The Schmooze lies at the intersection of high and low culture. Here, the latest developments and trends in Jewish art, books, dance, film, music, media, television and theater are all assimilated into one handy pop culture blog.
The Schmooze
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Dana Goldberg’s Hilarious 60-Second Lesson On Lesbian Sex Myths
Dana Goldberg, the Jewish comedian and LGBT activist, had me at hello. Actually, she didn’t say “hello” because she was making a 60 second video for Advocate debunking lesbian sex myths, but she did have me at, “scissoring is a thing.” Goldberg has been making videos for the Advocate for years, but as she rises…
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Eurovision, A New Paul Simon Biography And More To Read, Watch And Do This Weekend
As always, the world is in tumult, no one can be trusted, everything you believed is a lie and our last refuge is art. Or it soon will be, if another important source of honesty — a bummer, yes, but a bummer that matters — continues to be depleted. I speak, of course, about the…
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Mayim Bialik Has Depression. She Wants You To Know ‘There Are Answers.’
“I wish I could have told my younger self: something will work,” Mayim Bialik says in a strikingly forthright video for the Child Mind Institute. May is Mental Health Awareness Month — and while an “awareness months” can be a cutesy panacea, in the case of mental health, awareness saves lives. Belief that psychological problems…
The Latest
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Chabad Offers Ivanka-Style ‘Lean In’ For Orthodox Women
Forward Fashion writer Michelle Honig and Forward pop culture writer Jenny Singer attended the Batsheva Women’s Gala, the inaugural event for the Jewish women’s empowerment organization, together recently. One woman attended because of her fascination with modest dress and Orthodox woman entrepreneurship, and the other because of her lifelong dedication to spending time in the…
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Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt Go At Each Other
“Mr. Rogen 4-2-0,” Joseph Gordon-Levitt chanted on TBS’ rap battle show, “is a broken Bernie Bro.” Gordon-Levitt and Rogen, co-stars in the cancer comedy “50/50” back in 2011, faced off in what will set the standard for the most Jewish episode of “Drop the Mic” episode until Tzipi Livni goes up against Marvin Hier. Rogen…
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MeToo Is ‘Collective Hysteria,’ Says Roman Polanski, Convicted Child Rapist
What is the biggest criticism of #MeToo, the social movement that has swept America since the Harvey Weinstein revelations in 2017, encouraging women to speak out about their experiences with sexual assault, harassment, and misconduct? Not enough due process. Of course, all of us would rather be tried by a judge and a jury than…
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‘Y’all Country Is Nuts’: This Rapper Has Good Reasons For Never Returning To Israel
Azealia Banks says she’s never coming back to Israel. She also might be one of the country’s great defenders. Banks courts controversy wherever she goes. The dynamo 26 year-old rapper has often received fair censure for her erratic behavior (go ahead and google her tiff with Sarah Palin) since she burst onto the scene six…
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The Best Dressed Jewish Celebrities At The Met Gala
Unlike most red carpets, the Met Gala is a themed event, honoring the Costume Institute’s major spring fashion exhibition. As such, it’s like a costume ball, where the fashion is judged not just by subjective ideas of what dress looks best, but by how well a celebrity hewed to the theme. This year, with a…
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A Reform Floozy Attends A Chabad Young Professionals Shabbat: A Social Diary
I asked the Uber driver who took me to the “Shabbat 18,000: Chabad Young Professional Gala” to drop me off down the street. Night had fallen on the Upper East Side, and as I walked towards the security guards standing in front of the beautiful stone building I tried to tuck my cellphone into my…
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Olivia Munn’s Met Gala Dress ‘Inspired’ By The Crusades
The theme of the Met Gala 2018 is Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” All Jewish culture reporters should be sitting at home right now sipping martinis. And yet, here we are. We’re here because actress Olivia Munn, a beautiful and beloved comic actress who is not Jewish, arrived at the Met Gala in…
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Stress Of Getting Transgender Right Made ‘Transparent’ Star ‘Moody’: Tambor Denies Assault
Of all of the men who have been accused of sexual assault, harassment and misconduct in the public reckoning known as #MeToo, did Jeffrey Tambor escape most unharmed? Short of the President of the United States, it’s hard to think of a public figure with multiple accusations stacked against him whose career is still thriving….
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Fast Forward Rep. Max Miller says driver called him a ‘dirty Jew’ and threatened to kill his family. A local doctor turned himself in.
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News As Israel attacks, what is life like for Jews in Iran?
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Opinion Bombing Iran, Donald Trump is triggering a tragedy that Thucydides foretold long ago
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Culture Why is Israel’s attack on Iran called ‘Rising Lion’ — and what does the Bible have to do with it?
In Case You Missed It
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News Schumer, highest-ranking Jewish official, slams Trump over Iran strike — but leaves his own position unclear
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Fast Forward Why some see an ancient biblical enemy in Iran
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Opinion If war with Iran goes badly for the U.S., Jews will be the scapegoat
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Fast Forward Israel puts civilians on high alert as Iranian leaders vow response to US strikes
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