68 | OCTOBER 12 • 2023 J
N

BILLONS OF YEARS IN 5 
EPISODES, WWII DRAMA 
RETURNS, GOOSEBUMPS

Premiering on Wednesday, 
Oct. 4, was the first epi-
sode of the five-part PBS 
series Nova: Ancient 
World. The last four epi-
sodes premiere on succes-
sive Wednesdays. Check 
local listings for the many 
repeat airings, and the 
series is available, free, on 
the PBS app. 
Ancient World covers, 
literally, billions of years 
in the Earth’s history. 
Episode One covers the 
development of the Earth’s 
atmosphere. Episode Two 
covers the time that Earth 
was a frozen ball. The last 
three episodes cover life 
on Earth. The last episode 
explains how the Earth 
“evolved” and became 
amenable to human life.
The show’s publicity 
release says that the series 
“features interviews with 
scientists who radiate their 
passion for discovery and 
help to [explain] billions 
of years of intertwined 
biological and geological 
history.”
The same publicity 
release lists the scientists 
and the first name on that 
list is Phoebe Cohen, 45. 
I thought: What’s her aca-
demic background and can 
I find out if she’s Jewish?
Cohen is an associate 
professor of geosciences 
at Williams College (Mass.). 
On the Williams’ website, 
it says: “In essence, she 
studies tiny fossils to help 
reconstruct ancient organ-
isms and ecosystems.” 
Cohen got her B.A. from 
Cornell and her Ph.D. from 
Harvard. 

Her parents are Dr. 
Carl Cohen, 77, a long-
time expert in biomedical 
research — and the bio-
tech industry. Her moth-
er, Suzanne Lieberman 
Cohen, 77, is a licensed 
psychologist. The couple 
run a company that trains 
scientists in management 
skills. 
I found Carl and Suzanne 
in the 1950 census and 
this not-ancient recor d 
reveals “very rapid upward 
professional evolution in 
one generation.” In 1950, 
Suzanne’s father was a 
custom tailor and Carl’s 
father was a gas station 
attendant. (Online family 
obits confirmed that both 
Cohens are Jewish). 
Back in 2019, I wrote a 
column item about World 
on Fire, a seven-episode 
British series that was 
about to air on PBS. I 
confess, I didn’t watch 
the series, but I plan to 
catch up via the PBS app. 
Well, due to the pandem-
ic, a second season was 
delayed for three years. 
The second season (six 
episodes) begins airing on 
Sunday, Oct. 15, (9 p.m.). 
Fire is a sprawling WWII 
series that focuses on 
the personal stories of 
characters in several coun-
tries. However, the central 
character is Harry Chase. 
As the first series begins, 

Chase is an interpreter 
at the U.K. embassy in 
Warsaw. He later becomes 
a British Army officer and 
joins the SOE (the U.K. mili-
tary equivalent of the CIA).
British actor Jonah 
Hauer-King, 28, plays 
Chase. I wrote about 
Hauer-King last May when 
The Little Mermaid (live-ac-
tion film) opened. He had 
the co-starring role.
Hauer-King’s mother is 
an American Jew and his 
father, I just confirmed, is 
not Jewish. The actor was 
raised Jewish, and he very 
much identifies as Jewish. 
Another Brit, Gregg 
Sulkin, 31, has a big sup-
porting role in the second 
season. He plays David, a 
Jewish RAF pilot. (The first 
season went from early 
1939 to July 1940. The 
second season goes from 
July 1940 to May 1941. The 
infamous Nazi bombing 
“Blitz” on Britain began in 
May and the first major tar-
get was Manchester, where 
David is stationed). 
Sulkin, who had his bar 
mitzvah at the Western 
Wall, has a long list of 
credits — mostly support-
ing roles in films and TV 
shows for young people 
(Disney, etc.) 
On Friday, Oct. 13, 
Disney+ and Hulu premiere 
Goosebumps, a new ani-
mated (10-episode) series. 

It is based on the best-sell-
ing “spooky” stories of the 
same name for younger 
readers. The stories were 
written by R.L. Stine, 80. 
The first five episodes will 
“drop” on Oct. 13, with the 
last five being streamed 
weekly. 
 The series is co-writ-
ten by Nicholas Stoller, 
47, and he is the principal 
producer of the series. 
His most recent credit 
(May 2023) is Platonic, 
an Apple TV+ comedy 
series that he co-wrote 
with his wife, Francesa 
Delbanco, 49. Her father, 
Bernard Delbanco, 80, is 
the now-retired, former 
head of the University of 
Michigan MFA program.
Back in 2021, Netflix 
premiered a new film 
based on Fear Street, an 
adult horror novel series 
written by Stine. I wrote 
then: “Stine grew up 
quite poor in a small town 
near Columbus, Ohio. He 
began writing in the early 
’70s, and soon he was a 
best-selling writer. His edi-
tor is Jane Waldhorn, his 
wife of 52 years. Stine says 
he and Jane have survived 
the pandemic in good spir-
its.”
Well, I am happy to 
report that the couple is 
“still here.” Stine turned 80 
just last week. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

KINGOSH 

Jonah Hauer-King

DOMINICK D 

Gregg Sulkin

PHILIP ROMANO 

R.L. Stine

