All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Tony Maciulis is a CBS News producer based in New York.

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Don’t call it a comeback. Cyndi Lauper has never left the scene.

What she has done in the 25 years since "She’s So Unusual" is experiment, stretch her skills, and thumb her nose at an industry that loves its talent delivered in easily definable boxes. Admittedly, that isn’t always a recipe for commercial success.

"Bring Ya to the Brink" is Lauper’s first album of original material in 12 years, and a world apart from the moody, raw covers on "The Body Acoustic" or "At Last." It’s full on, sweaty, gritty dance. Not the overly electronicized version one generally hears from pop divas of a certain age, but a kind of sound that says “retro” in a good way. “Into the Nightlife” will wear a groove into your iPod as you click play again and again, transported to the Limelight circa 1995. It’s infused with dry ice and beer stains, like the club scene before it was wrapped in velvet.

The album won critical praise and a Grammy nod.

Lauper’s a contender this Sunday in “Best Electronic/Dance Album,” more than two decades after winning the Grammy for “Best New Artist” in 1985. What follows is an e-mail interview.

1. How do you go from covering “La Vie En Rose” to a full-on dance album?

I have been lucky enough as an artist to be able to shift gears easily and jump into various genres, so I don’t really see it as a stretch ...

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Tony Maciulis is a CBS News producer based in New York.

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Don’t call his work “ripped from the headlines.” Novelist Richard North Patterson may write about some very timely themes, but he is generally ahead of the headlines.

His latest novel, "Eclipse," his fifteenth to date, was inspired by some historic events in Nigeria, but its implications will reach far into the future.

We had a chance to chat with him via email and telephone.

Q. You are not one to shy away from controversial subjects in your novels. You’ve written about abortion, gun control, the conflict in the Middle East – just about everything they tell us not to talk about at dinner parties! What inspired you to write about oil in Africa?

A. The genesis of "Eclipse" lies in tragic events that occurred in Nigeria almost fifteen years ago, when a courageous environmental activist, Kent Saro-Wiwa, was hanged by General Sani Abacha, the country’s brutal and corrupt dictator. The crime of which Saro-Wiwa stood accused, on flimsy evidence, was ordering the murder of four local chiefs who were his political rivals within the Ogoni, Sari-Wiwa’s ethnic group. The tribunal that tried him was summoned into existence by Abacha and answerable to him alone; its arbitrary proceedings had little in common with courts as we know them, or with other courts in Nigeria. In the minds of most observers, Saro-Wiwa’s true crime was to protest the excesses of the government and petroleum companies in the Niger Delta, and to seek for the Ogoni and others at least some of the benefits accruing to the oil companies and the kleptocratic regime of General Abacha. To this day ...

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Tony Maciulis is a CBS News producer based in New York.

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Mitzi Gaynor, now there’s a blast from the past.

I found a YouTube clip of her singing Peter Allen’s hit “Everything Old Is New Again,” on a variety show special in 1976. It was called “Mitzi…Roarin’ in the 20’s.” I guess “Mitzi with a Z” seemed too derivative.

For years, the only place to see a classic piece of television camp like that was either online or on a late night infomercial advertising a DVD series. But now, there’s no need to remember when. Everything old … you get the picture.

Those splashy '70s-style variety shows are making a comeback. NBC gave an hour to Rosie O’Donnell recently, and Ellen DeGeneres ...

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As news broke that Pakistani opposition party leader Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated, supporters erupted in anger and tears, smashing the glass doors of Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Online, the emotion is just as palpable as Pakistanis vent fears and frustrations about the upcoming election and mourn the loss of a political icon who many are now calling a martyr.

Bhutto was a polarizing figure, loved by some and despised by others. As a blogger at Metroblogging Islamabad writes, “Bhutto was not perfect, but at least she was for a democratic process. Democracy once again dies with her.”

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Tony Maciulis is a producer for CBSNews.com based in New York.

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The "Primary Questions" series has sparked lots of conversations worth sharing on the blog. Katie interviewed 10 presidential contenders, and asked them 10 key questions ranging from their biggest fears to their biggest mistakes.

In the installments already aired on the CBS Evening News, the candidates have revealed something of their character and judgment--and given voters a better picture of who they really are.

Katie sat down earlier today to answer my 10 Questions about her 10 Questions.

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1. Why a series focusing primarily on character and the core values of the candidates, as opposed to policy?

We are going to spend a lot of time talking about policy positions and differences after there are two nominees, and certainly we've covered them in recent months. But we had an opportunity here to sit down with every candidate, and we wanted to get beyond positions that many people have heard at debates or seen on their websites.

We wanted a more revelatory interview in terms of character and the things that make them the people they are. I wouldn't advise voters to use this exercise alone to determine who they should support, but there is something to be said for understanding someone's humanity and character and integrity through answers to personal questions.

Character is critical in defining a presidency. When the rubber meets the road in a time of crisis, oftentimes the president’s character dictates what he or she will do.

2. You interviewed five Democrats and five Republicans. Why not all the contenders...?

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Tony Maciulis is host of CBSNews.com's "Irregularly Scheduled Programming."

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On "Irregularly Scheduled Programming," we cover the top few stories making waves online, the quirky news and videos that have people talking. They tend to be silly, irreverent, or just plain tacky.

Every so often the news in the mainstream and the most popular online topics are in lockstep, as they were today.

The top online video is a clip of the acting dean from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs on Fox News, defending the university's decision to bring Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad onto campus for a public forum.

As a graduate of Columbia, I've watched the events of the last couple of days with anticipation, and with mixed emotions.

As the faculty and administration defended the event in the face of some tough criticism, some students and activists took to the campus in protest to state their belief that Ahmadinejad should be turned away.

And the defense, the notion that a university should be a place for the free exchange of ideas seemed naïve. Is there no line that can't be crossed, no boundaries?

Critics on right leaning blogs like Little Green Footballs speculated that Columbia would open its doors to Ahmadinejad and shower him with liberal, East Coast guilt.

I feared it was a possibility.

Then, I watched the forum...

Tony Maciulis is a producer for CBSNews.com based in New York.

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On federal statistics pages, it's known as Bridge 9340. Early in its 40 year history, it was called "St. Anthony Bridge" for the falls just down the Mississippi River. Most recently, it was just the I-35W bridge.

Last night it collapsed during rush hour in the Twin Cities. At least four people are dead, and as many as 30 are missing as a rescue mission becomes a recovery operation.

In 2005, Bridge 9340 was rated "structurally deficient" by the Department of Transportation and given a score of 50%, the number at which states are to consider replacing a bridge.

Replacement had been scheduled for the year 2020. That was 13 years too late for the people who lost their lives in the Twin Cities last night.

There are 75,621 bridges in the United States that have been slapped with the same label of "structurally deficient." In fact, the I-35W bridge was just one of 1,140 such structures in Minnesota alone.

How many are in your state?

This link will take you to the official report from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.