Profile for Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.com

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How Sacha Baron Cohen Keeps From Getting Sued

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJuly 15, 2009 //

On Friday night, I went to see “Bruno.” I laughed. (Hardest at the part where Bruno goes camping with a bunch of rednecks and, as they sit around the campfire, he asks them which “Sex and the City” character they are.) I cried. (When Bruno’s velcro suit caused chaos at a fashion show, and he’s shunned by the entire Austrian fashion community.) I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat. (When a mom agrees that her 4-year-old would have liposuction in order to land a modeling gig. And again when Bruno crashes a swinger’s party and is repeatedly whipped by a woman with nipple rings. Now that I think about it, at least 40% of the scenes in the movie were squirm-worthy.) But as I left the theater, one big question kept running through my mind—how does Sacha Baron Cohen get away with these stunts without getting sued a hundred times a day? Keep reading »

Remote Control: What You’ll Want To Watch The Week Of July 13th 2009

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJuly 13, 2009 //

It’s Monday, which means that you have some serious DVR-setting to do for the week. Here are the shows we can’t wait to watch—from the series premiere of “Michael and Michael Have Issues” to the season finale of “The Fashion Show.” Keep reading »

Sacha Baron Cohen On The Late Show. Swoon.

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJuly 10, 2009 //

Yes, we’ve done a lot of posts about “Bruno” in the past two days. No, we’re not planning on stopping anytime soon. The other night, Sacha Baron Cohen went on “The Late Show With David Letterman” as…(gasp)…himself. He describes getting an interview with an actual terrorist for the movie. Any chance he’ll divorce Isla Fisher and marry me? Keep reading »

Laura Ling Calls Sister Lisa From North Korean Labor Camp

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJuly 9, 2009 //

In June, journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp, after crossing into North Korea while working on a story for Current TV about the sad lives of the country’s female refugees. Hillary Clinton is hustling to try to get the two released, but so far things aren’t going very well. The only good news in the story is that Laura’s sister, Lisa Ling, who you probably remember from “The View,” got a call from her last night. “It was a tremendous relief to hear Laura’s voice. The silence has been just so terrifying and deafening,” Lisa told a radio station this morning. “She was very specific about the message she was communicating and she said, ‘Look, we violated North Korean law and we need our government to help us. We’re sorry about everything that happened, but now we need diplomacy.” Let’s hope it works. [AFP via Yahoo News] Keep reading »

Merriam-Webster Adds ‘Frenemy,’ ‘Locavore,’ And ‘Staycation’ To The Dictionary

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJuly 9, 2009 //

The kind editors over at Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary have updated the tome, adding in about 100 new words. Some of the words that made the cut: frenemy, webisode, waterboarding, locavore, vlog, flash mob, shwarma, green-collar, staycation, and reggaeton. To get added to the dictionary, editors have to see evidence that lots of people are using the word. Given this list, I’m kinda surprised that vajayjay didn’t make the cut. Maybe next year? [AP] Keep reading »

Q&A: Confessions Of A Pill Head

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJuly 9, 2009 //

I vividly remember walking into the interview. I was a junior in college and had scored a meeting with Joshua Lyon, an editor at Jane Magazine, the publication I’d been dreaming of working for since the first issue had appeared on newsstands and I skipped school to read it cover-to-cover. The interview went well, and an hour later, I got the phone call that he had picked me to be his intern. I was elated.

Josh and I worked together for the next four years. Turns out that, for two of them, he was almost always high on prescription pain killers.

Josh has written a fascinating book, Pill Head, about the whole ordeal. It’s part memoir, and part sociological exploration of why so many people in the United States—48 million of them to be exact—have used prescription pills for non-medical purposes. After the jump, Josh tells us everything from how he got his hands on his first Vicodin to why prescription pain killers are especially popular with the ladies. Oh, and why you owe it to grandma not to try them. Keep reading »

7 In 10 Republicans Still Want Palin To Run In 2012

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJuly 8, 2009 //

Yesterday, Sarah Palin said, “Politically speaking, if I die, I die. So be it.” But that doesn’t look like what’s going to happen. According to the latest USA Today/Gallup poll, two-thirds of Republicans want Palin to remain a “major national political figure,” and I don’t think they mean as the butt of late-night comedy jokes. And 7 in 10 Republicans say they would absolutely pull the lever for her for prez in 2012, and that the past week hasn’t changed their perception of her one iota. Um, people, don’t you remember when she QUIT HER JOB? How exactly does that make her fit for the Oval Office? This next stat won’t come as a shocker to anyone—75% of Democrats want to see her career be dunzo, already. So, Frisky GOPers, tell us what you think! [USA Today] Keep reading »

The Sorry State Of Reality Love Shows

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJuly 7, 2009 //

You know how there’s that certain type of guy you want to dramatically douse in a glass of red wine, just to wipe the smug look off his face for a split-second? That’s how I felt last night watching Wes Hayden’s behavior on “The Bachelorette,” when he realized Jillian Harris was on to his cheating, publicity-hungry ways. As if telling the guys, “If [I'm voted off], I’m gonna go home and have lots of sex,” wasn’t gross enough, on his limo ride out of Barcelona, he bragged, “I’m the first guy on the ‘Bachelorette’ to make it to the final four…with a girlfriend.” Ding, ding, ding! Wes, you’ve just one a million dollars! Wait, no, that’s not how this show works. Hello, smart guy. Guess who watches the “The Bachelorette”? Women. And more specifically, women who’re rooting for the single person in the driver’s seat to not only find love, but have it last for more than 10 seconds. In other words, if anything, this was a pretty bad career move for an aspiring country musician. “Bachelorette” fans aren’t going to listen to this reality TV villain’s music. Just like no one’s going to buy Spencer Pratt’s rap album.

Okay, rant over. But last night’s “Bachelorette” got me thinking—are reality dating shows intrinsically broken? Keep reading »

Why The Eff Did Sarah Palin Resign?

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJuly 6, 2009 //

On Friday, I was vegging out on the beach, enjoying an Italian ice and the latest issue of Lucky, when I got a text from a friend: Sarah Palin was peacing out as the governor of Alaska at the end of the month. For the next hour, I compulsively read the news on my iPhone, trying to make sense of Palin’s semi-loopy announcement.

“[I want to] fight for all our children’s future from outside the governor’s office,” she said. “I thought about how much fun other governors have as lame ducks. They maybe travel around their state, travel to other states, maybe take their overseas international trade missions. I’m not going to put Alaskans through that. I promised efficiencies and effectiveness.”
[New York Times]

Um, Sarah, remember 10 months ago when you ran for freaking VICE PRESIDENT? What if McCain had won the election and had some inevitable health problem? You could have landed plop in the Oval Office. Would you up and quit then? Also, you think the best way to by efficient and effective is to…hand the reigns over to someone else? Keep reading »

A Cheerleading Tazer Attack

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJuly 1, 2009 //

It’s hard to go more than a few months in the United States without a juicy cheerleading scandal. (Don’t believe me? Check out my book CHEER!: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders.) Today, a case in Oklahoma is eerily reminiscent of Wanda Holloway, the infamous Texas cheer mom who tried to have her daughter’s cheer rival offed in the 1990s. Find out what happened this time time around, after the jump… Keep reading »

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