Amusing Jews
An interview show celebrating Jewish contributors and contributions to American popular culture co-hosted by Jonathan Friedmann and Joey Angel-Field.
Episodes
August 4, 2025 • 36 mins
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 Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field
Producer-e...
Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field
Producer-e...
Mark as Played
July 28, 2025 • 20 mins
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
h...
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
h...
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July 21, 2025 • 31 mins
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/
A...
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/
A...
Mark as Played
July 14, 2025 • 38 mins
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 A...
Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey A...
Mark as Played
July 7, 2025 • 23 mins
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 J...
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 J...
Mark as Played
June 30, 2025 • 40 mins
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 Me...
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 Me...
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June 23, 2025 • 40 mins
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 & ...
Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & ...
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June 16, 2025 • 29 mins
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...
Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field
Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren
Alina’s website
https://alinaadams.com/
Go On Pretending
https://www.historythroughfiction...
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June 9, 2025 • 41 mins
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...
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...
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June 2, 2025 • 45 mins
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 Narrat...
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 Narrat...
Mark as Played
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-jew...
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-jew...
Mark as Played
May 19, 2025 • 35 mins
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...
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...
Mark as Played
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...
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...
Mark as Played
May 5, 2025 • 25 mins
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_FDTKxdPzDyRNYfpRhEOG7JUpe6w...
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_FDTKxdPzDyRNYfpRhEOG7JUpe6w...
Mark as Played
April 28, 2025 • 44 mins
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...
Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Field
Producer-engineer: Mike Tomren
Ken’s website
https://www.kenkrimstein.com/
Einstein in Kafkaland
https://www...
Mark as Played
April 21, 2025 • 19 mins
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
htt...
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
htt...
Mark as Played
April 14, 2025 • 17 mins
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://melaniecha...
A Rugrats Passover – commercial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpAm0b16TMQ
Melanie’s website
https://melaniecha...
Mark as Played
April 7, 2025 • 26 mins
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#!/
Subscri...
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#!/
Subscri...
Mark as Played
March 31, 2025 • 24 mins
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&...
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&...
Mark as Played
March 24, 2025 • 45 mins
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-Fie...
Co-hosts: Jonathan Friedmann & Joey Angel-Fie...
Mark as Played
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