culture

The Buzz gives props to Vice President Joe Biden (and to the nation’s Second Lady, Dr. Jill Biden). And Friday, President Barack Obama did as well—not wanting to squander the considerable abilities of Smokin’ Joe, the former U.S. Senate lion also known as Amtrak’s best customer, today he introduced Biden as Chair of The White…

A funny thing happened to the movie New in Town on the way to your local multiplex: Angela Bassett morphed into Gabrielle Union, who then became Renée Zellweger. This is not entirely shocking. “Colorblind” casting has been around for a while. Remember that the drill sergeant in An Officer and a Gentleman was slated to…

Come 2015, the National Museum of African American History and Culture will be standing on the National Mall, 800 feet away from the National Monument. What exactly will be standing in that space, hasn’t been decided. But The New York Times’ Arts Beat blog says, six architectural teams will be duking it out for the…

On Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will duke it out in Super Bowl XLIII. This year, the game will be held in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.—far from the intense wintry weather in the North. The last three Super Bowls were played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.,…

When Coach Mike Tomlin leads his Pittsburgh Steelers on the field Sunday evening for Super Bowl XLIII, he will be the third African American to coach in the big game in two years. In 2007, two black coaches, Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts and Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears, led their teams into…

When saxophonist Joshua Redman arrived on the jazz scene 18 years ago, it marked a new phase in a healthy jazz revival that has propelled the music into Lincoln Center and other upper reaches of institutionalized culture. Redman’s latest release, Compass may, again, signal a new and important phase in jazz. The release is Redman’s…

After a two-week binge of self-indulging critique of President Barack Obama’s economic platform, today Rush Limbaugh suddenly wants to have a “serious” fiscal policy debate, writing in The Wall Street Journal, “Let’s stop the acrimony.” As comedian Martin Mull might say, “That’s mighty white of him.” Prior to Obama’s inauguration, right-wing radio host Limbaugh said, “I…

It’s difficult to avoid being completely fascinated with our new First Lady, Michelle Obama. She’s an Ivy League black woman who’s as tall and fashionable as a supermodel. She’s the mother of 10-year-old twist sporting Malia and sassy Sasha. And President Obama glows every time she’s by his side. But The Buzz is not alone…

Via CNN, here comes a neat experience to cap off your frenzied week of Barack Obama inauguration overload: the Gigapan! This cool application stitches together a series of 220 digital photographs taken from the north media tower on the Capitol during last Tuesday’s inauguration, allowing viewers to zoom in on the crowd—way in. If you…