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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Holocaust Selfies Are an (Awful) Thing
(JTA) — Smiley selfies from Auschwitz and Buchenwald? They’re trending, apparently Blogger Hektor Brehl, writing for the German version of Vice magazine, has a piece about the tendency of young travelers to post pics taken at Holocaust memorials in which they show off their new sneakers and crack “uncool” jokes. Brehl collected an array of…
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Klezmatics Given Lifetime Achievement Award at YIVO
In the mid 1980s several key figures in the klezmer revival movement had day jobs at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. So, perhaps it was only fitting that The Klezmatics were given a lifetime achievement award at YIVO’s Manhattan headquarters November 19. After cocktails and dinner at the Center for Jewish History’s atrium on…
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Marvel To Launch First Muslim Super-Heroine
She’s just a 16-year-old Jersey girl “suddenly bestowed with super-human powers that send her on the adventure of a lifetime.” But Kamala Khan’s also a Pakistani Muslim-American. And as the title character of Marvel Comics’ new “Ms. Marvel” series, she’s making history. The team behind the series includes Eisner Award-nominated writer G. Willow Wilson —…
The Latest
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Lip-Synching Bob Dylan’s ‘Rolling Stone’
(JTA) — The first official music video for Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” is making the rounds on the internet. And Dylan’s endorsement is only half the reason why. The video, produced by media start-up Interlude, includes a novel interactive channel-tuning button, each channel mimicking a different cable channel or news program, featuring cameos…
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Your Jewish Boyfriend Adam Brody Gets Engaged
After ten months of dating, “O.C.” star Adam Brody is engaged to “Gossip Girl” star Leighton Meester, Radar Online reported on Tuesday. That sound you hear is every single Jewish girl everywhere in the world quietly sobbing into her hair straightener. Brody, 33, and Meester, 27, were first romantically connected while filming “The Oranges” in…
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Ed Koch Belongings Fetch $55K at Auction
The first day of the auction of the former New York Mayor Ed Koch’s possessions fetched a sum of $51,755 at Doyle New York auction house, far greater than the expected $20 – $30,000, the New York Daily News reported. Koch’s dining set, which included of six Frank Lloyd Wright-designed chairs, was expected to fetch…
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Adam Levine Is People’s Sexiest Man Alive
Ladies, it’s time to dig up your old Maroon 5 albums. Adam Levine — our Adam Levine — is officially People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive. And apparently, he was as surprised as you by the news: “As a musician, you have fantasies that you want to win Grammys, but I didn’t really think that this was…
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Jackie O’s Jewish Knight
The extensive media coverage of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy also showcases Jackie Kennedy front and center as Camelot’s crown jewel. Fashion trend-setter, charmer of world leaders, restorer of the White House’s historic treasure, she is credited as the meticulous architect—down to the gravesite eternal light — of her…
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Nursing Home Drama Leaves Questions Unanswered
“Every Day a Visitor” is a play about seniors living — no, make that confined — in a faded Bronx nursing home. They have no family, friends or, very soon, an audience nearby. Based on a short story by playwright Richard Abrons and presented off-Broadway a dozen years ago, the play tells the story of…
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Bar Refaeli Says Yes (to Civil Unions)
Grab a Hebrew or Russian-speaking friend and check out this sweet video released Sunday by Israeli political party Yesh Atid, promoting their proposed civil unions bill. You might not be familiar with many of the 20 Israeli celebs who appear on screen answering the question, “Why do I support civil unions?” But surely the face…
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Get Your ‘Hannukah Forever’ Stamp
Sending holiday greetings to loved ones for Hannukah? Skip the e-card. The U.S. Postal Service has just issued a “Hannukah Forever” stamp showing — what else? — a lit menorah. Created by Steven Bronstein, a blacksmith from Marshfield, VT, the menorah depicted on the stamp took almost a week to make. Bronstei had to forge 20 feet…
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