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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Books
Author Blog: Double Vision
Earlier, Tehila Lieberman wrote about two of the short stories from her collection “Venus in the Afternoon.” Her 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: Perhaps after I was born, someone sneaked into…
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Books When a Story Is Born Form First
Tehila Lieberman is the author of the short story collection “Venus in the Afternoon.” She is currently completing a novel entitled “The Last Holy Man.” Her 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:…
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American Networks Pick Up New Israeli Shows
Israeli broadcaster Keshet continues to attract American television networks to its shows — though not necessarily American audiences. With the exception of Showtime’s “Homeland,” the network has had no significant hit here. Its most recent export, the reality series “3,” succumbed after just two airings. Not to worry. CBS just optioned “Mother’s Day,” a show…
The Latest
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Theaters Paved With Gold
When my parents landed in New York in 1947 they were assigned a case worker. I’m not sure who did the assigning, but I remember my father saying how puzzled he was. “Case” was German for cheese, and he didn’t understand why he needed a cheese worker. My parents didn’t tell many stories about their…
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What a Boob! Kardashian Deletes Gaza Tweet
Reality television star Kim Kardashian apologized for tweeting about the Gaza conflict. Kardashian apologized after two tweets in which she first told her followers she was “Praying for everyone in Israel,” and then tweeted that she was “Praying for everyone in Palestine and across the world!” Kardashian later deleted both tweets and issued an apology:…
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An Unknown Poet Who Deserves To Be Known
In 1943, a refugee German Jewish poet wrote “A Black Woman on the Harlem Express” which apostrophizes an African-American passenger sitting opposite her on the Manhattan subway: “Do you know that we are secretly sisters?/ You, dark brown daughter of the Congo,/ and I, the pale European Jewish child.” Alluding to a shared identity as…
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Trump Divorcee’s Kosher Tips
The last thing writer Judith Newman expected to get from Marla Maples was a lesson in kashrut. But as the journalist notes in The New York Times, Maples – better known as Mrs. Donald Trump #2 – is a “kabbalista” who apparently keeps strictly kosher. For her one-on-one with the Times, Maples “had made a…
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The People Chose
The People’s Choice Awards nominees have been announced, and there are quite a few MOTs among them. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been nominated for favorite movie actor. Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller were nominated for favorite comedic movie actor, while Jake Gyllenhaal was on the list of favorite dramatic movie actors. Andrew Garfield was nominated for…
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Books Author Blog: Semitic Squads
Earlier this week, Marc Tracy challenged Jewish sports fans to a little quiz and wrote about Jews in sports and Hollywood. 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: Each of our 50…
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Henry Winkler on Playing a Porn Star and The Fonz
Henry Winkler is on the phone. Finally. We missed our connection a couple of days earlier and by missed connection I mean he forgot to call. He had two performances of his new Broadway play, “The Performers,” that day — as though that should take priority — and The Forward got lost in the shuffle….
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In Holocaust Film, Reality Is Bad Enough
Watching “La Rafle,” which dramatizes the painful episode of French police rounding up 13,000 Parisian Jews, including 4,000 children, in July 1942, is difficult enough given its grave subject matter without also having to consider questions of artistic merit. With the help of thousands of French police working from immigrant registration records, Vichy leader Philippe…
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