Amusing Jews

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 published in the book Jews in Popular Science Fiction: Marginalized in the Mainstream, edited by Valerie Estelle Frankel.   Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedm...

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 & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   Jonathan’s website https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v5E05jPfVs   Pop Culture Retro https://www....

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 Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   Is Superman Circumcised? https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/is-superman-circumcised/  ...

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 Secular Humanistic Judaism; and director of the Jewish Museum of the American West. His latest book is Chai Noon: Jews and the Cinematic Wild West.    Co-h...

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.   Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   Paul’s website https://paullevitz.com/   Paul’s Wikipedia https:...

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 https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250193407/eminentjews/   David’s website https://denby-david.com/   David’s New Yorker columns https://www.newyor...

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 Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero; and Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society....

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 revolutionary Rojava.   Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   Alina’s website https://alinaadams.com/   Go On...

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 Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/it-seemed-like-a-bad-idea-at-t...

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 & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   The Story’s Not Over https://wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814349113/   Memory Spaces https://wsupress.wayn...

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 Friendship https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/honoria   Amusing Jews Merch Store https://www.amusingjews.com/merch#!/   Subscribe to the Amusing Jews p...

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 Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   Artificial: A Love Story https://books.catapult.co/books/artificial/   Amy’s Website https://amykurzweil.com...

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 Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   Moguls https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9780806543086/moguls/   Michael’s Books https://www.amazon.com/store...

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 & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   Wrestling is My Gimmick https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/wrestling-is-my-gimmick/?srsltid=...

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 collection of Jewish cartoons.   Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   Ken’s website https://www.kenkrim...

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.   Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Mike Tomren   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   The Jews: 5,000 Years and Counting https://posthillpress.com/book/the-...

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 recently, she authored a memoir, Odd Woman Out: Exposure in Essays and Stories.   A Rugrats Passover – commercial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpAm0b16T...

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 Transformed the World.   Koren’s website https://www.korenshadmi.com/   The Twilight Man https://www.humanoids.com/series/233   Amusing Jews Merch Store...

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 Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren The Toxic Avenger (1984; full movie) https://tubitv.com/movies/655405/the-toxic-avenger?s...

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 Experience, a comic book and pop culture convention celebrating diverse Jewish themes, characters, and narratives in sequential art.    Co-hosts: Jo...

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 & Dynamite https://utpdistribution.com/9781989555460/anvils-mallets-and-dynamite/   “The Walky Talky Philosophy of Foghorn Leghorn” - book excerpt https:/...

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 Cocktail: A Toast to the Original Stooge. His latest book is Salamis & Swastikas: Letters Home from a G.I. Jew. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey A...

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 https://www.richardbernstein.net/   Only in America https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/703276/only-in-america-by-richard-bernstein/   The Jazz...

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 & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   Michael’s IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0804488/   “I’ll Be There For You” https://www.youtube.co...

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, obsession, and John Lennon.   Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field   Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren   Nancy’s IMDb https://www.imdb.com/nam...