Amusing Jews

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, Live at Mister Kelly’s, about the famous Chicago nightclub, is a collaboration with David Marienthal, the son of Mister Kelly’s co-founder, George Marie...

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 Horse­back Sal­ad, a graphic novel adaptation of an unmade Marx Brothers movie penned by Salvador Dalí. He also built, owns, and oper­ates the Blue Star­lite...

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 variety of theater productions. He also has a new memoir, The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore.   Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field   Produ...

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 Michael Bloomberg and Alan Dershowitz in the political satire series Our Cartoon President, among other animated projects.   Co-hosts: Jonathan Fried...

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 Torah of Taylor Swift https://www.jewishchronicle.org/2023/09/19/torah-and-taylor-swift/   Teen Philanthropy – Milwaukee Jewish Federation https://ww...

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 Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever.   Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   Matt’s website h...

Nina Paley is a cartoonist, animator, and free culture advocate. She’s best known for her 2008 animated feature film, Sita Sings the Blues, based on the Ramayana, and her 2018 animated feature, Seder-Masochism, a jukebox musical recounting the Exodus, the eradication of goddess worship, and the rise of patriarchy.   Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Joey Ange...

Nancy Pearlman is an award-winning broadcaster and environmentalist who has dedicated her career to protecting the planet’s ecosystems. She organized the first Earth Day in Southern California in 1970, has hosted the Environmental Directions radio show since 1977, and has produced the ECONEWS television program since 1984. She also directs the nonprofit Educational Communications.   Co-hosts: Jona...

Eva Bilick is an actor, writer, and producer behind the 2020 podcast series A Place Called Fairneck and the 2018 web series Weird in Bed.   Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   Eva’s website https://www.evabilick.com/   A Place Called Fairneck https://www.evabilick.com/podcast   Weird in Bed https://www.evabilick.com/web-series   Subscribe to the A...

Eric Glickman is a cartoonist who spent 36 years in advertising before switching gears and becoming an art educator. His new graphic memoir, Camp Pock-a-Wocknee and the Dyn-O-Mite Summer of ’77, reveals what really happened at Jewish summer camp and comes with a warning: “This is NOT a book for kids.”   Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   Eric’s w...

Andrew Burt is a poet, author, and lawyer whose writings have appeared in the New York Times, LA Times, Slate, The Atlantic, Politico, Harvard Business Review, and other publications. He’s the author of American Hysteria: The Untold Story of Mass Political Extremism in the United States and a new book, Poems for a Cartoon Mouse.   Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engi...

Marc Scott Zicree is a science fiction author, screenwriter, and producer who’s written hundreds of hours of TV programs for most of the major studios and networks. His credits include, among many others, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, Super Friends, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and The Smurfs. His new sci-fi series, Space Command, is currently in...

Susan Ryan is a Beatles expert and proprietor and tour guide of Fab 4 NYC Walking Tours, which visits New York City sites related to the group. Her writing has appeared in Daytrippin’ Magazine, the London Beatles Fan Club Magazine, Newsbeat, REBEAT Magazine, Humanistic Judaism Magazine, and other publications. She’s also a co-author of the 2021 book The Beatles: Fab Four Cities: Liverpool - Hambur...

Oren Kroll-Zeldin and Ariella Werden-Greenfield are the co-editors of a new book, This Is Your Song Too: Phish and Contemporary Jewish Identity. Oren is assistant director of the Swig Program in Jewish Studies and Social Justice and assistant professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Francisco. Ariella is associate director of the Feinstein Center for A...

Josh Tuininga is an author, illustrator, and musician whose debut graphic novel, We Are Not Strangers, follows his grandfather’s efforts to help his Japanese American neighbors who were incarcerated during World War II. Josh is also the founder and creative director of the design firm, The Medium, has two children’s books, Why Blue? and Dream On, and makes music with his wife in the duo, To the Ri...

Ari Ashkenazi was a professor of art at Cal State Los Angeles from 1972 to 1991. He took a disability leave due to the onset of blindness, earned a certificate in rehabilitation teaching for the blind, received ordination as a Zen Buddhist monk, and worked with AIDS patients who experienced blindness as a result of their illness. He is the author three memoirs: The Skeptic: Jews, Zen, and Blindnes...

Wendy Heimann is co-founder and managing partner of Nolan Heimann, an intellectual property and strategic planning law firm for creative thinkers and business makers. She specializes in the location-based, experiential, and immersive entertainment industry. Host: Jonathan Friedmann Producer-Engineer: Mike Tomren Nolan Heimann https://www.nolanheimann.com/ Themed Entertainment Association https://w...

Howard Teman is a world-renowned tattooist and poster artist who has a series of lithographs depicting pop culture icons from film, television, music, comedy, sports, and more. He designed t-shirts for bands like Bon Jovi, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Cypress Hill, and can be heard playing piano and percussion on the Guns N’ Roses albums Lies and Use Your Illusion II. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joe...

Jennifer Laderman and Jed Laderman are the daughter and son of television and film writer and producer Fred Laderman, known professionally as Fred Ladd, who was responsible for introducing anime to the Americas. Ladd adapted Astro Boy, Gigantor, Kimba the White Lion, Sailor Moon, and other Japanese animated series for English-language television. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field...

Dustin Ellis is an animation writer and producer whose career began at Warner Bros. Animation, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, and Universal Cartoons. He’s best known for the holiday special Babak & Friends: A First Norooz and the PBS series Mixed Nutz. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Dustin’s IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0254813/?ref_=fn_a...

Gary Lassin is the founder and curator of the Stoogeum in Ambler, Pennsylvania—the only Three Stooges museum in the United States. Gary has been president of the Three Stooges Fan Club since 1986, and is the author of a new book, A Tour de Farce: The Complete History of the Three Stooges on the Road. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren A Tour de Farce...

EC Comics, Censorship, and The Unwanted – with historian Robert L. Reiner Robert L. Reiner writes about, curates, and exhibits original comic and fantasy illustration art with a focus on popular culture, censorship, and social change. His new book, The Unwanted, is an illustrated adaptation of a previously unpublished Otto Binder story, written in 1953. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Ange...

Artist Katie Herzog is a ranch owner and descendent of German Jewish cattle traders who established a ranch in California’s Salinas Valley over 150 years ago that is still in production today. Her artwork is found in numerous collections, including The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at the University of Connecticut, and the Tom of Finland Foundation. She’s bee...

Graig Kreindler is an artist known for his oil paintings depicting baseball. His work has appeared in nationally distributed books, newspapers, and magazines, including the United States Postal Service book Play Ball! His paintings hang in the Bob Feller Museum, the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center, the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, and many other public and private collecti...

Fred Agree is a resident of Alaska and the first Jew to complete the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Fred’s Iditarod bib and other ephemera from the 1984 and 1985 races are on display at the Alaska Jewish Museum in Anchorage. He also designed the Alaska license plate for Iditarod finishers. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Faces of Iditarod https://f...