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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WATCH: This Thanksgiving, Wolf Blitzer Moderates Your Awkward Family Dinner
Brace yourselves, America. With political tension in the air, annoying relatives visiting and weird family dynamics all around—there’s potential for a whole lot of awkwardness during Thanksgiving this year. Thankfully, Wolf Blitzer is here to help. The CNN reporter was on hand for sketch featured on “The Ellen Show” Monday morning, involving a heated Thanksgiving…
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Remembering Ruth Gruber: Indomitable Writer, Photographer and Friend
Ruth Gruber—fearless documentarian, photojournalist and memoirist who died on November 17th in New York at the age of 105 was a once-in-a- century phenomenon—fearless and best known for chronicling the saga of the ship “Exodus” in 1947— the basis for Leon Uris’s book Exodus” and epic film. Among my special Ruth Gruber memories: ‘Jewskimos’—the February…
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Nicole Kidman Got A Hilarious Yiddish Lesson From Page Six Columnist
In perhaps the most quintessentially New York interaction of 2016, Nicole Kidman showed up to the Manhattan premiere of her new film “Lion” this past week to receive an unexpected Yiddish lesson from Page Six columnist Cindy Adams. “You won’t believe this conversation,” Adams confided, before providing a transcript, which colorfully opened with Adams complimenting…
The Latest
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Natalie Portman on Playing Jackie O, Working with Mike Nichols and Female Leadership
Participating in a Hollywood Reporter Actress Round Table with Emma Stone, Taraji P. Henson, Annette Bening, Naomi Harris, Isabelle Huppert, and Amy Adams, Natalie Portman unleashed a demand for an increased emphasis on female leadership, especially in local communities. In an abridged transcript of the conversation, Portman had a serious answer to a question on…
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Jon Stewart on Liberal Hypocrisy, Donald Trump and Dog Whistles
Jon Stewart may have been a much-missed voice this past election season, but he’s showed up to provide both comfort — see him coloring away his grief in this week’s “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” — and, more recently, some uncompromising observations about understanding the result. Appearing on CBS’s “This Morning” yesterday, Stewart sat down…
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Here’s What Happened When Billy Crystal Golfed with Donald Trump and Bill Clinton
Donald Trump, Billy Crystal, Bill Clinton, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg all walk onto a golf course… Nope, that’s not the start of a joke. There was actually a time when those five men hung out—and Jimmy Kimmel has photographic evidence. “I want to ask you about a photo,” Kimmel said to Crystal during a…
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Jason Alexander Hates That Steve Bannon Made a Fortune Off ‘Seinfeld’
Once upon a time, Steve Bannon, former executive of the far-right news site Breitbart News and appointed chief strategist to Donald Trump, bought a piece of the hit television show “Seinfeld.” In what would later turn out to be an incredibly lucrative move, Bannon was hired by Westinghouse Electric to help determine what they should…
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8 Creative, Budget-Friendly Gifts to Give This Hanukkah
Hanukkah may be a month away, but it’s never too early to start plotting eight nights worth of presents. We put together a gift guide filled with creative, budget-friendly, extra Jew-y tokens of love. Happy shopping! Oy Stained Glass Suncatcher Etsy, $25.00. Hanukkah Mug Cafe Press, $7.95. Drake Hanukkah Card Etsy, $4.59. Hanukkah Nail Art…
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That Time Jon Stewart and Megyn Kelly Duked It Out Over the Phone
There’s plenty of candid tidbits in Megyn Kelly’s new memoir “Settle for More.” The Fox News anchor details the well-publicized sexual harassment scandal with Roger Ailes, her feud with Donald Trump, and chronicles her rise to the top. But one story, a little known anecdote about what happened after Jon Stewart attacked her for a…
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WATCH: Jon Stewart and Samantha Bee Have a Post-Election Message For You
Samantha Bee, the host of “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” was in a sad mood when she shot her Monday night show. “There’s a lot of blaming going on,” she said. “Bernie supporters blaming Democrats for nominating Hillary, Hillary supporters blaming Bernie supporters for damaging their candidate. The media blaming Hillary for blaming the media.”…
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When Donald Trump Was Part of a “Minyan”
In 1995 Donald Trump [now president elect] was among the crush of “Who’s Who” guests at the December 18th “Minyan of the Stars” Chanukah celebration at the Pennsylvania Hotel was who had been invited by fellow real estate giant Abe Hirshfeld then celebrating his 75th birthday and who two days earlier on December 16 had…
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Most Popular
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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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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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Culture What a lion, a rabbi, and a dog taught me about grief
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Music After over decades of waiting, we’re finally getting a Bob Dylan-Barbra Streisand duet
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Art How a Lower East Side Jew conquered the multiverse
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Fast Forward Right-wing activists riot outside Israeli-Palestinian memorial event at Reform synagogue in Israel
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