pop culture

2009's Coolest Pop Culture

Nov 28, 2009 8:03 AM CST

2009's Coolest Pop Culture

Wired picks the year's best

(Newser) - This has been a vintage year for pop culture, say Wired writers listing their year's best in fields from film to video games to microsculpture.

Stephen Colbert's "hyper-real genius" made the year for Scott Thill, who believes "Earth’s most relevant living cultural critic" is long overdue for

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'Fag Hag'
No Longer
Hip Label

OPINION

Aug 18, 2009 4:25 PM CDT

(Newser) - Thanks to Will & Grace, the young gay men of a decade ago were turned “into something unexpected: a must-have item,” writes Thomas Rogers for Salon. Though he was “jockish, pop-culturally illiterate, and dressed in mom jeans,” Rogers “remained a strangely alluring target for a...

In LA, You're
Never Too Old to Rap

Aug 3, 2009 12:33 PM CDT

In LA, You're Never Too Old to Rap

Seniors learn to love the music in unusual class

(Newser) - A new crop of rappers is emerging in Los Angeles, and they have one thing in common: They’re senior citizens. Hip-hop artist Keith Cross started his unorthodox rap class in 2004 to show seniors “there is positive rap out there; we just have to look for it,”...

Rihanna Arms
Herself With
Gun Tattoo

Mar 26, 2009 12:12 PM CDT

Rihanna Arms Herself With Gun Tattoo

Singer got it on ribcage, not arms, because of Cover Girl deal: artist

(Newser) - Rihanna, often seen with a gun pendant around her neck, has decided to add a gun to the assemblage of tattoos on her body. This one graces her ribcage, safely out of view for her modeling spots. “I really wanted to put it on her arms,” her artist...

Zippo
Closes In
on 500M
Lighters

Jan 29, 2009 6:37 PM CST

Zippo Closes In on 500M Lighters

American icon set to sell its 500 millionth lighter by year's end

(Newser) - At some point this year, the Zippo factory in Bradford, Pa., will churn out its 500 millionth lighter, NPR reports. The windproof gadget has become a cultural staple since 1932, from the wartime foxholes of Germany and Vietnam to the glitter of the Silver Screen, but NPR notes that the...

How Cereal Shaped America

OPINION

Dec 14, 2008 10:01 AM CST

How Cereal Shaped America

Charting the evolution and influence of the grain-based breakfast

(Newser) - We might be eating hockey pucks for breakfast if a 19th-century kitchen accident hadn’t turned John Kellogg’s “barely edible” biscuits into today’s far-tastier flakes, Ian Lender writes in Mental Floss. “The cereal flake is the perfect consumer product,” he says, looking at how cereal...

Paula Will Face Dancing Judges

Nov 26, 2008 2:55 PM CST

Paula Will Face Dancing Judges

American Idol jurist adds new primetime gig

(Newser) - Prepare to savor the sweet redemption of a judge—albeit a nice one—being judged: Paula Abdul is “very excited” to be a contestant on next season's Dancing with the Stars, Radar reports. The singer-turned-American Idol judge made no secret of the fact that she was “shopping around”...

Will Obama
Change Pop
Culture?

Nov 21, 2008 7:52 PM CST

Will Obama Change Pop Culture?

(Newser) - Can "No-Drama" Obama cast a spell over Hollywood? After years of bleak television dramas, a Dark Knight superhero, and a James Bond who rarely smiles, some in Hollywood say Obama will inspire an era of optimism. ''The idea of change and hope has permeated the country," says Marvel...

Turning Tricks, or 'Trick or Treat'?

Oct 27, 2008 6:25 PM CDT

Turning Tricks, or 'Trick or Treat'?

Parents unable to counter sexy costume trend: expert

(Newser) - No, your eyesight isn't hexed: Young girls really are dressing like French maids and prostitutes every Halloween. And their skirts will only get higher, because pop culture has drowned out any last echo of parental advice, author Diane E. Levin tells the Los Angeles Times. The co-author of So ...

On Film, a Black
President Is
Nothing New

Oct 27, 2008 5:57 PM CDT

On Film, a Black President Is Nothing New

From 24 to The Fifth Element

(Newser) - America may be on the verge of electing its first black president, but pop culture is way ahead of reality. James Earl Jones portrayed the first in The Man (1972), and several have followed. As an entertainment-obsessed nation, asks Slate, might these fictional forebears affect our perception of the real...

Comic Becomes Bible of Asia's Wine Culture

Oct 23, 2008 1:32 PM CDT

Comic Becomes Bible of Asia's Wine Culture

Wannabe oenophiles takes cues from The Drops of the Gods

(Newser) - What do Freddie Mercury and a Jean-François Millet painting have in common? Both have been used to describe wine in The Drops of the Gods, a Japanese comic series that’s quickly becoming the go-to wine literature in Asia, reports the New York Times. Customers tend to ask for...

New Yorker Pop Critic Admits 'Indie' Gaffes

INTERVIEW

Sep 1, 2008 10:51 AM CDT

New Yorker Pop Critic Admits 'Indie' Gaffes

Says his peers are loath to concede critical mistakes

(Newser) - You may have missed it, but the New Yorker pays attention to pop music. Flip past articles on dead American poets and you might find insightful, sometimes scathing, music critiques by Sasha Frere-Jones. The musician and critic sat down with Gelf Magazine to discuss the problems with defining indie rock—...

Dude: Why Lebowski Is Still Big

GLOSSIES

Aug 26, 2008 6:13 PM CDT

Dude: Why Lebowski Is Still Big

Cult classic 'symbolic of a whole way of life'

(Newser) - A decade after its disappointing box-office release, The Big Lebowski endures as a cult classic, inspiring academic papers, annual festivals, and hot new comics like Seth Rogen. To find out why, Rolling Stone tracked down the cast and a few hardcore fans who say Lebowski is more a movement than...

Batman or Spidey?
McCain, Obama Weigh In

Aug 8, 2008 10:20 AM CDT

Batman or Spidey? McCain, Obama Weigh In

Candidates reveal pop-culture picks

(Newser) - Closet ABBA fan: Obama or McCain? The two presidential hopefuls recently bared all to Entertainment Weekly, revealing their pop-culture preferences:

Favorite superhero: Obama: Spiderman, McCain: Batman
iPod playlist: Obama: Frank Sinatra, Sheryl Crow, John Coltrane, Bob Dylan; McCain: Roy Orbison, Linda Rhonstadt, Usher, and yes, ABBA

What's With all the Skulls?

GLOSSIES

Jul 5, 2008 10:53 AM CDT

What's With all the Skulls?

Ancient death symbol becomes a favorite modern fashion accessory

(Newser) - Heavy metal and Halloween, make room for haute couture. “What used to be a symbol for borderline-sociopathic tough guys with weird design fetishes—Hells Angels, pirates, Nazis—has become a trope de luxe,” writes Stephen Marche in Esquire. The skull, a symbol of death with deep religious significance,...

Germans Can't See Forest of
US Culture for the Trees

GLOSSIES

Jun 30, 2008 3:20 PM CDT

Germans Can't See Forest of US Culture for the Trees

Media machine distorts view, author finds

(Newser) - German college students aren't impressed with American culture—they're not even sure it exists, author Chuck Klosterman finds at the outset of a teaching stint in Leipzig. "The proliferation of media has made it virtually impossible to tell the difference between a) what information is unilaterally interesting," Klosterman...

I Was Never In It to Win It: 'Accidental' Idol

OPINION

Jun 15, 2008 11:32 AM CDT

I Was Never In It to Win It: 'Accidental' Idol

Cook says he 'was never in it to win it'

(Newser) - David Cook almost didn't audition for American Idol—he was there to offer moral support to his younger brother. But goading from his family kicked off a whirlwind journey that took him from fledgling Midwest rocker to Billboard star. Cook tells Rolling Stone about his modest beginnings—and his early...

Online Gaming Boom Outpaces Real-Life Critiques

OPINION

May 31, 2008 1:14 PM CDT

Online Gaming Boom Outpaces Real-Life Critiques

Cultural attitude toward virtual world reflects antiquated view

(Newser) - The dizzying growth of the video game industry continues to alarm cultural Luddites, writes Tom Chatfield for the Prospect, but the critics are trapped in video gaming’s past. They haven't adjusted to the development of social, team-based gaming worlds, treating games “as an odd mix of the slightly...

Hello, China: Meet
Japan's New Envoy

May 19, 2008 8:00 PM CDT

Hello, China: Meet Japan's New Envoy

Japan tabs pop icon to bring in visitors from China

(Newser) - Hello Kitty has been tapped as Japan’s cultural envoy to China, the AP reports. Japan’s ministry of tourism chose the über-popular icon to represent the country in its drive to attract 10 million annual visitors to the islands. Last year, tourists from China and Hong Kong made...

Miley Scandal
a Matter of Brand Name

May 3, 2008 7:10 AM CDT

Miley Scandal a Matter of Brand Name

Simple break with Disney image caused uproar

(Newser) - The brouhaha over Miley Cyrus' Vanity Fair photo shoot is a “simple misunderstanding” stemming from a clash of brand names, writes Mark Feeney in the Boston Globe. Cyrus’ Hannah Montana is an established Disney brand--and when Hannah met Vanity Fair, a sudden change in that image was the result....

Wired picks the year's best

Gay men slowly becoming less of an 'accessory' for women

Seniors learn to love the music in unusual class

Singer got it on ribcage, not arms, because of Cover Girl deal: artist

American icon set to sell its 500 millionth lighter by year's end

Charting the evolution and influence of the grain-based breakfast

American Idol jurist adds new primetime gig

Parents unable to counter sexy costume trend: expert

From 24 to The Fifth Element

Wannabe oenophiles takes cues from The Drops of the Gods

Says his peers are loath to concede critical mistakes

Cult classic 'symbolic of a whole way of life'

Candidates reveal pop-culture picks

Ancient death symbol becomes a favorite modern fashion accessory

Media machine distorts view, author finds

Cook says he 'was never in it to win it'

Cultural attitude toward virtual world reflects antiquated view

Japan tabs pop icon to bring in visitors from China

Simple break with Disney image caused uproar