You'd have to be living under a rock not to know that Mad Men is debuting its third season this Sunday. For the past month fans have been inundated with Mad Men Twitter avatars, Mad Men window-dressings, and Mad Men-themed websites. All this smoke-filled, sexed-up, whiskey-splashed glamour is enough to make one long for the heady days of the early Sixties — who knew advertising could be so compelling? We know who — the folks at Morning Joe, currently representing the most harmonious blend of advertising and editorial on the airwaves. Don Draper himself couldn't have topped it (and he might even have switched out his whiskey for a Venti Frappucino). From there, the comparisons suddenly seemed obvious. So, in the tradition of merging the media beat with whatever pop culture sensation we're currently obsessed with (Harry Potter and the Media Muggles, anyone?) we thought it would be fun to cast the Mad Morning Men (and Women) of Morning Joe. Hey, what else are you gonna do until Sunday at 10? (more...)

It's not really a secret around here that I am a big fan of New York Times op-ed columnist and author Gail Collins. Collins, whose witty and sharp columns often add a measure of levity to the Times op-ed pages -- particularly during last year's sometimes fraught campaign season -- has brought those same talents to her two books on the history of women in America. Her first, America’s Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines covered the lives of women from the Mayflower through to the end of the 1950's (and in the telling made me increasing grateful I was late enough to miss most of it). And she has just followed up with When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey Of American Women From 1960 To The Present, which picks up exactly where she left off and details the lives of women over the last fifty years. (more...)

VIDEO Last night Mad Men star Jon Hamm was on The Tonight Show, chit-chatting with Conan O'Brien about everything except Mad Men, which was frustrating for those of us wondering if Don Draper knows how to swim. (Yes yes, we all know creator Matt Weiner has put the kibosh on revealing the state secrets, but come on, have you guys not figured out that the rest of us just like talking about it?) In any case, we did learn that Jon Hamm's grandmother isn't a fan of the show. Her feedback: "I don't think you're making very good decisions." Well, frankly, that goes double for Conan. (more...)