Of all the figurative flavors of Kool-Aid to keep you from facing reality, perhaps the most popular is the belief that falling in love quickly leads to a life lived happily ever after. Sorry, Cinderella, it takes a little more than... Read More

To be ten in America is to be mystified—the world is so complicated, tension-filled, callous, and distressing that the allure of a virtual life on a screen is nearly impossible to resist. What can we do for that child? What tools can... Read More

Do they exist? What are they hiding from? Did one of those little suckers take my beloved stuffed teddy bear when I was three? These are the burning elf and dwarf questions keeping wanna-believers up at night, especially in parts of... Read More

Thomas Jefferson thought of farmers as the nation’s MVPs. He called them “the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous” of our citizens. But Jefferson didn’t live in this time, when 95% of the food and commodities... Read More

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves and slept around. Whether those not-so-small peccadilloes take away from their role in forming this country is a matter of debate. But the larger point is that no one escapes this life... Read More

It is easy to forget that as recently as twenty-five years ago, America’s drinking habits were anything but crafty and adventurous. We were a Bud country, we liked our cocktails old-school, and the little wine we drank was of the Gallo... Read More

Probiotics are the miracle cure of our age, if we take the advertising world at its word. And yet, the conclusive studies and research haven’t nearly caught up with the claims of the marketers. It’s still early, folks. But... Read More

As props go, a vase of flowers or bowl of fruit may qualify as the painter’s favorite subject—excepting, of course, a portrait of the person paying the artist’s fee in advance. But artists throughout history have also shown a... Read More