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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Ashkenazi Stem Cells: Key to Longevity?
We personally think it’s the power of complaining. But to learn why some Ashkenazim live so long, researchers at Cornell University are about to start studying the stem cells of about a dozen older Jews. According to the New York Post — in a story headlined “Bouncing bubbes of New York” — many Ashkenazi Jews…
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At 70, Bob Dylan Remains the Reluctant Prophet
Bob Dylan turns 70 on May 24. So what? Well, for one, let’s see you continue to perform two-hour concerts 100 nights a year, as you’ve been doing practically nonstop for the past quarter-century or so, all over the world, keeping things new and fresh, while the music industry around you falls apart; your body…
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Books The Wandering Jew and The Yeti
C. Alexander London is the author of “We Are Not Eaten by Yaks: An Accidental Adventure,” and the forthcoming sequel, “We Dine With Cannibals.” As Charles London, his grown-up alter ego, he wrote “One Day the Soldiers Came: Voices of Children in War” and “Far from Zion: In Search of a Global Jewish Community.” His…
The Latest
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Monday Music: Sadder but Wiser in Berlin
Photo by Kenneth Locke Orit Shimoni is a singer-songwriter in perpetual motion, with little slowing her down as she travels from city to city, gig to gig. But it was a 2008 first-time visit to Berlin that gave her uncharacteristic pause. She had gone to the German capital to check out the music scene, where,…
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Israel’s Secret Bromance
Crossposted from Haaretz About year ago, on an El Al flight to somewhere in Asia, was the usual variety pack of Israeli types: newly discharged soldiers, young couples, families with kids; religious, ultra-Orthodox and nonobservant. For all of about half an hour, when an episode of the second season of “Ramzor” (“Traffic Light”) played, we…
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Out and About: Jacob Frank, False Messiah; Joseph Cedar’s Triumph at Cannes
Allan Nadler reviews “The Mixed Multitude,” a study of “serial apostate, sexual deviant, messianic pretender and chameleonic charlatan” Jacob Frank. Sara Ivry interviews David Unger about his novel “The Price of Escape,” the story of a German- Jewish refugee’s misadventures in Guatemala. Filmmaker Saul Sudin on Lars Von Trier’s disgrace, and Joseph Cedar’s triumph, at…
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This Week in Forward Arts and Culture
A.J. Goldmann appreciates Wanda Landowska, the 20th-century champion of the harpsichord. Micah Kelber profiles Jeffrey Yohalem, winner of head writer award from the Writers Guild of America for “Assassin’s Creed.” Laura Hodes reviews Joseph Skibell’s “A Curable Romantic,” which was shortlisted for the Rohr Prize. Philologos lives like God in Odessa. Raphael Mostel goes to…
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Coming Soon: Israeli ‘Golden Girls’
Southern Florida is so famously full of Jewish retirees that it often seemed strange that there weren’t any among the main characters on TV’s “The Golden Girls.” But you can bet there will be at least a couple of Jewish retirees on the new Israeli version of the show, which is apparently so promising that…
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Russian Jews (Finally) Get Their Own Museum
They’ve largely disappeared as residents, but Russia’s Jews now have their own museum. Billed as the first Jewish museum in the country, the Moscow center opened recently following several years of planning. Exhibits are divided between two general themes, focusing on either Jewish practice or on Jewish history in Russia. Radio Free Europe reports that…
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A Yiddish Opera for Cuba’s ‘First National Hero’
A Monument to Hatuey in Baracoa, Cuba. Photo by Michal Zalewski. A version of this post appeared in Yiddish. In 1931, Yiddish poet, journalist and editor Ascher Penn published “Hatuey,” a 126-page epic poem about a Taíno chieftain who fought against the Spanish invasion of Cuba at the beginning of the 16th century, and who…
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Renault Grandchildren Sue French Government for Seizing Company After WWII
Sure, French automaker Renault made about 30,000 trucks for the Nazis, and even repaired German tanks during World War II. But does that make founder Louis Renault a collaborator? His granddaughter doesn’t think so. So along with seven other Renault grandchildren, Helene Renault-Dingli is suing the French government over what she calls “the illegal confiscation…
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Most Popular
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Film & TV The new ‘Superman’ is being called anti-Israel, but does that make it pro-Palestine?
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Music ‘No matter what, I will always be a Jew.’ Billy Joel opens up about his family’s Holocaust history
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Culture She was my Hebrew school bully — and I finally learned what happened to her
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Opinion American Jews were played — now what?
In Case You Missed It
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Culture Why a Gaza doctor’s striking video about starving babies has gone viral
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Fast Forward Alan Bergman, Oscar-winning lyricist and ‘father figure’ to Barbra Streisand, dies at 99
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Nazi collaborator monuments Nazi collaborator monuments in Poland
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Nazi collaborator monuments Nazi collaborator monuments in Mexico
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