Worst Popes Edition

Glenn Beck’s Mormon masterpiece theater, why humans sigh, the 10 worst popes (and no, Benedict isn’t among them) and Aaron Sorkin’s response to the Newsweek gay actor saga.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

The links below open in a new window. Newer ones are on top.

Now That You Mention It, Rock Hudson Did Seem Gay First things first. An actor, no matter which sex they’re attracted to, can’t “play” gay or “play” straight. Gay and straight aren’t actable things. You can act effeminate and you can act macho (though macho usually ends up reading as gay), but an actor can’t play gay or straight anymore than they can play Catholic.

Earth to Washington Post: It’s 2010 Sunday’s ombudsman column sparked a healthy discussion about whether The Post should loosen its policies governing when to disclose a person’s sexual orientation. …

Wall Street Journal’s Choice of a Front-Page Photo of Elena Kagan — No Plausible Deniability A spokeswoman for the Wall Street Journal said today its cover art was not intended as innuendo about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s sexual orientation after the paper’s front-page use of an image of Kagan playing softball provoked a mixture of irritation and amusement from gay and lesbian advocates.

Flashmob Infiltrates the Boycotted Westin Hotel in S.F.

Can We Count on PBS’s New Program ‘Need to Know’ to Report the Truth? Billed as part of an effort to “revitalize public media,” a new planned public affairs series on PBS hosted by Newsweek editor Jon Meacham has many doubters.

Mormon Masterpiece Theater: How Glenn Beck Re-Invented Himself as a Crying Conservative If people know one thing about Glenn Beck, it is that he cries. He is the Crying Conservative. Alone among cable news and talk-radio personalities, he frequently chokes up, his lips quiver, he wipes his eye, and he holds tortured misty pauses until he can hold them no more. For more than a decade, Beck has been crying on the radio, on television, on stage, in interviews, and even in scripted commercials. Sometimes the tears are implied; at other times, such as during a 2009 stage performance, he gets into a fetal position on the floor and bawls. …

How the Federal Reserve Makes Money Out of Thin Air Author Bill Greider argues that a more democratic money creation system could have saved the country from the brink of financial collapse.

The Top 10 Worst Popes (Benedict Doesn’t Make the Cut) The scandals may be coming thick and strong from the Vatican at the moment, but the Church has always waged a losing battle with its own vice-ridden staff.

When Grading Papers, Red Ink May Mean Lower Scores New research suggests the use of red ink by teachers to correct students’ work may result in harsher evaluations.

Why We Sigh (It’s a Human Reset Button) Taking the occasional deep breath keeps the respiratory system nimble, research shows.