Pop Culture

Adele performs the theme song to "Skyfall."

Arts

The Oscars Broadcast, Zooming Way Past Cheeky To Land Squarely On Crass

4:36pm February 25, 2013

by Linda Holmes

Seth MacFarlane hosted the 85th Academy Awards which Monkey See's Linda Holmes says was one of the worst hosting performances in Oscar history. Jokes about women just kept coming. His sexist jokes were in poor taste, sure, but if they'd been funny, nobody would have cared.

Anthony Breznican is a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly and its chief Oscars correspondent.

Arts

EW's Oscar Guy: Predictions, Backstage Tales

6:40pm February 23, 2013

by NPR Staff

At this Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony, Entertainment Weekly's Anthony Breznican will be watching from an enviable location: behind the scenes with the stars. He joins NPR's Jacki Lyden to share his winner predictions and favorite backstage moments.

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Aereo allows users to connect to a distant antenna — a tiny device that acts like an old set of rabbit ears — and watch broadcast TV channels on their computer, tablet or smartphone. Currently the service is available only in New York City, and it's e

Arts
Economy

Amid Lawsuits, Aereo Brings Broadcast TV To The Internet

5:52am February 21, 2013

by NPR Staff

Backed by broadcasting powerhouse Barry Diller, a new service picks up broadcast TV signals and makes them available over the Web — and the TV networks don't like that one bit. Currently available only in New York City, Aereo is planning to expand ... if it makes it through the legal challenges.

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Man Of Tomorrow: Superman, Orson Scott Card And Me

5:00pm February 17, 2013

by Glen Weldon

NPR contributor Glen Weldon talks about why he, a Superman nerd and a gay man, won't be reading a new iteration of the Man of Steel penned by author Orson Scott Card.

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A typical scene from Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, the latest in the series of wildly popular video games.

Arts

Video Game Violence: Why Do We Like It, And What's It Doing To Us?

9:57am February 12, 2013

by Sami Yenigun

As the gun-violence debate ratchets up to include mental health and violent pop culture, video games have become frequent targets of concern. But do violent games influence their players? Experts aren't clear, but violent games remain remarkably popular.

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The Garment District's factories and wholesale and retail shops, including Spandex World on West 38th Street, employ about 7,100 people.

New York's Grimy Garment District Hatches Designers' Dreams

8:07pm February 07, 2013

by Padmananda Rama

As Fashion Week opens in New York on Thursday, all eyes will be on the Lincoln Center catwalk. But the real business of fashion will be happening a short distance away in the city's Garment District, the resource-rich laboratory that has launched the careers of countless designers.

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The TV Bad Guys We Can't Help But Love

2:37pm February 07, 2013

FX's new series The Americans is centered around two undercover KGB spies posing as a married couple in Northern Virginia during the Reagan administration. Washington Post TV critic Hank Stuever says this show's characters are just one example of television bad guys that audiences love.

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Jimmy Cliff in a Volkswagen "Get Happy" commercial.

Sports
Arts

For Super Bowl Ads, More Social-Media Savvy

7:17pm February 01, 2013

by Elizabeth Blair

For years, Super Bowl ads have gone viral after they've aired. But these days brands like Doritos and Volkswagen are turning to social media to crowdsource ad creation — and to boost the buzz long before the big Sunday kickoff.

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Kevin Spacey is the star and a producer of the new Netflix series House of Cards, on which David Fincher is a co-producer.

Arts

Spacey And Fincher Make A 'House Of Cards'

12:18pm January 31, 2013

Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey and Oscar-winning director David Fincher team up for a new Netflix original series that premieres Friday. House of Cards follows a Machiavellian politician as he schemes to take down the president of the United States.

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Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright star in the new Netflix original series House of Cards, which premieres Feb. 1.

Arts

'House Of Cards' Is Built To Last

9:06am January 31, 2013

by David Bianculli

Two new dramas fueled by intrigue premiere this week: The Americans on FX and House of Cards on Netflix. While The Americans has its moments, House of Cards is the show that's going to make television history.

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