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Feng shui bagua map: The root of my troubles is in here somewhere.

Fun with feng shui

Close that toilet lid (and don't ask why): The irrational benefits of feng shui

I don't exactly believe in feng shui, but my life had stubbornly resisted all rational efforts to improve it. So why not try something that's seemingly irrational?

Susan E. Washburn

Jan 07, 2013 Essays 4 minute read

With the Eagles, circa 1975: Is that determinaton in my eyes, or sheer terror?

A pro quarterback's confession

If I knew then what I know now: Confessions of a maverick pro quarterback

During my playing years, I knew that there was something wrong with pro football, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Our coaches tried to pretend that the team was a family. But it wasn't a family at all. It was a meat grinder.

Mike Boryla

Dec 31, 2012 Essays 9 minute read

Gleeson with mummy heads: Division of labor. (Photo: Jim Graham.)

Behind the scenes at the Penn Museum

Mummy's the word

How can museums give visitors an experience that's genuine rather than packaged and spoon-fed? The Penn Museum has come up with an ingenious response: It lets visitors watch conservators as they clean and restore mummies and other artifacts.

Judy Weightman

Dec 29, 2012 Essays 3 minute read

Will future generations extol the droll wit of Ann Coulter?

The decline of wit in public life

What Churchill said to Lady Astor (and Ann Coulter didn't say to Obama)

Incivility and intemperate language are on the rise in political and public discourse. But as Churchill and Disraeli demonstrated, there's a way to get your point across and have a little fun, too.

David Woods

Dec 29, 2012 Essays 3 minute read

Festival in Bhutan: Here come the economists.

Gross National Happiness: A global debate

Can government make you happy?

Beyond a certain threshold, rising incomes don't bring greater happiness. But what can governments do— other than economic development— to promote happiness? One answer is emerging, of all places, in the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan.

Patrick D. Hazard

Dec 25, 2012 Essays 3 minute read

What's sleekly designed, more portable than an iPad and never requires tech support?

Why Americans love guns

The ideal tool for all your emotional needs

In a culture of disposable commodities, certain hand-held objects— like cell phones and iPods— seem to retain the quality of totems or fetishes. But no piece of machinery resonates with the feel of childhood control like a gun.

AJ Sabatini

Dec 22, 2012 Essays 6 minute read

Nancy Lanza lived alone in the woods, protected (she thought) by her guns.

The Connecticut shootings: Symptoms and causes

Beyond guns: What the world needs now

Last week's mass shootings in Connecticut revived America's debate about guns. But guns are merely a symptom, not a cause, of a larger challenge confronting civilized societies.

Maria Thompson Corley

Dec 18, 2012 Essays 4 minute read

Moral support for the troops from Bill O'Reilly.

War on Christmas: The Ken Burns version

The War Against Christmas: A film by Ken Burns

It was the worst of times, when atheists and humanists waged warfare against elves and gnomes, and an entire nation came apart at the seams. Fortunately, Ken Burns and his intrepid research crew were on hand to record the whole bloody mess for posterity.

Perry Block

Dec 17, 2012 Essays 3 minute read

Those drug ads on TV

Ask your doctor if these ads are good for you

Thanks to an inundation of pharmaceutical ads on TV, millions of essentially normal people now believe they need long-term drugs to cope with minor complaints.