THANK YOU! I am honored to be a FOUR TIME finalist for the 2024 17th annual National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards. I am a finalist for Online Journalist of the Year, and for three of my podcast interviews with Beth Santos, Wanderful, Carolyn Roy, JourneyWoman, and Samantha Brown, Places to Love.
What an honor to be a four-time finalist. The judges carefully reviewed more than 1,600 entries to find the best Arts and Entertainment reporting the nation had to offer, and I am a finalist for these awards:
Madeleine Brand, Angie Perrin, KCRW, “Julia Louis-Dreyfus on coping with grief, refusing to be ignored”
Deborah Zara Kobylt, iHeartRadio and Youtube, “Fox11’s Christine Devine talks about meeting her father for the first time in Brazil”
Jennifer Maas, Variety, “Xbox Game Content and Studios President Matt Booty on ‘Beginning to Hit Our Stride,’ Game Pass Strategy, ‘Fallout’ Update, Studio Closures and More”
Michael Schneider, Variety, “Day Eating With Seth Meyers: The ‘Late Night’ Host Counts Down His Top 10 Pizza List”
Melissa Etheridge, Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Frazier and Kathy Bates to Be Honored at 17th National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
Lisa Niver has won many awards! From 2017 to 2024, in the Southern California Journalism Awards and National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards, she has won eight times and been a finalist thirty-five times for a variety of broadcast, print, podcast and digital categories.
2024 6x Finalist: Southern California Journalism Awards for Online Journalist of the Year, Podcast Host and for my podcast interviews with Andrew McCarthy, Samantha Brown, Tony Phelan and Christie Tate
2023 Winner: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards Diversity in Entertainment
2023 3x Finalist: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards
2023 2x Finalist: Southern California Journalism Awards for Travel Reporting and Podcast Interview
Simcha Kits are a beautifully curated line of holiday and Shabbat kits designed to make Jewish rituals more accessible, intentional and visually meaningful for families, children and even newborns.
Just as the flames of the Hannukah candles dance with courage, persistence, and defiance, our spirits desire and deserve the same attention and reigniting.
Eighty one years ago, while America was at war and millions of Jews were being slaughtered, the rabbi of the Washington Hebrew Congregation delivered a Hanukkah message that resonates to this day.
Whatever the future holds, we must remember, especially during Hanukkah, that miracles are part and parcel of our history—and will continue to be. We cannot let our sadness overwhelm us.
Eighty-one years ago, while America was at war and millions of Jews were being slaughtered, the rabbi of the Washington Hebrew Congregation delivered a Hanukkah message that resonates to this day.
Israelis expected the war would end when Hamas is eradicated. They now have to face a different reality. After two years of blood, sweat and many tears, the enemy is still out there, lurking in the dark, waiting to fight another day.
In this selection of essays, op-eds and speeches, the first piece written six months after his son’s murder, Pearl gives us words that are, yes, sometimes heartbreaking, but also funny, profound, scrappy, informative and strikingly prescient.
We can perhaps avoid fear, but we cannot avoid anxiety. However, we don’t need to get rid of it; we need to pass through it. But what’s on the other side?
It’s only through fully recognizing our individualism that we can be unified as a people. And it’s only through nourishing the soul that the bravery, nonconformity, and the true spirit and resilience of the Maccabees can be achieved.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.
Online Journalist of the Year: NAEJ 2024 Finalist
Lisa Ellen Niver
THANK YOU! I am honored to be a FOUR TIME finalist for the 2024 17th annual National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards. I am a finalist for Online Journalist of the Year, and for three of my podcast interviews with Beth Santos, Wanderful, Carolyn Roy, JourneyWoman, and Samantha Brown, Places to Love.
What an honor to be a four-time finalist. The judges carefully reviewed more than 1,600 entries to find the best Arts and Entertainment reporting the nation had to offer, and I am a finalist for these awards:
A3. Online Journalist of the Year — Independent
J3. Diversity in the Entertainment Industry
J5. One-on-One Interview, TV Personalities
Melissa Etheridge, Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Frazier and Kathy Bates to Be Honored at 17th National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
Lisa Niver has won many awards! From 2017 to 2024, in the Southern California Journalism Awards and National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards, she has won eight times and been a finalist thirty-five times for a variety of broadcast, print, podcast and digital categories.
More about Lisa Niver: https://lisaniver.com/awards/
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Print Issue: A 1944 Hanukkah Message to America | December 12, 2025
Eighty one years ago, while America was at war and millions of Jews were being slaughtered, the rabbi of the Washington Hebrew Congregation delivered a Hanukkah message that resonates to this day.
Are We Dying of a Broken Heart?
Whatever the future holds, we must remember, especially during Hanukkah, that miracles are part and parcel of our history—and will continue to be. We cannot let our sadness overwhelm us.
Of Doughnuts and Dreidels
This week Rachel and I are thrilled to share our column with our friend Rinat to tell us about a unique Hanukkah tradition involving women.
The Donuts Are Coming!
Every year brings different spins on the classic sufganiyot.
Not Your Bubbe’s Latkes
Whether you switch up your latke ingredients, toppings or both, you can have lots of oily goodness without getting bored.
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Dream Interpretation
A 1944 Hanukkah Message to America
Eighty-one years ago, while America was at war and millions of Jews were being slaughtered, the rabbi of the Washington Hebrew Congregation delivered a Hanukkah message that resonates to this day.
Rosner’s Domain | The Psychology of Accepting Reality
Israelis expected the war would end when Hamas is eradicated. They now have to face a different reality. After two years of blood, sweat and many tears, the enemy is still out there, lurking in the dark, waiting to fight another day.
A Prophet among the Rhinos
In this selection of essays, op-eds and speeches, the first piece written six months after his son’s murder, Pearl gives us words that are, yes, sometimes heartbreaking, but also funny, profound, scrappy, informative and strikingly prescient.
As We Wrestle
My hope is that we, too, embrace the kind of wrestling that leads to blessing.
Getting Our Hanukkah Story Right
This is unmistakably a Jewish story: the mother is no preacher of martyrdom.
The Ethics of Fearlessness in an Age of Jewish Erasure
We can perhaps avoid fear, but we cannot avoid anxiety. However, we don’t need to get rid of it; we need to pass through it. But what’s on the other side?
Hanukkah 5786: Liberation
This Hanukkah, may all of us find liberation.
The Freedom to Be Different: Rekindling our Eternal Hanukkah Light
It’s only through fully recognizing our individualism that we can be unified as a people. And it’s only through nourishing the soul that the bravery, nonconformity, and the true spirit and resilience of the Maccabees can be achieved.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.