By Paul Sullivan, New York Times, Aug. 5, 2016.
Donors bring their experience on human-centered design to the goals of nonprofit organizations. Click here to read the article.
This Is Your Life, Brought to You by Private Equity
By Jennifer Daniel, Josh Williams, Ben Protess and Danielle Ivory, New York Times, Aug. 1, 2016.
Click here to see the animated feature.
The Incalculable Value of Finding a Job You Love
By Robert Frank, New York Times, July 22, 2016.
Social scientists have been trying to identify the conditions most likely to promote satisfying human lives. Their findings give some important clues about choosing a career: Money matters, but as the economist Richard Easterlin and others have demonstrated, not always in the ways you may think.
Rediscovering the Kitchen, and Other Tips for Heart Health
By Jane E. Brody, New York Times, Aug. 1, 2016. Medicine may have done what it can, a C.D.C. report says. The rest is up to us. Click here to read the article.
Of Retirement Age, but Remaining in the Work Force
By Paula Span. New York Times, Aug. 1, 2016.
More are working past retirement age, whether for satisfaction or to catch up.
The Path to Prosperity Is Blue
By Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson, New York Times, July 30, 2016.
HOW can America’s leaders foster broad prosperity? For most Republicans — including Donald J. Trump — the main answer is to “cut and extract”: Cut taxes and business regulations, including pesky restrictions on the extraction of natural resources, and the economy will boom.
Mr. Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan are united by the conviction that cutting taxes — especially on corporations and the wealthy — is what drives growth.
A look at the states, however, suggests that they’re wrong. Red states dominated by Republicans embrace cut and extract. Blue states dominated by Democrats do much more to maintain their investments in education, infrastructure, urban quality of life and human services — investments typically financed through more progressive state and local taxes. And despite what you may have heard, blue states are generally doing better. Click here to read more and see the graphic ranking of states on different social and economic indicators.
Study Finds Chinese Students Excel in Critical Thinking. Until College.
By Javier C. Hernandez, New York Times, July 30, 2016.
This American Life
Most weeks "This American Life" is the most popular podcast in the country, with around 2.5 million people downloading each episode. When you subscribe to the free weekly podcast, episodes automatically download to your computer or smartphone. Episodes are available for exactly one week, beginning the Monday after broadcast. Podcast content is the same as the radio broadcast, except on occasion when they include extra material on the podcast that had to be cut for time.
Click here for links to a video on what a podcast is and how to get one, to subscribe to "This American Life," and to get to their homepage.
A Personal Sort of Time Travel: Ancestry Tourism
By Amy Zipkin, New York Times, July 29, 2016
Old stories send younger generations around the world. Click here to see the article.
Robert Waldinger: What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness
Click here to see a TED talk on the fascinating results of a study of men from ages 19 to 94.
Watch a Year on Earth as Seen From Space
Click here to see photos and text. There may be a brief ad first.
Zapping Their Brains at Home
By Anna Wexler, New York Times, July 22, 2016.
Neuroscientists have published an open letter to practitioners of do-it-yourself brain stimulation. These are people who stimulate their own brains with low levels of electricity, largely for purposes like improved memory or learning. Click here to read the article.
The Right Way to Bribe Your Kids to Read
By KJ Dell'Antonia, New York Times, July 23 2016.
Studies show rewards backfire. But what if they don't come in cold, hard cash? What do you think? Click here to read the article.
‘Divine Pleasures’ Celebrates the Colors of Desire in Indian Paintings
Art Review by Jason Farago, New York Times, July 15, 2016.
For the article and more lovely color pictures of the art, click here.
How Excessive Executive Pay Hurts Shareholders
By the Editorial Board of the New York Times, July 14, 2016.
Excessive executive pay not only contributes to rising income inequality, it also means shareholders are losing money. Click here to read the editorial.
Helpless to Prevent Cancer? Actually, Quite a Bit Is in Your Control
By Aaron E. Carroll, New York Times, July 5, 2016.
Americans seem very afraid of cancer, with good reason. Unlike other things that kill us, it often seems to come out of nowhere.
But evidence has increasingly accumulated that cancer may be preventable, too. Unfortunately, this has inflamed as much as it has assuaged people’s fears. To read the article, click here.
Thedogist
If you like dogs, don't miss these photos of them on the streets of New York. Click here to see the blog and photos.
Wisdom of the Ages
I was sitting at breakfast this morning with my granddaughter, Rose. The New York Times headline “Truck Attack on French Crowd; Scores Die” sat ominously on the counter next to us. I was trying to explain to a brilliant nine year old that a man had driven a truck through a crowd of people in France and killed at least 80, many of them children. Rose’s question was simple, “Didn’t anyone teach him the Golden Rule?” And all I could say was, “probably not”.
To read the complete post from Medium, click here.
Too Old for Sex? Not at This Nursing Home
By Winnie Hu, New York Times, July 12, 2016.
A nursing home in the Bronx aids residents seeking love. Click here to see the full article.
Infans economicus: Is There Something Disturbing About How Babies Respond to Incentives?
By Samuel Bowles, Santa Fe Institute. Click here to read the article from thepsychreport