Inquirer editor in chief Bill Marimow was abruptly fired some time in the last two hours (some time after the 10:30 news meeting, which he reportedly attended), reportedly by publisher Bob Hall and co-owner George Norcross. This terse email went out to staff: From: Hall, Bob Sent: Monday, October 07, 2013 11:15 AM To: All IGM Employees; All Philly.com Employees Subject: Announcement Please be advised that effective immediately, Bill Marimow is no longer employed by Interstate General Media, Inc. We wish Bill well in his future endeavors. Stan Wischnowski will become acting editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer. However, reports […]

FRESH AIR In April 2009, Somali pirates boarded an American-flagged container ship and took its captain, Richard Phillips, hostage on a small lifeboat. That led to a five-day drama at sea, much of it covered on television, as a U.S. Navy destroyer tailed the lifeboat and Navy SEAL sharpshooters eventually freed the captain. In 2010 Phillips wrote a memoir called A Captain’s Duty, and the harrowing experience has now been adapted into a film called Captain Phillips.Captain Phillips is directed by Paul Greengrass and stars Tom Hanks, both of whom join Fresh Air’s Dave Davies to talk about the film. […]

  ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: In trying to scare up some laughs for its annual Halloween episode, The Simpsons also got deadly serious: They recruited big-screen writer-director Guillermo Del Toro. Known for crafting surreal worlds of fantasy and horror (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Devil’s Backbone) as well as action (Pacific Rim), Del Toro turned Springfield into his own wicked playground with a 2-minute-45-second couch gag/ opening-titles extravaganza to kick off last night?s “Treehouse of Horror XXIV.” It’s a dense, elaborate, clever, creepy, impressive creation — and it requires several viewings to process all of the action. Initially offered the opportunity to record a […]

Live at the Festival Pier Thursday night. RELATED: Eight Miles High In The Land Down Under

  ATLANTIC WIRE: Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett went on local TV news in Harrisburg on Friday to talk about the state’s ongoing gay marriage debate, and was asked about his lawyers comparing gay marriage to 12-year-olds getting married. Corbett responded, “It was an inappropriate analogy, you know.” So far, so good. But then he went astray: “I think a much better analogy would have been brother and sister, don’t you?” You can watch the reporter struggle to respond at right. Chris Cillizza at The Washington Post has already advised Corbett to “call your office.” A few hours after the interview, Corbett issued a statement, […]

  Flaming Lips crowd, Festival Pier last night by DEREK BRAD

  FRESH AIR William Masters and Virginia Johnson became famous in the 1960s for their groundbreaking and controversial research into the physiology of human sexuality. Instead of just asking people about their sex lives, Masters and Johnson actually observed volunteers engaging in self-stimulation and sexual intercourse. Changes throughout their bodies during arousal were measured with medical equipment. A new Showtime series premiering in September tells their story. It’s called Masters of Sex, and it’s based on the book by Thomas Maier, who is also a consultant for the series. Until Maier’s book, Masters and Johnson’s research techniques remained shrouded in […]

HUFFINGTON POST: As of Oct. 1, possession of marijuana is decriminalized in Switzerland. Anyone over the age of 18 caught with 10 grams or less of the drug will no longer have to make a court appearance and will not have offenses entered into their permanent record; instead, violators will have to pay a fine of 100 Swiss Francs (approximately $110), then be on their way. Lawmakers in the country relaxed weed regulations in an effort to unify what had been a patchwork of often confusing policies that varied from one local area to another. Per The Independent, the measure […]

[Via NEW YORK DAILY NEWS]