Newsflash: it's not always better to be number one. America, with its superpower advantage, has things so easy that its perceptions may just be warped. Sometimes the outsider has a better read on things. Do Brazilians do it better? (Source.)

According to Jameson, Hollywood has a problem: it's running out of shock value. All the taboos have been worn out. What now? (Source.)

On the subject of television: by choosing one channel (e.g., The Food Network) versus another (e.g., Lifetime), viewers organize their lives according to genres. It's all part of the fragmentation of postmodern existence. (Source.)

Jameson dishes it out about American culture, pronouncing: "Anti-intellectualism on the right or left is as American as violence or apple pie." Ouch. (Source.)