Curt Schleier is a freelance writer and author who covers business and the arts for a variety of publications. Follow him on Twitter at @tvsoundoff.
Curt Schleier
By Curt Schleier
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Culture Calvin Trillin Talks Jokes, Journalism — and Judaism
(JTA) — Writer Calvin Trillin may be most famous today for his humorous musings on food, family, travel and love. But before he won the Thurber Prize for Humor in 2013; before “Uncivil Liberties,” his humor column for The Nation — he has lovingly called it “a pinko magazine published on cheap paper” where he…
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Culture How Did Marvin Hier Become the Rabbi Who Blesses Movies?
“The Rabbi Who Can Bless Your Movie.” That was the headline in “The Hollywood Reporter’s” Oscar issue in March. And if that sounds a bit incongruous, it gets more interesting. The rabbi in question is Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its affiliated Museum of Tolerance. So you may ask,…
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Film & TV 50 Shades of Joel Grey
Joel Grey understands why it comes up in every interview. “People want to grab attention and that’s what this year’s news was,” he says. The “it” has to do with his coming out to People Magazine last year. And the reason it remains this year’s news is because of Grey’s just-published, no-holds-barred memoir, “Master of…
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Culture Atom Egoyan Tells a Tale of Two Genocides
The director Atom Egoyan was in a good mood. And why not? He was comfortably ensconced in a posh Los Angeles hotel the morning after his latest film, “Remember,” received an enthusiastic reception at a Museum of Tolerance screening. But his buzz was soon tempered as we discussed the film and I told him: “I…
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The Schmooze ‘Affluenza’ Teen’s Jewish Predecessors: Leopold and Loeb
(JTA) — In June 2013, Ethan Couch, an inebriated 16-year-old Texan, was speeding and driving illegally on a restricted license when he slammed into a group of people standing on the side of the road. Four died; nine were injured, including two of Couch’s passengers, who were seriously hurt. The case became a topic of…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History of Frederick Forsyth
The latest book from Frederick Forsyth — author of bestselling espionage thrillers like “The Day of The Jackal,” “The Odessa File,” and “The Dogs of War” — is a bit of a departure for the 77-year-old author. “The Outsider” is a memoir, and it turns out that Forsyth has led a life every bit as…
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Culture Classic Yiddish Operetta ‘The Golden Bride’ Revived for a New Generation
(JTA) – “For a German Jew, Yiddish is beneath contempt,” musicologist Michael Ochs told JTA. “German Jews tend to think of Yiddish as bad German. The only use we had in our family for it was to make fun of it.” So it is more than a tad ironic that it was Ochs, whose family…
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The Schmooze Ladies and Gentlemen, Introducing Miss Israel
(JTA) — Avigail Alfatov eats her pizza upside down and has funny hiccups. Her favorite food is falafel and she makes her face shine by wiping it with green tea bags. How do we know this and, perhaps more important, why do we care? Well, Alfatov is the reigning Miss Israel and is the country’s entry…
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Yiddish באַקענט זיך מיטן אוקראַיִנישן איבערזעצער פֿונעם ליד „אויפֿן וועג שטייט אַ בוים“Meet the Ukrainian translator of the song ‘Afn veg shteyt a boym’
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Culture Why is the latest Jesus movie about, uh, mixed martial arts?
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