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"Luke Ford reports all of the 'juicy' quotes, and has been doing it for years." (Marc B. Shapiro)
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff) LATEST POSTS:
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- Dominic Cummings: A Biography
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- * The Enlightenment Wasn’t Enlightened (6-23-26)
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* 'Improving on Democracy' (6-17-26)
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* Why Does Australia Produce So Many Great Journalists? (6-11-26)
* Steve Wynn and the Press: Power, Litigation, and the Contest Over Las Vegas (6-3-26)
* Sheldon Adelson and the Journalists (6-3-26)
* The Vigilant Animal: Thinkers Who Reject the Myth of Human Gullibility (6-2-26)
* The Cost of Refusing the Misunderstanding Myth (6-2-26)
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* What would it look like if the Washington Post put its reader first? (6-1-26)
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* The Emotional Palettes Of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco & Sacramento (5-27-26)
* The Administrative Capital: Sacramento Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* San Diego - The Quiet Republic (5-27-26)
* The Quiet Bar: San Diego Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* SF v LA Legal Culture (5-27-26)
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Category Archives: Gossip
Paper: From Principles to Rules and from Musar to Halakhah: The Hafetz Hayim’s Rulings on Libel and Gossip
Benjamin Brown places the Hafetz Hayim in context. Alliance Theory suggests that humans use moral language and social norms as tactical tools to coordinate alliances and marginalize rivals. Under this framework, the transition of libel laws from principles to rules … Continue reading
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Bless her heart: Gossip phrased with concern provides advantages in female intrasexual competition
From the 2025 paper: Although many women report being victimized by gossip, fewer report spreading negative gossip. Female gossipers might be unaware they are gossiping if they disclose such statements out of concern for targets. A female gossiper was preferred … Continue reading
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Is Gossip Good?
The New Yorker writes Mar. 17, 2025: Kelsey McKinney, a podcast host and a champion of gossip, is out to change the practice’s bad reputation. “We gossip not only because we can but because we have to,” Kelsey McKinney writes … Continue reading
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How Gossip Can Save Your Life (5-24-23)
01:00 Is Gossip Good? https://www.lukeford.net/Dennis/indexp271.html 08:45 Dooovid joins, https://twitter.com/RebDoooovid 15:00 Chofetz Chaim’s influence, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chofetz_Chaim 31:00 Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History by Marc B. Shapiro II, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=68687 33:00 Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History, … Continue reading
In Defense of Gossip
Kelsey McKinney writes in the New York Times: In my earliest memory of being an insufferable gossip, I am 5 years old. I am at the top of a very tall playground slide with a friend, both of us cross-legged, … Continue reading
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The Oxford Handbook of Gossip and Reputation
Here are some excerpts from this 2019 book: * GOSSIP and reputation are core processes in all human societies. Consequently, humans invest a great amount of effort to keep track of others’ reputation and to effectively manage their own. This … Continue reading
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Envy Up, Scorn Down: How Status Divides Us
Professor Susan Fiske wrote in this 2011 book: * Walking down a dark alley, you spot an approaching figure. What is the first thing you want to know? If you are a sentry, you cry out, “Halt! Who goes there? … Continue reading
Is Gossip Good?
Judaism’s laws of proper speech Libel and Gossip Gossip As A Gauge Of A Religion's Commitment To Reality: Every religion (and every moral system) of which I am aware condemns gossip. None do it in as minute detail as Judaism. … Continue reading
Haaretz: From Bar Refaeli’s Torah Lessons to Paparazzi Shots of Rabbis: The ultra-Orthodox Love Affair With Gossip
From Haaretz: It was in the Shleikes Jewish food restaurant in Bnei Brak that I got the definitive proof of how gossip has conquered the ultra-Orthodox public. I had arrived for a joint interview with journalist Itzik Ohana, whose specialty … Continue reading
The Laws Of Lashon Hara (Evil Speech) (11-22-18)
The 31 Commandments Relating Lashon Hara Is Gossip Good? The Great Controversies Of The Chofetz Chaim From Principles to Rules and from Musar to Halakhah: The Hafetz Hayim’s Rulings on Libel and Gossip by Benjamin Brown Reb Doooovid says: I … Continue reading