Cover Story

Sean Penn: The RS Interview

The Oscar-nominated star of Milk isn't punching out photographers anymore, but he's hardly mellowed. Hollywood's most daring actor names names and talks straight about his 30-year career in film, his critics and his beef with Obama. By Mark Binelli

THE ESSENTIAL SEAN PENN: Peter Travers on the roles that defined the Milk star.
PHOTOS: Sean Penn's Defining Roles, From Taps to Milk
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Mark Binelli on interviewing Sean Penn for this issue's cover story.
MORE PENN: Outtakes from Mark Binelli's conversation with Sean Penn that you won't read in the magazine.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Bad Boy. Slab Boy. Everyboy. [From Issue 396 — May 26, 1983]
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Cool Jerk
[From Issue 731 — April 4, 1996]

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

California's Golden Energy Policy

If Barack Obama is looking for an energy policy that creates jobs while protecting the environment, the Golden State holds the answer. By Jeff Goodell


CLOSING GUANTÁNAMO: A look back at what happened at Gitmo — and why shutting it down may prove to be difficult

FEATURES

Pete Seeger and Joan Baez's Unbroken Cycle

Four decades after singing "We Shall Overcome" at the March on Washington, the folk icons — both up for Grammys this year — reunite to swap Sixties stories and bask in America's new dawn.

BEHIND THE STORY: Inside Rolling Stone's Afternoon With Folk Icons Pete Seeger and Joan Baez

When Man and Machine Merge

Radical futurist Ray Kurzweil is rarely wrong — so you might want to listen to him when he says computers will take over the world in 2045. By David Kushner

RANDOM NOTES SPECIAL

The Rock & Roll Inauguration

Change finally came to Washington, D.C. — and it rocked. Behind the scenes with Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, U2, Jay-Z, Sting, Kid Rock, Jon Bon Jovi, Elvis Costello, Usher, Sheryl Crow and many more music giants who gathered in the capital to witness Barack Obama making history

BACKSTAGE AT THE INAUGURATION: The Dead’s Phil Lesh on Obama Gig

Rock and Roll

Live Nation's Hidden Ticket Fees

The Dave Matthews Band concert ticket cost only $65 — so why are you paying $80?

PREVIEW: Pearl Jam to Release New LP in 2009

FROM THE ARCHIVES: "The World Against 5"
From RS 668, October 28, 1993 by Cameron Crowe

INDUSTRY: Bright Spots in a Bad Year

OSCARS: Slumdog Millionaire Brings Bollywood to the Oscars

OSCARS: Academy Snubs Bruce Springsteen for The Wrestler

BAND NAMES: The Battle of the B-List Bands

BREAKING: Into the Wild with Bon Iver

CHECKING IN: Van Halen to Rock On with Roth

HOT ALBUM: Weezy Kicks Out the Jams on New Rock Disc

IN THE STUDIO: Inside the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Rural Retreat

IN THE STUDIO: Ben Harper Introduces New Band, Heavier Sound

TECH: Pimp Your iPhone: Best Music Apps

Q&A;

Lady Gaga

The electro-pop diva has a dirty mouth, worships Queen and refuses to wear pants

PROFILE

Andrew Bird's Highflying Folk

How rock's most neurotic whistling virtuoso overcame his fears — downtime? — to make his prettiest CD yet.
By Austin Scaggs

TV

Revolt of a TV Genius

Joss Whedon's new series, Dollhouse was supposed to be his triumphant return to television. Instead he says he's quitting TV for good. By David Kushner


Q&A;: Joss Whedon Goes Where No TV Man Has Gone Before
TV on the Web: We rank the best web-only shows.

RECORDS

Lily Allen Digs Deep

Britain's party girl next door hunts for big statements — but doesn't forget to dis the boys — on her eclectic second album.

PLUS: Van Morrison, Morrissey, the BPA, Ryan Leslie, Eleni Mandell, Beirut, Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3, Peter Tosh, the Lonely Island, M. Ward, The Soul of John Black, Papa Roach, the Von Bondies, K'naan, Dan Auerbach, N.A.S.A., An Horse, Buddy Holly, Dark Was the Night compilation, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Thursday, Vetiver, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Sonny Rollins, Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition and Hommage à Nesuhi

MOVIES

Oscar Hot Buttons

Who made the cut? Who got screwed? Inside the Academy's down-and-dirty picks.

PLUS: How Sundance survived despite 2009's frozen economy


OSCAR BLOG: Who was robbed, and what do you think?
VIDEO: At The Movies With Peter Travers: Oscar Nominations Special
SUNDANCE EXCLUSIVE: Mike Tyson Reviews Grand Torino

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES

The Essential Sean Penn: Hollywood's most daring leading man is intense, electric and always captivating. Peter Travers looks back at the roles that defined him, from Jeff Spicoli in 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High to the title character in Milk.
PLUS: Penn's best moments in photos and stories from the Rolling Stone archives.
• THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Mark Binelli on interviewing Sean Penn for this issue's cover story.
• PHOTOS: Sean Penn's Defining Roles, From Taps to Milk
• MORE PENN: Outtakes from Mark Binelli's conversation with Sean Penn that you won't read in the magazine.
• Bad Boy. Slab Boy. Everyboy.
[From Issue 396 — May 26, 1983]
• Cool Jerk [From Issue 731 — April 4, 1996]

Cold War Kids Live at Rolling Stone: The guys from Southern California enter our studios for an interview and an intimate performance of material from their latest album, Loyalty to Loyalty.

Pete Seeger and Joan Baez: Writer Alan Light reports from the set as the two legends came together in January in upstate New York for our shoot. The story behind this historic summit.

Favorite iPhone Apps: Text like Kanye? Get Aretha's hat? The apps you're dying to see.

Inside the Grammy Awards: Will Coldplay reign? Is it Lil Wayne's year? We'll be behind the scenes at music's biggest night.
PLUS: Get your Grammy-pool ballot and battle our experts.

TV on the Web: Even as his new show Dollhouse premieres on Fox, Joss Whedon says the future of TV is online. We rank the best web-only shows.

Cameron Crowe on Pearl Jam: The Seattle band is reissuing a remastered version of its masterpiece Ten next month. Revisit Pearl Jam when they were first blowing up in a 1993 piece by the Almost Famous director.

Tech Visionaries: Meet Ray Kurzweil's predecessors: the Pentagon weaponeer with a solution for global warming, and the Google guru spending the company's millions on philanthropy.
• Can Dr. Evil Save the World?
• The Guru of Google

The Oscar Grouch: The nominations are in, and Peter Travers is not happy. Who was robbed, and what do you think?
PLUS: At The Movies With Peter Travers: Oscar Nominations Special

Going the Distance with Lady Gaga: More from Austin Scaggs' interview with dance's reigning princess.

From "Panama" to Valediction: Wolfgang Van Halen's transition from VH bassist to HS grad.

Paul Simon in NYC: A legend comes home: Simon reopens New York's Beacon Theatre this month.