“Mad Men,” my favorite TV show of the moment, offers a poignant look at the trials of women in the workplace in the early 1960s. The series is set at a growing ad agency on Madison Avenue (that’s copywriter Peggy Olson, played by Elisabeth Moss, above), and it’s full of cringe-worthy moments. Seven of the [...]

From the files of What Were They Thinking comes news that “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer” may appear again on movie screens, but without Joss Whedon at the helm and without the television series’ favorite characters. Borys Kit at The Hollywood Reporter writes: “Buffy” creator Joss Whedon isn’t involved and it’s not set up at a studio, [...]

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy There are many reasons to love Rachel Maddow, not the least of which is she makes cocktails during her MSNBC show (as she has done at previous jobs). Last night, [...]

The 15-year run of “ER” ended last week, sparking a number of reflections and retrospectives. Since I cover health, I especially appreciated this analysis of the NBC series’ influence on the representation of health care in television programming. It was back in 1996 when The New England Journal of Medicine first took “ER” and other medical [...]

The first daughters have hit the market. For just $9.99, you can own your own set of “Sweet Sasha” and “Marvelous Malia” dolls. “They’re such adorable girls,” Ty Inc. spokeswoman Tania Lundeen said Wednesday of the Obama sisters — Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10. “How can we resist?” But by the end of the week, Ty Inc. — [...]

Ready for this one? The American Life League, a Catholic anti-abortion organization, is protesting Krispy Kreme for offering Americans their “choice” of a free doughnut on Inauguration Day. Here’s the innocuous press release from Krispy Kreme that caused the uproar: “Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is honoring American’s sense of pride and freedom of choice on [...]

Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing begins today at 10 a.m. (EST). C-SPAN will have live television coverage. Streaming video will be available at newshour.pbs.org. Viewers and listeners can expect statements today from each of the Senate Judiciary Committee members (reminder: 17 men, two women) and possibly Sotomayor’s opening statement. For a look at some of [...]

Allison Janney, Neil Patrick Harris, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Kathy Najimy and many more actors you know star in this send-up of religious objections to same-sex marriage. Did we mention Jack Black is Jesus? “After being so angry and confused about this horrible and unconstitutional public shaming, it was amazing to go out there and [...]

PopPolitics contributor Richard Crepeau is featured in a Dallas Morning News story about Barack Obama’s omnipresence in the media.

Karen Brooks reports: He’s on his own channel on your satellite television. He’s in MTV videos by rap and reggae artists. His ads pop up on the Web sites you read. He’s [...]

Oliver Stone’s “W” opened in theaters Friday, to mixed reviews. “History is said to repeat itself as tragedy and farce, but here it registers as a full-blown burlesque,” writes Manohla Dargis. “It says nothing new or insightful about the president, his triumphs and calamities. (As if anyone goes to an Oliver Stone movie for a reality [...]

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama met fantasy President Jed Barlet and received some fantasy advice. Bartlet’s voice really comes through at the beginning and there a few funny gems: BARTLET That was a hell of a convention. OBAMA Thank you, I was proud of it. BARTLET I meant the Republicans. The Us versus Them-a-thon. As a Democrat I was [...]

9/18 Update: History has been made! Bitch magazine has been providing readers a “feminist response to popular culture” for the past 13 years. In a sea of mediocre media, Bitch consistently and forcefully rises above the fray. Just take a look at the diversity of topics covered — and voices included — in the past 41 [...]

Sexism exists, and the only way to fight it is to vote for a woman you may or may not agree with on any of the issues. That’s from the latest edition of “Target Women,” a segment on Current TV’s weekly show InfoMania that looks at the often-ridiculous ways in which the media reaches out to [...]

Before we say a final goodbye to the Republican National Convention (and the good times had by all!) let’s take a moment to spotlight news stories, columns and an open letter to the Alaskan governor that transform the “R” for Republicans into Reality. Jesus Was a Community Organizer: Joe Klein explains, in language simple enough for [...]

They’re moving delegates around on the floor to put more women in front of the stage before Gov. Sarah Palin speaks. The gender breakdown of Republican delegates explains the need for the seat shuffle: the number of male delegates overwhelms female delegates by 2 to 1. Speaking of gender, NPR tonight noted that the speech originally [...]