Another reason to read!!

(submitted by Madeleine Kaye) How literature — yes, literature — can help you better connect with others Mar 9, 2021 This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from people in the TED community; browse through all the posts here.  Pete Ryan Greetings from an evangelist for a declining field: literature!  English majors,

Utopian or Dystopian?

First of all, several questions: 1. What is a utopian novel? 2. What is a dystopian novel? 3. What is AI? The answers: A science fiction or other form of speculative fiction that portrays a pleasant reality. A science fiction or other form of speculative fiction that portrays an unpleasant reality. Artificial intelligence or intelligence manufactured by a machine that is programmed to think and

Who is Jennifer Doudna?

Jennifer Doudna is the recipient of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with her assistant Emmanuelle Charpentier, and their work helped lay the groundwork for the development of the Covid-19 vaccine. Just remember that, if your daughters or granddaughters aspire to be chemists. Doudna’s high school counselor told her that girls do not become chemists. Not an awful lot of girls become chemists, true,

When the Movie Isn’t as Good as the Book!

PBS provided a great deal of hype for it’s new adaptation of James Herriot’s books about his time as a veternarian in the Yorkshire countryside. Some viewers, however, do not appreciate the new version of All Creatures Great and Small. Have you watched the series? Did you read the books? What do you think? James Herriott, whose actual name was James Alfred Wight, was a

Post Pandemic

In the January 17, 2021, issue of the New York Times Book Review, Zachery Karabell reviewed four new books that look at life after Covid. It doesn’t take long for some people to write a book, does it? You may be too excited, depressed, fretful or antsy to read anything else about Covid; but, these books offer differing scenarios of a world that will become

Want to get serious?

Smithsonian Scholars Pick Their Favorite Books of 2020 In the December 3, 2020, issue of SMITHSONIANMAG.COM, Beth Py-Lieberman reported on new books that Smithsonian scholars felt would focus on events of the times. I have listed many of these recommended books. The Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States Recommended by Orlando Serrano, youth and teacher program manager at

What do Olivia Newton-John and Nadia Owusu have in common?

Both Olivia Newton-John and Nadia Owusu have written memoirs. Newton-John’s memoir is entitled Don’t Stop Believin’. If you were a Grease fan, you will want to find out how ‘Sandy’ is doing post-Grease. Plaguing health issues have not daunted her spirit, and she has become a serious advocate for cancer research and treatment in Melbourne, Australia. Her memoir will help your spirits soar. Nadia Owusu