The Bagel Report

31/10/2024

New episode coming tomorrow! Teaser photos...

09/10/2024

New ep: Erin Cooper & Esther Kustanowitz start w/some serious reflection on the anniversary of , then hear from Reboot Studios' Noam Dromi, Alysia Reiner and Shaina Feinberg talking about their new short film, , coming to a festival near you soon, we hope.

Wishing you all a shana tova and a meaningful Yom Kippur, as well as happy Sukkot. We'll catch you later in the month. :)

Podcast Episode · The Bagel Report · 10/09/2024 · 53m

27/09/2024

It's our deep dive, with minimal spoilers and lots of dissection of characters, actions and how Jewish life and a rabbi's responsibility to the community is represented in the new Netflix rom-com. Erin Cooper & Esther Kustanowitz had a great time with this one; hear our conversation here or wherever you get your podcasts!

Nobody Wants This? More like somebody wants this! Rabbinic representation gets the Hollywood treatment in the new Netflix romantic comedy series "Nobody Wants This," about atheist podcaster Kristen Bell falling for rabbi Adam Brody. The show's trailer and title set up negative expectations, but how....

17/09/2024

Just when we think we couldn't be more proud of Alex Edelman for winning an Emmy for his special "Just for Us," we find his offstage comments thanking Hashem for the win and also thanking his friends because "it's been so hard to stay present this year." We see you, Alex. The Bagel Report loves you, and appreciates your unapologetically Jewish content.
https://www.emmys.com/video/76th-tyc/alex-edelman

16/08/2024

A new episode is coming! As we edit, we thought we'd share a link to a TV episode that gets a shoutout from us in our conversation with our special guest. Check it out here — a prime TVGoneJewy moment from Andi Mack.

Watch the full episode of Andi Mack Season 3 Episode 11, "One in a Minyan". Andi, Buffy and Jonah support Cyrus as he sits Shiva for his grandmother but Bowi...

07/08/2024

Esther Kustanowitz has been on quite the Bagel Report & TVGoneJewy tour through California: representing Jewish on-screen representation, especially of Jewish women, at Comic-Con International in San Diego, followed by Watch & Nosh, a delicious tour through Jewish identity as seen in clips from Israeli (ok, and some American) TV, in Oakland and Los Gatos. Interested in webinars or in-person conversations around these topics? Let the bagels know and we'll see what we can work out. Thanks to our audiences, visible in our post-event selfies, and to co-presenters Michal Schick, Jennifer Sara Levine, and Sandra Levitan at SDCC, and Aliza Grayevsky of Bishulim SF for co-piloting with the "Nosh" part of the events...

02/08/2024

Friends in the Bay Area: There are still tickets available for Watch&Nosh at Temple Beth Abraham on Sunday night and the JCC in Los Gatos on Monday night. Join us for a feast, in more ways than one. We'll show some clips from Israeli TV shows accompanied by food and wine related to those clips! I'm on the mic with the cultural commentary and Bishulim SF's chef Aliza Grayevsky is working her magic in the kitchen. Hope to see you there!
Get your tickets: watchandnosh.com
Not in the Bay Area? Tell your friends who are and invite us to do our thing in your community in the coming year...

25/06/2024

News from the extended bagel family!
"Amazon MGM Studios has landed I Used to Eat Brains, Now I Eat Kale, a zombie feature package based on the same-name adventure-comedy short story from Adam and Daniel Cooper, AKA The Cooper Twins....Identical twin brothers Daniel and Adam Cooper have written and directed several award-winning short films, which have received acclaim at such festivals as Cannes, TIFF, HollyShorts, and The Hamptons. With an extensive background in creative marketing, they have directed content and edited trailers for the world’s highest-grossing movies at all the major studios and streamers like Disney, Warner Brothers, Netflix, and Apple, earning between them a Daytime Emmy, over 100 Clio Awards, and 50 Golden Trailers."
Congrats to Mr. Erin (Adam Cooper) and to the one who looks like Mr. Erin (Daniel)! More at:

Twins Adam and Daniel Cooper wrote the unpublished short story which they will now adapt.

22/05/2024

In case some of you missed it yesterday, The Jews Are Coming, a brilliant Israeli sketch comedy show about Jewish history past and present, presents a sketch called "Never Again All Over Again" — now with English subtitles — and goes emotional rather than funny, after their post- Oct. 7 return with a new season: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjwrV0wG9E0
As always, grateful for Natalie Marcus & Asaf Beiser & the entire team over there, for their regularly sharp satire, and now their poignant sensitivity.

The Jews are coming is a comedy sketch show that examines the history of the Jewish people from biblical times to the present. broadcast on Israel`s channel ...

16/05/2024

This just in: The Bubbies Know Best are back for a new season next week on JLTV! Want a taste of what the beautiful and bubbly bubbies are like? Here's our original conversation with them from 2020. https://thebagelreport.libsyn.com/bubbies-meet-bagels
Coming soon to Amazon Freevee, we've heard — in the meantime, find the Bubbies — and JLTV — here: https://www.jltv.tv/channels

More about the return of the Bubbies:

The beloved television show Bubbies Know Best is back for an eagerly awaited new season, premiering on JLTV on Monday, May 20th at 8:00PM ET/ PT. Fans of the show can look forward to more heartwarming moments, hilarious antics, and sage advice from everyone's favorite Bubbies as they help singles navigate the complex world of dating.

Bubbies Know Best continues to bring its unique blend of humor, wisdom, and cultural richness to audiences, capturing the hearts and minds of viewers everywhere. Hosted by Erin Davis and Marni Kinrys, the show features our delightful trio of grandmothers - Bunny, Linda, and SJ - affectionately known as Bubbies, who offer matchmaking skills along with their insights on love, life, and everything in between as they pair up the dating hopefuls. Their endearing personalities and candid advice make each episode a delightful experience.

This season promises even more unforgettable episodes as the Bubbies tackle new challenges, share their wisdom with a new generation, and provide their trademark blend of humor and heartfelt advice. From dating dilemmas to family feuds, no topic is too big or small for the Bubbies to handle with their characteristic charm and wit.

21/04/2024

Preparing for Pesach can be fun if it's not your house and if you are managing a team of teenagers who help. But if you're feeling abandoned or would like some company, Esther Kustanowitz recommends checking out some podcast episodes, to feel accompanied by people with your entertainment and best interests at heart:
NEWEST EPISODE: Bagel Report featuring comedy writer Rob Kutner as himself, as Ant-Man (sort of) and as a writer for a new kids' series, God's Gang:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/comedian-rob-kutner-on-ant-man-memoir-and-gods-gang/id1487559377?i=1000652944469

Attention CURB-HEADS: Bagel Report Curb Your Enthusiasm series wrap-up and pre-Passover episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/our-enthusiasm-has-been-curbed/id1487559377?i=1000652226684

Who Knows One?'s Micah Hart interviewing Esther Kustanowitz and Benji Lovitt about the summer camp film Heavyweights: https://campfiresandcolorwars.com/2024/04/16/ep-98-camp-movie-night-heavyweights/

ICYMI: Erin Cooper & Esther interview Rabbi Sharon Brous about her book and beyond, into a pop culture speed round that made her nervous: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bagels-brous-mending-broken-hearts-w-rabbi-sharon-brous/id1487559377?i=1000649286708

‎Show The Bagel Report, Ep Comedian Rob Kutner on Ant-Man Memoir and God's Gang - Apr 19, 2024

10/04/2024

New episode coming soon. But until then, we thought we'd remind you that Passover is coming! So, how will you pop culturize your seder this year? We've got an idea for you, and we'll post it this week. :) Your hint is the GIF below - "Do you guys ever think about Dayenu?"

In the interim, enjoy this flashback to our "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" Audio Haggadah episode: https://thebagelreport.libsyn.com/the-crazy-ex-girlfriend-haggadah and the playlist of songs that goes with it! Esther Kustanowitz Erin Cooper
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVPq6InE9H1xg9ntTswHK-bcaHpoBPZ1Z

11/03/2024

Fans of The Bagel Report, check out our podcast's most glamorous co-host, Erin Cooper, reporting — for The Official KFI AM 640! — from the press suite at the 96th Annual Academy Awards ... updates will be here: https://kfiam640.iheart.com/featured/la-local-news/content/2024-03-10-live-updates-from-the-oscars/?Sc=editorial&Pname=local_social&Keyid=socialflow
It's a shame it's "only radio," because you're missing her fabulous dress. But what can you do? :) Go, Erin...go!

KFI's Steve Gregory and Erin Ben-Moche report live from the 96th Academy Awards

29/02/2024

There's finally a launch date for the "Hollywoodland" exhibition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures: May 19. The exhibition will cover the Jewish founders of Hollywood. And yes, The Bagel Report will be on the scene as soon as we are able to get there! Stay tuned for details on that. (more info about May at the museum below)

While this exhibition has been delayed many times, it's needed now more than ever to acknowledge the role of Hollywood's Jewish founders as well as the history they fled from, while not reinforcing the "Jews run Hollywood" antisemitic trope. It's a fine line, and looking forward to seeing how they approach and/or cross it.
Hollywood founders were — by definition at the time — only men, but there's a bonus/supplement/sidebar series about funny Jewish women. (The cafe is already named F***y's — which doesn't go well in the UK, but we all know what it's supposed to mean — and there's a bridge named for Barbra Streisand. If you want women trailblazers at the museum, go up to the roof (where Babs' bridge is) and see a photo gallery there, which I believe featured only one Jewish woman...guess who??) But kudos for bringing in at least one modern name (congrats, Emma Seligman!) And we'll take it as a placeholder for future celebrations of Jewish actors and more recent studio heads...

"Throughout May, the Academy Museum will screen Funny Girls: F***y Brice and Her Legacy in partnership with ADL (Anti-Defamation League). Inspired by the trailblazing performer, the series spotlights funny Jewish women behind the camera (Elaine May, Joan Micklin Silver, Emma Seligman) and comedic Jewish actors on screen (Barbra Streisand, Goldie Hawn, Sandra Bernhard), whose films remind us that humor is one of life’s necessities."

Academy Museum

29/02/2024

Sending extra hugs to friends of mine who were friends of Richard Lewis, z"l. Born in Brooklyn, raised in Englewood, NJ, loved by comics, actors and others in his orbit. Some of his famous friends share reflections in this piece in USA Today — may you all remember him with love.

Richard Lewis' longtime friend, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" creator Larry David, called the actor "the funniest person and also the sweetest."

26/02/2024

If you haven't "never forgotten" today, don't worry — Hollywood is on it, with The Zone of Interest nominated for multiple Oscars and lots of current and upcoming stories about the years of WW2 and the Holocaust. Our new episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hollywoods-current-zone-of-interest-the-holocaust/id1487559377?i=1000646848794
Photo: Logan Lerman (Hunters) in the upcoming "We Were the Lucky Ones" (Hulu, May)