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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Ted Cruz’s Jewish College Roomie Remembers When — With Acid Tongue
“Hangover” screenwriter Craig Mazin has plenty of material should he ever decide to do a Ted Cruz biopic. You see, Mazin was the Republican presidential contender’s freshman college roommate at Princeton — a fact that came to light more than two years ago when about some of the right=winger’s bizarre ways at the Ivy League…
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Woody Allen’s Sidekick Tony Roberts Shares All in New Book
Left to right, Woody Allen, Tony Roberts and Diane Keaton in a 1977 publicity shot from “Annie Hall.” There’s a memorable scene in “Annie Hall” when Woody Allen’s character, Alvy Singer, rants about finding anti-Semites everywhere he goes. “You know, I was having lunch with some guys from NBC and I said, ‘Did you eat…
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When David Bowie Was Welcomed to America — by His ‘Adoptive’ Jewish Family
(JTA) — David Bowie didn’t start his first trip to the United States with a drug-filled party or a wild show, but with a quiet evening at the home of a Maryland Jewish family. The late English rocker had just released the album “The Man Who Sold the World,” which built on the success of…
The Latest
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Oscar Nod for Controversial Amy Winehouse Documentary
Nominees for the 88th Academy Awards were announced this morning and the road to the February 28 telecast of the Oscars has officially begun. While this year’s favorites, “The Revenant” and “The Martian,” lead the pack with 12 and 9 nominations, respectively, but there were several nominations for Jewish films and documentaries. Already a winner…
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El Chapo Wears Jewish Fashion Designers, and You Can Too
The Barabas advertisement. A schmatta, it’s not. Infamous Mexican cartel boss Joaquín Guzmán — better known as El Chapo — is in the news after a widely publicized interview with Sean Penn in magazine led to his capture (again). In the days that followed, photos of the actor and the drug kingpin circulated around the…
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Adam Sandler and Mila Kunis Get No-Good Razzie Nods
The so while Leonardo DiCaprio looks for space on his mantle for his new shiny Golden Globe, Adam Sandler, Gwyneth Paltrow and Mila Kunis should probably start looking for space for the golden raspberry award. The Razzies, the annual award show honoring the best in the worst of the last year in films, has announced…
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Beit Hatfutsot Museum Celebrates Jewish Diversity and History
Claudio Pincus, Joey Alexander and Daniel Pincus. “Just as the IDF protects the State of Israel, Beit Hatfutsot — and the magnificent new Museum of the Jewish People — protects our culture, our values and our unity on a global level,” Ido Aharoni, Israel’s Consul General, told the guests at the museum’s recent annual gala…
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Shulem Deen and Daniel Torday Are Jewish Book Awards Winners
The Jewish Book Council has announced the winners of its 2015 National Jewish Book Awards. The awards, celebrating their 65th year, span a wide variety of Jewish texts both popular and scholarly, from American Jewish Studies to Children’s Literature to Sephardic Culture. Highlights from the 19 categories include the award for “Jewish Book of the…
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David Bowie’s Favorite Jewish Authors — From Bellow to Weschler
While fans are marking David Bowie’s death by revisiting the decades of art he created in his life, we thought it’d be interesting to take a look Bowie’s list of his 100 favorite books, released as part of a 2013 exhibit on the artist’s career at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Bowie’s literary interests, like…
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Han Solo a Jew? 3 Jewish Actors On Short List for the Role
Dave Franco, Logan Lerman, and Emory Cohen. After seeing thousands of auditions, Disney and Lucasfilm have narrowed down their list of actors to star in an upcoming “Han Solo” spinoff film to “about a dozen,” Variety reported. Three Jews — Logan Lerman, Dave Franco and Emory Cohen — are on the short list, along with…
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Bette Midler, Sandra Bernhard and 7 Other Jewish Celebs React to SOTU
Bette Midler weighs in on the State of the Union and the President. Jewish celebrities and other famous Tribe voices took to social media largely to praise President Barack Obama for what was his final State of the Union address. Some were overtly political; others funny; and some took aim at the Republican delivering the…
Most Popular
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Opinion The most antisemitic university president you’ve never heard of
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Opinion Take it from someone who’s both Black and Jewish: Ta-Nehisi Coates weaponizes race to spread antisemitism
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Culture Why Doug Emhoff shared his bar mitzvah with a guy named Scott
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Opinion I’m a Jew of color. Ta-Nehisi Coates can’t apply US lessons to Israel.
In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish ווידעאָ: דאָס סאַטמערער מיידל וואָס איז געוואָרן אַ ראָקשטערןVIDEO: The Satmar girl who became a rock star
ריקי רויז איז אַ קאָמפּאָזיטאָרין און זינגערין פֿון ייִדישע לידער, אַ קאָמיקערין און אַ בעל־משפּיע אין דער סאָציאַלער מעדיע.
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Fast Forward 11 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at U of Minnesota for occupying and damaging administration building
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Fast Forward How Donald Trump and Kamala Harris differ (and agree) when it comes to Middle East policy
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News Pittsburgh’s Jews, united by Tree of Life shooting, divided by election and Gaza war
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