Amusing Jews

Atheists United Studios

An interview show celebrating Jewish contributors and contributions to American popular culture co-hosted by Jonathan Friedmann and Joey Angel-Field.

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176 episodes
Updated Monday

Episodes176

Newest first

Nov 10, 2025 · 27 min
Ep. 124: Autofiction, Microfiction, and Appeals to Dame Fortune – with novelist Gary Lippman
Gary Lippman is the author of the novel Set the Controls for the Heart of Sharon Tate, the short story collection We Loved the World but Could Not Stay, and, most recently, I Wish, Therefore I Am, or, This Here is a List of Humble Appeals to Dame...
Nov 3, 2025 · 34 min
Ep. 123: Portraits of the American Grotesque – with political cartoonist Eli Valley
Eli Valley is a critically acclaimed political cartoonist whose latest book is Museum of Degenerates: Portraits of the American Grotesque. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Eli’s website...
Oct 27, 2025 · 27 min
It’s Alive! Halloween Special – with novelist Julian David Stone
Julian David Stone is an author, photographer, and filmmaker whose novel It’s Alive! recounts the frantic days leading up to the filming of Universal’s 1931 classic, Frankenstein. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field ...
Oct 20, 2025 · 25 min
Ep. 122: Illustrating They Might Be Giants – with artist Kelilah Miller
Kelilah Miller is an artist and rabbi whose linocut design is featured on a new shirt from They Might Be Giants. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Kelilah’s SoundCloud...
Oct 13, 2025 · 30 min
Ep. 121: Movie Memories – with film historian Steve Vertlieb
Steve Vertlieb is an award-winning writer, film historian, critic, archivist, and poet who’s been writing about motion pictures and symphonic film music since 1969. Many of his articles can be found online at the long-running science fiction fanzine...
Oct 6, 2025 · 32 min
Ep. 120: Will Eisner: A Comics Biography – with Stephen Weiner and Dan Mazur
Stephen Weiner has been writing about graphic novels since 1992 and spearheaded the movement to bring graphic novels into public libraries. Dan Mazur is a screenwriter, cartoonist, and co-founder of MICE: The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo and...
Sep 29, 2025 · 38 min
Ep. 119: The Bible is a Joke* – with podcaster Gil Kidron
*Finding humor in the Bible with Gil Kidron, a writer, editor, and host of A Podcast of Biblical Proportions. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren A Podcast of Biblical Proportions...
Sep 22, 2025 · 28 min
Ep. 118: Building a Cartoon Empire – with animation producer Michael Hirsh
Michael Hirsh is a trailblazing producer of children’s programming and former head of Nelvana, Cookie Jar, and Wow! Unlimited Media. His shows include Inspector Gadget, The Care Bears Movie, Babar, The Berenstain Bears, Little Bear, Rolie Polie Olie,...
Sep 15, 2025 · 26 min
Ep. 117: Marx Brothers Forever! – with writer and performer Noah Diamond
Noah Diamond is a co-host of The Marx Brothers Council Podcast, an author, performer, and cartoonist whose books include 400 Years in Manhattan; Love Marches On: A Saga of Broadway; and Gimme a Thrill: The Story of I’ll Say She Is, the Lost Marx...
Sep 8, 2025 · 24 min
Ep. 116: 30 Years of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist – with pop culture historian Mathew Klickstein
Mathew Klickstein is an author and pop culture historian whose books have covered such topics as Nickelodeon, The Simpsons, The San Diego Comic-Con, and Lloyd Kaufman, president and co-founder of Troma Entertainment. His recent article,...
Sep 1, 2025 · 20 min
Ep. 115: Outlaw Rock & Roll Photography – with photographer Julian David Stone
Julian David Stone is an author, photographer, and filmmaker whose photography is collected in the coffee table book, No Cameras Allowed: My Career as an Outlaw Rock & Roll Photographer. He also has two novels: The Strange Birth, Short Life, and...
Aug 25, 2025 · 22 min
Ep. 114: Desegregating Glen Echo: A Black-Jewish Alliance – with documentarian Ilana Trachtman
Ilana Trachtman is an Emmy award-winning documentary director and producer whose latest film is Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Ain’t No Back to a...
Aug 18, 2025 · 28 min
Ep.113: Maria Lani: The Woman with Fifty Faces – with Jonathan Lackman and Zachary J. Pinson
Jonathan Lackman is an author and art historian and Zachary J. Pinson is an artist and illustrator. Their new book, The Woman with Fifty Faces: Maria Lani & the Greatest Art Heist that Never Was, is published by Fantagraphics. Co-hosts: Jonathan...
Aug 11, 2025 · 31 min
Ep 112: Dr. Wertham’s Crusade Against Comics – with author Harold Schechter
Harold Schechter is a true crime author and professor emeritus at Queens College whose latest graphic biography is “Dr. Werthless,” illustrated and co-written by Eric Powell. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer:...
Aug 4, 2025 · 36 min
Ep. 111: Are the Ferengi Space Jews? – with author Miriam Eve Mora
Miriam Eve Mora is managing director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute at the University of Michigan and author of Carrying a Big Schtick: Jewish Acculturation and Masculinity in the Twentieth Century. Her chapter, “The Jewish Case for Fereginar,” is...
Jul 28, 2025 · 20 min
Ep. 110: Talkin' Jewish – with podcaster Jonathan Rosen
Jonathan Rosen is co-host of Pop Culture Retro and host of The Jewish Lens. He’s also the author and editor of several books, including Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies and Coming of Age: 13 B’nai Mitzvah Stories. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann...
Jul 21, 2025 · 31 min
Movie Review: Superman or Super-BLAND? – with comic book scholar Roy Schwartz
Roy Schwartz is a comic book historian, former CNN regular contributor, board member of the American Jewish Historical Society, and author of Is Superman Circumcised? The Complete Jewish History of the World's Greatest Hero. Co-hosts: Jonathan...
Jul 14, 2025 · 38 min
Ep. 109: Jews & Westerns – with author Jonathan L. Friedmann
Jonathan L. Friedmann is the president of the Western States Jewish History Association; vice president, academic dean, and director of programs at Ezzree Institute; admissions director and associate professor at the International Institute for...
Jul 7, 2025 · 23 min
Ep. 108: Jews & Comic Books – with DC Comics legend Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz is a comic book writer, editor, and executive best known for his decades-long association with DC Comics, which began as a freelancer in the early 1970s and included a tenure as the company’s president and publisher from 2002 to 2009. ...
Jun 30, 2025 · 40 min
Ep. 107: Eminent Jews – with author David Denby
David Denby is a New Yorker staff writer and New York Times bestselling author whose latest book is Eminent Jews: Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Eminent Jews...