More and more this season I hoped “West Wing“’s executive producers — and NBC — would reconsider the decision to cancel the series. No such luck. Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe bids good-bye and nicely sums up the series’ highs and lows. “The show often felt too much like a cheering section for Democratic leadership, particularly under [...]

Driving — instead of flying — to the WAM! conference in Cambridge, Mass., allowed for some fun, impromptu stops along the way. But we were committed to making it back to Chicago in one straight shot. The car, however, had other plans. So here we are in friendly Utica, N.Y., awaiting a new tire to [...]

Greetings from Cambridge, where I’m attending the third annual WAM! conference on women and the media. Two of the editors of Feministing along with Echidne and Lakshmi Chaudhry (who recently wrote about blogs and progressive politics) are presenting right now about blogs and activism. Tomorrow I’ll teach a workshop on building your own blog in [...]

After a Boston Herald reporter wrote that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia made an obscene gesture inside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in response to a question about his impartiality on matters of church and state, the jurist accused the Herald’s staff of watching too many Sopranos episodes. So the Herald sought expert opinions [...]

During my travels this week I stayed with friends in Manhattan who have a 3-year-old son. One day I browsed through the March 2006 issue of Parent magazine on their coffee table. Who knew that in this day and age the career paths of boys and girls were so gendered and racialized? But there on page [...]

Finally some love for the under-appreciated Spike Lee. While admitting inconsistencies over Lee’s 20-year film career, The New York Times‘ Caryn James points to several of Lee’s older and newer films as evidence of Lee’s complex vision and continuing relevancy. I especially applaud her retrospective reading of Do the Right Thing, which James sees now less [...]

There’s plenty of praise for Thief, the new FX series starring fave Andre Braugher. Meanwhile, the new HBO series Big Love is getting props from another set of critics — former and current polygamists. Felicia R. Lee recently watched an episode with five women in Salt Lake City. “And despite the show’s flaws,” she writes, “these [...]

“Enough about your work — how’s your hot husband?” Not even the first female president (to have her own TV series) gets the respect she deserves during a television interview. Salon explains what happened to Geena Davis when she went on CNN Wednesday to promote See Jane, which advocates for more and better representation of [...]

How can you tell when your nation’s health care system has collapsed? One sure sign is the creation of a television program that offers access to health care to the desperately ill as a prize. The show has now materialized on American TV screens. Everything about it shows just how badly broken health care in America [...]

Turning attention more to politics for a moment, the Illinois primaries were held yesterday. Though questions concerning uncounted ballots and malfunctioning voting equipment keep the Cook County Board President race in suspense, another close race decided early this morning has made the DCCC extremely happy: Tammy Duckworth defeated Christine Cegalis in Illinois’ 6th Congressional District. NPR [...]

The NPR radio program On Point today will have on PopPolitics’ favorite manly man, Harvey Mansfield, author of Manliness. Fortunately, The Nation’s Katha Pollitt will be there, too. Over at the Washington Post, meanwhile, Ruth Marcus has figured out what’s behind everything that’s wrong with the Bush administration: manliness. And Hank Steuver goes behind the scenes [...]

In other TV news, one of my favorite actors, Andre Braugher, is back, starring in the new FX series Thief (debuts March 28). Braugher won an Emmy for his role as the arrogant, justice-seeking Det. Frank Pembleton on Homicide: Life on the Streets (1993-1999). Jon Caramanica of The New York Times‘ notes that “TV Guide listed [...]

I missed the debut of the Cartoon Network’s new late-night series Minoriteam — which sends up bigotry by turning stereotypes into super powers in the fight against racism — but after reading Lola Ogunnaike’s New York Times story on Minoriteam, I had to ask: What’s up with not including a single female superhero? The team’s leader, [...]

Harvard’s Harvey Mansfield explains why women need men. Strong, masculine men. Though apparently a tenured government professor who “has hardly left Harvard since his first arrival in 1949,” but who can lift furniture on occasion, when such an act is requested, will suffice. Meanwhile, New York Times columnist John Tierney wonders why all the fuss about [...]

So there were no “bitches” after all in Three 6 Mafia’s live rendition of the Oscar-winning original song, “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” from Hustle & Flow. Much to the surprise of viewers at the Oscar party I attended, Taraji P. Henson sang “witches” instead. Hmmm. Say it here and it comes out [...]