The idea that everyone has a story and that every story is valid is a basic belief of This American Life. Hosted by Ira Glass, the show has been broadcast on Chicago Public Radio for years, and is now put out in podcast form as well. And next Sunday marks the second season of shows on Showtime.

This year’s stories are filled with as much humor and humanity as last season, and will once again prove you don’t have to be famous or do something incredibly dramatic for your story to be validated. Or do you? At least when it comes to the dramatic, This American Life proves that everyone has a story that could be turned into a movie, even if that movie is only 30 minutes long.

Among the people we meet this season, we hear stories of children and parents seeking independence from one another despite very real connections that are hard to sever, life-threatening illness that does not stop one young man from living his life, an Iraqi struggling to make sense of American views on his country, and a Bolshevik fighting his own personal war on grass. That’s right, his lawn.

And as these people talk, and as we watch them live, we realize every one of us has a penchant for the dramatic, and every one of us has a story that deserves to be told. That needs to be told.

Tune in on Sunday May 4 at 10pm ET for these stories and more.

Jennifer Beals on the red carpet.

Laurel Holloman on the red carpet.

Ilene Chakin on the red carpet.

A little TiBette love on stage at the awards.

Maria Roman (transgender activist, one of the stars of Trantasia) on the red carpet.

For tons more pics from the event, head over to Showtime Watch.

I’ve always harbored a distrust of politicians and I’ve met several and they didn’t really convince me. It wasn’t until I met Barack Obama and I heard him speak that I thought there was a possibility for change — that somebody could actually change the paradigm or even the psychology of politics.

This is the first time I’ve come out in support of a presidential candidate, and I made this choice because of Senator Obama’s unique desire to engage people in the political process.

Jennifer spoke those words last Thursday (April 17) at a luncheon for professional women regarding Obama and his support of not only women, but of the GLBT community. Recently Beals also interviewed Tobias Wolff, Obama’s campaign LGBT chair.

That’s right. LGBT chair. He’s got an entire section of his campaign devoted to making sure the rights and concerns of the GLBT community are acknowledged and even honored. No candidate has gone that far (that I’m aware of) to date.

Here’s a Flickr photo set (shared thanks to Obama’s campaign website) from her time in Philly.

After six weeks on Dancing With The Stars, Marlee Matlin was eliminated after judges finally started to look past the amazingness of her dancing while deaf and started to evaluate her performance. Which they apparently found lacking. Now, I’m not saying it’s not amazing that she made it so far on the show, because it truly is. Deaf or not. I just got tired very quickly of the big deal that was made over her deafness. You’d think that after all this time we’d be able to get past people’s differences, but the reality is that she still has to fight for the rights of all deaf people with her every action.

And so she danced. She danced to prove she could do more than just drama, she danced to prove that deaf people can do the same things hearing people can do. And she danced because she loves to. And she was eliminated, but she made it farther than many of the other hearing-able celebs on the show.

Ok Magazine sat down with her after her defeat, and here’s a few of the things she had to say:

“I came here knowing that America would get to see me do something I had never done before and defy expectations,” Marlee told OK! after being eliminated. “And I’m damn proud of what I did.”

When it comes to her next project, she has this to say:

“I plan to pack my kids’ lunches, take them to school, pick them up at the end of the day, read them bedtime stories, give them a bath, be a wife.”

As for The L Word, here’s Marlee’s thoughts on her character and the final season.

She told OK! she might briefly return to the show The L Word, in which she played Jennifer Beals’ character’s girlfriend, just to tie up loose ends. Otherwise, “I’m looking forward to jumping into another series and doing more features. I just hope that after DWTS that people know there’s a lighter, funnier side of me and there’s certainly no need to think ‘well, can Marlee do this?’ I think I’ve proven I can do pretty much anything. You’ve just got to be willing to listen.”

It’s good to know we’ll get to see Marlee on The L Word again, even if it’s just a brief appearance!

Stars tend to go all out on the red carpet, hiring stylists to make sure their look is put together and as perfect as it can be. But the gals over at Mom Logic have taken it upon themselves (many times over, I might add) to take those looks and show you how you can get them for less. In this case, it’s Mary-Louise Parker’s red carpet look at a screening in NYC. And it looks like for under $100 you can look just as silvery and sparkly as she does! Nice to know this type of fashion is accessible to the rest of us!

Now if they can just show me how to get all those great looks on The L Word for less, I’d be one happy camper. Unfortunately, I think those designer duds will be off-limits to me for quite some time.

With no word yet as to her character’s arch on Showtime’s series The L Word, it looks like Cybill Shepherd is taking a job on Psych next season. The actress will play the mom of Shawn, one of the “psychics”, when the show begins it’s season on July 18. We know at least two of her episodes will air, according to TV Squad, although there’s no word as to her involvement in the cases the psychics try to solve.

It’ll be good seeing her back in comedy, as she’s been spending a lot of time getting all dramatic over at The L Word. Here’s hoping Molly’s mom comes back for the final season, however, because without Phyllis getting all dyky on her lawyer-love, the series finale wouldn’t be the same.

Now that we don’t get our weekly fix of Papi (unless you serially watch the past seasons DVDs like I do), it’s always a treat to find out Janina Gavankar’s got new television work. This time it’s Stargate: Atlantis, and we’ve got both photos and video!

I’m assuming the shot is for costuming, but she looks great! The videos are on Joseph Mallozzi’s blog, so head on over to watch Janina in action at target practice while participating in weapons training for the role.

As more pictures surface (hopefully), I’ll try to get them posted up for you as often as I can.

With rumors that Showtime was going to cancel the Tudors after this second season, I was pretty sad I wouldn’t get my King Henry fix again next year. But Showtime has announced the show will be returning for a third season!

“THE TUDORS is now a fixture for us at SHOWTIME and we’re on our way to completing the entire saga of all six wives of Henry VIII,” says SHOWTIME President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt. “We are enormously proud of this show, the extraordinary cast, and the production team that recreates the grandeur of the Renaissance year in and year out. There is nothing like this anywhere on American television.”

Shooting begins on June 16 in Ireland, and although Natalie Dormer won’t be part of the third season (her character will be minus one head and buried by that point!), I’m sure Henry will find himself someone to occupy his time with! Lots more sex and intrigue are sure to show up in the third season! I for one can’t wait for all the shots of filming show up!

With assassination plans against Anne in full swing, you’d think someone would tell the King. Instead, he and Anne are too busy trying to make a baby, now that she’s finally having sex with him. Their marriage is clearly eminent, and with it will certainly come more problems than any of them can predict. One of those unpredicted problems? The men in employ to Brandon and Boleyn are fighting over the honor of their men, and the fighting turns ugly when they draw swords. Before any of them knows what’s happened, one of Brandon’s man is killed on the very floor of the church where he sought sanctuary. At that moment, Charles Brandon walks in, but before he repays the death of his man he is stopped by the priest. And of course then Boleyn walks in, and the two exchange super-evil glances. That fight won’t end any time soon!

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