Kurt Soller

The music video channel is experiencing some serious growing pains, and it hopes Alexa Chung will be its new Carson Daly. That might be part of the problem.

Twenty-five years later, Jay McInerney's debut novel is still a classic. What the world looks like now to the writer who defined an era.

MTV's reality TV juggernaut—in which young pretty things become terrible human beings—has become a meta genre: we know they're acting, so those questions about whether it's scripted are older than the Juicy Couture they wore on Laguna Beach.

At this point, it's basically a given that I use an iPod. Apple has sold 220 million of 'em, almost one for every American of music-liking age. We jet out our doors each morning, press play and put the machine in our pocketrarely realizing that the Miike Snow album we're listening to is actually coming from the gadget, not from inside our heads.

Today, NEWSWEEK's turned its attention to the hilarious photography blogs that have been cropping up online faster than a Polaroid camera shoots out it's film .

Imagine you wake up in the morning, you log into Facebook, and, out of nowhere, you're told that your account has been disabled. While it's not exactly a new phenomenon, it's bound to happen more often as Facebook grows.

For a few months rumors have been swirling about what everyone's been calling "The Facebook Movie," a film version of Ben Mezrich's Facebook Tell-All, The Accidental Billionaires.

 Poor Jennifer Aniston. She's heartbroken again, and it was a dirty breakup this time. Her boyfriend—a rock musician—cheats on her, and she discovers it by picking up a lipstick-stained wine glass.

Both of Chicago's famous politicians were in New York today, but while Obama was speaking on Wall Street reform, Rod Blagojevich was speaking for ... himself.

By Kurt Soller   For five seasons, So You Think You Can Dance has been ruling the summer airwaves, playing pinch hitter while most of the other reality-television competitions are on hiatus.

The most dramatic block of '90s television will be resurrected tonight, when the CW welcomes us home to Melrose Place. Ten years after it left the air, the salacious soap will return to its proper place: right after the yawn-worthy remake of Beverly Hills, 90210.

By Kurt Soller A few things really stress me out. Taking the SATs (all three times) was a nightmare, and I hate anytime I fly: all that security, so many conversations with strangers.

It's not just partying. Some students are alcoholics.

If you watch the cooking show Money Saving Meals, you'll see a svelte Sandra Lee working in an impressively clean kitchen. On the first episode, everything is white: the counters, the drawers, the bowls, even the KitchenAid mixer. So is the sweater she's wearing, which may not be a surprise, as Lee has developed a knack over her years on the Food Network of matching her appliances to whatever stylish outfit she has on. The kitchen is so pristine, you have to ask: is Lee actually cooking?

What the company doesn't want you to know about its ignominious start.

The social networking site now boasts 250 million users, but has yet to make a single dollar in profit. Five years after its inception, a look at whether it can last another five.

Many Americans still believe the moon landings were faked. A look at dedicated scientists and amateurs who debunk the deniers' claims.

With looming economic concerns, should you worry that your Fourth of July will lose its flame? Nah.

A global voting monitor suggests that the outside world not jump to conclusions about Iran's vote.

Are we in a recession? A depression? Experts may differ, but here's something we can all agree on: in these tough economic times, the last thing we want to hear, ever again, is the phrase "in these tough economic times." Sadly, the mainstream media—and if you consult Google, yes, NEWSWEEK is probably guilty, too—can't get enough of it.

The blimp flying above your head may be watching your every move.

Assessing the critical reception of NEWSWEEK's ranking of America's top high schools.

TV's digital changeover is almost here. But does really matter?

by Kurt Soller Confession: I'm obsessed with Obsessed. As I was typing an e-mail to my co-workers about the saturation of coverage, I almost didn't mention that I spent my Friday night watching a different movie-- You know, the Beyonce Knowles and Ali Larter thriller with the terrible previews, the same one that topped the box offices when it opened two weekends ago.

Want to know what interested people about Obama's first days in office? Just check Google.

Peter Illyn: God made Earth, but mankind must save it.

In the 2008 election, 4 percent of the voters identified themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual, according to a CNN poll, and 27 percent of them voted for John McCain—numbers that seem to indicate a healthy space in politics for the Log Cabin Republicans, the party's most visible gay organization.

In one month, eight mass killings in the U.S. have left 57 people dead. A unifying theory has emerged: it's the "dismal state of the nation's economy," says an April 8 story in The Washington Post.

If you've still got a job and your friends don't, get ready for some awkward social situations.

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