The Plot Against America

TV Series, HBO, 2020 (based on the 2004 book by Philip Roth)
Reviewed by John Stodder, April 3, 2020

For anyone who has access to HBO, I will also recommend strongly the current mini-series, "The Plot Against America." It's based on a Phillip Roth counterfactual novel, focusing on an extended Jewish family in Newark, and how their lives are affected by the campaign and election of Charles Lindbergh as President of the United States in 1940. The series was created by David Simon, who gave us "The Wire." The family is based on Roth's own family; the 7-year-old boy in the show is Roth himself. It's fascinating to watch the role of news in this era and how it was consumed. There are scenes where the characters sit around and listen to speeches and commentary (Walter Winchell!) on the radio, then the men go out into the street to smoke cigarettes and discuss what they just heard while the women stay on their porches and try to chime in. Life before Twitter!