Joel Stein

Joel Stein
Stein at Beverly Hills High School for "Career Day", May 16, 2006 Stein at Beverly Hills High School for "Career Day", May 16, 2006
Occupation	Columnist
Nationality	American

Joel Stein (born July 23, 1971) is an American journalist. He writes for the Los Angeles Times and is a regular contributor to Time.

Early life

Stein grew up in Edison, New Jersey and attended J. P. Stevens High School, where was a writer and entertainment editor for Hawkeye, the student paper. He majored in English at Stanford University and wrote a weekly column for the school's student newspaper, The Stanford Daily. He graduated in 1993 with a BA and an MA and moved to New York City, and then moved to Los Angeles in 2005.

Career

Stein's career began as a writer and researcher for Martha Stewart Living. He worked a year for Stewart and later quipped that she had fired him twice in the same day. Stein did fact-checking at various publications before becoming a sports editor and columnist for Time Out New York, where he stayed for two years. While working at Time Out New York, he was a contestant on MTV's short-lived game show Idiot Savants. Stein joined Time in August 1997.

Stein sometimes appears as a commentator on television programs such as I Love the '80s. He also co-produced three TV pilots, an animated series for VH1, and two for ABC. The animated show, titled Hey Joel, aired in Canada and later in South Africa, while the other two were never picked up. He was a writer and producer for the sitcom Crumbs.

Stein taught a class on humor writing at Princeton University before moving to Los Angeles in early 2005 to write for the Los Angeles Times.

Criticism

Shiwani Srivastava criticized Stein's casual use of racist epithets (including the term "dothead") as well as his use of minority stereotypes in her article "Joel Stein's Beef With Indians Hurts Everyone." Sandip Roy pointed to Stein's fear of "browning" in "Joel Stein and the Curry Problem." Tom Scocca criticized Stein's humor: "He is a bad and incompetent humor writer, a writer who lacks the basic ability to control his tone and persona. I know no one under 50 who does not hate him." Kal Penn, actor and former associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement, wrote a critical piece on Stein in The Huffington Post titled "The 'Hilarious' Xenophobia of Time's Joel Stein". Penn criticized Stein's article in Time titled "My Own Private India" for its portrayal of Indian-Americans.

Both Time and Stein issued an apology in response to criticism of "My Own Private India," a controversial piece in which Stein discusses immigration and racial purity. Stein's apology read: "I truly feel stomach-sick that I hurt so many people. I was trying to explain how, as someone who believes that immigration has enriched American life and my hometown in particular, I was shocked that I could feel a tiny bit uncomfortable with my changing town when I went to visit it. If we could understand that reaction, we'd be better equipped to debate people on the other side of the immigration issue." He also added on Twitter: "Didn't mean to insult Indians with my column this week. Also stupidly assumed their emails would follow that Gandhi non-violence thing."

Here's one response: Dear Mr. Stein:

I always enjoy a good conversation about my town, ethnicity, and heritage. Consequently, your article in Time, “My Own Private India”, was a must read. I am compelled to say, however, you give Edison’s Indian-American population much more credit than they deserve. A prime example - The Indian-Americans who teach people how to reboot their Internet routers are part of a totally separate phenomenon. It is commonly referred to as “Silicon Valley”.

We will, however, plead guilty where appropriate. The young Edisonians indeed have nowhere to learn crime. We thought it would be wise to instead support the efforts of several top-rated educational institutions, i.e., John P. Stevens High School and The Wardlaw Hartridge School. Strange set of priorities, you say? Well, it must be the effects of worshipping gods with multiple arms and an elephant nose, right?

The over-consumption of spicy food has also led to some bizarre results. We quickly realized the need for superb medical care and strategically placed physicians in some of the metro area’s most prestigious hospitals. It doesn’t end there though. To ensure that the purchase of gold chains doesn’t take away from our ability to contribute to town initiatives, we maintain a household income that is almost 20% above New Jersey’s median.

Some other things that might help calm your fears — Edison was ranked one of the best places to grow up in the entire nation by U.S. News & World Report. According to Money Magazine, it is also one of the best places to live in America. Maybe you should write to them and set them straight?

While you’re at it, share your research on “why India is so damn poor” with the Central Intelligence Agency. They have this crazy notion that India is the fifth largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power.

In all seriousness, immigrants gave birth to America. I’m not sure what you had in mind for the future of “your town”. If you can’t stomach the changes in Edison, I’d strongly advise you not to travel around the nation — You might find that America “is totally unfamiliar to you”.

Very truly yours, Krishna J. Shah A Proud Resident of Edison, New Jersey

External links

• Joel Stein's official site
• Biography at the Los Angeles Times
• Biography at TIME
• Joel Stein at The Hoover Institution video