It’s a Wonderful Second Life

Staff / Truthdig Oct 13, 2006 Check out this mind-blowing story on Second Life, the simulated online world where people socialize, shop for actual products, attend legitimate university classes, even buy virtual real estate -- using real-world money. This head-spinning enmeshing of online/off-line interaction represents a new model for our Internet-addled society. It's like "The Matrix" (Version 0.1). Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Live Musical Acts, Coming to a Sim Near You

Staff / Truthdig Aug 19, 2006 Now this is a cool sign of the times: Musicians are playing "live" concerts streamed through virtual reality environments like "Second Life." Above, the avatar of Suzanne Vega plays in what was billed as "the first time a major recording artist performed live in avatar form." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Culture of Hypocrisy

Staff / Truthdig Jul 21, 2006 "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart seized upon Bush's stem cell veto to explore the president's "culture of life" inconsistencies. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Andy Borowitz: Man in Coma for 19 Years Asks to Go Back to Sleep

Andy Borowitz / Truthdig Jul 15, 2006 The political satirist reports that the patient asked to be made unconscious again after realizing that the person he was seeing on TV was the real president of the United States, not a "Saturday Night Live" impersonator. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

‘The Pill’ Turns 46 Years Old

Staff / Truthdig May 10, 2006 On May 9, 1960, the FDA approved Enovid, the first birth control pill, for clinical use Many court cases, a sexual revolution and a fundamentalist backlash later, use of and access to contraceptives is still very much a hot-button issue in the US Read a roundup of information and opinion relating to the release of an explosive report last week connecting a spike in unwanted pregnancies among the poor to decreased contraceptive use (h/t: Feministing) REPORT: A Tale of Two Americas for Women: The Contraception-Abortion Connection press release | PDF (Guttmacher Institute) Timeline: The Pill (PBS). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Moussaoui Gets Life for 9/11 Role

Staff / Truthdig May 4, 2006 The so-called 12th hijacker escaped the death penalty and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Gay Talese: The Truthdig Interview

Blair Golson / Truthdig May 3, 2006 The legendary father of New Journalism discusses his first new book in 14 years; the fallout of his wife's publication of James Frey's fabricated memoir; and how he may have spawned the "The Sopranos." Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

Male-Female Equality Boosts Sex Life

Staff / Truthdig Apr 22, 2006 University of Chicago researchers discover that in countries where men have a dominant status over women, people report lower satisfaction with their sex lives. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )