In an interview with Katie Couric published in Glamour, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow says some may see her as the “face of the network” in the aftermath of Keith Olbermann‘s departure, but she has no real idea what that means. “I still think of myself as the new kid, even though I’ve been on the air for two and a half years. But my job is the same as it ever was, which is to make 9:00 P.M. as good as I can.”

Pia Carusone, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ chief of staff, spoke to Glamour in her first interview since the Arizona shooting that left Giffords recovering from a gunshot wound the head.

Carusone shared some things about Giffords that most may not know, painting a more detailed portrait of the woman who has an entire nation keeping a close eye on her progress.

Each fall, Glamour magazine anoints several female powerhouses as Women of the Year. In the past, they’ve honored movers and shakers like Meg Whitman, Hillary Clinton, Maya Angelou, and Jane Goodall—and now, the mag has revealed who will be following in their footsteps.

The American Society of Magazine Editors announced nominations for their annual National Magazine Awards last week, and for the first time included a brand new category: Magazine of the year. The official press release from the Magazine Publishers of America, defines the new award as, “honor(ing) publications that successfully use both print and digital media in fulfilling the editorial mission of the magazine.” Let’s take a look at the first time honorees: The Atlantic; Fast Company; Glamour; Men’s Health; and New York.

T: The New York Times Style Magazine staffers Horacio Silva and Andy Port caused quite a social media stir with their Golden Globes coverage. Silva, who tweeted real-time coverage via T’s Twitter account @TheMoment, bashed Dexter star Michael C. Hall‘s dark-colored beanie. The tweet: “Is Michael C. Hall playing Bob Marley in an upcoming movie? Don’t get the hat or what he is hiding under it. HS” Unbeknownst to to Silva, Hall wore to cover hair loss as a result of a recent treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

First lady Michelle Obama is one of five Glamour cover stars for this years ‘Woman of the Year’ issue. Mrs. Obama was interviewed by Katie Couric for the piece (and photographed with all her interns, what’s not to love about that!). Couric asked Obama what dating advice she would give to a young professional woman today.

Now would be a good time for the folks at Condé Nast to make a brave and convincing foray into the online world, right? And so they have — well, it’s brave at least — with the launch of a new dating site trulymadlydating.com. The idea is to get Glamour readers into a dating pool with GQ readers, and make money setting them up in stylish relationships. Since something is terribly wrong with Condé’s core business, it seems the publishing house is ready to try anything.

Continuing to attract the spotlight after the sensation the “girl on page 194″ caused, Glamour magazine’s Fashion Week launch of its new ad campaign is bright, cheerful, and optimistic. The New York Times calls the cupcake themed ads an attempt to reach out to media buyers and heighten their ad sales by “refresh[ing] their idea of the Glamour reader.”

On the cover of Glamour’‘s October issue and back in the saddle with No Doubt, Gwen Stefani is positively in your face. Feeling her pink fuzzy grip, we’ve pulled some of Gwen’s best cover work from the last five years. In your face, in your crotch, on the bedroom of your wall in high school — she’s been all over the place on the cover. But which is her best to date?

After a strong showing in The September Issue, Vogue‘s Anna Wintour tops Forbes‘ “2009′s Most Powerful Fashion Magazine Editors” list. But more interesting than the number one spot are the multimedia moves Wintour and her fellow editors made to retain relevance, not to mention Forbes‘ overlap with our own Power Grid rankings.

In the realm of women’s magazine, readers have grown accustomed to page after page of faultless models airbrushed to oblivion — unblemished and rail thin, with nary an extra hair, crease or pound. So imagine the shock when ladies thumbing through the September issue of Glamour happened upon page 194 and saw model Lizzi Miller, in all of her size 12-14 glory. But the risk worked and the magazine’s Editor in Chief Cindi Leive comes out ahead, specifically in her Power Grid ranking.

According to New York Times Stlye columnist Guy Trebay, this summer’s look is pretty much the same as last summer’s, except for one addition: The people have spoken and pot bellies are in.

Or are they? Cintra Wilson stirred up a storm by saying otherwise; Glamour followed up with a spread of a naked plus-sized model. Fat, it seems, is phat.

A small photo of a “full figured” model in the recent issue of Glamour has made a plus-sized splash with readers. Is all the positive feedback be a sign of things to come? Or is Glamour‘s plus-sized roll-out just a play to afford readers a sense of comfort in the world of flat bellies and diet tips? “Trust me, Glamour‘s listening, and this only strengthens our commitment to celebrating all kinds of beauty,” writes editor-in-chief Cindi Leive.

Cindi Leive is the editor-in-chief of Glamour, Conde Nast’s 2.35-million circ juggernaut with a balance sheet as healthy as a cover girl’s flowing mane. Under Leive, the magazine has enjoyed tremendous success and critical acclaim, racking up over 170 journalism awards, including numerous “General Excellence” nominations at the National Magazine Awards (it won in 2005, [...]

he September Issue of Australian Marie Claire hit newsstands this week with a very familiar image of Katie Holmes – the very same image that was used for the April issue of Glamour. This raises the question – is imitation is the best form of flattery or a copyright infringement?

The September Issue: it’s not just the title of the highly anticipated R.J Cutler documentary about Anna Wintour, its also what every magazine loving fashionista anxiously awaits, its hefty size a welcome antidote to the malnourished August issue. But judging from Elle’s September cover, which features Jennifer Aniston clad in black leather (last month anyone?), it’s beginning to look a lot like August.

Women’s fashion magazine covers typically fall somewhere between sexy and sophisticated. But finding the sweet spot is much trickier when your cover girl is still a teen. This month, women’s fashion mags across the globe plucked their covergirls from the young, supple crop of up-and-comers. Does putting teens on the cover help attract younger readers? (Or any readers at all?)

Mail.com, the innocuously named website owned by Jay Penske, has seemingly appeared out of nowhere and begun scooping up some big names, two of which have landed New York Times profiles in the last 24 hours courtesy of David Carr.

In the last two weeks Penske has surprised the media world by adding both Bonnie Fuller and Nikki Finke to his roster. What’s going on?

Harper’s Bazaar goes tabloid on Angelina Jolie, V-word makes Sandra Bullock giggle, Vogue slims down for Sienna Miller…