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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Model Emily Ratajkowski accuses fashion photographer of sexual assault
Jewish model and actress Emily Ratajkowski accused fashion photographer Jonathan Leder of sexual assault in an searing essay for The Cut. Ratajkowski wrote that in 2012, she traveled to the photographer’s Catskills home as an unknown 20-year-old model to participate in a photoshoot for which “exposure,” not money, would be the compensation. After plying her…
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Netflix’s new space opera stars a Black Jewish botanist
America is launching its first mission to Mars — and there’s a chumash on the spaceship. This may sound like a Space Force PR stunt. In fact, it’s an extremely Jewish subplot of Netflix’s space soap opera “Away.” And that chumash (the Torah in printed, portable form) is the prized possession of one of its…
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Maternal wisdom replaces artificial intelligence in new Jewish dating app
In 2013, a millennial Jewish nightmare came true for Jeffrey Kaplan: he discovered his mother was posing as his younger brother on JDate in hopes of setting him up with a nice Jewish girl. That’s called catfishing, and it’s a fundamental no-no of the online dating world. But to Kaplan, an entrepreneur based in Asheville,…
The Latest
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Influencer whose summer socializing sparked backlash contracts COVID
Summer is over, which means most of us can congratulate ourselves on slogging through the season without succumbing to the temptation of attending maskless Hamptons soirees. Not so for Jewish influencer Danielle Bernstein, who made headlines this week by testing positive for COVID-19 after a social spree in our modern-day East Egg. Here’s what you…
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Amazon’s ‘The Glorias’ to address critical dearth of Gloria Steinem biopics
There’s a new Gloria Steinem biopic in town — and based on the trailer, it’s pretty much indistinguishable from the last. If you couldn’t get enough of “Mrs. America,” the FX series that chronicles the battle over the Equal Rights Amendment and the rise of anti-feminist archvillain Phyllis Schlafly, you’ll probably want to devote two…
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg officiated a pandemic-era outdoor wedding
In what was either a thoughtful gesture or a cunning ploy to induce widespread wedding FOMO across the nation, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ventured outdoors to preside over a family friend’s nuptials, a spokesperson for the Supreme Court confirmed. The justice married Barb Solish, the director of marketing and communications at the National…
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At the VMAs, Jewish rapper Doja Cat reminded us that flirting used to be a thing
Just imagine: It’s a Saturday night and you’re waiting in line for a club while cheek-kissing friends outside your pod and showing off a skin-tight dress whose “pockets” accommodate neither hand sanitizer nor nitrile gloves. The bouncer handles all your belongings and admits with nary a body scan or temperature check. Once inside, you share…
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Nick Cannon may be headed back to ViacomCBS
Ousted in July from ViacomCBS for anti-Semitic comments, actor Nick Cannon may be back in the media conglomerate’s good graces after a lengthy learning tour. In an internal town hall on Monday, Chris McCarthy, president of entertainment and youth brands at ViacomCBS, commended Cannon’s efforts to overcome his biases and hinted that the network was…
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This t-shirt will let you pretend to be friends with Jake Gyllenhaal
Ever wanted to pretend that you bunked up with Jake Gyllenhaal at Jewish summer camp? Now there’s a t-shirt for that. Back in April, when people thought fun social media challenges would be enough to get us through a global pandemic, our friend Jake took a dare from his “Spiderman: Far From Home” co-star Tom…
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Bernie Sanders shushed his wife on live TV and the internet is swooning
In the first two nights of the Democratic convention, organizers have mustered all their resources to create what seems impossible: a virtual political gathering that doesn’t immediately bore all viewers to sleep. But even amid heavy-hitting speeches, soaring roll calls, and inexplicable musical numbers, one unexpected highlight emerged: candid footage of an elderly Jewish man…
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Mort Klein said serious Jews don’t marry non-Jewish women. Here’s a list.
Kamala Harris may not be Jewish but when Joe Biden announced she was joining the presidential ticket, Jewish journalists and Jewish mothers (i.e., my mother) were quick to point out her many Jewish adjacencies. Besides the obvious — Harris is married to Doug Emhoff, a lawyer dubbed by the Schmooze “a hot Jewish dad” —…
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Most Popular
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News Dutch Jews grapple with ‘weaponization’ of their fear following attack on Israelis
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Opinion Almost all voting groups shifted toward Trump, except American Jews. Why?
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News What a Secretary of State Marco Rubio would mean for American Jews and Israel
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Fast Forward ‘Antisemitic hit-and-run squads’: Amsterdam temporarily bans demonstrations after Israeli soccer fans attacked by street mobs
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Steve Witkoff, Trump’s golf buddy, appointed special envoy to the Middle East
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Yiddish וואָס איז געווען דאָס ערשטע לשון אויף דער גאָרער וועלט?What was the first language on earth?
דער רוימישער אימפּעראַטאָר פֿרעדעריק דער צווייטער האָט געזוכט אַן ענטפֿער צו דער פֿראַגע אויף אַ וויסנשאַפֿטלעכן אופֿן.
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Fast Forward Federal judge temporarily blocks Louisiana’s law requiring classrooms to display Ten Commandments
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Theater They created a musical about the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Today’s activists are listening
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