Andrew Lapin
Andrew is a Senior Reporter for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and a writer, editor, podcaster and public speaker.
His 2021 podcast "Radioactive: The Father Coughlin Story" was produced by Tablet Studios and Exploring Hate, a reporting initiative from New York's PBS affiliate WNET. It received national press coverage and contributed to a broader American rediscovery of the story of Father Coughlin and his fascist media demagoguery.
At JTA he covers stories related to antisemitism, debates over Israel and Zionism, Holocaust memory, college campuses, and a range of other topics. His reporting on the state of American Jews after Oct. 7, 2023, has received favorable attention from the Detroit Free Press and the Columbia Journalism Review.
In 2025 Andrew produced an episode of the popular podcast "99% Invisible" about the history of the Ambassador Bridge, a major international crossing in Detroit that has been owned by a single family for the past 47 years.
Formerly Andrew was the Editor of the Detroit Jewish News. Under his tenure, DJN received 13 awards from the Society for Professional Journalists-Detroit chapter and was the only religious news organization in 2020 to be selected as a Report For America host newsroom. While at DJN Andrew was also named "The Future of Jewish News" by Jewish Currents magazine.
Andrew is also a film critic and contributing panelist to NPR's "Pop Culture Happy Hour." He has previously held positions with the public media trade publication Current, the streaming service Kanopy, the Chicago International Film Festival, Washington City Paper, Government Executive magazine and NPR.
Andrew has received the Rias Berlin journalism fellowship, the Tent Creative Writing Fellowship, the Young Critic’s Workshop fellowship at Film Fest Ghent, the Bear River Writing Conference Fellowship and the Hopwood Award for short fiction.
His 2021 podcast "Radioactive: The Father Coughlin Story" was produced by Tablet Studios and Exploring Hate, a reporting initiative from New York's PBS affiliate WNET. It received national press coverage and contributed to a broader American rediscovery of the story of Father Coughlin and his fascist media demagoguery.
At JTA he covers stories related to antisemitism, debates over Israel and Zionism, Holocaust memory, college campuses, and a range of other topics. His reporting on the state of American Jews after Oct. 7, 2023, has received favorable attention from the Detroit Free Press and the Columbia Journalism Review.
In 2025 Andrew produced an episode of the popular podcast "99% Invisible" about the history of the Ambassador Bridge, a major international crossing in Detroit that has been owned by a single family for the past 47 years.
Formerly Andrew was the Editor of the Detroit Jewish News. Under his tenure, DJN received 13 awards from the Society for Professional Journalists-Detroit chapter and was the only religious news organization in 2020 to be selected as a Report For America host newsroom. While at DJN Andrew was also named "The Future of Jewish News" by Jewish Currents magazine.
Andrew is also a film critic and contributing panelist to NPR's "Pop Culture Happy Hour." He has previously held positions with the public media trade publication Current, the streaming service Kanopy, the Chicago International Film Festival, Washington City Paper, Government Executive magazine and NPR.
Andrew has received the Rias Berlin journalism fellowship, the Tent Creative Writing Fellowship, the Young Critic’s Workshop fellowship at Film Fest Ghent, the Bear River Writing Conference Fellowship and the Hopwood Award for short fiction.
Works
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
A Greek Holocaust survivor in Vermont knows how to save humanity. He just needs us to listen.
Detroit's archbishop, outspoken on Gaza, toured a Holocaust center. Was it a step forward for Jewish allyship?
Trump's Social Security cuts are hurting Holocaust survivors, advocates say
A Jewish bridge builder's burial, 15 years late: The strange afterlife of Lawrence Rubin
An elite Jewish society at Yale fractures over its director's embrace of Itamar Ben-Gvir
2 incarcerated men wanted to convert to Judaism. This rabbi helped them do it.
At Stanford, a committee to address antisemitism is roiled by Jewish infighting
Why ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt is praising Elon Musk as advertisers flee X over antisemitism
Meet Bruce Friedman, the Jewish dad who got a version of Anne Frank's diary and hundreds of other books removed from his Florida school district
The Florida mom who got Amanda Gorman's poem restricted says she's sorry for promoting the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
With 'Let It Be Morning' and 'Cinema Sabaya,' Israeli filmmakers are winning awards for portraying Palestinian stories
Detroit's archbishop, outspoken on Gaza, toured a Holocaust center. Was it a step forward for Jewish allyship?
Trump's Social Security cuts are hurting Holocaust survivors, advocates say
A Jewish bridge builder's burial, 15 years late: The strange afterlife of Lawrence Rubin
An elite Jewish society at Yale fractures over its director's embrace of Itamar Ben-Gvir
2 incarcerated men wanted to convert to Judaism. This rabbi helped them do it.
At Stanford, a committee to address antisemitism is roiled by Jewish infighting
Why ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt is praising Elon Musk as advertisers flee X over antisemitism
Meet Bruce Friedman, the Jewish dad who got a version of Anne Frank's diary and hundreds of other books removed from his Florida school district
The Florida mom who got Amanda Gorman's poem restricted says she's sorry for promoting the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
With 'Let It Be Morning' and 'Cinema Sabaya,' Israeli filmmakers are winning awards for portraying Palestinian stories
Freelancing
From 2011 to 2020 Andrew wrote weekly film reviews for NPR.org. You can find a complete back catalog of his reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Andrew has also contributed to NPR podcasts and broadcasts including "Morning Edition" and "Pop Culture Happy Hour." He was also a regular contributor to Pitchfork’s film website The Dissolve for the entirety of its two-year run, 2013-2015.
Audio
"Conclave" (Pop Culture Happy Hour, 2024)
"A Real Pain" (Pop Culture Happy Hour, 2024)
"The Zone of Interest" (Pop Culture Happy Hour, 2024)
Discussing the burning of Notre Dame (Morning Edition, 2019)
Interview: Venice Film Festival (Here & Now, 2018)
"The King": What Elvis Reveals About America (Here & Now, 2018)
“The 15:17 to Paris” and other films that cast real-life veterans (Here & Now, 2018)
Assessing the likely Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar nominees (Here & Now, 2017)
Current’s “The Pub” podcast: 100th episode: written, produced and hosted by me (Current, 2017)
Writing on Film: Selections
"Give Me Liberty" (NPR, 2019)
"Who Needs Social Realism?" (Jewish Currents, 2019)
"Bacurau" (The Economist, 2019)
‘Goodbye to Language’ doesn’t mean goodbye to comprehension (The Dissolve, 2015)
Ctrl + Alt + Doc: A Year After Hitting Reset, AFI Docs Is Still In Transition (Washington City Paper, 2014)
Film Fest Ghent: Party Time in Hell (Photogenie, 2014)
"Frances Ha" and the Dangers of Post-Woody Allen-ism (Tablet, 2013)
“Red Hook Summer” (The Atlantic, 2012)
Features
How Notre Dame, "Vast Symphony in Stone," Weaves Its Way Through Parisian History (NPR, 2019)
Amir Came Home (Michigan Alumnus, 2017)
Vulfpeck: No Label, No Problem (Michigan Alumnus, 2017)
Traveling through the Minnesota State Fair with Chris Thile and “A Prairie Home Companion” (Current, 2016)
A Tiny House Divided (Washington City Paper, 2014)
After Deepwater (Government Executive, 2012)
Other Writing
Published in “Speculative Fiction 2014: The Best of Online Reviews, Essays and Commentary” (Book Smugglers Publishing, 2015).
Published in “In the Name of Editorial Freedom: 125 Years of the Michigan Daily” (University of Michigan Press, 2015)
My essay for the book, “Cut to Michigan,” discusses the rise and fall of the state of Michigan’s tax incentives for filmmakers. It can only be read in print.
Opinion: “Let’s Clean Our Plates” (Washington Post, 2014)
