With his star turn as an emotional, hug-happy leader in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and his open embrace of President Obama in the days before the election, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey had been enjoying something of a romance with the American left. On Thursday, in the liberal lion’s den that is “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” that flirtation seemed to be officially declared over. In his first appearance on the Comedy Central talk show — and fresh off a widely discussed cameo on another left-leaning television mainstay, “Saturday Night Live” — Mr. Christie, a Republican who [...]
LONDON — When Chanel announced this month that it was taking over a cashmere mill in the Scottish border town of Hawick, it was more than a story of a luxury company riding in shining armor to the rescue. In buying Barrie, the knitwear company that filed for bankruptcy, the French couture house was putting knitting up there with other noble crafts. On Dec. 4, Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of Chanel, will present in Edinburgh his latest “Métiers d’Art” show — a collection that showcases the artisanal suppliers that Chanel started to buy up and protect a decade ago. [...]
Last week Politico’s chief political columnist, Roger Simon, advised Mitt Romney to tell more jokes. The most notable speech at the national party conventions was a sketch between a man and a chair. The most successful speech, delivered by Bill Clinton, was hailed for its improv. The debate on Saturday between Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly — three days after the first presidential debate, in Denver — is only the latest evidence that comedy has infiltrated politics. But the reverse is also true. Our nonstop, polarized political culture has fundamentally changed late-night television. Political anger has long been a staple [...]
SEOUL, South Korea — Ordinarily, a star turn on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” teaching Britney Spears his dance might be one of the surest signs that a performer has made it. But this week, Park Jae-sang, the South Korean phenomenon behind a dance video called Gangnam Style, got an even clearer sign of success. North Korea — so cut off from the world that satellite shots show most of the country plunged in darkness at night — parodied the video. Via YouTube Park Jae-sang, popularly known as PSY, performing in “Gangnam Style.” His video has more than 220 million views [...]