatoes and sautéed spicy shrimp, garnished with avocados. I almost always add the avocados to each individual plate, given that they turn to mush if you toss them in the large bowl. You could certainly substitute the shrimp with chicken breasts. If you want to stay vegan, add some cooked black beans for protein. Let us know here at The Insider what you put in your salad during these dog days of summer. Bon appétit and crunch away! Tex-Mex Salad with Spicy Shrimp Yield: 4-6 servings 2 ears of corn, shucked 2 poblano peppers 2 heads of romaine hearts 4 oz. arugula or spinach 1 pt. cherry tomatoes, halved 4 scallions, sliced thin 1 c. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro 2 ripe avocados 2 lb peeled and deveined shrimp, 21-25 count 1 Tbsp. Tajín seasoning 2-3 Tbsp. vegetable oil for sautéing Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing: 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 tsp. dijon mustard 1 tsp. ground cumin 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper 1/3 c. fresh lemon juice 1 c. extra virgin olive oil Make the Lemon Vinaigrette: Put the garlic, mustard, and seasonings in a clean 12 oz. jar. Add the lemon juice and shake. Pour in the oil. Shake vigorously. Just before adding to the salad, shake again. Char the corn on the cob on a grill or on the open flame of a gas burner until it is slightly blackened on all sides. Cool to room temperature. Using a sharp chef’s knife, remove the kernels and place in a bowl. Reserve. Char the poblanos until they are blackened on all sides. Cool to room temperature. Peel the black skin away from the pepper while running under cold water. Drain on a paper towel. Remove stems and seeds. Slice peppers into long thin strips and then into thirds horizontally. Add to the corn along with the scallions and cilantro. Reserve. Slice the romaine hearts crosswise into 1” pieces. Put in a large salad bowl. Coarsely chop the arugula a few times and add to the romaine hearts. Blend in the corn mixture. Refrigerate while cooking the shrimp. Blot the shrimp dry. Put them in a bowl with the Tajín seasoning. Coat thoroughly. Heat some oil in a large skillet over moderately high heat. When the oil is very hot, add the shrimp. Toss them around the pan with a spoon or tongs until they are just cooked through, about 5-7 minutes. Put in a bowl. Reserve. Add enough dressing to moisten the greens. Season with coarse salt and fresh ground pepper. Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits, and cut the flesh into a crosshatch pattern using a paring knife. Scoop out the avocados with a large spoon. Scatter on top of the salad. Arrange the shrimp on top of the avocado. Serve at once. (This can also be done as individual entrée salads by distributing the greens to each bowl. Arrange the avocados and shrimp on top.) Bonnie Fishman attended the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in London. Later, she owned and operated Bonnie’s Patisserie in Southfield, Mich. and Bonnie’s Kitchen and Catering in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. She has taught cooking for over 35 years and created hundreds of recipes. She is now living in Northern California.

By Andy Borowitz July 11, 2022 WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In a preview of his testimony to the committee investigating January 6th, Steve Bannon claimed that he was busy washing his hair that day. “Call me vain, but my hair’s appearance is very important to me,” he said. “I can spend all day washing it, and that’s what happened on January 6th.” Bannon said that he stepped into the shower that morning to wash and condition his hair and “kind of lost track of time. I must have been in the shower for seven or eight hours.” Emerging from the shower, Bannon then spent the better part of two hours combing out and drying his hair, he said. “If the committee wants inside info on January 6th, I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint them,” he said. “Anyone who knows Steve Bannon knows that my grooming always comes first.”