Even in an age of terrorism and economic meltdown, these past few years have seen a proliferation of popular satire: from a rejuvenated Saturday Night Live to The Onion, late-night monologues, Internet satires and, most prominently, The Daily Show.

President Bush has frequently been the object of such satires. How will satirists fill the vacuum he leaves behind?

Host Scott Simon talks with Kevin Bleyer, a writer for The Daily Show with John Stewart, about the challenges of making fun of serious news and an earnest president-elect.

Listen to the Interview….

The SEC has charged Dallas Mavericks owner and Internet entrepreneur Mark Cuban with insider trading. The civil charges involve alleged insider sales related to Mamma.com.

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Reality Check Checklist

Here’s a quick checklist to decide how badly you need to read the book:

1. Are you making meaning?
2. Does your product jump to the next curve?
3. Is your product Deep, Intelligent, Complete, Elegant, and Emotive?
4. Do you have a mantra for what you do?
5. Do you have a 10-slide pitch with no font smaller than 30 points that you can give in 20 minutes?
6. Have you figured out a way to take your product to market with no budget?
7. Are you helping people who cannot help you?
8. Can you blow away an audience with a demonstration of your product?
9. Would you hire “imperfect” job candidates who love what you do as well as candidates who are better than you are?
10. Are you only asking people to do things that you would do too?

Scoring:

Number of “Yes” responses:

1-4: You not only need it, you should pay full retail and have it shipped overnight.

5-7: For $30, you can fix everything you missed. Isn’t preventing mediocrity worth $30?

8-10: You may not need to read the book, but you should buy it as a gift for people who don’t know as much as you do.

Read more on Guy Kawasaki’s Blog

From 30-second commercial spots to feature films and experiential design, PAUSE NYC examines the concepts, techniques and principles that drive the world’s leading creative studios. The two-day event features 12 one-hour presentations, a panel discussion, special screenings, and nightly socials.

Confirmed presenters include: BTRY, Brand New School, BUCK, Chris Milk, Digital Kitchen, GMunk, Hillman Curtis, HUSH, Joseph Kosinski, Mark Romanek, MK12 and UFO.

http://www.pausenyc.tv/

As campaign managers for Sarah Palin plot last-minute tactics to get her elected, Hollywood bigwigs are convening strategy sessions of their own. Their goal: finding the ideal on-air vehicle for the vp candidate if and when she exits politics.

Love her or hate her — there doesn’t seem to be much middle ground with Palin — the 44-year-old hockey mom has captured the public imagination in a way no politician has since, well, Barack Obama.

But as more and more polls cast doubt on the McCain-Palin ticket, producers and agents across the entertainment world are discussing possibilities for capitalizing on her fame, ranging from an Oprah-style syndicated talk show to a Sean Hannity-like perch in cable news or on radio.

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“She came out again today. She was talking to a small town, she said that small towns, that’s the part of the country she really likes going to because that’s the pro-America part of the country. You know, I just want to say to her, just very quickly…f*** you.”

Talking Moose questions John McCain’s judgment in choosing Sarah Palin as a running mate–despite her Bush-like instincts and her lack of foreign policy experience.

How to pitch to today’s angels

This week, T-Mobile USA, Inc. brought together Hollywood’s hottest stars and New York’s elite tastemakers to celebrate the highly-anticipated launch of the new T-Mobile G1, the world’s first Android(TM)-powered mobile phone in partnership with Google. At the exclusive, invite-only launch events, held in the hip SoHo neighborhood of New York on October 16 and at a private studio in the heart of Hollywood on October 17, celebrities such as Rosario Dawson, Mischa Barton and Anthony Anderson turned out to get the first look at the much-talked about device and socialize with friends at the hottest bash on both coasts.

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A husband who hacked his wife to death with a meat cleaver in fury over her Facebook entry was jailed for a minimum of 14 years at the Old Bailey today.

Wayne Forrester, 34, drank alcohol and took cocaine before driving 15 miles to the family home to attack wife Emma as she lay in bed

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