Liel Leibovitz (; born 1976) is an Israeli journalist, author, media critic, and video game scholar. Leibovitz was born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, immigrated to the United States in 1999, and earned a Ph.D. from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 2007. In 2014, he was Visiting Assistant Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Early life and education

Leibovitz was born in Tel Aviv, Israel to Iris and Rony Leibovitz. 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. Leibovitz visited his father weekly while he was in prison, and his family suffered financially after his father's incarceration. When he was aged about 9, he became interested in the United States after visiting relatives resident there."Sandy Brawarsky, The Jewish Week, "Giving Up America" January 11, 2006 He received his B.A. from

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

and after moving to New York City, he received an M.S. in journalism and a Ph.D. in communications from

Career

Leibovitz was a non-commissioned officer in the Spokesperson’s Unit of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. He attended the film school at

before moving to New York. He worked at a hardware store and then at the Israeli Consulate as a senior press officer, producing "Israel Line," a daily summary of significant news taken directly from Israeli media. He served as culture editor of the '' Jewish Week'', and has written for ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'' and ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

''. Leibovitz serves as editor-at-large for the online American Jewish publication '' Tablet magazine'' in addition to hosting a pair of podcasts. He was a co-host on ''Tablet''s podcast, '' Unorthodox'', until October 2024, when the podcast ended and Leibovitz began to host ''Tablets new podcast, ''Rootless''. 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. He lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Despite having lived in the United States for an extended period, he does not hold US citizenship.The Jewish Left's Fight Against Israel
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Books

* ''Stan Lee: A Life in Comics'' (2020), Yale University Press * ''A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

'', (2014) Norton * ''God in the Machine: Video Games as Spiritual Pursuit'', (2014) Templeton Press * ''Fortunate Sons: The 120 Chinese Boys Who Came to America, Went to School, and Revolutionized an Ancient Civilization'' with Matthew Miller, (2011) Norton * ''Lili Marlene: The Soldiers' Song of World War II'', (2009) Norton * ''Thinking Inside the Box: Towards an Ontology of Video Games'' (2007) * ''Aliya: Three Generations of American-Jewish Immigration to Israel'', (2006) St. Martin's Press

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leibovitz, Liel 1976 births Living people Writers from Tel Aviv American media critics Israeli emigrants to the United States Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni New York University faculty 21st-century American non-fiction writers Israeli Jews