Liel Leibovitz
Israeli journalist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Liel Leibovitz (Hebrew: ליאל ליבוביץ; born 1976)[1] is an Israeli journalist, author, media critic, and video game scholar.[2] Leibovitz was born in Tel Aviv, immigrated to the United States in 1999, and earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2007. In 2014, he was Visiting Assistant Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University.[3][4]
Liel Leibovitz | |
|---|---|
| ליאל ליבוביץ | |
| Born | Tel Aviv, Israel 1976 (age 49–50) |
Early life and education
Leibovitz was born in Tel Aviv, Israel,[1] to Iris and Rony Leibovitz.[5] His father, born into a wealthy family, became known in Israel as the "Motorcycle Bandit" who robbed 21 banks and served 8 years in prison during his son's childhood.[6] Leibovitz visited his father weekly while he was in prison, and his family suffered financially after his father's incarceration.[7] When he was aged about 9, he became interested in the United States after visiting relatives resident there.[8] He received his B.A. from Tel Aviv University and after moving to New York City, he received an M.S. in journalism and a Ph.D. in communications from Columbia University.[9]
Career
Leibovitz was a non-commissioned officer in the Spokesperson’s Unit of the Israel Defense Forces.[10] He attended the film school at Tel Aviv University before moving to New York. He worked at a hardware store and then at the Israeli Consulate as a senior press officer,[8] producing "Israel Line", a daily summary of significant news taken directly from Israeli media. He served as culture editor of the Jewish Week,[11] and has written for The Nation and The New Republic.[12][13]
Leibovitz serves as editor-at-large for the online American Jewish publication Tablet magazine in addition to hosting a pair of podcasts.[14] He was a co-host on Tablet's podcast, Unorthodox,[15] until October 2024, when the podcast ended and Leibovitz began to host Tablet's new podcast, Rootless.[16]
Since the August/September 2021 issue of First Things, Leibovitz has written a column entitled Leibovitz at Large, replacing the long-running column Litvak at Large by Shalom Carmy.
Personal life
Leibovitz is married to American author Lisa Ann Sandell, who has published three young adult novels.[17] He lives in New York City. Despite having lived in the United States for an extended period, he does not hold US citizenship.[18]
Books
- How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book (Norton, 2023)
- Stan Lee: A Life in Comics (Yale University Press, 2020)
- A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen (Norton, 2014)
- God in the Machine: Video Games as Spiritual Pursuit, Templeton Press (2014)
- Fortunate Sons: The 120 Chinese Boys Who Came to America, Went to School, and Revolutionized an Ancient Civilization, with Matthew Miller (Norton, 2011)
- Lili Marlene: The Soldiers' Song of World War II (Norton, 2009)
- Thinking Inside the Box: Towards an Ontology of Video Games (Columbia University Dissertation, 2007)
- Aliya: Three Generations of American-Jewish Immigration to Israel (St. Martin's Press, 2006)