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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Taylor Swift’s ‘Reputation’ Has Its First Great Cover
Oh, Taylor. What are we going to do with you? While “Reputation” wasn’t exactly hailed as a masterpiece by the American public, the treacly, cliché-ridden lyrics and sticky, conventional EDM inspired hooks coalesced into an album that facilitated one of the finest bits of musical theater to ever haunt the aimless void of YouTube. Meet…
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Norwegian Superstar Kygo Plays Israel
I don’t know who Kygo is. You don’t know who Kygo is. But both of us have probably heard Kygo dozens of times — the tropical house music sensation was the fastest artist to have music streamed one billion times on Spotify. He has collaborated with Ed Sheeran and Selena Gomez, and he made history…
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Here Are The Best 5-Minute Hanukkah Story Videos For Kids
Watching every single YouTube video about the story of Hanukkah is like eating eight straight days of latkes — it’s not for the faint of heart. But Hanukkah education isn’t all fun and dreidel games, so we hunkered down and watched an amazing amount of animated footage of bearded cartoon characters so you’ll have the…
The Latest
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Kate Berlant Goes On ‘The Tonight Show’ Dressed As A Human Hanukkiah
Who better to teach the true meaning of Christmas than an interfaith Jewish comedian dressed as a Hanukkiah and her best friend? The phenomenal Kate Berlant and her comedy partner John Early appeared on “The Night Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” to offer gift ideas for the holidays, and demonstrated passive aggressive holiday tension and the…
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Anthony Rapp Reveals Grotesque Hate Mail He Received After Spacey Allegation
“Star Trek” actor Anthony Rapp says he has gotten much more support than criticism since he accused famed actor Kevin Spacey of childhood sexual assault in an explosive Buzzfeed report in October. But the allegations, which resulted in a tweeted apology from Spacey as well as his firing from the show “House of Cards,” attracted…
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The Marvelous Jewishness Of Mrs. Maisel
Earlier this month, the comedian Julie Klausner tweeted the results of an online quiz called “Which TV Jewess are you?” Her result was Julie Kessler, the character she played on Hulu’s Difficult People for two seasons. The quiz references five different female Jewish characters on television right now, featured in comedies like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Broad…
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Emily Ratajkowski’s Sexy Pasta Video Counts Down To Christmas
Kiss today goodbye and point me towards tomorrow — I don’t regret what I did for love. But will Emily Ratajkowski regret what she did for ‘LOVE’? The lingerie-clad model made sensual love to a table covered in spaghetti marinara for the “LOVE” Magazine advent calendar this weekend. Staring at the camera as she rubbed…
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‘Welcome To Hell’: ‘Saturday Night Live’ Ushers Men Into 2018
Next time you hear a man complaining that in light of the recent spate of sexual assault allegations he is feeling afraid of how he should behave, whom he can trust, or in doubt about our justice system, just quiet him with a few bars of “Welcome to Hell.” The creepy all-girl pop anthem that…
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Jaden Smith Is Dating Jewish Actress Odessa Adlon
Let’s take a break from the Russia probe and probe into the deliciously irrelevant facts of the lives of perfect strangers: the dating habits of celebrity children. Jaden Smith, the 19 year-old son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, distinguished himself at an early age as one of our culture’s most eclectic interview subjects. Actress…
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Look Out Aesop, Jenny Slate Is Muscling In
A fable is a moral tale that often features animal characters. Think the boy who cried wolf or the story of the tortoise and the hare. Most of the fables that we’re familiar with were written by the legendary Greek slave Aesop. But not anymore. Not now that Jenny Slate is releasing a book. Jenny…
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How To Help Your Parents Through The 5 Stages Of Garrison Keillor Grief
Like so many people, I was born. My parents decided to have me, and take care of me, and buy me everything I wanted and needed. They changed my diapers, funded my education and invested in over a decade of orthodontia. They read all seven “Harry Potter” books out loud to me from start to…
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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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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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Music After decades of waiting, we’re finally getting a Bob Dylan-Barbra Streisand duet
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