pop culture

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Mystery Song's Origin Stumps Online Sleuths

With only 17 seconds of the New Wave song recorded, no one has cracked where it came from

(Newser) - Can you name this tune in 17 seconds? If so, you'd be the hero to a community of online sleuths who've been tracking down its origin for the last two years. Rolling Stone covers the quest to crack the case of "Everyone Knows That," which has...

We Stared at the Worm: Pop Culture Moments in 2022

A 12-month look back at what got us buzzing

(Newser) - Taylor Swift was up. Elon Musk was in, out, in, and maybe out again. Tom Cruise was back. Serena Williams stepped aside, and Tom Brady too—oops, scratch that. But the slap? The slap was everywhere. OK, so maybe it wasn’t on the level of a moon landing, or...

Given Cash to Broaden Their Cultural Horizons, French Don't

18-year-olds stick to manga, which $350 from government helps buy

(Newser) - Juliette Sega is operating within the rules for spending the $350 the French government is giving every 18-year-old when she buys comic books, if not the aspirations. "It's a really good initiative," said Juliette Sega, who lives in southeastern France. "I'm a steady consumer of...

Best Conspiracy Theories Ever in Pop Culture
Pop Culture's
Weirdest
'Cover-Ups'

Pop Culture's Weirdest 'Cover-Ups'

Vulture compiles 70 biggest celebrity conspiracy theories—including that Katy Perry is JonBenet Ramsey

(Newser) - Take a timeout from Election 2016 conspiracy theories and do a deep dive instead into tinfoil-hat whispers on the pop culture front. Vulture has spent the past few months performing what it calls an "exhaustive cataloguing" of the biggest cover-ups in music, literature, film, TV, and "anything else...

'Netflix and Chill' Is Today's 'Come Up for a Drink'

How the phrase went from innocent to innuendo

(Newser) - Hey, do you want to come over, watch some Netflix and chill? For those of you not in the know, "Netflix and chill" is today's euphemism for hooking up, the Guardian reports. (And if you weren't previously in the know, you are not the only one .)...

Quit Calling Things 'Guilty Pleasures'
Quit Calling Things
'Guilty Pleasures'
OPINION

Quit Calling Things 'Guilty Pleasures'

Jennifer Szalai: Drop the artifice; you're not impressing anyone

(Newser) - If you want to feel guilty, fine. If you want to feel pleasure, more power to you. But if you want to toss around the phrase "guilty pleasure," then Jennifer Szalai requests that you resist the urge. In a New Yorker essay about how much she hates the...

Pop Culture Darlings Actually Aren't Popular

People watch '2 Broke Girls,' not 'Girls': Stephen Marche

(Newser) - Girls is, if media is to be believed, a big part of pop culture. Except that it's not. The show has gotten more than 1,000 mentions on BuzzFeed, the web's most trafficked entertainment site, and has "spawned a cottage industry of thought pieces," writes Stephen...

Conservatives, You Need to Watch Girls

Only by participating in the culture can you change it: Kurt Schlichter

(Newser) - It seems there's nothing about Girls a conservative would enjoy: creator Lena Dunham is a card-carrying member of the Obama faction, and the HBO show features no references to religion or traditional morality (nor any Republican characters). But if conservatives are going to complain about the state of our...

20 Biggest Pop Culture Letdowns of 2012

C'mon, Gwen, this is the best you can do after four years?

(Newser) - It's the end of the year: time to look back on the things we loved —and the things that severely, severely disappointed us. Zap2it runs down the 20 biggest pop culture letdowns of 2012:
  • Tim Tebow: He was awesome with the Broncos, but since being traded to the
...

Really? Obama Listens to Nicki Minaj?
Really?
Obama Listens
to Nicki Minaj?
OPINION

Really? Obama Listens to Nicki Minaj?

Pop-culture shoutouts have gotten ridiculous in this campaign

(Newser) - Frank Bruni thinks he's caught President Obama in a lie, but to prove it, somebody has to subpoena his iPod. On Friday, Obama said he occasionally listened to Nicki Minaj—who once called the administration " lazy bitches ." But Obama had been asked to weigh in on the...

Hill: I Dodged Taxes While Guarding My Family

Long Tumblr post explains singer's withdrawal from pop culture

(Newser) - Lauryn Hill admits she paid no taxes for a few years, but says she was busy protecting herself and her family from popular culture, the New York Post reports. In a long Tumblr post , the singer said yesterday that she withdrew from society and cast aside pop culture's "...

Stop Picking On Sinead O'Connor

 Stop
 Picking On 
 Sinead 
 O'Connor 
OPINION

Stop Picking On Sinead O'Connor

She's older and heavier; so what?

(Newser) - Catch those new photos of Sinead O'Connor performing in Ireland? (See the video in the gallery at left for a sample.) She is, gasp, no longer the slim, bald 20-something who captivated fans, and the Internet has not been kind in pointing this out. Lay off, write Mimi...

Amy Winehouse Haters, Please Save the Sanctimony

Take your smug criticism elsewhere: Mary Elizabeth Williams

(Newser) - Mary Elizabeth Williams has heard about enough from the holier-than-thou folks carping about Amy Winehouse coverage. You've heard it all: Winehouse got what she deserved, I told you so, or why waste time on her when people are dying in Norway, Africa, fill in the blank. "God forbid...

Meet Rebecca Black Pal: 'That Girl in Pink'

Benni Cinkle handles her fame with maturity

(Newser) - Rebecca Black isn't the only one who got noticed in her Friday video: Her friend Benni Cinkle became an Internet sensation in her own right as "that girl in pink" dancing next to her. She's been endlessly photoshopped and turned into animated GIFs, but good luck if...

Lots of Snooty NPR Listeners Don't Get NPR
Lots of Snooty NPR
Listeners Don't Get NPR
OPINION

Lots of Snooty NPR Listeners Don't Get NPR

Slate columnist: It's OK to cover pop culture, so lighten up, people

(Newser) - Farhad Manjoo loves NPR, but he doesn't like the listeners who write in every time the network dabbles in coverage of pop culture. Maybe "doesn't like" isn't strong enough: "Oh, I hate them, hate them, hate them," he writes at Slate . These "snobby pseudo-intellectuals" think NPR...

Bieber Launches ... Nail Polish Line

'One Less Lonely Girl' collection to hit Wal-Mart

(Newser) - Justin Bieber, mop-haired heartthrob and undisputed King of Twitter , is expanding his tween empire by launching his very own ... nail polish line. The ultra-glittery 'One Less Lonely Girl' collection by OPI will debut at Wal-Mart over the holidays and then spread like Bieber Fever to Target, Sears, and Ulta stores...

'Hey Mom, I Got an A in Zombie!'
'Hey Mom, I Got
an A in Zombie!'

'Hey Mom, I Got an A in Zombie!'

College course capitalizes on pop culture phenom

(Newser) - Zombies may not be rising up and seeking out tasty brains, but zombie culture is. And now a University of Baltimore professor is offering an English 333 course focusing on the undead, reports the Baltimore Sun . Arnold Blumberg's class will feature studies around zombie films and comics. Students also will...

Ban Lady Gaga, Not Jewish Settlements
Ban Lady Gaga, Not Jewish Settlements
OPINION

Ban Lady Gaga, Not Jewish Settlements

Pop stars more damaging to Mideast peace than anything rational

(Newser) - The Obama administration is making a big stink about Israeli settlements on the West Bank, but you know what causes a lot more radical anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world? Lady Gaga, argues Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal . Or, if you prefer, Madonna or Marilyn Monroe, or any...

After 20 Years, The Simpsons Is Irrelevant

 After 20 Years, 
 The Simpsons 

 Is Irrelevant 
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

After 20 Years, The Simpsons Is Irrelevant

But the show has influenced much of modern TV, says author

(Newser) - Today marks the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons, a show that has influenced everything from modern TV to the president’s speechwriter—but is now barely relevant. “There will never be another show or entertainment program as wide-reaching as The Simpsons,” says John Ortved, author of The Simpsons:...

Rehab: How Celebs Say Sorry
 Rehab: How Celebs Say Sorry 
PAGING TIGER WOODS

Rehab: How Celebs Say Sorry

Bonus: No need for actual apology

(Newser) - Lately, when celebs want to show contrition, they turn to rehab. Whether counseling for alcohol and drugs (take your pick) to sex addiction (Steve Phillips) to homophobia (Isaiah Washington) to domestic abuse (Chris Brown), stars see a rehab trip taking the place of a public confession. “It really is...

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