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: Japanese Gymnast Performs Rio Routine — to Klezmer Music
American Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas aren’t the only ones in Rio with a Jewish connection. On Tuesday, 16-year-old Sae Miyakawa of Japan performed her floor routine to a klezmer arrangement of the song “Kol HaOlam Kulo,” which was written by founder of the Hasidic Breslov movement Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. Though the…
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Meet the Super Jewish Dog Who’s Keeping It Kosher
Call it the power of the kippah. Our new favorite Instagram account @Jewishmemes2 uploaded a video of a very cute dog donning a yarmulke (we’re already sold) who refuses to eat the mixture of salami and cheese being handed to him. However, once the yarmulke comes off, he happily snacks away. Check out the world’s…
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Hillary Clinton Makes History, Gets Photo of Hand Published in Ultra-Orthodox Newspaper
In an unlikely turn of events, the ultra-Orthodox newspaper Yated Ne’eman has been thrust into the spotlight as a paragon of feminism and progressive media ethics. The newspaper has, for the first time in its history, published a picture of a woman, Only Simchas reported. And not just any woman: Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. But,…
The Latest
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Ira Glass and Mike Birbiglia Talk Shop About New Movie
In a recent interview with the Huffington Post, “This American Life” creator Ira Glass and comedian Mike Birbiglia talked comedy, improv, the creative process and what it means to give up on your dreams in a discussion about their new movie, “Don’t Think Twice.” The movie, which was written by Birbiglia and produced by Glass,…
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Israeli-Directed Richard Gere Feature Acquired By Sony Pictures Classics
Earlier this week, Sony Pictures Classics acquired the rights to Israeli director Joseph Cedar’s “Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer” in North America, Asia outside of Korea, Eastern Europe, Scandanavia, and Benelux. The fixer in question is played by Richard Gere, who co-stars in the film with Charlotte Gainsbourg,…
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WATCH: Here’s Everything That’s So Awesome About Aly Raisman
Just when you thought the internet had officially imploded with delight over the Raisman family (if you haven’t seen Mom and Dad Raisman freaking out from the sidelines you’re missing out), 22-year-old Aly went and nabbed a gold medal in Rio last night. The U.S. women’s gymnastic team took home top prize with a sweeping…
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Matisyahu and Street Performer From Viral Video Will Perform in Concert
The tale of the Hawaiian busker who got to perform with Matisyahu in an impromptu street duet, captured in a viral video, isn’t over yet. After some legal arrangements, the unlikely pair are scheduled to perform together on Friday in Los Angeles. Last Friday Matisyahu posted a live video on Facebook in which he invited…
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Curious About Michael Phelps’ Bruised Shoulders? Jewish Folk Medicine Has the Answer
When Michael Phelps arrived at the pool for his first race of the 2016 Olympics, there was one question on everyone’s lips. No, it wasn’t whether the 31-year-old swimming phenomenon, the most decorated Olympian of all time, would be able to live up to his reputation as an unstoppable force in the pool. It was…
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For #NationalBookLoversDay, Forward Staff Picks
It’s National Book Lovers Day, and the Forward staff is celebrating! Here are some of our best recommendations for your next great Jewish read. Laura Adkins “Carrion Comfort” by Dan Simmons radically changed the way I think about power, manipulation, violence, and revenge. Though Dan Simmons isn’t Jewish, this long and violent page turner features…
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WATCH: That Time Seth Rogen Had to Follow Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedy Set
Poor, poor teenage Seth Rogen. The actor revealed on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” that as a young comic he once had to be Jerry Seinfeld’s follow up act. The then 14-year-old Rogen had flown out to Los Angeles to audition for Montreal’s “Just For Laughs” Festival, and was told right before his set that…
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Winona Ryder: Actress, 90s Icon, Constitutional Scholar?
Winona Ryder has recently come back into the spotlight after something of a hiatus from show business, blowing audiences away with her performance as frantic but determined mother Joyce Byers in the Netflix series “Stranger Things.” As part of her re-emergence, Ryder (born Winona Horowitz) gave an interview to New York Magazine’s Heather Havrilesky, in…
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Opinion After the DC shooting it’s clear: The pro-Palestine movement must be purged of violent extremism
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Fast Forward Trump administration says Columbia University ‘continually failed to protect Jewish students’
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Art Ben Shahn was a radical artist — why didn’t he want to be called a Jewish one?
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