When Einstein Met Kafka

Diego Moldes is a Spanish writer, an essayist, novelist, poet, critic and historian of cinema and culture. He holds a PhD in Information Sciences (Complutense University, Madrid), a BA degree in Advertising and Public-Relations, an MA in Publishing and an MA in Foundation Management. In 2019, Galaxia Gutenberg published his book Cuando Einstein encontró a Kafka, Contribuciones de los Judíos al mundo moderno. His connection to Judaism led him to collaborate with Raíces: Revista judía de cultura (Roots: A Jewish Cultural Magazine). From 2015 to 2018, he served as the executive director of the Fundación Hispanojudía (the Hispanic-Jewish Foundation). In 2015, he became president and co-founder of ONG Asociación Fania (the Fania Association), a group which combats antisemitism and supports Jewish cultural endeavors. To date, Diego Moldes has published 14 books. 
Steven Capsuto translates from Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Galician and Ladino. His most recent published translation was Amazônia by Sebastiao Salgado (Taschen, 2022); since 2019 he has been the main Ladino-English translator for the ten-volume Posen Library of Jewish Culture (Yale). He is also the author of Alternate Channels: Queer Images on 20^th-Century TV (Original edition Ballantine Books, 2000, revised 20^th Anniversary edition, 2020).

When Einstein Met Kafka


Table of Contents


Part 1


1.


Anti-Semitism


Education and Judaism


World Map of Anti-Semitism


2.


Jewish Identity


Judeo-Christianity, Judeo-Christian, or Judaism and Christianity?


Part 2


1. Modern Geniuses of Humanity


Intelligence Quotient (IQ)


“Overeducation”


2. Science and Inventions


Mathematics


Six Degrees of Separation


Artificial Intelligence


Topology


Statistics


Invention of the Gasoline-Powered Car


Invention of Aspirin


UNICEF


Origins of the City, Origins of Cement


Invention of Glass


3. Literature and Culture


Hebrew and Jewish Modern Literature (Eighteenth to Twenty-First Centuries)


A Nation without a Territory (Extraterritoriality)


Modern Literature (Authors Born in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries)


“Electric-Fan Writers”and “Sponge Writers”


Franz Kafka


Marcel Proust


Stefan Zweig


Some Modern Jewish Authors


Angel Wagenstein’s Remarkable Trilogy of Novels


Dutch Jewish Writers


Danilo Kiš


Literature of the Holocaust


France


Two Notable Cases: Canetti and Koestler


Other Examples


Italy


Hugo Bettauer and The City without Jews


Exilliteratur


North America


The Pawnbroker, Edward Lewis Wallant’s Great Novel


Playwrights of Jewish Origin


Two Spanish Examples: Aub and Cansinos Assens


Other Contemporary Cases


Clarice Lispector


Latin America


Interview with Gabi Gleichmann


Interview with Ezequiel Szafir


Israeli Literature in Hebrew


The Hare with Amber Eyes: The Story of the Ephrussis


Jewish, Part Jewish, or Non-Jewish?


Conversos in Castile in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries


4. Philosophy, History, and Thought


The Frankfurt School


Anthropology


Linguistics


Psychology and Psychiatry


Film Criticism and Essays


Hinduism and Sanskrit


A Spanish Cultural Example


Historians from Jewish Backgrounds


5. Business, Banking, and the World of Finance


Building American Capitalism


Examples from the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries


Nobel Prizes


Various Economic Examples


Real Estate


Shell


Mattel


Hasbro


Kraft


Danone (Dannon)


Nivea 


Mercedes-Benz 


Citroën


Philips


Heineken


Hartz Mountain 


Dunkin’ Donuts


Life Insurance


Sara Lee Corporation


Louis Dreyfus Group 


BlackRock


Tamares Group


Bernie Madoff


The FIAT Group


Glencore


Coca-Cola


Private Aviation


Consulting and Auditing: The Big Four


Jews Prominent in Germany’s Economy before the Holocaust (1825–1933)


Jews Prominent in the United Kingdom’s Economy


Jews Prominent in Canada’s Economy


Jews Prominent in Brazil’s Economy


Jews Prominent in Argentina’s Economy


Jews Prominent in Russia’s Economy


Jews Prominent in Asia’s Economy


Jews Prominent in Spain’s Economy


Jews Prominent in the International Diamond Trade


Jews Prominent in Marketing


Anti-Semitic Magnates


Summary


6. Computing and the Internet


Google


Beginnings


The Example of Israel: A Start-Up Nation


Computer Scientists and Computer Engineers


7. Fashion, Textile Industry, Cosmetics, and Retail


Retail


Bookstore Chains





8. Sports


Soccer


Basketball


European Basketball


Chess


Boxing


Paralympic Games


9. Cinema, Television, Music, and Entertainment


Jews and the Movies


Jewish Producers in Hollywood


Jewish Producers Who Won Oscars (or Had Best Picture Nominations)


Jewish Film Directors in Hollywood


Other Examples


British Cinema


Film Studios in the Twenty-First Century


The “Big Three” Entertainment Agencies: WME, CAA, and UTA


Other Parts of the World


Acting


Jewish Actresses


Actresses Who Converted to Judaism


A Mysterious Case: John M. Stahl


Cornel Wilde: Kornél Lajos Weisz


Jon Favreau


Some Examples in Modern Cinema


Film Scores


Hollywood Films about Anti-Semitism


Jewish Casablanca


Examples of Jewish-Themed European Cinema


Kapo (Kapò, 1959)


Romeo, Juliet and Darkness (Romeo, Julie a tma, 1959)


Passenger (Pasazerka, 1961–63)


The Trial (Le procès / Il processo / Der prozess, 1962)


Intimate Lighting (Intimní osvetlení, 1965)


The Shop on Main Street / The Shop on the High Street (Obchod na korze, 1965)


Father (Apa, 1966)


The Night Porter (Il portiere di notte, 1974)


Mr. Klein (Monsieur Klein / Chi è Mr. Klein?, 1976)


Au revoir les enfants (German title: Auf Wiedersehen, Kinder, 1986)


Life is Beautiful (La vita è bella, 1997)


The Pianist (2002)


Shoah (1985)


Entertainment Companies and Television


Saban Entertainment


Film Meets Internet, Through Jewish American Entrepreneurs


Other Show Business


Dance and Ballet: Ida Rubinstein, Maya Plisetskaya, and Alicia Markova


Ida Rubinstein


Maya Plisetskaya


Alicia Markova


Magic and Illusionists


Music and the Recording Industry


French Music Hall: Théâtre des Trois Baudets and Canetti


Rock and Pop Music


Classical Music


10. Comics


11. Art


Collecting


Art History


12. Modern Architecture


13. The Publishing Industry


14. Journalism


The Case of Naomi Klein


Photography


15. Media and Advertising


Advertising


The PRISA Group and El País


Italian Media


16. Justice and Politics


Justice


Politics


Labor Organizing in the United States


Feminism


Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)


Elected Officials


The Pentagon and CIA


An Unusual Case in Ukraine


The Obama White House


Socialism


Anarchism


The Greens


Communism


Intellectuals and Communism


Josef Stalin 


17. Conclusions and Questions for Discussion


Part 3
Appendix, Postscript, Bibliography, and Videography


Appendix


Postscript


Bibliography and Videography


Selected Bibliography


Essays, History Books, Memoirs, Biographies


Jewish-Themed Literature: Fiction (Novels, Novellas, Short Stories) and Poetry


Graphic Novels and Comics


Selected Videography Consulted on DVD and Blu-Ray Discs


Main Websites Consulted


Acknowledgments