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Newsweek
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Dec 14, 08 4:57 PM CST
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The Bush years have been their own little era, sparking artistic dissent and encouraging elaborations on new national themes. Newsweek had its top critics pick the piece from their field that seems most indicative of this decade: American Idol: "Like Dubya, the show makes a virtue of its unflagging consistency. Simon Cowell is always the evil one. Paula Abdul is always the cheerleader, always endorsing the delusion that everything is just great."
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Foreign Policy
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Dec 13, 08 4:42 PM CST
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Presidential candidate Bloomberg? Nope. Russia invading the Ukraine? Hardly. Foreign Policy takes a look back at the worst predictions of the year: A stabilized banking system: Shortly after Henry Paulson forecast stability on Wall Street, Citigroup’s stock price dropped 75% and closed below $5 for the first time since 1994.
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Salon
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Dec 13, 08 2:15 PM CST
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With Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen and other foreign factories dotting the I-65 corridor stretching from Kentucky to Alabama, southern Republican senators relished this week's chance to take a swing at Detroit and the UAW simultaneously. The "bailout fell victim to a nasty confluence of home-state economic interests and anti-union sentiment," write Alex Koppelman and Mike Madden in Salon. Here are some of the big players:
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Men's Health
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Dec 13, 08 5:10 AM CST
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Men's Health rounds up what it calls the "meanest things ever said by men." Here's a sample: "Michael Jackson's album was only called Bad because there wasn't enough room on the sleeve for Pathetic ."—Prince "He looks like a dwarf who's been dipped in a bucket of pubic hair."—Boy George, on Prince "People shouldn't be treated like objects. They aren't that valuable." —P.J. O'Rourke
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Los Angeles Times
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Dec 11, 08 3:10 PM CST
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Three years after Tom Cruise and Today 's Matt Lauer went a few rounds over Scientology, drugs, and Brooke Shields' postpartum depression, the pair is set for a rematch Monday—which spurred the Los Angeles Times to list Tom's top 5 head-smacking interviews: Oprah , May 2005: Cruise dances around proclaiming love for Katie: "I like intimacy." German tabloid Bild , June 2005: Cruise says that "of course" he believes in aliens: "Are you really so arrogant as to believe we are alone in this universe?"
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Daily Mail (UK)
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Dec 11, 08 2:28 PM CST
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The music played at high volume for hours on end by US interrogators to torture prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay spanned all genres. But the military overseers did have a few favorite songs, including: Born in the USA , by Bruce Springsteen American Pie , by Don McLean Staying Alive , by the Bee Gees Baby One More Time , by Britney Spears Dirrty , by Christina Aguilera For more top torture tracks, click the link below.
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Google
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Dec 11, 08 1:34 PM CST
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Every year, Google releases its analysis of the global zeitgeist based on billions of searches around the world. Newsweek reports the highlights: Sarah Palin: "Obama" was the most searched for term overall, but the Alaska governor grabbed the top spot on the fastest-rising list. Beijing 2008: The world was understandably electrified by the spectacle of the Olympics in China.
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Esquire
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Dec 11, 08 12:34 PM CST
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Test your indie chops, courtesy of Esquire , which rounds up the five best tunes you probably didn’t hear this year: “Jingle Bells,” Julian Koster: There's not a single bell in this holiday classic, just a harrowing singing saw. “One Last Round,” Ron Sexsmith: Sharp commentary on American consumption never sounded so melodic. Now go buy it.
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Boston Phoenix
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Dec 10, 08 7:13 PM CST
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The Boston Phoenix drew up its “Unsexiest Men” list in March, but the election season produced some new contenders, while others earned a reprieve. John Edwards: The perennial Dem also-ran wasn't on the first list, but his very public dalliance earns him a spot after a recount of sorts. Mike Huckabee: Though on the earlier list, the "sweet-natured creationist" receives a pardon for his success as a TV host.
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Los Angeles Times
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Dec 9, 08 7:28 PM CST
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A Led Zeppelin world tour? Sorry, that was a whole lotta hype. Madonna and Guy Ritchie's love story? Ditto. As the curtain comes down on 2008, the Los Angeles Times bids farewell to this year’s departed cultural phenomena. Joaquin Phoenix’s movie career: He walked the line as Johnny Cash; now he’s walking away from Hollywood to pursue music.
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Macworld
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Dec 9, 08 2:39 PM CST
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It’s been 40 years since the computer mouse made its public debut, and though innovations have been legion, the basic concept is still the same. Macworld takes a look back at some key moments in the device’s evolution. 1963: The first recognizable mouse prototype is built. It only had one button, but more were to come—well, not for Mac users.
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Salon
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Dec 8, 08 2:55 PM CST
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Chilean author Roberto Bolaño's novel 2666 , about the murders of women in a border town, features on Salon's list of the 10 best books of the year. They include: 2666 : Bolaño, who died young in 2003, is celebrated posthumously in the English-speaking world. "He pursues, with suave implacability, questions of art and evil," Laura Miller writes. A Person of Interest : Susan Choi's "Hitchcockian" tale of a disgraced math professor is "beautifully written and impeccably unsentimental."
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New York Daily News
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Dec 7, 08 8:12 PM CST
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With Detroit automakers making headlines on Capitol Hill, the New York Daily News offers a retrospective on the Motor City’s biggest lemons: Ford Edsel: A gas-guzzling marketing disaster that became a byword for failure. Chevy Aveo: From 0 to 60 in 11.7 seconds. Hummer H2: A militaristic and inefficient PR nightmare for General Motors.
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San Francisco Chronicle
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Dec 7, 08 7:46 PM CST
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Chestnuts may still be roasting on an open fire, but that doesn’t mean you can’t refresh your Christmas playlist. The San Francisco Chronicle compiles a list of new twists on old favorites to help you give the jingle bells a rest: Sufjan Stevens, "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!" The Pretenders, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Marvin Gaye, "Purple Snowflakes."
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Entertainment Weekly
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Dec 6, 08 3:49 PM CST
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It may be dubbed the "idiot box," but there are some bright bulbs behind TV's smartest shows and network deals. After polling Hollywood insiders, Entertainment Weekly lists the top 25 smarties: S eth MacFarlane , executive producer, Family Guy , American Dad . Tina Fey , executive producer, actress, 30 Rock . Nancy Tellem , president of CBS Paramount Network Entertainment Group.
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Hollywood Reporter
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Dec 5, 08 2:40 PM CST
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Even with Sarah Palin snubbing her, Oprah Winfrey is the most powerful woman in film and television, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The trade mag places the Harpo chairwoman atop its Power 100 list for “her dizzying array of Oprah-branded media and her immense cultural influence.” She was No. 6 last year. Many on the list are execs, but some celebs make the cut, including Angelina Jolie (24), Tina Fey (51), and Miley Cyrus (100).
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Reuters
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Dec 4, 08 4:28 PM CST
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Move over, Mississippi: Louisiana is now America’s unhealthiest state, Reuters reports. An annual state-by-state report that measures factors like smoking, obesity, and health insurance coverage also put Vermont at the top for the second year in a row. The five healthiest states are: Vermont Hawaii New Hampshire Minnesota Utah
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New York Times
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Dec 4, 08 3:41 PM CST
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Nobel Prize-winner Toni Morrison's most recent novel and nonfiction books about two wars feature on the New York Times list of the 10 best books of the year. They include: A Mercy : Morrison's tale of 17th-century slaves and masters is "part Faulknerian puzzle, part dream-song." 2666 : Chilean author Roberto Bolaño died in 2003 and "has posthumously risen, like a figure in one of his own splendid creations, to the summit of modern fiction."
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BBC
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Dec 2, 08 10:09 PM CST
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Modern moms are more likely to sing their babies to sleep with pop songs than with classic lullabies, the BBC reports. For two-thirds of mothers, "Rock-a-Bye-Baby" and its ilk take a back seat to songs such as "Take That" by Patience or "I Kissed a Girl" by Kate Perry. At least, that's a what a new survey from thebabywebsite says. The main reasons: New moms thought lullabies were too old-fashioned, or they didn't know the lyrics.
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NPR
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Dec 2, 08 4:40 PM CST
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Of 340 new works of foreign fiction and poetry translated for US audiences this year, NPR has culled five of the best into a list: Senselessness , by Horacio Castellanos Moya: A Latin American freelance writer is hired by the Catholic Church to edit sinister documents in this compact dark comedy.
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