Ever heard of laughter yoga?  It’s a real thing that, evidence suggests, is beneficial to your health.  Laughter yoga, or Hasyayoga, is based on the belief that voluntary laughter provides the same physiological and psychological benefits as spontaneous laughter. Laughter yoga is done in groups, with eye contact and playfulness between participants. A handful of […]

There are many reasons why I want a time machine. I’d like to see a live t-rex – from a safe distance, of course. I’d like to see The Beatles live, or stroll through the streets of Renaissance-era Venice. You do it like that, you don’t have to worry about screwing up the space-time continuum. […]

On Sunday, the New England Patriots pulled off an incredible come-from-behind victory over the Atlanta Falcons.  Much has been made of quarterback Tom Brady and his amazing performance as an athlete at what, for most athletes, would be the twilight of their careers.  Love him or hate him at 39, Brady’s performance does not seem […]

It’s entirely unsurprising that the first casualty of the Revolutionary War was a black man. That would be Crispus Attucks. There is considerable disagreement by historians about his early life, but there’s one thing everybody agrees with. During the evening of March 5, 1770, a disagreement broke out in Boston, regarding the failure of a British […]

Hippocrates said “All disease begins in the gut.”  He might have been even wiser than we ever knew.  With Valentine’s Day coming soon,  it makes sense to talk about the importance of keeping your heart healthy.  Did you know that heart health can be predicted by looking at the bacteria in your gut? A molecule, […]

Not long ago, I read the incredible book “Strangers in their Own Land,” by the sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild. She visited Louisiana and interviewed scads of people to ask them about their voting habits. Specifically, she wanted to find out why these decent and smart people continually voted against their own interests. If you lived […]

Sugar is everywhere, almost impossible to avoid.  It’s in foods like bread, pasta sauce, salad dressing, and ketchup. It can be challenging to find sugar in your food because nutrition labels are not required to list all sugar.  In 2018, nutrition labels will be required to call out all added sugar but, in the meantime, […]

When I was in high school and college, I fancied myself a bit of an actor. During that time, I learned two things. The truly great actors have impeccable timing, a precise understanding of their character and how it fits into the larger piece, and are compelling to watch. I was blessed with none of that. […]

If you haven’t heard about the current Congress’ plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, you may have been hiding under a rock.  The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a federal agency of the US government that provides budget and economic information to Congress, recently released a report outlining the anticipated consequences of repealing […]

Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Elie Wiesel wrote that, in his astonishing memoir Night. He survived the Holocaust, and he later wrote about how his faith was consumed by flames. Who can blame him? He, and millions like him, cried out […]