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Last month Mitt Romney said that he's a fan of public broadcasting, but that won't stop him from defunding it if he's elected president. He suggested that PBS should be entirely ad-funded, saying, "We're not going to kill Big Bird, but Big Bird's going to have advertisements, all right?" More »
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PBS aired part two of its four-and-a-half-hour long American Masters documentary on Woody Allen last night and during the scrutinous examination of his life, Allen very openly discusses the affair he took on with his wife Mia Farrow's adopted daughter, Soon-Yi. Of the media shitstorm that occurred as soon as the story broke, Woody says he "didn't think [he] wasn't that famous to warrant such interest" and suggests that the press was just looking for a "a very juicy story." He did find a silver lining in his new image, though: "It took a little edge off my natural blandness." Amid the wild speculation and obsessed news outlets running an endless number of stories about him, Woody's casting director, Juliet Taylor, said it never really interrupted his workflow on set: "It was almost as if Woody has dreaded so many bad things happening to him in life that when something really bad did happen to him, he was totally prepared." More »
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On Tavis Smiley's show last last week, Ashley Judd admitted that she could have chosen her words more carefully when she declared hip-hop to be anti-woman. In her new memoir, she writes of being asked to join a charity campaign: More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5795325&view=rss&microfeed=true The symbolic but dick move was expected and will likely be killed in the Democrat-led Senate and/or repealed by our Democratic President. More »
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In this week's compilation of pop culture crap, the legends are dominating our TV sets. Liza Minnelli laughs at her encephalitis! Barbara Walters eats a feather boa! Elaine Stritch yells at a studio audience! Aretha Franklin scratches her butt! More »
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PBS host Alison Stewart on Shales' assertion in his review that she "looked as though she would have been much more comfortable in [guest Bill] Clinton's lap": "We welcome constructive criticism but not a raunchy rant." [TVNewser, Earlier] More »
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The NY Times announces "Obama Sings!"...but then I found out, the song was Lift Every Voice and Sing (aka The Black National Anthem). Of course he sang! I'm mad they cut the clip before the hard part. [NYT] More »
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Opium! Lurid pulp fiction! Rags to riches and a schoolgirl crush on Thoreau! According to a new film, Louisa May Alcott's life was a lot more interesting — and a lot more depressing — than Little Women. More »
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It must be said, devoted fans will already have known the "Five Things You Don't Know About Louisa May Alcott." But can you really hear enough about opium and transvestism? In short, we'll be watching the upcoming PBS biopic. [YouTube] More »
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Those who feel the Obamas are indoctrinating our children will not be happy with Sesame Street's 40th anniversary guest: the First Lady. This comes shortly after the veteran kids' show made waves for trashing Fox News: More »
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Last night, PBS aired Wide Angle's Time For School 3, a documentary series that follows seven school children from around the world, like 16-year-old Shugufa, whose education may be cut short by Taliban attacks and household obligations. More »
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But you don't have to take my word for it! More »
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Anyone who's seen Mastering the Art of French Cooking knows that Julia worked with a co-author: Simone Beck. The two women had a smash on their hands, but all was not rosy: More »
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The egg can be one of your very best friends, as Julia shows us in this vintage French Chef from 1964 (Mad Men time!), which features "eggs for elegance." More »
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In addition to bringing French cuisine to our shores, Julia Child is famous for fucking things up with flair. Yesterday, we took a look at a classic French Chef episode about cheese souffle. Today, a tarte tatin goes spectacularly awry! More »
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A young girl endures a specific kind of teasing when she gets a bad perm. Also: Is that Carrie-Anne Moss??!?! [Buzzfeed] More »
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The new documentary Inheritance is about the meeting between Monika Hertwig, daughter of brutal Nazi commander Amon Goeth (played by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List), and Helen Jonas, who was forced to serve as Goeth's personal maid, more than a half century after Goeth was hanged for war crimes. In an NPR interview, Jonas explains that she was hesitant to meet with the daughter of the man who tortured her until Hertwig told her, "I know that it's very hard for you because it's hard for me as well, but we have to do it for the murdered people," in a letter. "I feel that she's a victim as well," said Jonas. "As sad as it was for me to tell her who her father was, I had to tell her the truth. She wanted to know the truth." The film will be on PBS as part of the POV series starting December 10. [NPR] More »
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A new PBS documentary, Lioness, sheds new light on the role of women in combat. (It's reviewed in today's Times.) While technically prohibited from direct ground combat, female soldiers in Iraq frequently find themselves occupying a "gray area" that's never existed in prior wars. As one soldier puts it, “We’ve had grenades thrown at us, shooting at us with AK-47’s. It’s a fight-or-flight thing. When someone is shooting at you, you don’t say, ‘Stop the war, I’m a girl.’” More »
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For those of us raised on the Neighborhood of Make Believe, PBS's recent decision to cut Mister Rogers' Neighborhood from its weekday syndication after 40 years (airing it a mere once a week!) is heart-breaking. Brian Linder has taken action, launching SaveMisterRogers.com. He was motivated, he says, "Not because of my own nostalgic feelings for the program, but because I feel it is still such a special nurturing voice in the lives of children." While Mister Rogers may lack bells and whistles, it was a show that treated children with sensitivity and respect. Says Linder, "It was Mister Rogers who taught me how to begin to deal with my feelings. I think he taught my parents a lot, too. I know I’m still learning from him." And anyone who wants to learn a new appreciation for the earnest man in the cardigan should check out the video of Fred speaking on behalf of PBS before the senate. It's truly awe-inspiring. Some gratitude, PBS! [Paste] More »
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In an Op-Ed on the NY Times' website today, missionary and doctor Sue Malkin writes about the staggering maternal mortality rates in Malawi. Malkin explains that part of the problem in getting care to expectant Malawian women is that they're not always empowered to make decisions about their own well-being, which leads to delays. Her point was echoed in a documentary that aired last night on PBS: Birth of a Surgeon follows Emilia Cubane, a young woman in Mozambique learning to become a surgical (as in C-sections) midwife. In the clip above, Emilia helps a laboring young woman who wants to be sterilized but doesn't have her husband's permission. More »
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Last Roe. Vs. Wade post of the day: Yesterday, a reader, Susan, wrote in to direct us to a fascinating and intense Frontline documentary on abortion available online. The film, which focuses on the stories of two women who allow the cameras in the room while the procedure is being performed, first aired in 1983. Says Susan: "It's really quite refreshing and surprising in the sense that I can't imagine this being broadcast on PBS in this day and age. Despite the fact that it's been 25 years since this was made, people seem to have shushed up about this topic more than opened up about it. " [PBS] More »
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Jane Austen enthusiasts are in for a treat: PBS is broadcasting The Complete Jane Austen, which includes adaptations of all of Austen's six novels, starting this Sunday. First up is Persuasion, which originally aired on British TV last year. Persuasion is the last, and generally thought of as the poorest, of all Austen's completed works. It focuses on heroine Anne Elliot, who fell in love with a poor naval officer named Frederick Wentworth years before the book's action takes place. Back then, Anne was convinced by her family that he was unsuitable for marriage because of his dismal economic prospects. Wentworth returns to Anne's seaside town of Bath: will he and Anne finally consummate their fractured love affair? It's an Austen novel: you figure it out. Anyway, I always found Anne to be the least interesting of the Austen heroines because she's sort of a sad sack, and the critics are similarly tepid about the performance of Sally Hawkins, who plays her. (The SF Chronicle says "her mouth twitches like a bass zeroing in on a tasty side order of plankton." Check out what the rest of the critical biddies had to say, after the jump. More »
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