When a language dies, humanity suffers more than a loss of words. The diversity, culture and heritage of a society are threatened with extinction as well. And yet, many of the languages now spoken around the globe are destined to die out in our lifetime. Renowned linguist K. David Harrison has journeyed throughout the world, [...]
Did Brangelina adopt another child? What's the latest on Tiger Woods? President Obama is a smoker? The world's obsession with celebrity is no new thing, but why is it so widespread? What is it about movie stars, politicians, professional athletes, and other people of note that makes their lives so much more interesting than a [...]
When it comes to trying to improve student performance in public schools, many factors come together. One of the major issues is teacher performance and how best to judge teacher effectiveness. The “value-added” approach attempts statistically to show how an individual teacher can make a difference – positively or negatively – in how students do, [...]
According to a recent poll conducted by TIME magazine in association with Pew Research Center, 40% of Americans believe that marriage is obsolete. Yes, you read that correctly – obsolete. Eight times as many children are born out of wedlock today than in 1960, those without a college education are increasingly less likely to get [...]
Every aspiring movie writer knows the well-worn path to success: submit a script to the studio and pray for a green light. Sometimes, many deals and drafts later, the finished product finds its way to a theater near you. Now online retail giant Amazon.com aims to apply digital technology to the arcane process of pitching [...]
Amy Sedaris can probably make you laugh, but did you know she can also make you a tea cozy? Well maybe she can’t, but she’s written a book about craft-making for you anyway! <i>Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People</i> has a little something for everyone. With chapters like “Unreturnable Gift Giving,” “The Joy of Poverty,” [...]
Biographers usually choose to profile people. Simon Winchester is taking on the Atlantic Ocean. Applying Shakespeare’s seven stages of life—infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon, and second childhood—to his subject, the New York Times bestselling author chronicles the life and times of a massively important body of water in his latest book. From its geographical [...]
One of America’s most illustrious politicians, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, wrote mountains of words but never an autobiography. He did leave a voluminous correspondence and through a carefully selected collection of letters author/ editor Steven Weisman has compiled a vivid record of Moynihan’s life. And what a life it was! Before his four terms as senator [...]
Bullying has been around for a long time, but with the advent of social media, it’s harder than ever (or impossible) for kids to escape. Suicides linked to cyber-bullying get a lot of media attention, but not much is said about treatment options for the bullies themselves. The usual response is to get tough and [...]
It’s a rare feat in American politics to make proposals that are equally condemned by Republicans and Democrats, which is exactly what President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform managed to do last week with recommendations on reducing the nation’s multi-trillion-dollar debt. From drastic cuts in defense spending to tough reform of heritage [...]
