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
Jewish Comics and Graphic Novels, From One Generation to the Next
Fans of comic books and graphic novels are mourning the death of Harvey Pekar, who died today in his Cleveland home at the age of 70. Pekar was mainly known for authoring the autobiographical series “American Splendor,” which documented his lower-middle class Jewish upbringing in Ohio. Pekar also wrote “Our Cancer Year,” after being diagnosed…
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Allen Ginsberg’s Photography Beat
As the ringleader of the ragtag group of professional hedonists, acid-eating Buddhists, and scribbling loners known as the Beats, Allen Ginsberg played many roles. Though Ginsberg is best known as a progenitor of 1950s and ’60s counterculture, when he whipped bookstore readings into frenzies with “Howl” and negotiated with the Hell’s Angels to ensure the…
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Ozzfest Comes to the Holy Land
A cloud of dark Goth, heavy metal and a whole bunch of bleeps will settle over Israel this September. Ozzy Osbourne, founding member of Black Sabbath, and the Godfather of Heavy Metal will bring Ozzfest, one of the world’s largest heavy metal music tours, to the holy land. Taking over Tel Aviv’s HaYarkon Park, Ozzfest…
The Latest
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This Week in Forward Arts and Culture
Paul Berger looks at the photography of Chris Stein, a founding member of the New York new wave band Blondie. Philologos parses the etymology of the three rivers Yar — Yarden, Yarmuk and Yarkon. Jenna Weissman Joselit reminds us of the Yemenite influence on Israeli fashion. Josh Lambert scrutinizes the state of American Jewish Studies….
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Ronny Someck’s ‘Sun Sonnet’
As shvitzing New Yorkers are glued to the weather forecast, tracking the minute movements (and long-awaited departure) of the heat wave, Israeli poet Ronny Someck divines a different sort of a forecast for us in his poem “Sun Sonnet.” An Iraqi-born poet, Someck is a recipient of the Prime Minister Award and Yehuda Amichai Award,…
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Arnold Schoenberg, Zionist
Danielle Cohen-Levinas, married to Michaël Levinas, the composer-pianist son of French Jewish philosopher Emanuel Levinas, is ideally placed to evaluate the Jewish inspiration of the composer Arnold Schoenberg. A professor of aesthetics at the University of Paris IV–Sorbonne, Cohen-Levinas has just produced a groundbreaking study, “Schoenberg’s Century” for Les éditions Hermann. In addition to editing…
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Books Gary Shteyngart Can’t Read
Haha. Or if you’re Gary Shteyngart feigning a Russian accent in his new book trailer, it might sound more like chah-chah. Book trailers are often too long and boring: earnest author fidgeting on a Brooklyn stoop, reciting the plot of her novel. You’re watching it thinking, “Stop telling me what happens. That’s what your book…
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Who Is Sylvia? What Is She?
In February, the Chicago Tribune stopped printing the syndicated comic strip “Sylvia,” by Chicago-based artist Nicole Hollander, and cries of outrage echoed across Lake Michigan. The protesters included detective story author Sara Paretsky, who wrote to the Tribune: “There are precious few women cartoonists, and Nicole is the only one with a daily strip who…
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CNN Fires Editor After Hezbollah Tweet
Accusations about media bias toward — or against — Israel have flown around since, well, 1948. But the side that claims Israel gets a raw deal scored a point yesterday when CNN’s senior editor of Mideast affairs was fired for a Twitter message praising a deceased Shiite cleric who encouraged suicide bombings. The New York…
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Ami Bouganim’s Flavorful Tales From Fès
Born in Essaouira, Morocco, Ami Bouganim moved as a child with his family to Casablanca. There, he grew up on a street named after two Moroccan Jewish victims of the Nazis, Félix and Max Guedj, before relocating to Israel as a teenager. His first book, from Paris’s Les éditions Jean-Claude Lattès, was 1981’s acclaimed “Tales…
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Garry Beitel’s Adventures in Cinematic Ghetto Blasting
Thirty years ago, Montreal-based documentary maker Garry Beitel produced his first film, the exquisitely titled “You Might Think You’re Superior, But I Think We’re Equal,” a profile of racism in Montreal high schools. Since then, the Gemini Award-winner has directed a number of acclaimed films, from a real-life love story set in World War II-era…
Explore
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Opinion Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go
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In Case You Missed It
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Opinion Trump wants to control the Israeli judiciary. Uh, good luck
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Fast Forward Mamdani dodges calls to condemn ‘globalize the intifada’ slogan amid Jewish concerns
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Culture Why Jews bury books like they bury the dead
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Fast Forward ‘Let Bibi go,’ ‘Make the deal in Gaza’: Trump renews Israel demands in social media posts
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