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.youtube.com/@PopCultureRetro The Jewish Lens https://www.youtube.com/@TheJewishLens Amusing Jews Merch Store...
Jul 28, 2025•21 min•Ep. 110
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/ Roy’s website https://www.royschwartz.com/ Amusing Jews Merch Store https://www.amusingjews.com/merch#!/ Su...
Jul 21, 2025•32 min
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-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Chai Noon https://uwpres...
Jul 14, 2025•38 min•Ep. 109
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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Levitz Amusing Jews Merch Store https://www.amusingjews.com/merch#!/ Subscribe ...
Jul 07, 2025•23 min•Ep. 108
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.newyorker.com/contributors/david-denby Amusing Jews Merch Store https://www.amusingjews.com/merch#!/ Subscribe to th...
Jun 30, 2025•40 min•Ep. 107
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. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Danny Fingeroth Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren The Many Faces of ...
Jun 23, 2025•40 min•Ep. 106
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 Pretending https://www.historythroughfiction.com/go-on-pretending Alina’s Substack https://alinaa.substack....
Jun 16, 2025•29 min•Ep. 105
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-the-time-products-9780914091929.php?page_id=21 Bruce’s IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0897358/ Star Wars ...
Jun 09, 2025•42 min•Ep. 104
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.wayne.edu/9780814349144/ Holocaust Graphic Narratives https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/holocaust-graphic-n...
Jun 02, 2025•46 min•Ep. 103
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 podcast https://www.spreaker.com/show/amusing-jews Adat Chaverim – Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, Los Ang...
May 26, 2025•19 min
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/ Amy’s TED Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G37VO1yeVEo Amusing Jews Merch Store https://www.amusingjew...
May 19, 2025•36 min•Ep. 101
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/stores/author/B001HCVE00?ccs_id=5e6cd248-fe92-413d-b0c2-58a9b6ae537b Amusing Jews Merch Store https://www.amusing...
May 12, 2025•38 min•Ep. 100
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=AfmBOooLYziMK4_FDTKxdPzDyRNYfpRhEOG7JUpe6w511-Pu-gfOZw2I Barry Horowitz’s Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.o...
May 05, 2025•25 min•Ep. 99
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.kenkrimstein.com/ Einstein in Kafkaland https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/einstein-in-kafkaland-9781635579543/ Amusin...
Apr 28, 2025•45 min•Ep. 98
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-jews-5000-years-and-counting Rob’s IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1243193/ God’s Gang https://godsgang.c...
Apr 21, 2025•19 min•Ep. 97
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=hpAm0b16TMQ Melanie’s website https://melaniechartoff.com/ Odd Woman Out https://www.amazon.com/Odd-Woman-Out-E...
Apr 14, 2025•18 min
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 https://www.amusingjews.com/merch#!/ Subscribe to the Amusing Jews podcast https://www.spreaker.com/show/a...
Apr 07, 2025•26 min•Ep. 94
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?start=true&tracking=google-feed&utm_source=google-feed Toxic Crusaders (first episode) https:...
Mar 31, 2025•24 min
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: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Miriam’s website https://www.mir...
Mar 24, 2025•45 min•Ep. 94
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://www.animationmagazine.net/2021/10/anvils-mallets-dynamite-the-walky-talky-philosophy-of-foghorn-leghorn/ Am...
Mar 17, 2025•28 min•Ep. 93
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 Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Steve’s website http://stevestoliar.com/ Steve’s IMDb http...
Mar 10, 2025•50 min•Ep. 92
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 Singer (1927) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMvn8Ws-l0c Amusing Jews Merch Store https://www.amusingjews.co...
Mar 03, 2025•42 min•Ep. 91
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.com/watch?v=s2TyVQGoCYo Friends Final Music Session https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_AvlCW-sNg Dream On – the...
Feb 24, 2025•24 min•Ep. 90
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/name/nm0169642/?ref_=tt_cst_dr_1 My Dinner with Abbie – preview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giQ_g__C8uw A...
Feb 17, 2025•20 min•Ep. 89
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 independent movies for over 50 years as cofounder and president of Troma Entertainment, and is responsible for the likes of such schlocky “midnight movie” fare as 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒐𝒙𝒊𝒄 𝑨𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓, 𝑺𝒈𝒕. 𝑲𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒌𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑵.𝒀.𝑷.𝑫., 𝘾𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 �...
Feb 10, 2025•46 min•Ep. 88
Jodi Kornfeld is rabbi of Beth Chaverim Humanistic Jewish Community in Deerfield, Illinois, and co-editor of a new book, Contemporary Humanistic Judaism: Beliefs, Values, Practices. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Contemporary Humanistic Judaism https://jps.org/books/contemporary-humanistic-judaism/ Jodi's Bio https://bethchaverim.net/about-beth-chaverim/our-rabbi Amusing Jews Merch Store https://www.amusingjews.com/merch#!/ Subscribe to the Amu...
Feb 03, 2025•30 min•Ep. 85
Mathew Klickstein is a prolific author, filmmaker, and pop culture historian. Rick Geary is a renowned artist, illustrator, and cartoonist. Their new graphic novel, Daisy Goes to the Moon, is published by Fantagraphics. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Mathew’s website https://www.mathewklickstein.com/ Rick’s website https://www.rickgeary.com/ Daisy Goes to the Moon https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/daisy-goes-to-the-moon?srsltid=AfmBOooOxyb...
Jan 27, 2025•32 min•Ep. 86
Marc Summers is a legendary television personality, best known for hosting Nickelodeon’s Double Dare and Unwrapped for the Food Network. He is the author of Everything in Its Place: My Trials and Triumphs with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and the star of a one-man stage show, The Life & Slimes of Marc Summers. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Marc’s IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003162/ Double Dare Best Moments https://www.youtube.com/wa...
Jan 20, 2025•27 min•Ep. 85
There’s an old debate about Yosemite Sam’s possible Jewish identity. Amusing Jews gets to the bottom of it! Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Donald Trump Mispronounces “Yosemite” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/08/04/trump-mispronounces-yosemite-white-house-event/3289122001/ Yosemite Sam is Actually Jewish https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8608037/After-Trumps-gaffe-emerges-Yosemite-Sam-Jewish-named-Samuel-Rosenbaum.html ...
Jan 13, 2025•24 min•Ep. 81
Brothers Mark and Matthew Jacob are the co-authors of Globetrotter: How Abe Saperstein Shook Up the World of Sports. They previously co-authored What the Great Ate: A Curious History of Food and Fame. Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren Globetrotter: How Abe Saperstein Shook up the World of Sports https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538181454/Globetrotter-How-Abe-Saperstein-Shook-Up-the-World-of-Sports What the Great Ate: A Curious History of Food and Fame ...
Jan 06, 2025•47 min•Ep. 83
