I think this is a moment in social history that scholars and critics will be analyzing long into the future. There's a lot of matrimania going on - the over-the-top hyping of weddings and marriage. But as I argued in Singled Out, I suspect that's not a sign of...

"You know what," said a banker to me the other day, "I think they should pay me about half what I earn." For a moment, he had the thunderstruck expression of someone whose casual yawn has turned into a giant burp, and who's not quite sure how to handle the...

Ahhhh, summer's here, and with it come trips to the beach, bar-be-ques, fireworks and vacations. Been on a vacation yet this summer? How was it? Did you come back feeling rested and refreshed? Good for you. Or, did you get swept up into a modern 'American-style' vacation: unable to forget...

Some people I know are exquisitely sensitive. Every hurt, harm, or horror imprints their impressionable soul(s). Meanwhile others laugh it off, tough it out, shut down, deny, or resolutely move on. How marvelous are the varieties of human resilience.

When I was a kid, I recall seeing a Jules...

I'm working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! Everyone's project will look different, but it's the rare person who can't benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump...

Among the many notable moments at Michael Jackson's funeral was Queen Latifah's reading of the Maya Angelou poem "We Had Him." The popular poetess wrote the poem specifically for the occasion (no easy task) and just that morning asked Latifah to perform it, which she did with spirit and...

It's Friday mid-afternoon and I'm winding down my week, finishing my calls, making final notes and shutting down my computer in preparation for 25 hours of recharging. We call it 'Shabbat' and I follow all of the rules that come with it: no TV or radio, no driving, no lighting...

Among gardeners, there is a dark joke about which plants make the best gifts for pesky neighbors and annoying acquaintances. Although I've yet to play this game, I've been tempted. Topping the gift list are plants with a run-away metabolism, affectionately known as "the flowers of discontent."

They are as...

When Americans and their representatives speak of a better health care system, they mean more coverage for more people. When health economists speak of reform, they mean cutting spiraling costs by allotting care rationally, according to which care will do the most good for whom.

When Barack Obama speaks,...

"What's for dinner?" A lot of us ask that question right before popping our head in the fridge to see what the options are. If nothing edible is found in the house, three options with rather high probability of being significantly less healthy than the home-cooked-meal come to the table....

The era when we worked 48 hours a week, 48 weeks a year and 48 years for the same corporation are long past. Job security used to be found in being loyal to one boss or business - for a lifetime. As we have seen, this is now no longer...

The conventional wisdom in Alcoholics Anonymous is that alcoholism is a 'disease' of the ego -- self-centeredness. Basically the alcoholic becomes trapped in his or her own point of view and denies any other perspective on 'reality'. The alcohol is a symptom of a loss of control and choice --...

There are no second acts in American lives, the tragic ol' F. Scott Fitzgerald quotation goes.

Cut your whining! The new careerists say, for a very good reason.

Seconds acts are ours for the making. And it's never too late to start your re-starting.

This concept was brought...

A toast, please, to technology, which makes our lives so much smoother and easier. Faster, and more flexible.

Without technology, life itself would be a constant struggle. With technology, we're free to discover new and exciting ways to slip on the banana peel.

Or am I getting ahead of myself?

This month I'm conducting an experiment in not striving. I'm nine days in. It's going pretty badly. Pushing, grasping, wanting and hoping are kind of like getting up in the morning: I strive, therefore I am. Some sharks are like that -- they can't stop swimming because then they...

Over the years the Radiologists at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) have been conducting research on the early detection of osteoarthritis using MRI. Dr. Hollis Potter, Chief, Division of MRI in the Department of Radiology and Imaging, has researched and worked with her colleagues on imaging degenerative changes in cartilage,...

It's lunchtime at your child's school. Do you know what's on the menu?

You may have heard the expression, "there is no such thing as junk food...there is just junk." But are you aware just how much "junk" is being sold at school?

Over the past 20 years, at...

A conversation in the year 2050 between a boy and his grandfather

Grandpa, did you know it was happening?

Well, sort of. There was news about it, but it didn't seem too real.

How did it feel when you couldn't eat the fish anymore?

Well that was hard. We never...