You know when you’re a kid and you always dream of writing the ultimate Encyclopaedia Britannica entry? OK, maybe we didn’t share the same childhood ambitions — but you can nevertheless understand why PopPolitics is proud to announce that we have begun publishing over at Britannica’s dynamic blog. Bernie’s first entry is a “Heard ‘Round the [...]

Bernie’s analysis of the “Sopranos” finale was quoted extensively in the The Star Ledger — which happens to be Tony Soprano’s hometown paper (which he picks up at the bottom of his New Jersey driveway almost every episode). Allan Hoffman, a writer on technology and business, does a nice job attempting to track how “The Sopranos” [...]

Trojan condoms has unveiled a new advertising campaign that both CBS and Fox networks have refused to air — apparently because pregnancy prevention is not a good enough reason to promote condom use. Andrew Adam Newman writes in The New York Times: Both had accepted Trojan’s previous campaign, which urged condom use because of the possibility that [...]

Count Stephen Colbert among the proud owners of that t-shirt, thanks to Jessica Valenti, who appeared on “The Colbert Report” last night to discuss her new book, “Full Frontal Feminism.” Check it:

Tonight “The Simpsons” makes television history. Roger Catlin at the Hartford Courant writes: For a show that stars TV’s most prominent underachiever, “The Simpsons” has certainly reached some benchmarks. It passed “The Flintstones” as longest-running animated prime-time show 10 years ago. When its 18th season ends tonight with its 400th episode, it will be the longest-lasting comedy of [...]

Sigh. It seems like only yesterday that Rory Gilmore was just getting her geek on. Now she’s a Yale grad who has already turned down one marriage proposal (thank you!) and now must figure out what she’s going to do with the rest of her life. Welcome to the real world. The “Gilmore Girls” always existed on [...]

Women at the Kentucky Derby are supposed to be sipping mint juleps under their big hats, right? Well, even though the Kentucky Derby is steeped in tradition — an old-fashioned Southern tradition, in fact — women have been breaking through the glass gates for some time now — as owners, trainers and, yes, [...]

There will certainly be many literary tributes over the next few days, but this New York Times obituary, just posted, does a fine job of summarizing Kurt Vonnegut’s works and life. It ends with an excerpt from “Requiem,” a poem that ends his last book, “A Man Without a Country”: When the last living thing has died [...]

“Friday Night Lights” series creator and co-executive producer Peter Berg is a guest on NPR’s “Fresh Air”. Audio will be posted later today. Plus: In this post at TPM Cafe, M.J. Rosenberg combines Don Imus and “Friday Night Lights” — and a debate over whether pop culture is getting better. What more could you ask for?

Cross-posted from Our Bodies, Our Blog … Yes, that was the latest edition of “Our Bodies, Ourselves” that made a lengthy and prominent cameo on a recent “Friday Night Lights” episode. I can’t imagine a better show for a little showing off. “Friday Night Lights” tells the story of the Dillon Panthers (mantra: “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, [...]