Sideshow: Colbert explains politics for us all

We've officially gone through Alice's mirror, folks: More citizens learn more about political issues from Stephen Colbert than from actual journos. Take the role of money in politics. A study by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at Penn finds that The Colbert Report "is doing a better job than other news sources at teaching people about campaign financing," says its lead author, Bruce W. Hardy. Colbert "did better than every other news source we included in our model," he says. Based on phone surveys of 1,232 adults, the study tested Colbert's show against newspapers, talk radio, network news, and 24-hour news channels CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. Colbert's show provided "an extended civics lesson," researchers said in the report.

TheWrap.com ranks the 10 most popular actresses with a summer film, according to Q score, a Hollywood crowdsource measurement.

Number 1 is, who else?, Jennifer Lawrence, in the new X-Men thing. Melissa McCarthy (Tammy) is in second place; Angelina Jolie (Maleficent) and Rachel McAdams (A Most Wanted Man) are tied for third; while Amy Poehler (They Came Together) and Shailene Woodley (The Fault in Our Stars) are tied for fifth place.

- John Timpane

The recently wed Kimye's curvier half has changed her name to Kim Kardashian West. . . . Miranda Lambert tells USA Today she isn't pregnant, is not anorexic, and hubby Blake Shelton is not an alkie. She does confirm this: "I'm happy."