Amusing Jews

Kathi Diamant is a broadcaster, author, professor, and director of the Kafka Project at San Diego State University. Her book, Kafka's Last Love: The Mystery of Dora Diamant, has been translated into several languages. More recently, she authored Heart of the Zoo: How San Diego Zoo Director Chuck Bieler Earned His Stripes. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike...

Mastaneh Moghadam is a filmmaker, licensed clinical social worker, and executive director of the non-profit Cross Cultural Expressions. She wrote and directed the film The Djinn in the Pen (2020) and wrote the screenplay for Wake Up Sleeping Beauty (2023). Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-Engineer: Mike Tomren IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1886346/?ref_=nmfm_nmfm_nm...

Amanda Dell is program director of the Jewish Food Society, a non-profit organization that works to preserve, celebrate, and revitalize Jewish culinary heritage from around the world. She also hosts the Jewish Food Society’s podcast, Schmaltzy. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Jewish Food Society https://www.jewishfoodsociety.org/ Schmaltzy podcast...

Trina Robbins is a pioneer underground cartoonist and comics herstorian who has been writing comics, graphic novels, and books for nearly half a century. She was the first woman artist to draw a Wonder Woman comic, created the teenage superheroine Go Girl!, and has written numerous books on women in the comic book industry, including the illustrated biography, Lily Renée, Escape Artist: From Holoc...

In 1971, Steve Capper was one of five wisecracking friends called the Waldos who originated the term 420 at San Rafael High School in Marin County, California. He now runs the website, 420waldos.com, documenting the history and cultural influence of the 420 phenomenon. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren 420 Waldos - website https://420waldos.com/ For...

Larry Kuperman is director of business development at Nightdive Studios, which acquires, updates, and re-releases classic video games for modern platforms. Previously, he was business development manager at GameStop, where he acquired new PC game titles for the company’s electronic software distribution platform. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Ni...

Sabba Rahbar is a public speaking coach, communication strategist, and founder of Speak with Confidence. Before that, she was a celebrity gossip blogger and editor-in-chief at Socialite Life, managed content and social media for the food website Cooking Panda, and was a digital platform manager for entertainment clients, including DC Comics, IMDbPro, HBO Max, and Warner Bros. Video Games. Co-hosts...

Elizabeth Schwartz is the author of The Sweet Fragrance of Life and Other Horror Stories. She’s also the vocalist of the klezmer group Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi, the subject of a Romanian documentary film, Searching for Schwartz, and co-creator of the award-winning audio dramas The Witches of Lublin and Debs in Canton. Elizabeth contributed a chapter on klezmer vocal technique to Shpil: The Art...

Greg Laemmle is president of Laemmle Theatres, a family-owned and operated art house theater chain that has operated in Los Angeles County since 1938. He’s the subject of the 2022 documentary, Only in Theaters, and is one of the few exhibitors with membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren About...

Maggie Rawling Smith is a writer, filmmaker, and activist. She directed the documentary Tucson Salvage, co-written with her husband Brian Jabas Smith, co-adapted Brian’s collection of short stories into the Amazon Prime series Spent Saints, and directed the documentary Whole Enchilada, about the roots of Tucson’s desert rock music. She is also the author of a forthcoming young adult novel Catamopu...

Lloyd Kaufman is a director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and co-founder of Troma Entertainment. Lloyd has directed numerous feature films for Troma, such as The Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke ‘Em High, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D., and Tromeo and Juliet. He is also the author of several books, including Make Your Own Damn Movie!, Direct Your Own Damn Movie!, Produce Your Own Damn Movie!, and Sell Your...

Rebecca Clarren is an award-winning journalist who’s been writing about the rural American West for more than twenty years. Her articles have appeared in Mother Jones, High Country News, The Nation, and Salon.com. She has also authored a novel, Kickdown, and a new non-fiction book, The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota and an American Inheritance. The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American...

Ben Nadler is an illustrator, writer, and comics artist. His books include Heretics!: The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy, The White Snake, and, most recently, The Jewish Deli: An Illustrated Guide to the Chosen Food. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Ben’s website https://www.bennadler.ink/ The Jewish Deli https://www.chron...

Actor and writer Stephen Tobolowsky is known for playing insurance agent Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day, Commissioner Hugo Jarry on the HBO series Deadwood, Principal Earl Ball on the ABC series The Goldbergs, and a whole lot more. He also has a podcast, The Tobolowsky Files, and is the author of three books: Cautionary Tales, The Dangerous Animals Club, and My Adventures with God. Co-hosts: Jonatha...

Brad Pomerance hosts the travel show Air, Land & Sea and the genealogy series Generations, both on the cable network Jewish Life Television (JLTV). Brad also hosts Uncovered in the Archives, which he developed for PBS-affiliate KVCR in Southern California. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Brad's IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3165699/ Air, La...

Paul Golin is executive director of the Society for Humanistic Judaism and previously served as associate executive director of Big Tent Judaism/Jewish Outreach Institute. He was recently profiled on the American Philatelic Society website, and can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @JustAboutStamps. Paul is also the Ashkenazi half of a “Jewpanese”—Jewish & Japanese—household, and maintains...

Helene Siegel is a Los Angeles food writer who runs the Pastry Sessions blog. She’s the author of 40 cookbooks, including the Totally Cookbook series and Pure Chocolate. In the early 90s, Helene produced a series of Barbie books for 8- to 12-year-old girls—in a time before gender neutrality—including The Barbie Party Cookbook. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer:...

Matthew Bennett is a composer, ethnomusicologist, sound artist, and founder of the design firm, Acoustic Ecology. Matthew created and directed the Sound & Sensory Design Program at Microsoft, where he made micro-musical compositions that are heard on billions of devices every day. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Acoustic Ecology https://sounda...

Jennie Bunde, a native of Galesburg, Illinois, was a contestant on Jeopardy! in March of 2022. A lifelong trivia enthusiast, Jennie holds master’s degrees in biology and rabbinic studies. She shares an insider’s perspective on the show and tips for would-be contestants. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Final Jeopardy!: Shakespeare's Women https://w...

As the WGA strike of 2023 continues, we chat with legendary screenwriter Michael Elias, an award-winning writer, actor, and director who has written film, television, theatre, and fiction. You may know Michael as the co-screenwriter of The Frisco Kid, starring Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford, or The Jerk, starring Steve Martin, both from 1979. He also created the hit sitcom Head of the Class, which...

Mathew Klickstein is a writer, filmmaker, playwright, arts therapist, and pop culture historian whose writings have appeared in Wired, the New York Daily News, and Splitsider. He co-authored Springfield Confidential with Simpsons writer Mike Reiss, and recently published an oral history of the San Diego Comic-Con, “See You at San Diego,” and The Little Encyclopedia of Jewish Culture. Co-hosts: Jon...

Molly Surno Davis is an artist, curator, and cultural producer. She was part of the team that created TEDx and was the first Outreach Director for Kickstarter. She’s been called a tastemaker and a person to watch in the art world by The New Yorker, The New York Times, LA Times, The Wall Street Journal, Filmmaker Magazine, and more. Push Products: Creation and Cultural Programing https://www.push-p...

Valerie Estelle Frankel is the author of over 80 books on pop culture, including Hunting for Meaning in the Mandalorian; The Villain’s Journey; and Who Tells Your Story? History, Pop Culture, and Hidden Meanings in the Musical Phenomenon Hamilton. Several of her books focus on women’s roles in fiction, such as Buffy and the Heroine’s Journey; Superheroines and the Epic Journey; and The Many Faces...

Jeremy Kagan is a director, writer, and producer whose film credits include directing the 1970s box-office hits Heroes and The Big Fix, the Chaim Potok adaptation The Chosen, an Emmy-winning episode of Chicago Hope, directing, co-writing, and co-producing the 1994 Showtime movie Roswell, and much, much more. He is the author of a series of books, Directors Close Up: Interviews with Directors Nomin...

Lorna Lembeck, née Patterson, is best known for playing flight attendant Randy in Airplane! , her leading role on the early 80s CBS sitcom Private Benjamin , and voicing Dr. Susan Rand in the 1987 animated film, Ultraman: The Adventure Begins . Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0666309/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 Airplane! – si...