Noah Oppenheim
We did a story this morning covering the latest developments in the divorce of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline. It’s a sordid mess, and frankly, gives many an icky feeling.
Spears has gone from multi-talented, international superstar to a sad punch line, her life the model of a celebrity implosion. Federline has been a punch line from the start, which makes it doubly alarming that he’s starting to appear the more responsible half of the former couple.
Of course, it’s fair to ask… What makes any of this news? Why should anyone care what happens to these wealthy, foolish people? CONTINUED >>
Today we brought you what appears to be
another Hall of Fame entry in the Annals of Insane Lawsuits. Leroy Greer, a car salesman, called 1-800-flowers.com and sent flowers to his girlfriend. 1-800-flowers.com subsequently sent a receipt to Leroy’s house. The trouble? Leroy shares his house with his wife, who thus discovered Leroy has a girlfriend.
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Today we tackled
Clarian Health Partners’ controversial plan to fine their employees for unhealthy behaviors. Clarian, an Indiana hospital chain, will dock $5 off worker paychecks for smoking, $10 off for being overweight, and $5 each for high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure. The fines could add up to $780 a year for an especially hedonistic, smoking, donut-popping employee.
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This morning we
interviewed Matt Murphy, the young man who caught Barry Bonds' historic homerun ball. For Murphy, being in that stadium, on that night, to catch that ball, was the definition of blind luck. For us, finding Murphy was similarly fortuitous…
From the moment Murphy was escorted from AT&T Park in San Francisco, every talk show in America launched a hunt to track him down. When we’re pursuing a guest like Murphy, one of our go-to sleuths is Matt Zimmerman. If Zimmerman worked in government, we’d have located Bin Laden on Sept. 12th. He’s relentless.
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We hosted a debate this morning between the founder of Baby Einstein and the author of a study which contends the popular educational DVDs actually impair children’s intellectual growth.
Even before this study, I was amazed that parents would spend money on such products. Not because I suspected they were harmful. But because they strike me as a sick reflection of our constant social emphasis on success and achievement. CONTINUED >>
This morning we reported a study on the staggering power of advertising. Children, ages 3 and 5, were presented with an assortment of identical foods, half in McDonald’s packaging, half in unmarked packaging. The kids were then asked which tasted better. An overwhelming majority said the foods labeled “McDonald's” tasted best. CONTINUED >>
Much has now been made of Jim Cramer’s so-called “rant” on CNBC last Friday. If you haven’t already, watch it now. This is what’s known in the business as “good TV.”
Since the clip has made the rounds online, many critics have questioned whether someone with Cramer’s influence should be making such statements in such an emotive fashion. They’ve also questioned his sanity. CONTINUED >>
Today, after months of hard investigative work, we brought you the truth about cupcakes.
In New York and Los Angeles, cupcakes are the hottest yuppie culinary craze since the sushi boom of the 1980s. Not only are city-dwellers consuming cupcakes like everyday is a 2nd grade birthday party, a record number of hard-charging careerists are abandoning their cubicles to become cupcake bakers.<
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This morning we took a look at CyberChondriacs. And, yes, that is a completely invented term. And, no, I have no idea how to spell it. (One of the perks of working in the media is promoting the deterioration of the English language.)
That all said, it is a very real phenomenon – people searching for medical information online and whipping themselves into a paranoid frenzy. I know the pitfalls well.
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Much of the controversy surrounding Skinny Bitch is connected to its promotion of a vegan lifestyle. Vegans are not only vegetarians, they also avoid all animal byproducts like milk, cheese, and eggs. It’s not easy, it may sound a bit extreme, and I’m not sure if it’ll help you lose weight, but it’s a choice for which I have enormous respect. CONTINUED >>
