Jessica Bennett

STARTING POINTOlympic figure skater Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly masterminds the 1994 plot in which a hired thug clubs the knee of Harding's rival Nancy Kerrigan, forcing her out of the U.S. championships.

Are these graphic PSAs inspiring or offensive? You decide.

In the age of Google and YouTube, public shaming can turn anybody into a celebrity—or a fool.

More photo studios are offering to retouch your child's flaws away. But is digital perfection good for a kid's self-image?

In a new Web video series, Compton-born rapper Coolio makes a different kind of comeback: he's cooking.

In a presidential campaign, image is everything. 'Project Runway''s Tim Gunn reviews the candidates and gives advice on how to 'Make It Work.'

A sociologist's tale of seven years inside a Chicago street gang

It's been nearly four decades since Lolita the killer whale was snatched from her family in the waters of Puget Sound. Now activists want to bring her home.

In the latest installment of the Spider-Man comic series, Peter Parker is pictured kissing a woman other than his longtime sweetheart, Mary Jane. Fans are not happy.

A quirky online gaming term is crowned Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year. A proud day for geeks everywhere.

Preschoolers aren't the only ones gaga for "Yo Gabba Gabba!", Nick Jr.'s new sing-along TV series for kids that's best described as a cross between "Sesame Street" and "Soul Train," with daily doses of beat-boxing by rap pioneer Biz Markie.

The New York Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic church has an unusual new weapon against child abuse.

A new children's show has everyone from preschoolers to hipster dads grooving to the beat. That includes the clown prince of hip-hop, Biz Markie.

The average American is caught on tape some 200 times a day, but for many of us the notion that we're being watched—at all times—has yet to sink in. That's what makes Adam Rifkin's acclaimed new film, "Look," so shocking.

Shot entirely through the view of public surveillance cameras, a new film gives viewers a glimpse into just how public our private lives have become. What 'Look' reveals may shock you.

If you drew up a list of gay-friendly states, Alabama, which still treats homosexual conduct as a crime, and Utah, home of a large, conservative Mormon community, probably wouldn't be near the top.

Hip-Hop culture has long glorified the almighty dollar. But the greenback has fallen on such hard times—it hit a new low this month against several foreign currencies—that even rap moguls are turning on it.

Junior high school isn't easy for anyone. But for Merle Yost, it was constant dread. He was tortured with bras hung over his locker, the constant assignment to the "skins" team during gym class, and a particularly brutal nickname ("Tits"). "I learned really early to cover up and hide, and I spent the next 20 years wearing big shirts to cover my chest," he recalls.

American Apparel has become famous for its well-designed, comfortable clothes, and an ad campaign that makes many of us supremely comfortable. My personal dilemma.

The goal of social search is to combine Facebook's personal touch with Google's speed.

It wasn't so long ago that anyone with a personal Web page was either a dork or an egomaniac. Now sites like MySpace and Facebook have turned online socializing into the norm.

Whether you're a MySpace addict or a Luddite who logged on once to see what all the fuss was about, you've likely met Tom. As the public face of MySpace, cofounder Tom Anderson has become a celebrity since the site launched in 2003 because he's every user's first "friend": when you join MySpace, your profile is automatically linked to his.

Eve Fairbanks knew something was up when her mother drove six hours to her college to have lunch with her. After a meal of risotto came the moment of truth: "I know about the porn," her mother told her.

Ever Googled yourself and found someone who has your name—and a very different life? You've just met your Googlegänger.

After the death of a mare in Manhattan, a call to ban the city's famous horse-drawn carriages has sparked a national debate.

A new study of a skeleton of a member of a race of three-foot-tall 'hobbits' who lived 12,000 years ago in Indonesia shows that they were a species of human—and that the evolutionary path to Homo sapiens has been tortuous indeed.

A controversial Web site purporting to be a place for families to sell their teenage daughters as brides is revealed to be bogus. Wait till you see what the would-be grooms wrote in--and what states actually allow.

We all know the warnings: addiction, isolation, a waste of time. But what if online games like World of Warcraft could be a new weapon for fighting infectious diseases?That's what epidemiologists at Tufts University argue, after studying a virtual disease outbreak that the creators of World of Warcraft introduced as an extra challenge to the game—and were shocked by how it raged.

Many governments, including the United States, say you can't compromise with terrorists. But is there a gray zone?

The United Nations, notorious for endless deliberations, is trying a technological quick fix. Its Global Compact Office, which promotes corporate responsibility, has embraced a once fringe social technology—the wiki—in hopes that it will help staff in 80 countries share information and reach consensus with less deliberation and more speed.The office has done this by enlisting the public in its review of progress reports from more than 2,000 companies—an effort to make sure each is...