Remembering A ‘Babe’ Sports Fans Shouldn’t Forget

In 2000, Sports Illustrated named its 100 top athletes of the 20th century. There are names you no doubt are familiar with — Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, and of course Michael Jordan. But there’s also a name that might slip by: Babe Didrikson. She is the only woman in the top 10. In the 1920s [...]

Speculation Runs High In Presidential Money Race

This week marks a milestone in the presidential race. At midnight Thursday, the second quarter ends, and the campaigns have to tally up their first financial reports of the election cycle. The filing deadline isn’t until July 15, so it’s now high season for speculation about who’s got enough campaign money and who doesn’t. President [...]

For London Chef, ‘Plenty’ To Love About Vegetables

Yotam Ottolenghi isn’t a vegetarian, but recently, his name has become known for the preparation of vegetables — both in the London shops that bear his name and in his column, “The New Vegetarian,” that has run for the last five years in the British newspaper The Guardian. Those columns were collected last year in [...]

Peru Village Sees Few Gains From Natural Gas Project

Several days’ travel from the ruins at Machu Picchu, dropping into the thick heat and greenery of the upper Amazon, lies the Peruvian village of Shimaa. Dozens of simple buildings hug a hillside above a river. Far below, a few children play on a soccer field at the water’s edge. The nearby Camisea gas fields [...]

Why So Glum? Economic Optimism Dims

The latest surveys show that both business owners and consumers have been losing confidence in the U.S. economy. That pessimism is just the latest blow to hopes for a speedy recovery. Last week, even Federal Reserve officials said they have grown more pessimistic about the economic outlook this year. The policy makers cut their forecast [...]

A Tale Of Two Sisters And Their Serious Eye For Art

Though many people consider themselves collectors — whether it’s postcards or books or stamps — there are few collections that rival the acquisitions of Claribel and Etta Cone. The Cone sisters, natives of Baltimore, were collectors of some of the greatest and most innovative art of their time. During the late 19th century and early [...]

Screen Play

On-Air Challenge: Each answer is the name of a well-known film. You are given three words. Say the words out loud quickly to identify the film. For example, given the words “booty,” “Andy” and “pieced,” the answer would be Beauty and the Beast. Last Week’s Challenge: From listener Adam Cohen, of Brooklyn, N.Y.: Think of [...]

N.Y. Gay Marriage Vote May Have National Impact

Many obstacles still lie ahead for supporters of same-sex marriage, and eventually they will need Congress or the Supreme Court to embrace their goal. For the moment, though, they are jubilantly channeling the lyrics of “New York, New York” after the Empire State became the most populous state to legalize same-sex marriage. “Now that we’ve [...]

Anticipating Climate Catastrophe, But With Optimism

Civilization is on a collision course. That’s the message Paul Gilding, the former head of Greenpeace International, is sounding in his new book, The Great Disruption. The facts, as Gilding spells them out, are frightening. The United Nations predicts the world’s population will reach 9.3 billion by 2050 and humans are already using 140 percent [...]

Gay Marriages Can Start As Soon As Late July In N.Y.

After days of contentious negotiations and last-minute reversals by two Republican senators, New York became the sixth and largest state in the country to legalize gay marriage, breathing life into the national gay rights movement that had stalled over a nearly identical bill here two years ago. Pending any court challenges, legal gay marriages can [...]