MyAppleMenu Reader

Why Race Isn't As 'Black' And 'White' As We Think
by Brent Staples, New York Times
The ultimate point is that none of us really know who we are, ancestrally speaking.

Shack Attack
by Jan Freeman, Boston Globe
Birds do it, bees do it. Brad and Angelina, too, do it: Shacking up may be 70 years old, but it's as spry as ever, cocking its skeptical eyebrow at live-in lovers everywhere.

Breaking The Chain
by Lonnae O'Neal Parker, Washington Post
An African American women reclaims thesexuality that history tried to steal from her.

The Same-Name Game
by Alison Lobron, Boston Globe
Not that she needed it, but one woman gets a little more incentive to keep her name just as it is.

The Industry: Gastronomics
by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, New York Times
Why high prices at the pump aren't touching your plate — yet.

The End Of Pensions
by Roger Lowenstein, New York Times
Corporations were happy to offer rich retirement plans to their workers as long as accounting tricks and federal insurance made it easy to delay the day of reckoning. But now the game is up.

Why Series Games Won't See Light Of Day
by Richard Sandomir, New York Times
The World Series is over, but certain fan questions are eternal: Why can't games start earlier? Why can't there be day games? Why can't Major League Baseball take less money to put one or two games on in the daylight?

At The Holidays, Few Gifts For Travelers
by Amy Gunderson, New York Times
Renee Coon, a travel agent in Erie, Pa., has some advice for her clients who want to take a trip the week between Christmas and New Year's Day: Don't go.

On Not Having Sex
by Rachel Kramer Bussel, Village Voice
Three months of sleeping alone yield some surprising conclusions.

It's A Marriage Of Sorts
by Kate M. Jackson, Boston Globe
With people spending so much time at the office these days, the notion of work wives and husbands is a growing phenomenon in offices across the country.

You Know What? Just Shut Up
by Tony Long, Wired News
The world is noisy enough without adding completely useless aural pollution to the mix.

Where Cooks Learn, Eat And Dance Together
by Rebecca Skloot, New York Times
The Pigpen's rules: Stop by any time unannounced. Bring friends and something to cook. Expect to feed 2 to 40 mouths and teach everyone your recipes.

For Oyster Lovers, It's Ready, Set, Shuck
by Russell Cronkhite, Washington Post
Oyster shucking is serious business. And the pros who compete do so with all the bravado of seasoned athletes.

Portion Distortion
by Julie Deardorff, Chicago Tribune
Your breakfast bagel might have looked perfectly normal this morning, but during the past 30 years it has grown freakishly large.

Budget Airline Aims For A Taste Of 1st Class
by Peter J. Howe, Boston Globe
In an age when passengers are lucky if "airplane food" means a bag of pretzels and a half-cup of diet cola, Song is trying to carve out a niche as the carrier that actually offers some decent food.

Mirror, Mirror...
by Ling Liu, Time
Women are supposed to be the fairer sex, but Asian men are spending a lot of time and money on their looks. Why? Because the girls like them that way.

The Lap Of Luxury
by Elisabeth Eaves, New York Times
It's acceptable to indulge your James Bond fantasies, but it's not acceptable, when the bill comes due, to remain convinced that you're James Bond.

Does Anyone (Under 30) Really Know What Time It Is?
by Sheela Raman, Boston Globe
To most young people, the wristwatch is an obsolete artifact.

A Happy Feat
by Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
You know what's funny about Twain prize winner Steve Martin? Everything.

America's Aquarium, Seen From The Inside
by Bonnied DeSimone, New York Times
There are ways to be pampered, but more ways to be adventurous.

And Now, A Warning About Labels
by Deborah Franklin, New York Times
Health literacy experts worry that many patients, overwhelmed by a proliferation of paper warnings — often written in turgid prose — are relying instead on the stickers to tell them how to take medications.

How Do You Fire A New York Times Reporter?
by Daniel Engber, Slate
For the msot part, they don't.

The Bakeries Are Here!
by Betty Baboujon, Los Angeles Times
The city finds a new reverence for pastry and bread with a capital B.

Game Over?
by Scott Martelle, Los Angeles Times
Video arcades might seem like a totally '80s thing, but they still have their charms.

How To End Airplane Boarding Bottlenecks
by Christopher Elliott, New York Times
"These initiatives sound good, until it becomes clear that you are boarding humans, and not cattle. The cattle will line up and get into a pen. People won't."

Between Math And Writing — All Things Being Equal
by Janice Lynch Schuster, Washington Post
The degree in math was simply stubbornness and a desire to prove something to myself, although I am not sure what. It seems to reflect my lifelong habit of pursuing the wrong thing: wrong boyfriend, wrong husband, wrong diet.

Lingerie Moves Further Into The Light Of Day
by Valli Herman, Los Angeles Times
Lingerie is multitasking so much (Is it a blouse? A camisole? Shorts? Underwear?) that it's outgrown its label.

Cheers For Tears
by Cecelie S. Berry, Salon
Why women should feel free to cry in the workplace — and anywhere else they damn well please.

The Trouble With Hypotheticals
by Carlin Romano, Chronicle Of Higher Education
Given that philosophers not only launch hypotheticals, but have long puzzled over them, might these folks offer any insight into the latest blowup?

The City That Ate The World
by Deyan Sudjic, The Observer
It's goodbye to mao and hello to Europe's top architects, all Australia's iron ore... and half the world's concrete. With its sights set on Olympic gold, Beijing is being rebuilt round the clock.

Who's In Charge?
by Rem Rieder, American Journalism Review
The Miller affair, like previous Times fiascoes, raises questions about the paper's editing and decision-making.

'They Said You've A Call From The Nobel Committee. I Said, Why?'
by Harold Pinter, The Guardian
In his own words.

Literature, More Than Ever
by David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times
In a fractured, traumatized time, it's the power of fiction to alter our interior world, and connect at deep levels, that keeps it vital.

The Accidental Nudist
by Spud Hilton, San Francisco Chronicle
Shedding years of programming in one weekend.

Meet The Life Hackers
by Clive Thompson, New York Times
Lots of people complain that office multitasking drives them nuts. But Gloria Mark is a scientist of "human-computer interactions" who studies how high-tech devices affect our behavior, so she was able to do more than complain: she set out to measure precisely how nuts we've all become.

Italy's Arrivederci To Cafe Culture
by Barbara McMahon, The Observer
The tradition of going for a cappuccino or an espresso is under threat from a new menace — the coffee machine.

When Only Slabs Of Pink, Jellied Byproduct Will Do
by Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times
If you're looking for a gift that bespeaks elegance and taste, you might try Spam. The luncheon meat might be the subject of satire back home in the U.S., but in South Korea, it is positively classy.

Reopening New Orleans: B & B's See A Future
by Stephen P. Williams, New York Times
New Orleans B & B owners assess the damage and plan their comebacks.

Classes In Chinese Grow As The Language Rides A Wave Of Popularity
by Gretchen Ruethling, New York Times
The future of foreign language study in the United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese flag hang from the wall.

Diaper Genie
by Emily Bazelon, Slate
Babies without diapers? No, thanks.

A Lost House, A Lost Life
by Ann Bauer, Salon
A bloggger's words took me back to that rainy day when everything began to fall apart.

More Than Tsunami Damage Keeps Tourists Away From Phuket
by Jeff Hodson, Seattle Times
By all accounts, the ghosts should be gone. But as hard as they tried, some ghosts "probably fell through the cracks," according to my wife.

Stop Time
by Sarah Wildman, New York
It's the ultimate New York careerist dream: Work (and play) now, conceive later. Has science finally made it possible? The promises and pitfalls of putting your eggs on ice.

The Kids Are All Right
by Roger Downey, Seattle Weekly
Cornish comes back from the brink of mediocrity.

Crash Course
by Lacey Phillabaum, Baltimore City Paper
Shaun Matlock's death dealt local motorcycle stunters a hard lesson. But did anyone learn anything?

The Ass Master
by Theo Douglas, OC Weekly
Levi's Fit Experience knows exactly what size jeans you wear.

Surfing Whodunit
by David Eisenstadt, Los Angeles Times
Who created the neoprene wetsuit? That's long been a sore point among the two entrepreneurs and a professor who each claim to be the inventor.

Britain's Secret Service Indeed! Spy On It On Its Web Site
by Alan Cowell, New York Times
At midnight, Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6, introduced its first publicly accessible web site, raising the hem of its cloak (if not its dagger) to just a modicum of scrutiny.

Southern California's Offshore Wilderness
by Catherine Billey, New York Times
Since 1980, the Channel Islands, off the Califronia coast, have been a national park, but despite their great beauty and abundant wildlife, they remain one of the country's least-known.

How Do You Steal A Plane?
by Daniel Engber, Slate
Open the door and get in.

Hard Times
by Farhad Manjoo, Salon
Under fire from all sides, will the paper of record finally come clean on Judy Miller's role in Plamegate?

The Lunch-Box Battle
by Nancy Leson, Seattle Times
Hey kids! It's National School Lunch Week.

The Contemporary Dining Scene, Est. 1985
by Frank Bruni, New York Times
How a handful of chefs and restaurateurs reinvented dining in New York.

Morphing Outrage Into Ideas
by Jia-Rui Chong, Los Angeles Times
Search for solutions is born out of anger over a student newspaper piece about the Latino-Asian academic gap at Alhambra High School.

Why Do We Believe In God?
by Robert Winston, The Guardian
Faith in a higher being is as old as humanity itself. But what sparked the Divine Idea? Did our earliest ancestors gain some evolutionary advantage through their shared religious feelings?

I'll Have A First Impression, With A Twist
by Nicole Roberge, Los Angeles Times
If there's truth in wine, then what about tequila? Or a Cosmo? To your date, that drink order may speak volumes.

The Rise Anf Fall Of Pop Culture
by Don Aucoin, Boston Globe
It now grows so broad and so fast, it is no longer the great connector.

The Hand Of Time
by Bob Thompson, Washington Post
Time is moving backward in Kurt Vonnegut's living room. The writer perches on a sofa and grins.

Ramadan Ritual: Fast Daily, Pray, Head To The Mall
by Hassan M. Fattah, New York Times
Once an ascetic month of fasting, prayer and reflectionon God, Ramadan has gradually taken on the commercial trappings of Christmas and Hanukkah, from the hanging lights that festoon windows to the Ramadan greeting cards and Ramadan sales and advertising campaigns that have become the backbone of commerce for the month.

America's New Jazz Museum! (No Poor Black People Allowed)
by Larry Blumenfeld, Salon
Jazz musicians warn against the Disney-fication of New Orleans.

Dare To Bare
by Meredith F. Small, New York Times
The diaper-free-by-three movement — and the three here is three weeks, not three years — claims that babies need never wear diapers again.

Visitors Won't Discover Some City Areas Via Map
by Adrienne P. Samuels, Boston Globe
Where the heck did Dorchester go?

The Trouble With Films That Try To Think
by Caryn James, New York Times
Sexual harassment, political corruption and blood for oil are a few of the weighty, star-driven themes to appear as Hollywood heads into Oscar-bait season.

Just Like A Woman
by Meghan Laslocky, Salon
Thousands of men are shelling out $6,500 for hyper-realistic dolls that answer all their needs... and don't talk back.

The Number That's Devouring Science
by Richard Monastersky, Chronicle Of Higher Education
The impact factor, once a simple way to rank scientific journals, has become an unyielding yardstick for hiring, tneure, and grants.

Scattered In A Storm's Wake And Caught In A Clash Of Cultures
by Isabel Wilkerson, New York Times
Word spread fast after the evacuees arrived. Everyone wanted to see one up close.

Just Don't Do It!
by Katy Kelly, U.S. News
Are we teaching our kids way too much about sex? Or not nearly enough?

After The Nip And Tuck
by Lisa GIll, Los Angeles Times
There's an emotional fallout with cosmetic surgery that few patients — or their families — expect.

Sorry, Did You Say Something Momentous?
by Brian Williams, Los Angeles Times
Never before have there been so many tempting incentives not to pay attention to what's important.

A Cubicle For You And Your Muse
by Liesl Schillinger, New York Times
Hominess is part of the appeal at Paragraph; writers, after all, notoriously crave nurturing. But those who use this space have a practical reason to show up as well: to overcome the temptation to procrastinate, and to get down to the hard work of writing.

Americans In The Tropics
by Amy S. Greenberg, Common-place
The imperialist imagination from filibustering to reality TV.

The George Effect
by Richard Bradley, Boston Globe
Ten years ago, one magazine showed that politics and entertainment do mix. The rest, for better or worse, is history.

My Subject, Myself
by James Atlas, New York Times
A great biographer needn't know his subject personally, but he must know him deeply.

Who Knew Math Was So Prime Time
by Dan Neil, Los Angeles Times
Problem: calculate the odds that a drama featuring forensic mathematics would find ratings success in prime-time network TV. Factor improbability based on casting of Judd Hirsch. Express answer in scientific notation. Show your work.

Their War, Their Words
by Michael Slenske, Los Angeles Times
Bookstores are filling with instant memories by troops fresh from the front and eager to tell us what war is like. But are they helping us understand what it means?

The Secret Life Of A Restaurant Critic
by Alison Amett, Boston Globe
Sure, it's a fun job. But when an owner threatens to get a gun because of my review, that's not so fun.

Eat, Memory: The Sixth Sense
by Gary Shteyngart, New York Times
Growing up I dreamed of garlic the way some dream of bright city lights.

Fads Are So Yesterday
by Gina Piccalo, Los Angeles Times
Trends are hot. Cool isn't. As culture morphs worldwide at internet speed, forecasters fight to stay ahead of it all.

In A Land Of Leaves, Seeking Cheese
by Wendy Knight, New York Times
Artisanal cheese, handmake in small batches, is a growth industry in vermont, with 35 cheesemakers sprinkled across the state and producing roughly 17 million pounds of specialty cheese — artisanal, farmhouse, organic — a year.

A Fast Track To Toilet Training For Those At The Crawling Stage
by Tina Kelley, New York Times
For many parents in the United States, the idea of potty training before a baby is able to walk, or even before age 2, is not just horrifying but reprehensible — a sure nightmare for parents and baby, not to mention a direct route from the crib to the psychiatrist's couch. But a growing number of parents are experimenting with infant potty training, seeing it as more sanitary, ecologically correct and likely to strengthen bonds between parent and child.

In A Perfectionist City, A Gritty Neighborhood Beckons
by Gisela Williams, New York Times
Imagine, if you will, a neighborhood that combines Times Square and the Meatpacking District in Manhattan, circa early 90's, before "The Lion King" chased the porn theaters from 42nd Street and the Meatpacking District traded in its butchers and transvestites for stretch limos and stores that sell $500 shoes.

Do Dogs Think?
by Jon Katz, Slate
Owners assume their pet's brain works like their own. That's a big mistake.

Everyone's On Board
by Roxanne Roberts, Washington Post
On a Caribbean cruise, a mother and a teen find common waters.

We Need A Poetry Idol
by Catherine Gander, The Guardian
Today's sadly neglected writing needs a dynamic, fashionable ambassador to get people reading it.

Opening Arguments, Endlessly
by Jonathan D. Glater, New York Times
Inside every lawyer, it is said, there is a brilliant writer, held back by professional ambition or by fear of failure. Nowhere is that truism more evident than in the explosion of online blogs by, for and about lawyers.

Chinese Town Loses Hyperlink To Future
by Ching-Ching Ni, Los Angeles Times
A remote Chinese village was poised for prosperity after a tycoon introduced it to the internet. Then fate stepped in.

Follow Directions And It's Cake
by Nigella Lawson, New York Times
Baking is a cinch. More, it is a joy. You need know nothing to be proficient. Proficiency engenders confidence. And confidence breeds an attachment that can become habitual.

College Cafeterias Serve Food Grown Close To Home
by Judith Weinraub, Washington Post
"Seasonal" and "local" are the watchwords of the food world today.

Hurry! Only 81 Days To Go...
by Stephen Moss, The Guardian
Tesco stores are covered in baubles, Boots has its 'Xmas' gifts out and John Lewis staff are already wishing customers 'Merry Christmas.' Can they be serious?

The Tiger Strikes Again
by Neely Tucker, Washington Post
After an early bedtime, Calvin and Hobbes are up and running in a new collection.

Scrambling To Fill A Vacancy After Stern
by Jeff Leeds, New York Times
With less than three months to go before Mr. Stern is expected to shift his show — belching, porn stars and all — to the subscription-based Sirius Satellite Radio service, dozens of competitors are making a less than subtle play for his listeners.

A Writer Not Fusty, If Addicted To Mystery
by Dinitia Smith, New York Times
When the Nobel-prize winning novelist Toni Morrison is drained after finishing a book, she once said, there is sometimes only one other author she can bear to read — the British writer Ruth Rendell.

News Come In COde: Judy Miller's Return To The Times
by Jay Rosen, PressThink
Just one man's opinion, but now is a good time to say it: The New York Times is not any longer — in my mind — the greatest newspaper in the land. Nor is it the base line for the public narrative that it once was.

It's A Case Of Who Owns The Words
by Alex Beam, Boston Globe
I spoke with two smart copyright lawyers who were unable to state definitively which side had the correct interpretation of this dusty little corner of copyright law.

Calling In Sick, While At Work
by Daniel Costello, Los Angeles Times
The company doctor is back in vogue. Once considered a luxury, the corporate medical clinic just might be a money saver.

With Lein's Ideas Dead, Russia Weighs What To Do With Body
by C.J. Chivers, New York Times
Time has been unkind to Lenin, whose remains here in Red Square are said to sprout occasional fungi, and whose ideology and party long ago fell to ruins. Now the inevitable question has returned: Should his body be moved?

Hey, TV Execs, I've Got One Word For You: 'Hello?'
by Tracy Allerton, Sun-Sentinel
What's with this sudden craze for one-word titles, especially in the television industry?

Getting In
by Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker
The social logic of Ivy League admissions.

Women In China Embrace Divorce As Stigma Eases
by Jim Yardley, New York Times
Divorce was once a dreaded fate for women in China. Now, many younger urban women view it almost as a civil right, which has helped drive up divorce rates.

Parent-Child Bond Knows No Borders
by Donna Scaramastra Gorman, Washington Post
"How do you say 'You're my daughter' in Russian?" When I told him, he turned to his newly adopted daughter. "Ty moya dochka." She looked up at him and slowly, slowly her face lit up as a smile spread across her face. "Ty moya dochka," he said again, pointing at her earnestly. I sat on the other side of my window, invisible now, while father and daughter threw their arms around each other and my own baby kicked inside me.

Voyage To The Great Outdoors
by Christopher Solomon, New York Times
Cave-tubing is no National Geographic expedition. But compared with the standard ports-of-call activities of even a few years ago — the air-conditioned bus tours, the fingering of trinkets on the dock — it's practically high adventure.

World Of Their Fathers
by Eve Baruch, New York Times
On the High Holy Days, the West Side is shadowed with ghosts of the Jewish emigres whose world this was half a century ago.

Playing Catch-Up
by Michael Leahy, Washington Post
The owner takes battling practice, the general manager doubles as a janitor, winning is optional. In the minors, it's a whole new ballgame.

Dog-Waste Management
by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, New York Times
The DNA of dog dirt.

Bed, Breakfast, Gas: Inns Try To Coax Their Guests To Keep On Driving
by Rich Beattie, New York Times
Free-gas promotions, which began a few years ago when gas prices were moving up but the economy wasn't, have spilled over from the lodging industry into everyday life.

Students Discover Economics In Its Natural State
by Robert H. Frank, New York Times
Over the years, my students have posed and answered literally thousands of fascinating questions.