This young man, Leesburg, Georgia native Phillip Phillips, has just been crowned the new winner of American Idol, Season 11.

India has taken inspiration from Richard Connell's 1924 short story "The Most Dangerous Game," in an effort to aid in population control.

Slate Magazine featured a write-up Wednesday of two recent studies out of University of Texas-Austin that suggest the hottest thing a woman can do (in the eyes of a gentleman on the prowl for a one-night stand) is look sleepy, drunk, and/or unintelligent.

Chinese flies looking to build a beautiful life for themselves in the public toilets of Beijing were dealt a crushing blow earlier this week, after government officials rolled out a new set of sanitation guidelines including a "two fly-maximum" rule for restrooms.

Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons apparently came out of the closet today, which I'm sure is news to him, considering he's been out and about for some time now.

Snooki is having a boy. But she "thought it was going to be a girl." With three months until B-Day, she and Jionni LaValle are torn between two names: Lorenzo or Jionni Jr. We personally think she should just name him Pizza.

It may not be quite what many have been anticipating since the release of his last studio album six years ago, but Justin Timberlake will be returning to the medium that made him famous when he provides the score for Bill Purple's upcoming feature directorial debut, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.

Documents released last night show that not only did the CIA and Department of Defense offer extremely cozy access to filmmakers Mark Boal and Kathryn Bigelow for their forthcoming thriller about the operation to kill Osama bin Laden—they seemed to give up previously unreleased details about the raid's origins.

This Sunday, Newark Mayor Cory Booker went on NBC's Meet the Press, home of David Gregory's meatball pitch to right-handed batters, and called Barack Obama's attacks on Mitt Romney's Bain Capital record "nauseating."

Paul Fusco, who is not only the creator of beloved 80's sci-fi sitcom ALF but also the voice and principal puppeteer of the show's titular character, recently told The Hollywood Reporter he feels the world is ready for the diminutive Melmackian's triumphant return.

If ever you become misty-eyed and soft-hearted after watching a few too many soft-focus sunlight-drenched bank ads full of friendly professional women and smiling minorities who've just bought their first homes, it's good to remind yourself that big banks are, fundamentally, soulless robots whose only aim is to extract as much money as possible from you via any tactics they're allowed to get away with. They are the bloodsuckers of the poor. There is no better example of this than prepaid debit cards.

Like all good things in this world (or bad things, for that matter), Flavorwire's ongoing series of compilations featuring the first film roles of now-famous actors also adheres to the Rule of Three.

A Romanian news reporter is making some news of his own after getting caught on camera recreating a sand storm he was unable to capture live.

In April, Vanity Fair published a terrific oral history of The Sopranos. This month's issue features the piece's response letters with an even more terrific interpretation of the series' maddening, still-discussed final scene, sent in by Larry Grossman of Las Vegas, Nevada:

"Tom Cruise like I've never seen him!" is how Oprah Winfrey described it on May 23, 2005, at the top of an episode of her show that would go on to become its most memorable: the one with the couch jumping. She wasn't lying. Cruise was known for being guarded and tight-lipped about his private life, and his effusive display was enough to overshadow his career and to redefine his star status. Reporting on Paramount's decision to sever its 14-year production deal with Cruise in 2006, the New York Times described the post-Oprah events as, "Tom Cruise's yearlong metamorphosis from pure box-office phenomenon to pop-culture punch line."

Looking to draw some attention to her primary school's poor excuses for lunches, 9-year-old Martha Payne of Argyll, Scotland, started a blog with her dad to rate the dinners (as they're known across the pond) by taste, health, and "pieces of hair."

Since marrying Mrs. Mark Zuckerberg on Saturday, Dr. Priscilla Chan has become…

The Internet sure seems to think so.

France's Onra is obsessed with retro R&B — his beaut of a 2010 album, Long Distance, contained many a convincing foray into the post-disco offshoot of boogie, and he's also flirted with some new jack swing reediting. I relate to his obsessions! The new track "L.O.V.E.," from his upcoming EP on Fool's Gold, sounds like a fading memory of a fleeting moment at the Paradise Garage. Gorgeous. [via Pitchfork]

The Dallas-based pizza chain Pizza Patrón, which made headlines worldwide in 2007 when it began accepting Mexican pesos (solo billetes), is at the center of another silly controversy, this one involving an offer of a free pizza pie to anyone who orders in Spanish on June 5th between the hours of 5 and 8 PM.