How does family history spur someone to literature? And what happens when that history coincides with some of the 20th century’s most dramatic and painful events? David Baddiel’s latest novel, The Secret Purposes, is based on the life of his German refugee grandfather. In Jacob’s Gift, Jonathan Freedland explores the identity he is passing on to his young son. Anne Karpf’s memoir, The War After, looks at the ways her life has been affected by her s...

We brought you some of the hottest Jewish talent on the comedy circuit for what was an hour of laughs, discussion and kvetching. Jonny Geller asked whether humour is good for the Jews. We also had Canadian comic Judy Batalion, multi-talented Penelope Solomon, everybody’s favourite UK-born Borshtbelt entertainer, Sol Bernstein, and dazzling Adam Bloom. It was a night to remember.

Freedland, Jacobson and Schama take on Donald Trump, at least figuratively, as they compete for bandwidth to expose the latest exploits of the Western World’s most powerful and contentious leader. The inspiration for a satire by Jacobson, a thriller by Freedland and steaming articles by Schama et al, Trump is the object of obsessive interest to everyone.