culture

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Harold and Kumar Transcends Race
 Harold and Kumar
 Transcends Race 
opinion
Apr 24, 2008 12:50 PM CDT

Harold and Kumar Transcends Race

Films set new standard for concepts of culture

(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...

Pope to Church: Pedophilia Was 'Badly Handled'

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

(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,...

Lowbrow Sarkozy Causes French Culture Shock

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

(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,...

IQ Measures Not Just Brains, But Also Culture

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

(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,”...

Ignore Potter, and Be Doomed to Irrelevance?

Writer ponders the cultural cost of defying blockbusters

(Newser) - Lord Voldemort is the Darth Vader of the 21st century—if you don’t know what that means, you could be at a massive cultural disadvantage in a decade or two. Esquire's Chuck Klosterman claims he hasn’t read a page of the Harry Potter series—hearing Harry didn’t...

Tech Wraps Growing Web Around World

Some worry about cultural loss as cell phones, e-mail spread

(Newser) - Global cellphone and computer usage is up dramatically as inequalities in technology drop. Cellphone ownership has grown 20% in the US, where 80% of the population uses computers, third in the world behind Sweden and South Korea. Computer usage is up in 26 of 35 countries in a new Pew...

Letting It All Hang Out? Bill Would Put It All Back In

Atlanta proposal calls saggy pants "major concern;" ACLU claims "racial profiling"

(Newser) - Young men will want to hike up their sagging pants, and women cover up bra straps and exposed thongs if Atlanta’s City Council adopts a proposal to amend the city’s indecency laws, the Journal-Constitution reports. The measure, which would fine violators for exposing boxer shorts, thongs and bras,...

Spanish TV Channel Nixes Live Bullfights

Public broadcaster deems gore and gorings unfit for kids and afternoons

(Newser) - Spanish state television will not show any live bullfights this year, bowing to restrictions on gore on daytime TV but disrupting a time-honored tradition. Televised bullfights had been a viewer magnet for public-TV station TVE, and fans are seeing red, the Guardian reports. "It is obvious that watching bullfights...

Quirk Is the New Kitsch (Sigh)
Quirk Is the
New Kitsch
(Sigh)
Aug 16, 2007 5:13 PM CDT

Quirk Is the New Kitsch (Sigh)

Atlantic writer traces the devolution of idiosyncrasy into idiocy

(Newser) - Quirk is the “ruling sensibility” of today’s culture—random narrative, “mannered ingenuousness”—and it’s become exhausting, writes the Atlantic's Michael Hirschorn. “This American Life” has been the standard-bearer, but the quirk it purveys hasn't held up well in expanding from radio to TV.

Antiwar Band Tours Mideast With State Dept. Backing

Ozomatli incorporates Arab musician's beats into its Latin music

(Newser) - In an effort to bolster its image in Muslim countries, the US is sending a group of Los Angeles musicians to the Arab world as cultural ambassadors. The band Ozomatli, whose members frequently bash Bush administration policies and the Iraq war, is touring the Mideast on the government's dime, drawing...

Photos That Changed the World?
Photos That Changed the World?
Jun 19, 2007 8:31 PM CDT

Photos That Changed the World?

(Newser) - Slate and Magnum Photos team up to present 31 photos that over the past 70 years have "informed the world" and "capture(d) the political and cultural zeitgeist of our time."  The iconic photos in this slide show range from a soldier falling in the Spanish Civil...

Barker Tapes His Final 'Price Is Right'

Legendary host says goodbye after 35 years of 'come on down'

(Newser) - Bob Barker taped his final episode of "The Price is Right" yesterday after 35 years hosting the long-running game show. He treated it as just another day, signing off with his usual admonition to spay and neuter pets, but after the cameras stopped rolling, the 83-year-old legend thanked the...

Don't Call Them Chefs
Don't Call
Them Chefs  
Apr 4, 2007 12:53 PM CDT

Don't Call Them Chefs

Culinary careers outside the kitchen are charming more and more foodies

(Newser) - Culinary school degrees are suddenly leading to careers outside the kitchen, reports the LA Times. In our food-obsessed culture, beer sommeliers, cheese affineurs (aging experts) culinary philanthropists and even food consultants for historical films are increasingly finding outlets for their unique talents. Specialists say their jobs beat working in restaurants,...

Stories 61 - 73 | << Prev