Offbeat Stories of 2013

The Bechdel Test examines movies for gender bias. The test poses three questions: Does a film contain two or more female characters who have names? Do these characters talk to each other? And, if they do, do they discuss something other than men? The test's widespread application - recently, the test has been adopted as a rating system in Sweden - especially surprises the woman after whom it is named. (PRI's The World, 11/6)

With the government shutdown fiasco behind us – for now – we’re looking at how the government showdown played out online. (NHPR's Word of Mouth, 10/17)

The Disney darling Miley Cyrus has ditched the cherubic child act for one that has her twerking her way through performances. Sinead O'Connor doesn't like it ... Cyrus' fans seem to love it. But the question remains, Is she being empowered or exploited? (CBC's The Current, 10/7)

Jack O’Brien welcomes Executive Editor of Cracked/author Jason Pargin aka David Wong today to talk about our loss of privacy. They’ll get into why people aren’t that interested in the NSA scandal, how growing up during the Cold War affected Jason’s outlook on being constantly monitored, and the near future in which everyone will be completely fine with being recorded at all times.(The Cracked Podcast, 9/9)

United States Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, shortly after receiving his 35-year prison sentence, announced his desire to become a woman, taking the name "Chelsea Manning," and asking to be reffered to as "she" instead of as "he." Many media outlets, concerned that the change will confuse the public, have chosen not to respect her new name and pronoun. (CBC's The Current, 8/23/13)

To celebrate our 500th episode, Ira asked the producers of This American Life to talk about their very favorite moments on the show. Some chose stories that've been more or less forgotten for years; others chose just one line of script, or a segment that secretly made them cry. So for our 500th, we bring you the best of This American Life — the way we've been hearing it, behind the scenes, all these years. (NPR's This American Life, 7/12)

Last summer, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis hosted the first Internet Cat Video Festival. It was so popular it went viral and the show went on the road. This year, more than 6,000 people turned out at the Oakland Internet Cat Video Festival. (NPR's Morning Edition, 5/13)

President Obama joined Conan O'Brien onstage at the Washington Hilton for the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, and gave his fifth address to the organization of journalists who cover the White House. In his remarks, the President poked at himself, as well as some of the news organizations and politicians in the room. (White House Audio, 4/27)

Veronica Mars star Kristen Bell and its creator Rob Thomas launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise 2 million bucks for a movie version of the teen drama which debuted in 2004. It worked. In less than 24 hours they raised all the money. (SCPR's Take Two, 3/14)

The Oscar-nominated documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop" introduced the world to Banksy and his modern street art, but most of us know next to nothing about the artist, famous for concealing his identity at all costs. (The Takeaway, 2/25)