For most, granola is simply a snack, enjoyed atop a morning bowl of yogurt or when the midday munchies hit. For refugees working with Beautiful Day, though, it’s a pathway to a better life. By teaching these individuals to make and package granola, the Rhode Island-based nonprofit helps equip them with the skills they need […]
It’ll probably happen sooner than you’d like: waking up to frigid temperatures, scurrying from your house to your vehicle, and rubbing your hands together while waiting for the car heater to kick in. And once that gloriously warm air rushes through the vents, thawing your frozen face and clearing the fog from your windshield, you
A crackling fire, snowy view of the countryside, and charming Jude Law appearing at your doorstep are what holiday dreams are made of (OK, maybe minus that last one for some folks). But if watching Cameron Diaz sip wine and dance around the cozy English cottage in the house-swapping film The Holiday gives you a
Every fall I anticipate the winter holidays with almost childlike joy. I look forward to familiar traditions with friends and family, eggnog in my coffee, and the sense that everyone is feeling a little lighter and more connected. At the same time, I feel anxious and annoyed by the manufactured sense of urgency around gift giving: the endless searching and second-guessing shaped by advertisers, retailers and cultural expectations.
Most Americans probably don’t realize that we have a very limited understanding of the first Thanksgiving, which took place in 1621 in Massachusetts. Indeed, few of our present-day traditions resemble what happened 400 years ago, and there’s only one original account of the feast.
What the First Thanksgiving Dinner Actually Looked Like Continue Reading »
Pecans, America’s only native major nut, have a storied history in the United States. Today, American trees produce hundreds of million of pounds of pecans — 80% of the world’s pecan crop. Most of that crop stays here. Pecans are used to produce pecan milk, butter and oil, but many of the nuts end up in pecan pies.
It’s impossible to tell the story of American ballet without giving credit to trailblazer Maria Tallchief, who would’ve celebrated her 100th birthday earlier this year. The legendary dancer leapt and twirled her way to international stardom during the mid-20th century and is widely considered America’s first prima ballerina. “A ballerina takes steps given to her
A small trial led by researchers out of China and the U.K. has turned up some promising news for people experiencing anxiety or depression. Half of participants with treatment-resistant severe depression saw clinical improvement after undergoing deep brain stimulation, or DBS, and more than a third experienced an almost total elimination of their symptoms.
Delivering a connection-building protein to star-shaped cells in the brain could reverse changes to neural circuits seen in Down syndrome, according to new research my colleagues and I published in the journal Cell Reports.
When it comes to emotional states, we’d all love to vacillate between being just plain happy and having the time of our lives. But research into an idea called emodiversity suggests that experiencing many different emotions — even negative ones — is a good thing, associated not only with improved well-being but also with better
