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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Daniel Radcliffe’s Circumcised Role
According to an interview with Daniel Radcliffe in Out, “Kill Your Darlings” director John Krokidas was worried about offering the role of Allen Ginsberg to Radcliffe, because he wasn’t sure whether Radcliffe was Jewish…and therefore, circumcised. Anyone who saw Radcliffe in “Equus” knows the director had nothing to worry about. Florida Senator Marco Rubio arrived…
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Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher to Shack Up?
On Valentine’s Day, love was in the air, and Mila Kunis and her main man Ashton Kutcher are here, there and everywhere. The couple was spotted at a Lakers game, and Kunis was all giggly and blushing about Kutcher during an appearance on Ellen DeGeneres’s show. But the most interesting tidbit is that the two…
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Watch Seinfeld on Letterman
Jerry Seinfeld took a break from driving around and getting coffee to do some standup on Letterman last night. Watch him talk about what’s annoying now. Or five years ago. Whichever.
The Latest
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Books A Jewish Fiction Reading List
Earlier this week, Michael Lavigne wrote about writing the “Radical Other” and wondered if a writer can take the ego out of writing. His blog posts are featured on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog Series. For more information on the series, please visit: A couple…
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Media Giant Found Peddling Nazi Porn
Next time you reach for those Life & Style and In Touch magazines while in the supermarket checkout line, you might want to keep in mind the dark side to those gossip rags — and it goes beyond Tom Cruise’s defamation suit against them for claims that he abandoned his daughter Suri. An investigation by…
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Claude Lanzmann Honored in Berlin
French documentary filmmaker and producer Claude Lanzmann will be honored at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival, where he spoke about filming his famous “Shoah” documentary. Lanzmann, 87, was expected to receive an Honorary Golden Bear for his lifetime achievement on Thursday evening. “I was happy, I was moved and I was proud,” Lanzmann told…
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Leon Wieseltier To Split $1 Million Prize
New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier has been awarded the $1 million Dan David prize, Politico reported. Wieseltier, who was cited by the prize board as “a foremost writer and thinker who confronts and engages with the central issues of our times,” will split the prize with French philosopher Michel Serres, who was called “one…
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Gustavo Dudamel May Not Return to Israel
Superstar conductor Gustavo Dudamel is reconsidering future engagements in Israel after being interrogated by security services upon arriving in and leaving from Ben Gurion airport. Dudamel, 32, who is music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, was in Israel to conduct the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for a week-long series…
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R.B. Kitaj Returns to London
At the end of this month, selections of work from the exhibit “R.B. Kitaj (1932-2007): Obsessions” will be transferring from its successful run at the Jewish Museum Berlin to two venues in the U.K. It will exhibit concurrently at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester and the Jewish Museum London, before returning to Germany. Both British…
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Mayim Bialik Weans Four-Year-Old
Perhaps the biggest celebrity news of late is that Mayim Bialik has successfully—and finally—weaned her 4-year-old son Fred. Critics of the actress’ attachment parenting approach thought the day might never have come. While we’re on the topic of celeb parenting, we’ll mention that Julianna Margulies’ 5-year-old son Kieran makes her life an adventure every day,…
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What Jonah Lehrer Can Do With His $20K
I felt my blood pressure skyrocket this morning when I learned that nonfiction wunderkind-turned-pariah Jonah Lehrer was given $20,000 for a mea culpa sermon at the Knight Foundation’s Media Learning Seminar, addressing the Bob Dylan quote-fabrication scandal in which he was embroiled last year. My sister-in-law — a fellow freelance journalist who sent me the…
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