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

Jun 23, 2025 · 40 min
Ep. 106: Who was Jack Ruby? – with biographer Danny Fingeroth
Danny Fingeroth is a biographer, cultural historian, and former writer and editor at Marvel Comics whose latest book is Jack Ruby: The Many Faces of Oswald’s Assassin. He also authored A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee; Disguised as...
Jun 16, 2025 · 29 min
Ep. 105: From Soaps to Historical Fiction – with novelist Alina Adams
Alina Adams is a New York Times bestselling author whose latest historical novel, Go On Pretending, explores three generations of Jewish women battling the tides of history from segregated 1950s America to the fall of the USSR to the rise of...
Jun 9, 2025 · 41 min
Ep 104: So Bad, It’s Good – with comedy writer Bruce Vilanch
Bruce Vilanch is Hollywood’s go-to comedy writer for award shows, sitcoms, and variety specials. His new book is It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time: The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey...
Jun 2, 2025 · 45 min
Ep. 103: Jewish Women’s Graphic Narratives – with comics scholar Victoria Aarons
Victoria Aarons is the O.R. and Eva Mitchell Distinguished Professor of Literature at Trinity University and editor of a new book, The Story’s Not Over: Jewish Women and Embodied Selfhood in Graphic Narratives. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann &...
May 26, 2025 · 18 min
Ep. 102: A Summer with F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald – with graphic novelist Janice Shapiro
Janice Shapiro is an author and illustrator whose new graphic novel, Honoria: A Fortuitous Friendship, is published by Fantagraphics. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Honoria: A Fortuitous...
May 19, 2025 · 35 min
Ep. 101: AI and the Afterlife – with cartoonist Amy Kurzweil
Amy Kurzweil is a cartoonist and graphic memoirist whose latest book is Artificial: A Love Story. She previously authored Flying Couch: A Graphic Memoir, and you can find her cartoons in The New Yorker. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey...
May 12, 2025 · 37 min
Ep. 100: Forgotten Hollywood Moguls: Nicholas and Joseph Schenck – with author Michael Benson
Michael Benson is the author of more than 60 nonfiction history and true crime books. His latest is Moguls: The Lives and Times of Film Pioneers Nicholas and Joseph Schenck, co-written with Craig Singer. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey...
May 5, 2025 · 25 min
Ep. 99: Wrestling is My Gimmick – with WWE legend Barry Horowitz
Barry Horowitz’s professional wrestling career spanned nearly four decades, including memorable runs in both WWF and WCW. His new memoir is titled, Wrestling is My Gimmick: My Life on the Wrong Side of the Three-Count. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann...
Apr 28, 2025 · 44 min
Ep. 98: Einstein in Kafkaland – with graphic novelist Ken Krimstein
Ken Krimstein is a cartoonist and graphic novelist whose latest book is Einstein in Kafkaland. He previously authored The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt; When I Grow Up: The Lost Autobiography of Six Yiddish Teenagers; and Kvetch as Kvetch Can, a...
Apr 21, 2025 · 19 min
Ep. 97: Jewish History through Humor – with author Rob Kutner
Rob Kutner is an award-winning author and television writer whose credits include The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, Teen Titans Go!, Ben10, and many more. His latest book is The Jews: 5,000 Years and Counting. ...
Apr 14, 2025 · 17 min
Rugrats Passover Special – with actress Melanie Chartoff
Melanie Chartoff voiced Didi Pickles and her mother Minka on Nickelodeon's long-running cartoon, Rugrats. She was also Principal Musso on Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, a cast member on Fridays, and a guest star on Seinfeld, among other credits. More...
Apr 7, 2025 · 26 min
Ep. 96: Rod Serling: The Twilight Man – with graphic novelist Koren Shadmi
Koren Shadmi is a cartoonist, illustrator, and author of The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television. Among his other books are Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula and A For Anonymous: How a Mysterious Hacker Collective...
Mar 31, 2025 · 24 min
Ep. 95: Is the Toxic Avenger Jewish? - with Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field
With recent news that the long-awaited reboot of The Toxic Avenger will finally be released in August 2025, we thought it would be a good time to revisit a question some have been asking since 1984: Is the Toxic Avenger Jewish? Co-hosts: Jonathan...
Mar 24, 2025 · 45 min
Ep. 94: Jewish Masculinity & Popular Culture – with historian 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. She’s also co-creator of JewCE: The Jewish Comics...
Mar 17, 2025 · 28 min
Ep. 93: A Looney Tunes Retrospective – with cartoon historian Jaime Weinman
Jaime Weinman is a cartoon historian and author of the book, Anvils, Mallets & Dynamite: The Unauthorized Biography of Looney Tunes. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-Engineer: Mike Tomren Anvils, Mallets &...
Mar 10, 2025 · 49 min
Ep. 92: Living with Groucho Marx – with author Steve Stoliar
Steve Stoliar is the author of the classic memoir, Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho’s House. He also wrote for TV shows like Murder, She Wrote, Simon & Simon, and Sliders, and has written and produced documentaries including Shemp...
Mar 3, 2025 · 41 min
Ep. 91: Al Jolson & The Jazz Singer – with author Richard Bernstein
Richard Bernstein is a reporter, foreign correspondent, and cultural critic whose latest book is Only in America: Al Jolson and The Jazz Singer. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Richard’s website...
Feb 24, 2025 · 24 min
Ep. 90: Writing the Friends Theme (“I’ll Be There For You”) – with composer Michael Skloff
Michael Skloff is a composer best known for “I’ll Be There For You,” the theme song for Friends. His music is heard on many films and TV shows, as well as on the stage, in concert halls, and even in synagogues. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann &...
Feb 17, 2025 · 20 min
Ep. 89: Remembering Abbie Hoffman – with documentarian Nancy Cohen
Nancy Cohen is a “multi-un-disciplinary” filmmaker, artist, and activist. Her candid documentary, My Dinner with Abbie, was filmed with Abbie Hoffman at Sarge’s Deli in Manhattan in 1987. She is currently in post-production on a film about love,...
Feb 10, 2025 · 45 min
Ep. 88: Lloyd Kaufman: Interviews – with pop culture historian Mathew Klickstein
Mathew Klickstein is a prolific author, filmmaker, and pop culture historian, whose latest book is Lloyd Kaufman: Interviews, part of the Conversations with Filmmakers Series of the University Press of Mississippi. Lloyd Kaufman has been making...