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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Hallmark is not making High Holiday rom-coms, and that’s fine by us
If you were holding your breath for a slate of High Holidays programming from the Hallmark Channel — well, just don’t. I’m here to deliver disappointment. (Or maybe, relief.) It’s not happening. At least, not this year. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Wonya Lucas, Hallmark’s incoming chief executive, addressed the network’s spotty track…
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Why didn’t Jared Kushner denounce antisemitism at Capitol riots? Here’s what Sarah Silverman thinks
In the latest episode of her eponymous podcast, comedian Sarah Silverman applied her analytical skills to one of the most inscrutable enigmas of our time: Jared Kushner’s Jewish identity. Her conclusion? “It’s a conundrum,” Silverman said. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sarah Silverman (@sarahkatesilverman) During the podcast, one caller asked why…
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Drop everything — Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” is coming to Disney+
If you knew me as a child, you knew one thing about me: I was Not Allowed To Watch Disney Princess Movies. My parents, who envisioned me growing up unhindered by gender norms to become a computer-coder-slash-marine-biologist-slash-WWII-historian, instituted a blanket ban on tales of marriage-minded aristocrats. And I embraced it — for several years, it…
The Latest
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The Bernie meme lives on — in snowman form
If you thought Bernie looked cold on Inauguration Day, wait until you see the snowmen. After a nor’easter swept through large parts of the U.S. on Monday, many people built snowmen shaped like the Vermont senator, whose Burton parka and recycled mittens, aside from their other merits, were the inaugural outfit most easily rendered in…
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Golden Globe nominations foretell big wins for subsequent moviefilms — maybe
The 2021 Golden Globes should be Sacha Baron Cohen’s big day. The British actor, possibly the only person Jewish enough to dress up as an antisemitic stereotype without getting smacked down by the ADL, received two big nods from the awards program. He could snag a Best Supporting Actor award for his role in the…
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Everything bagel-flavored ice cream now exists and we don’t know what to think
This morning, I ate an everything bagel that was exactly what an everything bagel should be. Slathered in cream cheese. Garnished with a judicious sprinkle of caraway seeds. Slightly crispy from the freezer. (Is it even an everything bagel if you didn’t buy it in bulk?) Most importantly, not a dessert. Unfortunately, many Americans will…
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Happy birthday to Virginia Woolf, who hated the sound of Jewish laughter
Today marks the birth date of brilliant novelist and thinker Virginia Woolf, whose writings are a staple of modernist literature and whose feminist philosophy laid out some of the blueprints for the feminist movement we enjoy today. Sadly, Virginia Woolf hated Jews a lot. Jewish characters in her novels were written as ugly stereotypes, and…
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Seth Rogen calls Ted Cruz a fascist — and something much worse
Say what you will about Ted Cruz, he is a senator uniquely enamored of — and despised by — Hollywood. The guy quotes entire scenes from “The Princess Bride” to the discomfort of all around him, and to the chagrin of its star, Mandy Patinkin. Former Senator Al Franken said the two got along OK…
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Here’s what the Jews of the Biden-Harris clans did, said and wore on Inauguration Day
President Joe Biden, who took office on Wednesday morning, is not Jewish. Neither is Vice President Kamala Harris. But between the two of them, they have an astonishing collection of Jewish relatives — most of whom schlepped to Washington, D.C., statement coats in tow, for the presidential inauguration. Harris is married to Forward-certified “hot Jewish…
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How did this famous Hasidic mantra end up on Kim Kardashian’s instagram?
Kim Kardashian is relaxing with the help of Hasidic Jewish meditation practices. She just might not know it. Jews scrolling through Kardashian’s Instagram story stopped short at a glimpse of clunky Hebraic font — you know, the kind pressed into service when someone wants to hawk a vaguely Jewish product without actually mentioning Judaism. Squinting…
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Dr. Ruth on coronavirus vaccination: ‘It’s Nothing’
Dr. Ruth Westheimer has been to New York City’s Javits Center plenty of times. Most years, she goes there to give lectures and at the annual book festival BookExpo. Yesterday, she visited yet again — this time, to receive her coronavirus vaccine. After getting the jab, the sex therapist recorded an effusive video about the…
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Most Popular
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Music For Bob Dylan’s biographer, ‘A Complete Unknown’ is a dream come true — even if it’s mostly fiction
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Culture They were a kosher bakery success story — 80 years later, people are still trying to make a buck off their babka
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Culture ‘A Complete Unknown’ proves that one thing about Bob Dylan will certainly endure
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Film & TV Why ‘The Brutalist’ resonated so deeply with me
In Case You Missed It
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News 18 notable Jews who died in 2024
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Fast Forward Department of Ed resolves Title VI antisemitism complaints against 5 U of California campuses, U of Cincinnati
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Theater While Yiddish lives, Isaac Bashevis Singer’s ghost stories may flourish
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Yiddish World Frankie’s Menorah (a Yiddish Hanukkah story)
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