The ties that bind
In my memory, Valentine’s Day doesn’t taste like Godiva chocolate, but like the humble flour-and-water adhesive my mother concocted in the kitchen each February.
‘Armageddon Time’ sparks important conversations about privilege
The coming of age film is a nuanced exploration of the way both lesser and better angels exist in all of us.
‘The English’ breaks through the myths of the American West
Helmed by a British director, the Amazon series is untroubled by cultural coercion to protect myths and faux history of the American West.
TV shows are catching up to a growing interest in therapy
Mental health is trending, and TV programming is catching up with varying degrees of seriousness and a seemingly shared message.
It’s time for the ‘female buddy’ genre to grow up
Netflix’s “Firefly Lane” honors friendship but leans into stereotypes.
Hallmark movies: An antidote for a male-centered world?
Romances validate what women bring to the table.
Dating ethnic foods for Christmas
Our family of six sisters had a tradition as we dated in high school and college. If you brought a boy home for Christmas Eve dinner, you had to force him to bring along a traditional dish representing his ethnic heritage. This was how we learned to embrace exotically diverse non-Scandinavians, not to mention expand […]
A bad gifter
I give bad gifts. Size 5 shoes to size 11 feet. Yogurt makers to the lactose intolerant. Diaries to the discreet. Sheet music to the relentlessly tone deaf. It’s not that I am thoughtless—I’m thinking, I’m thinking, believe me. It’s just that I have this holiday weakness of idealizing my friends and family, sometimes to […]
Baking for nobody
I just baked 12 dozen Christmas cookies for no one. I do the baking every year; the “no one” part I’m still getting used to. When I ran a magazine, I’d make a batch of these each December week and bring them in on Mondays for the staff. A junior editor who became a senior […]