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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A PSA from Larry David: Stay inside, watch TV, don’t be an idiot
Don’t think I haven’t wondered how Larry David was faring in the current COVID-19 crisis. The answer, it turns out is pretty, pretty good all things considered. But, like many older people, he wants to keep it that way. Last night we received a much-needed update from the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star, who, like most…
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Behind the scenes with a rabbi in HBO’s ‘Plot Against America’
Ethan Herschenfeld is so accustomed to playing Jewish tough guys that when he recorded his first comedy album, he named it “Thug Thug Jew”. Now he’s cutting a much menschier figure in the Jewish cinematic event of the spring: a new adaptation of Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America,” a speculative novel about what might…
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These Jewish dads are tackling gay fatherhood, one podcast at a time
The Schmooze cannot independently confirm this, but America’s most popular podcast on gay fatherhood may be the result of a conversation from beyond the grave. In 2016, Israel-American web designer Yanir Dekel was wrapping up his first year as the father of Ben and Adam, twins he’d conceived through surrogacy with his husband Alex Maghen….
The Latest
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“Soon By You” debuts new episode about queer Orthodox Jews
“Soon By You” — the frum and funky “Friends”-esque sitcom taking the Upper West Side by storm — is finally back. In its first season, the show played for laughs while taking on some of the big issues in the Orthodox community today: should women be able to lead prayers? Is it time to change…
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Donna Zakowska, fashion genius of ‘Mrs. Maisel,’ takes home costume design award
Midge Maisel has been the best-dressed denizen of the Upper West Side since 2017. Now, the woman who creates her enviable ensembles is getting some credit. At the Costume Designer’s Guild Awards last week, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” costume designer Donna Zakowska scored big. Beating out onesies in “GLOW,” Soviet-chic greatcoats in “Chernobyl,” the beatnik…
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‘Leaning in’ to marriage: Sheryl Sandberg announces engagement to Tom Bernthal
Sheryl Sandberg may be the queen bee of Facebook, but to reveal her upcoming nuptials she turned to the platform favored by cool kids worldwide — Instagram. On Monday, Sandberg announced her engagement to strategic consultant Tom Bernthal in an effusive post that could have been ripped from a Valentine’s Day rom com. “You are…
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The ‘Italian’ hand gesture’s also Israeli — plus, more Jewish emojis, please?
The Unicode Consortium, also known as “the emoji people,” released its list of 65 new icons on Thursday, thrilling at least two groups with their inclusion of what they’re calling the “Italian hand gesture” of pinched fingers and a raised hand. Of course, Italians love it — they use it to signal disagreement. But a…
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Jesse Eisenberg is starring in the most chic Holocaust biopic we’ve ever seen
Jesse Eisenberg shot to fame playing the tech giant whose incursions into civic life we’re all busy #resisting. Now he’s playing a member of the actual, capital-R “Resistance” — but we still can’t stop thinking of him as Mark Zuckerberg. This spring, Hollywood’s worst interviewer is set to star in an oddly aestheticized biopic of…
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What you need to know about the female rabbi on the cover of ELLE France
From Simone de Beauvoir’s swashbuckling feminism to Agnes Varda’s ombre hair, France basically invented the alt-cool female intellectual. So when a leading intellectual appears on the cover of a fashion magazine, you can bet it’s happening in the country of liberté, égalité, and — today, at least — sororité. View this post on Instagram @delphinehorvilleur…
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Fran Drescher doesn’t mind being single because she has a ‘friend with benefits’
(JTA) — Fran Drescher, the star of the 1990s sitcom “The Nanny,” says she loves her gay former husband, but some of her needs are met by a “friend with benefits.” The twice-divorced Jewish actress spilt with Peter Marc Jacobson in 1999 after more than 20 years of marriage. Jacobson later came out as gay….
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Here are some of the best Twitter tributes for Holocaust Remembrance Day
In a social media campaign organized by the World Jewish Congress, Holocaust survivors shared their stories and encouraged others to post pictures to Twitter holding signs emblazoned with the slogan “We Remember.” The Nazis conducted medical experiments on Sami Steigmann when he was just one-year-old. He is alive today because a German woman saved his…
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