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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18 Awesome Things That Happened To Jews In 2018
Beauty-queens-turned-diplomats Sarah Idan and Adar Gandelsman became dear friends and allies, even though they met when Idan was the year’s Miss Iraq and Gandelsman was Miss Israel. Despite threats that caused her extended family to flee Iraq, Idan stayed public about her relationship with Gandelsman, going on to make a warm visit to Israel. The…
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Frank Sinatra’s $10,000 Yarmulke – And The Story Behind It
(JTA) When a huge auction was held at Sotheby’s earlier this month of items belonging to Frank Sinatra and his wife Barbara, the item that made the most headlines was one of the smallest: a hand-knit yarmulke, owned by Frank, which was purchased for nearly $10,000 by an unknown party. But untold, until now, was…
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The Notorious RBG Bra Comes With A 35% Markup
“It started with a question…why are bras so expensive?” Thus begins the story of Harper Wilde, an online bra startup, which is selling a “Notorious RBG” bra this month at a 35-percent markup. The bra —- indistinguishable from the retailer’s other bras but for the minute embroidered words “when there are nine,” marks a zenith…
The Latest
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Gal Gadot, the ‘Wonder Woman’, Wraps Up Production Of Sequel With A Gushing Instagram Post
Production for the highly-anticipated “Wonder Woman 1984” has ended, Gal Gadot revealed on Instagram. The Israeli actress uploaded a few shots from the filming of the “Wonder Woman” sequel on Sunday, along with a touching message for the cast, crew, and fans of the box office hit. View this post on Instagram We did it….
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Most ‘Merry Christmas’ And ‘Happy Holidays’ Wishes Come From Service Workers. Leave Them Alone.
The choice to die on the whether-or-not-to-say-merry-Christmas hill should be the choice to die abandoned on top of a hill. And yet, tens-of-thousands of people see fit to proclaim their feelings from atop Twitter mountains or Facebook molehills: How ridiculous is it that people say “happy holidays” because saying “merry Christmas” might offend someone. CHRIST…
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Gwyneth Paltrow Hangs Christmas Stockings With Her Jewish Kids
Gwyneth Paltrow enhanced our dull little lives by letting us peek into her holiday celebrations with her family. For Paltrow, who famously “consciously uncoupled” from then-husband Chris Martin in 2014, “family” includes Martin, her new husband Brad Falchuk, and her two children, Apple and Moses. The only way I’d hang a stocking for an ex…
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Is It Kosher For Non-Jewish Actors To Play Jewish Characters?
Felicity Jones will star in “On The Basis Of Sex” as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a role that initially went to Natalie Portman. Ginsburg and Portman are Jewish. Jones is not. The arrival of the glossy biopic will be a welcome distraction for those who have already binged their way through the second…
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General Tso’s Poutine And Drag Queens: Best 2018 Jewish Christmas Events In The US
For many, Christmas is the “most wonderful time of the year.” For some of us, it’s just… Tuesday, this year. But there are plenty of places for Jews to observe in our own way — by eating and laughing. Here’s a roundup of the coolest Jew-y Christmas happenings across the country: City Winery, Chicago citywinery.com/chicago…
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19 Definitely Accurate Pop Culture Predictions For 2019
Wipe that perspiration off your brow: We’ve almost made it to 2019. But in today’s fast-paced news cycle, who knows what might have changed by the time you wake up on New Years Day? Maybe Gwyneth Paltrow will have thrown her hat in the ring for 2020 — the nation could really use some self-care….
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How Many Men At CBS Had Heard That Eliza Dushku Was Sexually Threatened On Tape?
When giants like Harvey Weinstein and Les Moonves fall and the dust clears, has anything changed? A $9.5 million settlement reached in January 2018 by CBS and actress Eliza Dushku, who was fired after complaining of sexual harassment by a coworker, reveals — according to outside investigators — a culture of harassment and violation that…
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Israel Is Sending Holocaust Testimony And A Torah To The Moon
In the beginning there was nothing, and darkness hung upon the face of the deep. In 2019, there will be many things: Books of science, technology, art, and literature, children’s artwork, the Declaration of Independence, a Torah, the testimony of a Holocaust survivor. And, courtesy of Israeli engineering and Jewish philanthropy, they’ll all be on…
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