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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Here’s The Advice That Obama Told A Synagogue Audience He Gives To His Daughters
Barack Obama dazzled on Wednesday night in one of his first public speaking events since the end of his term. The 44th American president spoke at the Streicker Center at Temple Emanu-El in New York City’s Upper East Side. The crowd who filled the historic synagogue saw a recent president who was relaxed, glowing (seriously,…
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Julia Louis-Dreyfus Is Recovering Well After Finishing Chemo
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the once and future duchess of Jewish diaspora culture, was seen out today for the first time since finishing her chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. The actress was diagnosed in September, and spoke publicly and poignantly about the prevalence of breast cancer diagnoses — using it as an opportunity to highlight the need…
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Does ‘Tootsie’ Really Need To Be Made Into A Broadway Musical?
The Schmooze will be the first to tell you that almost anything can be a great musical. Every time we hear some holier-than-thou would-be art critic, usually a dad or some other form of man, asking “Does “Mean Girls”/”Shrek”/that obscure tv show/the life of that interesting woman” really need to be made into a musical?”…
The Latest
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Happy Birthday To Virginia Woolf, Who Hated The Sound Of Jewish Laughter
Today marks the birth date of brilliant novelist and thinker Virginia Woolf, whose writings are a staple of modernist literature and whose feminist philosophy laid out some of the blueprints for the feminist movement we enjoy today. Sadly, Virginia Woolf hated Jews a lot. Jewish characters in her novels were written as ugly stereotypes, and…
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Movie News: Oscar Nominations, ‘My Coffee With Jewish Friends,’ Connie Sawyer
This week brought the 2018 Oscar nominations, the single best outcome of which is that now everyone has good reason to use the brilliant photo, above, of nominee Agnes Varda eating an Oscar statuette. It’s applicable in every situation. Angry at the establishment? Consider munching on an Oscar. Trying to figure out who you want…
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Married ‘Alt-Right’ Activist Jack Prosobiec Banned From Feminist Dating App
What’s on a dating app? Men holding fish they’ve murdered. Men promising they will never reveal your shared shameful secret meeting place (a dating app). Men who don’t speak English — or any other human language. And, for a brief time, on a dating app was an “alt-right” conspiracist named Jack Prosobiec who is best…
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‘Rent’ Will Be The Next Live Musical Broadcast On FOX
UPDATE: The image mentioned in this article has been removed from the “RENT on FOX” twitter account, likely because it made no sense. The tweet that appears below was posted on January 24 and read something to the effect of, “525,600 minutes until RENT on FOX! January 27, 2019.” It was the prescient writer of…
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Erykah Badu Says She Is ‘Not An Anti-Semitic Person,’ Praises Hitler
Is it right to separate the art from the artist? Can it ever be appropriate to enjoy the art of a person who may have committed evil acts? Musician Erykah Badu is taking the question a step further, asking specifically, if the artist is Hitler and the art is paintings made by Hitler, can we…
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Drake Compares Himself To Hitler In New Song
The ongoing debate about whether or not it is okay to compare Hitler and the Nazi regime to current news events just took a surprising turn. Now, American Jews feel forced to ask: Is it okay to compare Hitler to the 31-year-old Canadian Jewish rapper Drake? As Genius wisely points out, the artist’s surprise single,…
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‘Lady Bird’ Star Beanie Feldstein Wore Her Prom Dress To The SAG Awards
Is Beanie Feldstein the true Jewish American Princess we’ve been waiting for? The gloriously beautiful, wildly funny “Lady Bird” star radiates compassion on screen, went to Wesleyan and is the best friend of Ben Platt and sister of Jonah Hill. She also just wore her dress from her high school prom to the SAG Awards….
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The 2018 Jewish Nominees For Oscars In Major Categories
It’s shaping up to be a Jew-ish year at the Oscars, with chosen nominees in several of the major categories. But the recognition for other minority and oppressed groups — surprise attention in the top categories for “The Big Sick,” “Get Out,” and “Lady Bird” alongside the very Jewish “Call Me By Your Name” —…
Most Popular
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Film & TV The new ‘Superman’ is being called anti-Israel, but does that make it pro-Palestine?
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Fast Forward Tucker Carlson calls for stripping citizenship from Americans who served in the Israeli army
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Music ‘No matter what, I will always be a Jew.’ Billy Joel opens up about his family’s Holocaust history
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Opinion This German word explains Trump’s authoritarian impulses — and Hitler’s rise to power
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion What Democrats fighting Trump should learn from Germany’s failure to stop Hitler
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Fast Forward 31st anniversary of AMIA bombing marked by ceremonies in Argentina, Israel and, for the first time, Congress
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Fast Forward Mike Huckabee to Israel: End hostile treatment of Christian allies
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Fast Forward Connie Francis, 20th-century star turned TikTok sensation, recorded an album of Jewish songs in 1960
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