Very Short List: The Trials of Ted Haggard, Universal Record Database

We're checking in with the Very Short List - that's the website that sends out an email a day letting us in on pop culture's most underreported secrets. Since we last spoke to them they've also introduced VSL:Science and VSL:Web, and they've got daily recommendations on food, books and kids' stuff in the works.

Alex Abramovich, editor-in-chief of Very Short List, is here to clue us in.

Links from today's show:

The Trials of Ted Haggard - Alexandra Pelosi's new film follows the evangelical preacher as he tries to build a new life following a scandal involving crystal meth and male prostitution. It airs tonight on HBO.

Reaching For The Out of Reach - an interesting photo exhibit that brings 19th century photos to life as 3D animated images.

The Lost City of Z - the new book from New Yorker author David Grann follows a real-life Indiana Jones, explorer Percy Fawcett, who disappeared in 1925 in the Amazon rainforest.

Universal Record Database - it's a little bit YouTube, a little bit MTV's Jackass, and a little bit Olympic Games. Anyone can film themselves setting a world record and can invite others to try to top it.

The Ground Zero App - one for doomsday prophesiers, this application uses Google Maps and Javascript to simulate the blast radius of nuclear weapons over a location of your choice.

Southern Music from Oxford American - the magazine puts out a CD with each issue. This month is a double CD set collecting both classic and modern Southern music, from Little Walter to the Staple Singers to Lucinda Williams.