Clara Shapiro

Clara Shapiro

Writer · Journalist · Improv Performer

Harvard College, Class of 2027.
Writer for The Forward and The Harvard Crimson.
Improv performer.

Selected works:

The Forward

Jul 2026 Why are all the cool girls wearing yarmulkes?
The "crochet skullcap" has been enjoying a fashion resurgence. What should we make of the fact that it looks like a kippah?
Jul 16, 2026 Sex, drugs and Torah scrolls: At the Psychedelicatessen, visitors receive a powerful dose of art
At artist Steve Marcus' exhibit, Talmud and psychedelics get crossed.
Jul 10, 2026 What I learned from 180 pounds of Yiddish books, one 'interesting and complicated' Jewish man, and Jorge Luis Borges
On a mission to collect a deceased man's books, I became a last witness to his life — and his Yiddish library.
Jul 2, 2026 The 50 most interesting Jews in American history you've probably never heard of
As we celebrate 250 years since the country's founding, the lost stories of some of its most fascinating citizens deserve resurfacing.
Apr 20, 2026 A nose is a nose is a nose: A Brooklyn artist's quest to paint 100 Jewish noses, including mine
I met up with Goldie Gross to discuss Jewish noses and to model my proboscis for her latest project.
Oct 3, 2025 A 91-year-old Jewish comedian walked into a pub — and out with my heart
Antisemitism is on the upswing. D'yan Forest isn't daunted.
Aug 9, 2025 On a tour of Hasidic Brooklyn, this rabbi doesn't have all the answers — but he knows who does
Tour guide Mayer Friedman's visitors come from Australia, St. Louis, Texas and beyond, and every one is here for a reason.
Aug 1, 2025 21-year-old solitary Jewish female (me) seeks human contact at 'The Jewish Dating Game'
Some Jewish singles escaped the dating app Matrix and found love the old-fashioned way. Me, I won a pack of free aikido classes.
Jul 11, 2025 'If Yiddish isn't safe at Brandeis, where is it safe?'
Brandeis planned to put its Yiddish program 'on hiatus' — until the Yiddish community spoke out.
Jun 30, 2025 Comedian Josh Gondelman is hilarious, but not disgusting
In his comedy special 'Positive Reinforcement,' Gondelman tackles aging, novelty baked goods and antisemitism.
Jun 7, 2025 When extraterrestrials met Yiddishists in Amherst
A summer at the Yiddish Book Center's Steiner Program, seven weeks of total immersion — and the occasional alien LARP.

The Harvard Crimson

Feb 14, 2026 The Lone Artist Who Loves the Collective: Agnieszka Kurant Talks Collectivity, Complex Systems, and the Purpose of Art
Following a chance encounter on the train, Polish conceptual artist Agnieszka Kurant welcomed me into her multidisciplinary universe, where anthropology meets art meets sociology meets philosophy meets a colony of termites.
May 1, 2025 Fifteen Questions: Kenneth S. Rogoff on Bitcoin, Bobby Fischer, and "The Queen's Gambit"
The Professor of Economics sat down with FM to talk about how he met his wife, his forthcoming book, and the most memorable game of chess he's ever played.
Feb 27, 2025 The Blond Boy in the Big Blue Bus
Aidan's lived in his repurposed school bus for the past five years and three months, traversing the U.S. in pursuit of the "Great American Novel."
Dec 10, 2024 Biggest Flirt: Adam Mohamed
How did he come to be this way? Adam reckons he may have been born with the kiss of Cupid on his cheek.
Sep 21, 2024 I Went to a Fish Funeral.
"Fish Funeral Friday," read the flier, which was black. Finally, I thought. A community event that's up my dimly-lit alley.
Nov 30, 2023 Ask John (Harvard): Puritan Problem Solving for Modern Times
John Harvard knows you are afflicted with homework, lust, and sloth! Read on to be saved!
Oct 19, 2023 A FunGi Among Us: Meet Lawrence Millman, the Square's Expert Mycologist
Millman's passion for discovering drives him still — whether it's a fungal species unseen since 1909, or the traditions of cultures from the Arctic to the archipelagos.

Comedy & Improv

Cambridge On Thin Ice
Harvard's oldest improv comedy troupe. Follow along for show dates and clips.