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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‘New Girl’ Demonstrates A Jewish Headstone Unveiling…For Cats
Orthodox Jews accuse lapsed Jews of bar mitzvah-ing their dogs. Non-Orthodox accuse Orthodox of harboring an antiquated fear of pets. And the on Tuesday night on the “Fox” comedy “New Girl,” a group of non-Jewish friends celebrated a deceased cat’s Jewish headstone unveiling ceremony, to the dulcet tones of Enya. via GIPHY Some people feel…
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Rihanna On Drake: “We Don’t Have A Friendship Now”
In 2016 at the VMA awards, international superstar Rihanna gave one of the great performances of her career before receiving the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. But before Rihanna could accept her accolade, the rapper Drake delivered a speech about the singer so overwrought that headlines the next day were not “Rihanna Triumphant At VMAs”…
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Facebook Will Unveil Online Dating Option And It’s ‘Not Just For Hookups’
Citizens who have always wished Mark Zuckerberg would get more involved in your dating lives, rejoice! Facebook has announced it will be dipping a toe (a thumb) into the world of online dating. The website that has pried into dating lives since its earliest days of forcing users to divulge their dating status to the…
The Latest
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Despite Tambor Allegations, Netflix Will Release ‘Arrested Development’ Season 5
The painfully funny series “Arrested Development” will return for a fifth season in painful times. Despite allegations of sexual harassment by former co-workers against “Arrested” star Jeffrey Tambor, Netflix is set to announce a release date for the show’s belated fifth season very soon. Michel Hurwitz, the show’s creator, said on Tuesday that the new…
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Alt-Right Bully Is Too Weak To Rip Up Rainbow Sign
“Proud Boys,” designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is an alt-right organization made of “proud western chauvinists” that aims to rip apart social norms by acts like ending welfare and giving everyone a gun. Sadly, a man affiliated with Proud Boys who counter-protested at an event for workers’ and immigrants’…
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Why Jews Traditionally Make Bonfires On Lag B’Omer — And Eat BBQ And Smores
Today, like many, many other days on the Jewish calendar, is a Jewish holiday. It’s Lag B’omer, the 33rd day in the 49-day countdown between Passover and Shavuot, which serves as a break from the Omer, a traditional quasi-mourning period (more on that here). On Lag B’omer, observant Jews get married (and they do, in…
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Scarlett Johansson And ‘Infinity War’ Cast Read Really, Really Mean Tweets
As someone who has paid the minimum amount of attention to the “Avengers” movies possible for a professional entertainment writer, I would say that “Avengers: Infinity War” appears to be a $320 million trailer designed to make people sad and confused enough to pay to see the next “Avengers” movie. So it is refreshing to…
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Bibi’s Iran Speech Inspires Hilarious Memes
One of the most underestimated weapons of 21st century political warfare must be the meme. Laugh (or, more likely, grumble irrelevantly about the decline of human intellect,) but crudely photoshopped image and word combinations really do change social climates and elections. And somehow, in the two times that Benjamin Netanyahu has delivered major speeches about…
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Robin Williams Did Private Standup For Spielberg To Cheer Him Up During ‘Schindler’s List”
Imagine what hell it must be to make a movie, write a book, or put together any piece of work about the Holocaust. Full immersion in the facts of mass genocide for months or years on end is psychological torture, whatever accolades or payment one may receive for it. Reflecting on the making of “Schindler’s…
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Claire Foy of ‘The Crown’ To Receive $275K In Back Pay For Gender Pay Gap
On the wildly popular television show “The Crown,” Claire Foy portrays Queen Elizabeth II. Matt Smith plays her husband, Prince Philip. The titular “crown” refers to the one worn on Claire Foy’s head. And yet, Claire Foy makes less money per episode than Matt Smith. Put that in your pipe and smoke it and get…
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Lea Michele Is Engaged And Sporting A Diamond The Size Of A Satellite Dish
Lea Michele is engaged. But is he Jewish? Her: an Italian-Jewish prima donna and heir to Barbra Streisand’s diva mantle, known for her role on “Glee.” Him: a 35 year-old Wharton graduate named Zandy Reich (his last name is pronounced “rich”) who founded his own clothing line, played lacrosse at Penn, and used to work…
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News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
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Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
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Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
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Music After decades of waiting, we’re finally getting a Bob Dylan-Barbra Streisand duet
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Trump’s new pick for surgeon general blames the Nazis for pesticides on our food
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Fast Forward Jewish feud over Trump escalates with open letter in The New York Times
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Fast Forward First American pope, Leo XIV, studied under a leader in Jewish-Catholic relations
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Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
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