SO LONG, STUDS TERKEL: The great collector of oral histories has died at the age of 96. “I’ve met hundreds, no, I’ve met thousands of interesting people, and I’ve been so caught up with them and fascinated by them and intrigued with them, it’s almost like there’s no room inside me to be interested in my own feelings and thoughts,” he once told an interviewer. [New York Times]

That Barack Obama, he’s such a gentleman! Not only does he carry his own luggage when he gets off a plane, he also personally calls the people who will not be his running mates to say, “Sorry bro you are not the one.” (He says “bro” every time because his running mate will be Hillary Clinton.) So uh who did he call last night with this tragic news? MORE »

• OH NOES ESTELLE GETTY DIED: Yeah, no “hot DC gossip” angle on this one unless you want to make yet another dumb John McCain/old people joke. Farewell, Sophia Petrillo! [Estelle Getty's web page]