Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: culture

culture stories: 49 news summaries

21 - 40 of 49 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

 Gay Marriage Vote 
 Highlights Calif. Divides 

Urban, coastal areas generally oppose Prop. 8; less-populated inland areas support it

Oct 22, 08 4:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - California’s looming referendum on gay marriage is highlighting the cultural divide between coastal and inland regions, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Polls show 37% of voters in coastal counties supported Proposition 8—which would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage—in a June poll, while 54% in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
California • gay marriage • culture • voters • family values • culture wars • Proposition 8

Pop Culture Battles Fundamentalists in Gaza

Western imports ease daily stress, but fuel the fundamentalists' ire

Sep 7, 08 3:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - Culture is the quiet battleground in Gaza, where Jennifer Lopez pouts on CD covers beside religious paperbacks on store shelves, the New York Times reports. Combating daily food shortages and feeling isolated, Gazans escape with soap operas, sitcoms, and music—homegrown or imported from the West. But recent incidents—from... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • Gaza • Palestine • Hamas • Fatah • culture • Noor TV • Palestinian people • culture wars

Officials Worry About Staying Power in Gustav Tales

Those who partied in New Orleans could influence evacuees to remain next time

Sep 4, 08 3:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - As the thousands who rode out Hurricane Gustav in New Orleans boast about the hardy, and sometimes boozy, camaraderie to neighbors who paid in frustration for following evacuation orders, authorities are hoping those tales won’t keep residents from heeding warnings next time around, the Christian Science Monitor reports. “... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Hurricane Katrina • New Orleans • culture • human behavior • Hurricane Gustav

opinion

The Internet Is Killing
Our Rock Stars

Piracy, iTunes bad news for the bastions of US culture

Aug 9, 08 10:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Internet is killing the two cultural exports that most define America: music and movies, Elizabeth Lee Wurtzel writes in the Wall Street Journal. Gone are the days of the old-fashioned rock star and the seminal album, replaced by one-hit wonders and an iTunes audience that craves singles. Gone, too,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
music • Internet • film • rock stars • culture

 The Weirdest Sporting Events 

How oddballs compete, from pole-sitting to goat polo

Jul 29, 08 2:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - If curling strikes you as a strange sport, you've obviously never heard of wife carrying or bottle kicking. The London Times explores the weirdest pastimes from across the globe:
  1. Wife-carrying, Maine, USA: Wives hang on for dear life as husbands tote them through an obstacle course, upside-down. Winners
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
sports • weird • list • culture • Bangkok • Maine • world • Kyrgyzstan

 Russia Goes After Emo   

Fearing for teens, Duma debates legislation to outlaw fashion, monitor websites

Jul 24, 08 3:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Fearing a threat to the wellbeing of its youth, the Russian Duma is going after what it sees as Public Enemy No. 1—emo.  Lawmakers are debating legislation to ban all signs of emo culture—an offshoot of punk music—from schools and government buildings, the Guardian reports.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Russia • music • fashion • legislation • culture • youth • Duma • Russian parliament • emo

 50 Favorite Magazines 

From popular to niche, selected for being fun and instructive

Jul 16, 08 12:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - From US Weekly to a quarterly for Godzilla enthusiasts, the Chicago Tribune's list of 50 favorite magazines both entertain and take readers to new places. The list includes:
  • NME: A rock and roll crystal ball, this UK music mag forecasts tomorrow’s megastars
  • Seed: Science never
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
media • Vanity Fair • list • magazine • culture • magazine industry • Godzilla

ANALYSIS

 Is Web's 'Long Tail'
 Really a Tall Tale? 

Harvard prof questions theory that Internet fuels boom for niche commerce

Jul 14, 08 4:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - The "Long Tail" theory of the internet—that the Web's boundless democracy is enabling a boom in niche culture and commerce—is coming under fire just as its author releases the paperback version, Farhad Manjoo writes on Slate. After reviewing data that should back Chris Anderson's theory, a Harvard... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Web 2.0 • culture • Wired • Chris Anderson • Anita Elberse • long tail • niche • esoteric

(Newser) - These days China feels "both older and newer than any place on the planet," writes  New York Times art critic Holland Cotter. And nowhere is that tension more palpable than in the country's museums, which use antiquities from the millennia-old civilization in service of a rising world power.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • art museum • Chinese art • museum • culture

 'I'm Left of Nic,'
 Carla Confesses

Still, 'I'd vote for him,' she gushes

Jun 23, 08 4:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - They may look like an always-happy couple, but France's First Lady Carla Bruni has confessed she doesn't agree with husband Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing politics. She's not alone. Just a year after his election, polls have shown Sarkozy is the most unpopular president in six decades, reports the Daily Telegraph.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Nicolas Sarkozy • culture • Carla Bruni • popularity • La Liberation • Carla effect • L'Amoureuse

 Proms' Glitz Blitz 
 Captivates UK Teens 

High schoolers embrace pricey US tradition, but some blast 'ghastly import'

Jun 17, 08 3:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Parents and traditionalists alike are feeling the pinch as expensive American-style proms migrate to the UK, the Wall Street Journal finds. Teens crave the stretch limos and extravagant gowns seen in US shows like The O.C. and My Super Sweet 16. But some educators criticize the trend, including one... More »

MORE ABOUT:
culture • lifestyle • Britain • Proms • high school students • teenager

TRAVEL

 World's Weirdest Festivals 

Oddball traditions say plenty about a culture

Jun 11, 08 1:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Forget museums and street markets. To truly understand a culture, travelers should take in its bizarre traditions. From fire walking to tomato hurling, Travel and Leisure looks at the world's most off-the-wall celebrations.
  • Lopburi Monkey Buffet in Thailand: Each November, Lopburi's residents lay out a feast to appease
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
travel • weird • tourism • list • culture • festival • traditions

OPINION

Online Gaming Boom Outpaces Real-Life Critiques

Cultural attitude toward virtual world reflects antiquated view

May 31, 08 1:14 PM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
technology • pop culture • culture • gaming • World of Warcraft • Grand Theft Auto IV • video games

OPINION

Save the Spurmo: Straight, Single Men Face Extinction

Marriage threatens herds of single men

May 28, 08 4:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - Are you a straight, proud, unmarried man over 30? Then you're part of a dying breed, writes Tad Safran in the Times UK. Dubbed "Spurmos," these endangered bachelors drink in increasing isolation as friends succumb to marriage, wine racks and child-rearing. Having roamed in great herds in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
marriage • culture • drinking • lifestyle • middle age • bachelors • opinion

Rome's New Mayor Vows
to Raze Renowned Museum 

'Post-Fascist' Alemanno wants to destroy Meier building

May 2, 08 12:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - Only a few days into his mandate, Rome's new right-wing mayor has sworn to dismantle a state-of-the-art museum designed by American architect Richard Meier, reports the Times of London. Gianni Alemanno called the Ara Pacis museum, built 2 years ago to house a peace altar from the Augustan period, "... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Richard Meier • architecture • Italy • Rome • culture • Gianni Alemanno

 77% of US Moms Breast-Feed 

Percentage highest in survey's history; rise greatest among African-Americans

Apr 30, 08 7:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - About 77% of new mothers breast-feed, the highest percentage since the CDC began taking surveys 20 years ago. The agency cites public-awareness campaigns about its health benefits for the rise, noting that only 60% of mothers breast-fed in 1994, the AP reports. Changing cultural attitudes that accommodate the practice also... More »

MORE ABOUT:
African Americans • childhood obesity • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • public health • mothers • culture • breast feeding

opinion

 Harold and Kumar
 Transcends Race 

Films set new standard for concepts of culture

Apr 24, 08 12:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Race underscores the stoner misadventures of Harold and Kumar—whose second film comes out tomorrow—but it’s not the point. The movies, about two friends who “just happen not to be white,” set a multicultural standard that Hollywood hasn’t figured out, writes Mark Olsen in the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Hollywood • race • film • culture • Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay • Kal Penn • John Cho

Pope to Church: Pedophilia Was 'Badly Handled'

He urges bishops to 'foster healing' and work to improve trust

Apr 16, 08 7:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI had strong words for America's Roman Catholic bishops today, asserting that the clerical sexual molestation scandal had been "very badly handled" in many cases, the AP reports. "It is your God-given responsibility as pastors to bind up the wounds caused by every breach of trust,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Pope Benedict XVI • Catholic Church • religion • child molestation • pedophile • culture • clergy abuse scandal • clergy • Catholics • bishop • Roman Catholicism • Pope Benedict's US visit

 Lowbrow Sarkozy
 Causes French Culture Shock 

Sarko's no highbrow, but his wife gives some hope

Apr 15, 08 9:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - French presidents have traditionally positioned themselves as guardians of high culture, and no term in office is complete without constructing a major new museum. But while François Mitterand might have loved Russian literature, Nicolas Sarkozy is more of a Céline Dion man. As the New York Times reports,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Nicolas Sarkozy • France • culture • Paris • Carla Bruni

IQ Measures Not Just Brains, But Also Culture

Smarts index is rising because the world's more 'demanding'

Dec 13, 07 4:55 PM CST
(Newser) - The average global IQ is rising three points per decade not because humans are getting smarter, but because culture is getting more challenging—and the measure isn’t just a test of our smarts genes. The quotient effectively tests “the quality of the world [a] person lives in,”... More »

MORE ABOUT:
race • culture • human intelligence • IQ tests

21 - 40 of 49 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 Next >>


from our news partners