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
-
What’s a Jewboo? Broad City’ Writer Dishes on her Cross-Cultural Romance
One sticky night last June, my girlfriends and I met up on the warehouse-lined streets of Bushwick to see a comedy show. That evening, Naomi Ekperigin took to the stage and proceeded to . A writer on Broad City and Difficult People, her hysterical worldview permeates some of the hottest shows on television. In her…
-
Calvin Trillin’s ‘Offensive’ New Yorker Poem: A Response, in Verse
The New Yorker’s April 4th issue included a poem by Calvin Trillin entitled The poem, which addressed the many varieties of Chinese food being popularized in America, struck many as having an uncomfortably Orientalist flavor (sorry). The Forward decided to respond, in verse. Oh Trillin, our food-focused, sharply-phrased poet, You’ve bungled, you’ve mis-hit, we’re sure…
-
Amy Schumer and Lena Dunham Speak Up About ‘Glamour’s’ Plus-Size Issue
Amy Schumer was surprised to see herself in a plus-size issue of Glamour magazine. @GlamourMag partnered with @LaneBryant to give you a special issue dedicated to your curves! Pick up a copy today!! ?? #chicatanysize #beautybeyondsize A photo posted by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@theashleygraham) on Mar…
The Latest
-
Bob Dylan Takes On Sinatra — Again
It’s happening again. Just in case you didn’t have enough Bob Dylan’s Sinatra covers, this May, Dylan is gifting us with 12 more raspy melancholic covers of old blue eyes. “Fallen Angels” is slated to be released on May 20. It’s the second full album of Frank Sinatra covers after 2015, “Shadows in the Night.”…
-
Lena Dunham is Turning ‘Lenny Letter’ into a Publishing Imprint
(JTA) — Lena Dunham and writing partner Jenni Konner have signed a deal with Random House to turn their lifestyle newsletter Lenny into a publishing imprint. Dunham and Konner will oversee a line of books featuring “exciting, emerging voices in fiction and nonfiction,” Random House announced Wednesday. Both women are Jewish. “Working with Lena, Jenni…
-
Drew Barrymore Divorcing From Jewish Hubby
It’s the end of an era. Drew Barrymore announced this week that she and her husband, Jewish art dealer Will Koppleman, are calling it quits. The couple released this statement to People magazine this past Saturday: “Sadly our family is separating legally, although we do not feel this takes away from us being a family….
-
VIDEO: Billy Eichner Dishes on Stuyvesant High School, Being Gay — and Madonna
When “Billy on the Street” star Billy Eichner got a chance to interview First Lady Michelle Obama, he did what any other comedian would do. Uh, actually not. “It’s pretty much my id as a 12-year-old kid blown up.” What Eichner did was this: “I had her push me around in a shopping cart while…
-
Helen Mirren To Host 2016 ‘Jewish Nobel’ Ceremony in Jerusalem
Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren will host the 2016 Genesis Prize award ceremony in Jerusalem. At the June 23 ceremony, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu will present the $1 million Genesis Prize to an acclaimed violinist, educator and advocate for individuals with disabilities. The Genesis Prize, which has been referred to as the “Jewish Nobel,”…
-
Cornelius Gurlitt’s Looted Art Hoard Poised for First Reveal
The art hoard of – the recluse who kept close wraps on the enormous collection amassed by his father, who worked with the Nazis to procure the artworks included – has made consistent headlines since it was discovered in 2012. Rarely have they been so promising as this: as the New York Times reports, museums…
-
Jean Shafiroff and Georgina Bloomberg Launch ‘How To’ Philanthropy Tome
Jean Shafiroff and Georgina Bloomberg. Radiant in a designer gown, philanthropist-become-author Jean Shafiroff welcomed the crush of guests at her Park Avenue home for the March 21 launch of her opus “Successful Philanthropy: How To Make A Life By What you Give.” She introduced Georgina Bloomberg – professional equestrian and youngest daughter of New York’s…
-
Children’s Opera Travels From Terezin to Madrid
For many, the very idea of opera is antiquated, yawn-inducing and vaguely stuffy. For Hans Krása and Arnold Schoenberg, Jewish composers whose careers were marked by rising anti-Semitism in Europe in advance of the Holocaust, it was a matter of both political and personal urgency. In Madrid, audiences are getting a chance to experience that…
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion I’m a Jew of color. Ta-Nehisi Coates can’t apply US lessons to Israel.
- 2
Culture Columbus may have had Jewish heritage — that doesn’t mean he was Jewish
- 3
Opinion The most antisemitic university president you’ve never heard of
- 4
Culture Why Doug Emhoff shared his bar mitzvah with a guy named Scott
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Doug Emhoff: Jewish support for Trump is ‘shocking’ and ‘vexing’
-
Fast Forward Exclusive: GOP nominee for Senate says Christian nationalist who trafficked in antisemitism has ‘moral courage’
-
Fast Forward Biden ambassador: Blindly supporting Israel is not friendship
-
Looking Forward Sinwar, Sukkot and what Netanyahu needs to do now
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism