It's not just Internet comments that have gotten angrier over the years: recent research reveals that the faces of Lego characters are also more mad than they were a decade or two ago.

As a mother of three and possessor of a huge vat that combines long-hoarded vintage...

Many people view friendship as a happy but relatively superficial part of life: the cherry on top of the sundae rather than the sundae itself. But in her new book Friendfluence, Carlin Flora explores just how much influence friends can have, from physical health to emotional health to...

The Boy Scouts of America recently voted to end their ban on gay scouts, but will keep in place a prohibition on "avowed" gay adults serving as troop leaders, staffers or volunteers. Obviously intended as a compromise, this half-action (or perhaps half-assed-action) has probably incensed people on both ends of...

Now that Spring is upon us and playground romps have become a blessed respite from hang-gliding down the basement stairs (or maybe that's just my kids), I see a familiar ritual. It involves an anguished parent-- admittedly, it's usually a Mom-- demanding that her child PUT. THAT. STICK. DOWN. (No,...

Something that constantly stood out to me when doing research for The Friendship Fix was how common it was, as an adult, to feel like you were desperately in need of new friendships. Whether it's because you've undergone a life transition that made you grow apart from old...

In the aftermath of the suicide of Aaron Swartz, a crusade has gained momentum. Swartz, a brilliant tech pioneer motivated by a desire to provide free public access to various documents, had allegedly broken in and downloaded millions of them from JSTOR. JSTOR was a collection of academic research, much...

We've all got them, no matter how left or right you lean. They're the Facebook friends who can't post a single status update without making it political, or who seem to share every last bit of oversimplified propaganda they come across. And in this election season, they grate like fingernails...

The hooplah surrounding the American University professor who breastfed on the first day of class -- and then tried to censor the student newspaper from writing about it -- has reached a fever pitch. As a professor who's nursed three children and yes, been associated with American University, I feel...

So, we've established -- with much more of a firestorm than I intended -- that when it comes to parenting, you can't ever get any time back. So how do we make the most of that time? How, when your phone is buzzing, your kids are...

"You can never get that time back."

A sweet, knowing tribute to the exquisite magic of bonding with your baby?

Or an ignorant, judgmental and sexist dig?

The way it's usually used, I vote the latter.

What makes this phrase -- I'll call it The Dig -- so grotesque? For...

We all have one -- that flaky friend who can't be counted on for anything. She says she's in for the potluck? Don't let her be in charge of an entree. She RSVPed yes for that birthday dinner? Make a reservation for one fewer. She says she'll pick you up...

Call it whatever you want: the Mommy wars, Mean Girls growing up, cat (or Tiger!) fighting: American culture seems to delight in watching mothers tear each other down. The most recent firestorm featuring Hilary Rosen/Ann Romney is only the latest in a long history of kerfuffles. In researching friendship horror...

Once you become a parent, your Facebook personality often grows a new life as well. Suddenly, you possess an unbeatable way to share pictures of your little one, an avenue to join the crusade against those unsafe sippy cups, and a virtual pub to consort with others who are up...

One of the biggest things that stands out to me in the reaction to the alleged atrocities at Penn State (other than the fact that People magazine had the gross lack of judgment to call it a "sex scandal" -- child rape is to a "sex scandal" what...

"Oh, a new friend request!" I noticed recently. As I've spent less time on Facebook lately, my requests have similarly dried up: a stranger who clearly just wants me to support their new cupcake business, a person who mistakenly thinks I was their high school lab partner; a woman two...