A Foreign Correspondent Reflects On The Arab Spring

Veteran war correspondent Anthony Shadid spent much of the past decade in Baghdad covering the Iraq war, first for The Washington Post and then for The New York Times. Last December, Shadid left Baghdad for his home in Beirut, Lebanon, where he’s been based for more than a decade. “It was amazing to me how [...]

2011 Has Been A Rough Year For Dictators

Dictators suddenly seem to have a lot less longevity. This year, several of the world’s longest-serving autocrats have either died or been ousted from power. The death of North Korea’s Kim Jong Il from heart failure had nothing to do with the Arab uprisings that ousted four leaders who had been in power for decades [...]

What A Global Flavor Map Can Tell Us About How We Pair Foods

There’s a reason why Asian dishes often taste so different from the typical North American fare: North American recipes rely on flavors that are related, while East Asian cooks go for sharp contrasts. That’s the word from researchers at the University of Cambridge, who used a tool called network analysis to chart the relationship between [...]

Taking Nothing For Granted, Romney Launches N.H. Bus Tour

All eyes are on Iowa this week, but former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is far away — on a campaign bus tour in must-win New Hampshire. As NPR’s Ari Shapiro reports on Wednesday’s Morning Edition, somehow there are still New Hampshire voters who remain undecided about Romney — despite the fact that he’s practically camped [...]

5 Things You May Not Know About Jon Huntsman

He is former governor of Utah and the namesake of a very rich man. His father, a Salt Lake City bazillionaire, owns a chemical company that really blossomed when it created packaging for McDonald’s Big Macs. His father also served in the Nixon administration, so Jon Huntsman Jr. lived in Washington as a young boy. [...]

Is Your Fedora A Good Idea?: A Gentle Suggestion To The Sorely Tempted

During the holiday season, it’s very tempting to put on your best attire and deck yourself out for whatever holly-bedecked event has come your way. For example: This young man, whose name is Justin Bieber, is appearing tonight on CBS’s A Home For The Holidays With Martina McBride, where he has decided to wear his [...]

South Dakota Buffalo Farmers Relish Bison Meat Boom

2011 wasn’t a banner year for the stock market, and anyone heavily invested in the Euro zone might be biting their nails right now. But if your business is buffalo, you may be looking at some very happy holidays. The buffalo market is booming. Look no further than the buffalo ambling across the wide-open South [...]

Patients Want To Read Doctors’ Notes, But Many Doctors Balk

Doctors write about their patients all the time, in notes detailing office visits and treatments. But for patients, those notes are a closed book. Maybe the doctor has scribbled that the patient was “difficult,” as Elaine discovered when she peeked at her chart in a memorable Seinfeld episode. When her dermatologist saw her snooping, he [...]

Six Graphic Novels That Will Draw You In

For many readers, the comics event of the year has to do with a book published 25 years ago; Art Spiegelman’s anniversary compendium Metamaus delves deep into Maus, the book that changed the landscape of graphic novels forever. But for readers interested in pursuing the new as well as commemorating the classics, 2011 offered a [...]

Let’s Rush To Judgment!: ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. It’s the trailer for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which will be released in December 2012. In it, you’ll see Martin Freeman (whom you may know from the British The Office, or from the BBC Sherlock, or — particularly at this time of year — [...]