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

Sep 9, 2024 · 22 min
Ep. 69: Jews, Emo & Say Anything – with researcher Gabrielle Newman
Gabrielle Newman is a cantor and emo aficionado. Her cantorial thesis is titled, “Say Anything: The Significance of the Jewish Voice in Contemporary Mainstream Music.” Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike...
Sep 2, 2024 · 22 min
Ep. 68: The Art of Anger – with political cartoonist Eli Valley
Eli Valley is a writer and cartoonist whose work has been featured in The Nation, The New Republic, The Village Voice, Jewish Currents, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, and elsewhere. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book, Diaspora Boy:...
Aug 26, 2024 · 25 min
Ep. 67: God’s Gang, Snot Goblins, and Comedy Writing – with writer 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. He’s also written for the Oscars, Emmys, Writers’ Guild...
Aug 19, 2024 · 38 min
Ep. 66: Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz – with graphic memoirist Ari Richter
Ari Richter is a visual artist and comics creator who’s a professor of fine arts at LaGuardia Community College in The City University of New York. His debut graphic memoir is Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz: A Graphic Family Memoir of Trauma &...
Aug 12, 2024 · 33 min
Ep. 65: Borscht Belt Museum – with curator and author Allen Frishman
Allen Frishman is the archival officer of the Borscht Belt Museum in Ellenville, New York, which celebrates the golden age of the Catskills resort era, when millions of mostly Jewish urbanites sought refuge in the mountains of upstate New York. He’s...
Aug 5, 2024 · 31 min
Ep. 64: Jews & Jazz – with jazz pianist Joe Alterman
Joe Alterman is a jazz pianist who’s performed at such prestigious venues as the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Birdland, and Blue Note with his own trio and alongside legends like Houston Person, Les McCann, Dick Gregory, and Ramsey Lewis. Downbeat...
Jul 29, 2024 · 25 min
Ep. 63: Comfort Zones & Taking Risks – with acting coach Margie Haber
Margie Haber is a renowned acting coach whose celebrity clients include Brad Pitt, Halle Berry, Tiffany Haddish, and many others. She runs Margie Haber Studio in Los Angeles and is the author of two books, How to Get the Part Without Falling Apart and...
Jul 22, 2024 · 30 min
Ep. 62: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Feminism – with novelist Esther Friesner
Esther Friesner is a prolific and award-winning science fiction and fantasy author known for her humorous style and thematic focus on gender equality and social justice. Her many books include the Nobody’s Princess, Sphinx’s Princess, the Chicks in...
Jul 15, 2024 · 35 min
Ep. 61: Golden Age Film Composers – with musicologist Aaron Fruchtman
Aaron Fruchtman is a musicologist and composer whose work examines Jewish film composers during Hollywood’s Golden Age. He holds degrees in music composition from Berklee College of Music and the University of California, Riverside, and a doctorate in...
Jul 8, 2024 · 25 min
Ep. 60: Jewish Comics Library of Seattle – with founder Jeff Treistman
Jeff Treistman is founder of the Jewish Comics Library of Seattle and the author and publisher of Graven, the library’s newsletter. He also has a Substack blog, Son of the Wicked Child. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field ...
Jul 1, 2024 · 32 min
Ep. 59: Sounds Jewish – with radio host Andy Muchin
Andy Muchin is an occasional freelance writer and host of the Sounds Jewish radio show, which has aired weekly since 2010. Sounds Jewish is available on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, Radio-J.com, and PRX, the Public Radio Exchange. Co-hosts:...
Jun 24, 2024 · 26 min
Ep. 58: True Love, Godspell, and Classic Comedy – with actor Jerry Sroka
Jerry Sroka is an actor, writer, and producer known for his roles in Godspell, Antz, The Wild Thornberrys, and many more. His latest film is Our (Almost Completely True) Love Story, co-written with and co-starring his wife, Mariette Hartley. ...
Jun 17, 2024 · 19 min
Ep. 57: Mark Twain’s War Prayer – with graphic designer Seymour Chwast
Seymour Chwast is one of the most highly-regarded graphic designers in American history. In 1954, he founded the design group Push Pin Studios with Milton Glaser, Edward Sorel, and Reynold Ruffins. Seymour has executed hundreds of advertising...
Jun 10, 2024 · 37 min
Ep. 56: Branding, Storytelling, and Last Action Hero – with creative marketer Jeffrey Braer
Jeffrey Braer is a creative marketer, media developer, and brander of food, themed entertainment, consumer products, and companies. His long list of brand partners includes Barbie, Apple’s Beats, ABC, Disney, Doritos, Sanrio, Amazon, Mattel, NBC,...
Jun 3, 2024 · 27 min
Ep. 55: Live at Mister Kelly’s – with documentarian Theodore Bogosian
Theodore Bogosian is an award-winning independent filmmaker and television producer who’s been directing, producing, and writing long-form documentaries for PBS, the New York Times, Discovery, and other networks since 1978. His latest documentary,...
May 27, 2024 · 40 min
Ep. 54: The Marx Brothers & Salvador Dalí – with author Josh Frank
Josh Frank is the author of Fool The World: The Oral History of the Band Called Pixies, In Heaven Everything Is Fine: The Unsolved Life of Peter Ivers, The Good Inn, a novel co-written with Pixies’ frontman Black Francis, and Giraffes on...
May 20, 2024 · 28 min
Ep. 53: Making the Golden Girls Sparkle – with screenwriter Stan Zimmerman
Stan Zimmerman is a writer, producer, and director best known for his writing on The Golden Girls, Roseanne, and The Gilmore Girls. Stan wrote for both Brady Bunch movies, co-created the Lifetime sitcom Rita Rocks, and has written and directed a...
May 13, 2024 · 22 min
Ep. 52: You Can’t Teach Funny – with comedic actor Jason Kravits
Jason Kravits is an actor and writer whose credits include The Practice, Law & Order, Everybody Loves Raymond, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, The Goldbergs, and many more. An Accomplished voice actor, he can be heard as...
May 6, 2024 · 26 min
Ep. 51: The Torah of Taylor Swift – with educator Dalilah Bernier
Dalilah Bernier is the director of teen initiatives for Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Coalition of Jewish Learning. She's the co-creator of the educational program “The Torah of Taylor Swift,” which uses the pop star as a way into Jewish texts. The...
Apr 29, 2024 · 42 min
Ep. 50: Remembering Siskel & Ebert – with film critic Matt Singer
Matt Singer is editor and film critic at ScreenCrush and current chair of the New York Film Critics Circle. He’s the author of Marvel’s Spider-Man: From Amazing to Spectacular – The Definitive Comic Art Collection and a new book, Opposable Thumbs: How...