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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Harvey Weinstein Marked for Death?
Investigators say Hollywood heavy-hitter Harvey Weinstein was one of several targets of death threats and extortion attempts from an aspiring actor, the New York Post reports. Federal agents arrested 25-year-old West Hollywood resident Vivek Shah on Aug. 10 at his parents’ home in Schaumburg, Ill., on the charge of sending threatening interstate communications to the…
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Jewish Colonial Americans in All Their Glory
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree Two friends of mine, ardent champions of all things cultural, were en route to Los Angeles the other day when they decided to stop off in Bentonville, Arkansas, to see the brand new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Given all the advance publicity the museum received, they knew…
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Israeli Startup Launches Facebook Death Contest
Israelis are nothing if not practical. So maybe it’s no surprise that an Israeli startup’s behind a new app that sends private messages to one’s dearly beloved after death — or that the Facebook app’s creators are offering a chance at worldwide fame to the (un)lucky participant who dies first. According to social media digest…
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And Haydn Said, ‘Let There Be Light’
“On the Sublime” is a treatise from early in the Common Era by an unknown author, conventionally styled Longinus. Some scholars suspect that Longinus was a Hellenized Jew because he or she paraphrased Genesis, praising Moses for telling of Divinity’s power “in the opening words of his ‘Laws’: ‘God said’ — what? — ‘let there…
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Catching Up With Claude Lanzmann
Claude Lanzmann, director of the film “Shoah,” has been busy of late. In February, his documentary, “Karski Report,” about how a Polish resistance fighter tried to warn American officials of the Holocaust as it was happening, was released on DVD. Also in February, Lanzmann, who will turn 87 on November 27, encountered some resistance on…
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Mayim Bialik Will Not "Bedazzle" Her Splint
Modesty maven Mayim Bialik had bit of formalwear good fortune this week. The 36-year-old “aspiring Modern Orthodox” sitcom star made a big bang on the red carpet for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Performers Peer Group Reception with a lovely, lacey, long-sleeved gray gown that covered all the requisite parts: arms, legs, and…
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Books Author Blog: Ideas Do Matter
In his last post, Daniel Gordis wrote about the discourse surrounding Israel as a conflict of ideas about the nation-state. 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: In my previous blog, I…
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Natalie Portman’s Nude Photo Shoot Benefits Charity
The Iconic Nude Photo Shoot Of Jewish Actor Natalie Portman
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First Israeli To Study in Russian Ballet Academy
When Noa Erlitzki flies to Russia early next month to enroll in the Perm State Choreographic College, the 19-year-old ballerina will become the first Israeli, and among a very few Americans, to study in one of the most venerable ballet academies in the world. Haifa-born Erlitzki was a late bloomer in the ballet world, already…
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The Einsteins of Sex
More than just spiritual forefathers of the sex therapist and ex-Haganah sniper Ruth Westheimer, a trio of German Jewish sexologists preceded Sigmund Freud in innovations. Magnus Hirschfeld (1868–1935); Iwan Bloch (1872–1922); and Albert Moll (1862–1939) are no longer household names, but they star in Modernism and Perversion: Sexual Deviance in Sexology and Literature, 1850-1930. Its…
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Ira Glass on Making Movies and Sleepwalking
Ira Glass is no Howard Stern — yet. By that we mean he isn’t the King of All Media (Stern’s self-anointed title), but at the very least he’s the crown prince and heir apparent. Glass, of course, is the host of Chicago Public Radio’s popular program This American Life. More recently, he’s taken on the…
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