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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OITNB’s Jenji Kohan Was Once Nicknamed ‘White Devil Jew B****’ In A Writer’s Room
It’s hard out there if you’re a “white devil Jew b****.” Or at least it was for Jenji Kohan, whose says her first job in a writer’s room on “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” where she represented half of the show’s female writers, earned her the moniker. Kohan gives no context — it might have been…
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5 Songs By Jewish Artists You Should Listen To Instead Of Taylor Swift’s Awful New Single
Love it or hate it, you’ve probably heard Taylor Swift’s new single “Look What You Made Me Do.” It’s a dark and witchy tune, a techno battle-cry, an anthem of the betrayed, an un-catchy promise to bring blight and famine to Kim and Kanye’s star-studded lifestyle — but it’s also bad. And I should know…
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Watch ‘Broad City’ Pitch A Dog Reality Show
We are experiencing a Golden Age of Television. Within that Golden Age of television is a Golden Age of female comedians. And within that Golden Age of female comedians is a Golden Age of Jewish women who will stop at nothing to make the world a funnier and truer place with more room for big…
The Latest
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Israelis Resolve One Conflict: Rachel and Ross From ‘Friends’ Were On A Break
Finally exploiting the fact that it’s really easy to rhyme in Hebrew, Israelis took to Rabin Square wielding protest signs and chanting on Saturday night. “One, two, three, four — they were on a break!” shouted the mass of around a hundred young Israelis. The protesters were up in arms about a broken cease fire…
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Jewish Actor Pulls Out Of ‘Hellboy’ After Discovering His Character Is Supposed To Be Asian
If there’s one thing Hollywood can’t get enough of, it’s casting white people in nonwhite roles. Despite the criticism that inevitably meets these casting choices (not to mention the abundance of actors of color from which casting directors can choose), white actors continue to accept these roles. So it’s refreshing to finally see an actor…
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Jewish Couple Weds Despite A 45 Year Age Difference
He was a boy. She was a girl. Can I make it any more obvious? She was 27. He was 72. Okay, maybe I can make it more obvious. Dr. Marc Wallack, 72, and Cynthia Zhou, 27, were married in Westhampton Beach on July 30th amidst the sound of the crashing ocean and a cool…
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The Most Jewish Things That Happened At The VMAs
The VMAs are a televised event at which celebrities give each other awards for movies they’ve made about themselves. The crucial event of Sunday night’s performance was an artist’s release of a video of herself bathing in diamonds. So no one should be too devastated that few Jews were nominated for or won awards during…
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Adam Levine Gives The VMA’s Two Thumbs Down
I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that Adam Levine spoke for all of us when he wrote on his personal Twitter page Sunday night that it’s “always exciting to see how utterly horrible the VMA’s will be.” This year, MTV did not underdeliver. Levine had some harsh words for the MTV…
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Nev Schulman, Star Of ‘Catfish’ Proudly Wears Yellow Star Of David To VMA’s
While some stars kept quiet about their political beliefs Sunday night at the Video Music Awards, others wore them right on their sleeves. Nev Schulman, the man who has made a career out of dropping bombs on innocent people’s romantic delusions, proudly fastened a yellow star to his red carpet outfit. In an interview with…
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Kathy Griffin Gets Candid About The Men Who Begged Her To Grovel To Trump
It’s been nearly 3 months since Kathy Griffin appeared on camera holding a replica of Donald Trump’s head, severed and bloodied. Backlash to the unfortunate spoof cost Griffin millions of dollars in work. She was subject to an investigation by the Secret Service, since concluded, and received thousands of death threats every day for weeks…
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Is Steve Bannon Using Taylor Swift’s New Single To Threaten Trump?
The music world is abuzz with rumors about Taylor Swift’s new single “Look What You Made Me Do.” Is it about Kanye West and Kim Kardashian? Or is it an ode to Arya Stark from “Game of Thrones”? Is Taylor Swift a witch? Is she a snake inside the body of a 27-year-old white woman?…
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Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
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Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
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Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish מחשבֿות פֿון אַן אַהיים־געקומענעם (אַ מלחמה־טאָגגבוך)Reflections of a soldier after returning home (a wartime diary)
דער מחבר איז אַ סטודענט אינעם ירושלימער העברעיִשן אוניווערסיטעט, אינעם צווייטן יאָר ייִדיש־לימוד
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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 At Harvard, reports on antisemitism and anti-Palestinian bias reflect campus conflict over Israel
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Opinion Is JB Pritzker’s very Jewish toughness the key to fighting Trump?
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