Popular Culture

10 November 2003


"The Reagans" Pulled by CBS -- Exiled to Showtime
In one of those instances where just about everyone involved is wrong, Viacom has decided that its free-TV network CBS will not show the two part miniseries "The Reagans" and will put it out on premium channel Showtime for those who subscribe. The Right cried foul over the content (which almost no one has seen), the Left whined about censorship (despite the program being broadcast uncut later this month). For more, click here.

Cash, Jackson Win CMAs
Country may never have been cool, but there is something refreshingly pure about the Country Music Awards, live from the Grand Ol' Opry in Nashville. The genre doesn't tolerate the hype and general bollocks that rock, hip-hop and the movies have embraced. What also counts is character. Click here to read on.

Americans Studying Foreign Languages Hits Record Levels
It is a common scene. A loud, Hawaiian-shirt wearing, over-weight buffoon shouts at the nearest native of some foreign land in purest American, "Can't you speak English?" The stereotype may not be dying entirely, but it is being undercut. According to the good folks at the Modern Language Association, over 1.4 million college students are studying a foreign language, a 17% increase from 1998. Its the highest figure the MLA has ever recorded, and its surveys go back to 1958. Click here to read more.