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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Glenn Beck: Reform Judaism and ‘Radicalized Islam’ Are Different
Glenn Beck has cleared things up: Reform Judaism and “radicalized Islam” don’t have so much in common, after all. The Fox News host apologized on his radio show today for comments he made Tuesday on television, in which he likened a form of Judaism practiced by millions to the version of Islam practiced by terrorists….
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Them Low Down Yemen Blues
World music is a disingenuous marker for a genre. Besides presuming that popular forms of western (that is, American) music like pop, rock, rap, soul and country-western are something other than of the world, the term “world music” tends to flatten the rich idiosyncrasies and particularities of music coming from all corners of the globe….
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Celebrity Designer Suspended After Anti-Semitic Tirade
Another day, another anti-Semitic tirade from a celebrity. This time, the culprit is John Galliano, fashion icon and (until about an hour ago) head designer of Christian Dior. Galliano pulled a Mel Gibson last night at Paris’s trendy La Perle bar and restaurant, where he was arrested for hurling anti-Semitic taunts at a couple dining…
The Latest
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Poetry in the Mikveh: Three Works by Aaron Roller
Each Thursday, The Arty Semite features excerpts and reviews of the best contemporary Jewish poetry. This week, Jake Marmer introduces three poems by Aaron Roller. Notorious for having their heads in the clouds and their hearts set on unearthly matters, poets have, nevertheless, often designated physical spaces as makeshift shrines for their inspirations. Just think…
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Tel Aviv School No ‘Stranger’ to the Oscars
The crowded hallways of the Bialik-Rogozin school in gritty South Tel Aviv are about as far from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood as one can imagine. But on the evening of the 83rd Academy Awards on February 27, the school’s principal, Keren Tal, will make the transition from those hallways to the red carpet,…
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Out and About: Jewish Films Honored in Berlin; Painting Rahm Emanuel With Pancakes
How one of the most popular Jewish books of the modern era explained everything from Kabbalah to cosmology, astronomy, geography, botany, zoology and medicine. Novelist David Bezmozgis and filmmaker Richard J. Lewis exchange letters on “Barney’s Version.” Will Justin Timberlake star in the upcoming Three Stooges movie? A film about Europe’s largest Jewish cemetery and…
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Move over! That’s My Grave!
They are all-too familiar arguments here in the Middle East: which land belongs to whom, accusations of occupation. But this time it’s a bit different. Yamna Shushan of Kiryat Malakhi in Southern Israel bought a plot of land and has the documents to prove it – but it’s been occupied. And there’s no talking to…
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Coen Brothers To Receive Tel Aviv University Prize
Crossposted from Haaretz Joel and Ethan Coen, the Oscar award-winning producer-director team that created films like “The Big Lebowski” and “A Serious Man” have been announced as the recipients of a million dollar prize from Tel Aviv University, to be granted in May. The Dan David Prize is named for the businessman and philanthropist and…
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Don’t Mess With Jewish Porn King Michael Lucas
As Forward readers know, Michael Lucas is the Russian-born, New York-based gay adult-film producer whose fervent Zionism inspired production of the first gay porn film made in Israel with an all-Israeli cast. And yesterday, Lucas emerged victorious in a battle with Manhattan’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Community Center over its support for an “anti-Semitic”…
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How Jewish is ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying?’
In Frank Loesser’s beloved 1961 musical “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”, a new production of which starring Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe opens at Broadway’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre on March 27 (previews start February 26), J. Pierrepont Finch (Radcliffe) is portrayed as an inexorably rising businessman. His name alludes to the turn-of-the-century capitalist…
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Palestinians Can Propose Temporary Government Ministers on Facebook
It’s been well documented that social networking sites have been key in spreading pro-democracy messages and bringing people to the streets in the Arab world. Now, people are even being told they can choose their government on Facebook. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has asked his Facebook friends to help decide who should serve in…
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