If you've been paying attention to Salon's cover page today, you've probably  noticed a couple of things 1. A large cartoon of Francis Lam, our new food writer, staring at a donut. 2. Salon's brand spanking new food section. Both are exciting new developments, not only because Francis spends muc… Read full post »

It's that sexy time of year again: At the end of this week, People Magazine will be announcing its Sexiest Man Alive -- its annual award for the country's most desirable dude. As you know, Salon has a longstanding disagreement with People's taste in men (and its dedication to naming pretty-boy… Read full post »

As some of you have noticed, we've been having some problems with our feed import function over the last few weeks -- some posts are being imported a few days late, others aren't coming in at all. The cause: Open Salon's growing popularity. As wonderful as that is, our system is… Read full post »

Just to give you  a head's up, I'm heading out of town on a much-anticipated vacation until Thursday -- and Kerry's going to be stepping in to update the cover and make Editor's Picks as he can. (You may notice that the updates will be a bit more sporadic until I… Read full post »

As you all know, Open Salon never sleeps. Ever since we launched the site, many of you have been posting, commenting and rating 24 hours a day, seven days a week -- and we're thrilled. But as many of you have surely noticed, there are some times of the week when… Read full post »

Since the public launch of Open Salon, we've had tens of thousands of bloggers join the site -- to write, photoblog and make videos about everything from politics to entertainment, from their gender-reassignment surgery to their experiences serving in Iraq. We've also surprised and thr… Read full post »

If you've spent any significant amount of time on Wikipedia -- the web's user-generated encyclopedia -- you've probably come across things that have made you raise your eyebrows. Some entries are riddled with obvious lies, others are filled with bizarre facts or hilarious in-jokes. Such are the dange… Read full post »

At this point, many of you have probably already heard the sad news: John Hughes, director of "Ferris Buehler's Day Off," "The Breakfast Club," and "Weird Science"among many other films (and the writer of "Pretty in Pink")  died of a heart attack today, while taking a walk in New York City.… Read full post »

I'm sure many of you are still reeling from the news that Paula Abdul -- with her endearingly incoherent advice and her crazy crazy eyes -- won't be back on "American Idol" next season. It's ok, folks, it will all be better soon, especially if the producers find somebody equally entertaining… Read full post »

This weekend in Salon, Katharine Mieszkowski has a heartbreaking interview with Vicki Forman, the mother of a severely-premature son who lived with multiple disabilities until the age of seven, when he died from what she calls "complications from his pre-maturity." Forman touches on many of the diffi… Read full post »

After their trippy "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Johnny Depp and Tim Burton continue their quest to make us feel vaguely uncomfortable about things we really liked in our childhoods. Today the teaser trailer for "Alice in Wonderland," their latest collaboration, hit the web  -- and genera… Read full post »

It's the big event of the day: The Michael Jackson media circus pulls up to the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the King of Pop's memorial in, um, 5 minutes. Jennifer Hudson, Mariah Carey and John Mayer are slated to perform. There will likely be some genuine outpourings of grief… Read full post »

Even as the authorities clamp down on the opposition, and foreign news outlets are forced out of the country, information continues to flow out of the country on blogs, YouTube, and, most of all, Twitter.

You can follow the unfiltered Twitter coverage at #irancoverage, but as many news outlets warn,… Read full post »

(Photo via clippergoodwill)

 It's been nearly three days since Air France Flight 447 disappeared mysteriously over the Atlantic Ocean, taking 228 people with it. As we all know by now, the flight was en-route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, and disappeared off radar after flying into a… Read full post »

The news has just come in: The California Supreme Court has upheld Proposition 8. As the LA Times reports, the 6-1 decision will keep gay marriage illegal in the state, while allowing California's 18,000 existing gay marriages to stand under state law. It's sure to anger lots of Californians -- there… Read full post »

It’s the story that’s burning up the web: Elizabeth Adeney is eight months pregnant at 66.

Over the weekend, British tabloids latched on to the news that the divorced businesswoman will be Britain's oldest mother. (She won't be the oldest mother on record – that distinction goes to… Read full post »

If you watch Jimmy Kimmel on a regular basis (I guess somebody must), or pay close attention to viral web comedy, you may have already seen the following video. On last night’s program, “Lost’s” Matthew Fox was one of Kimmel’s guests, and after some friendly banter, they… Read full post »

There’s been a lot of news on the gay marriage front in the past few weeks. First Iowa, and then Vermont have legalized it. As Vincent Rossmeier  wrote about in Salon’s War Room, a recent poll suggests that support for gay marriage may be on the dramatic increase (though, as Vincent… Read full post »

In today’s big pop culture video news, Lindsay Lohan made her way on to the “Ellen” show. I’m not entirely sure why she ended up on there-- it’s not like she’s got any movies to promote -- but it was a strangely poignant, disconcerting thing to watch. Not only did… Read full post »

(courtesy of Robyn Gallagher.)

One of our goals at Open Salon has been to help bloggers find the audiences they deserve. As the site continues to grow, we've been thrilled to see many of you do just that. Browsing through the most-viewed tabs on the cover, many of… Read full post »

As Kerry posted earlier this week, Thursday, April 16 (tomorrow!) will be the one-year anniversary of Open Salon, and to celebrate, bloggers will be throwing anniversary parties around the country (and even, possibly, in Vancouver).

Kerry and I will be hosting the party in New York at:

Stitch Bar… Read full post »

Happy April 1st everybody! It’s the happiest day of the year – especially if getting instant messages from your friends telling you about the awesome Megadeth tattoo they got last night and then typing “April Fools!” makes you exceptionally happy. But pranks aren’t just… Read full post »

As if Detroit didn’t have enough to worry about. Today, India-based Tata Motors launches the Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car. The small four-door has a 624cc two-cylinder engine with a maximum speed of 43 mph, a body made of sheet metal and plastic, manual steering and no airbag. Its… Read full post »

From today's Spiegel, a somewhat shocking news item as a German (uncreatively-named) brothel tries a new strategy to attract clients:

The city's "Pussy Club" has made headlines in the local press by giving clients unlimited access to all its ladies for €70, which includes an all-you-can-eat-and-… Read full post »

Every day, I walk past this bus-stop ad on my way home, and every day, I wonder: Are there really people in New York that think, "Gee, I'd really love to take that trip to Japan, if only it were more like Pleonk"?

I can't wait to see… Read full post »