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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Female Comedian Sued For ‘War On Men’ After Holding ‘Girls Night’ Comedy Show
Some men just can’t take a joke. “Last Comic Standing” winner Iliza Shlesinger is facing a lawsuit after her “Girls Night In” comedy event allegedly ejected two men who had purchased tickets to see the November 13 show, according to Variety. Shlesinger is being sued by a man who — thanks to blessings from the…
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5 Reasons Ivanka Trump Should Be Our Next President — For Real
A new book by Michael Wolff, “Fire and Fury: Life Inside The Trump WhiteHouse,” is being heralded by some as the gospel truth about the perpetually bungling West Wing and by others as an embellished account of real interviews that includes interactions that may have taken place largely in Wolff’s own head. One of the…
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Three Hours And Six Minutes At The MatzoBall, The Biggest Jewish Singles Event Of The Year
The MatzoBall, an dance party for Jewish singles on Christmas Eve, is in its 31st year. This year, Schmooze correspondent Jenny Singer attended the New York City MatzoBall, one of ten MatzoBalls held across America, after an eye-opening interview with the event’s founder, Andy Rudnick. Below is her minute-by-minute account of the evening: 10:30 P.M.,…
The Latest
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Dr. Ruth Tweets About Sex, Matzo — And The Holocaust
It’s only the fourth day of 2018, but facts are facts: Ruth Westheimer’s Twitter is the best thing on the internet this year. Westheimer’s feed is a strong combination of sex advice, thoughts on self-driving cars and withering takedowns of Barbra Streisand’s visit to the Holocaust museum. If you don’t have a little bit of…
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Single Dad Of Five Finds Kidney Donor After Advertising On A T-Shirt At Disney World
They call it The Magic Kingdom for a reason. When Robert Leibowitz, the 60-year-old single father of five who has suffered from chronic kidney problems since he was 12, became desperate for a new kidney, his teenage daughter had a bright idea. “In need of a kidney. O Positive,” Leibowitz printed on a t-shirt before…
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Barack Obama’s Favorite Book Of 2017 Was A Female Power Dystopia Written By A Jewish Woman
Like us here at the Schmooze, Barack Obama enjoys saluting the successes of Jewish women through a good old-fashioned listicle. The former president, who has been enjoying the end of his tenure with jury duty and attending Broadway shows, posted a list of his top 10 favorite books and songs of the year, complete with…
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The 17 Most-Read Stories On The Schmooze In 2017
It was a great and terrible year for Jewish pop culture. Everyone was talking about anti-Semitism and white supremacy: Major celebrities, Robert E. Lee’s descendents and The Real Housewives of New Jersey all had a say. Gal Gadot’s career began and Harvey Weinstein’s career concluded, several decades too late. Gigi Hadid took on Laura Loomer,…
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How Popular Are Jewish Baby Names In New York City?
What’s in a name? Well, if you’re a baby who was born in New York City in 2016, chances are the answer is “a lot of biblical significance.” The New York City Department of Health has released the top ten most popular baby names of that year, and the list is fascinating. Of the top…
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The New ‘Star Wars’ Isn’t Pro-Reform Judaism. It’s Anti-Religious Inflexibility.
I watched “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” this weekend because the group I was with couldn’t decide between “Call Me By Your Name” and “I, Tonya.” I did not intend to write something Jewish about “Star Wars,” just as I have not previously intended to write about Jews and sports or Jews and sex-spaghetti. Then…
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Two Movies To See At The Washington Jewish Film Festival (And On The Fest Circuit)
After delivering you my picks from the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival, I’m back with two movies from the DC Jewish Film Festival’s fall series that really shouldn’t be skipped. Humor Me, written and directed by Sam Hoffman, is the very model of a modern indie comedy, albeit with a welcome dash of Jewish humor. (Wrong…
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Movie News: Gal Gadot Considers An Unusual Role, ‘Pitch Perfect’ Goes Questionably Jewish
Welcome to the last weekend of 2017, and, therefore, the last installment of 2017 movie news. If you’re like me, you’ve been wasting an inordinate amount of time wondering why, given your absolute commitment to both Judaism and interesting dialogue, you can’t stop watching truly terrible Christmas movies. (“A Christmas Prince” is a gateway drug,…
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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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Opinion This German word explains Trump’s authoritarian impulses — and Hitler’s rise to power
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Music ‘No matter what, I will always be a Jew.’ Billy Joel opens up about his family’s Holocaust history
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Students at Netanyahu’s Pennsylvania high school want him ejected from the alumni hall of fame
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Culture On the border between hipster and Hasidic, a Brooklyn barbershop specializes in Orthodox haircuts
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Opinion American Jews were played — now what?
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Fast Forward Its protests yielding limited results, Jewish Voice for Peace retools to focus on swaying elections
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