Busy times for some

Also here for Jewish Book Week is Shalom Auslander. He contributes a three-minute audio essay to the Today programme (at 0742):

[T]hese are busy times to be a Jew. I may be out of the States for the next few days, but that doesn't mean I don't still have to control the White House and the major American news media. Oh sure, I know what you're thinking: 'Hey! I'd like to control the media for a while.' But let me tell you, it's not as easy as it sounds. I mean there's not that many of us, and there's a whole lot of media - newspapers, television, publishing. It's exhausting...

I haven't been to the Tate in ages; I understand the Triennial is on now. But Monday, I'm at No. 10 all afternoon unduly influencing Tony Blair's decision to go to war; Tuesday, I'm stuck with a bunch of film producers at a 'Keeping African-Americans down by negatively portraying them in Hollywood movies' conference... I've had enough. Sometimes you just have to put your foot down. 'No,' I said. 'No! I can propagate the myth of the Holocaust next week, OK? Thursday, I wanna do a little shopping.'

Listen to the rest. (Thanks: ami.)