Don’t go “On the Road”: Best to not have even seen it!

May 15, 2026

The novel “On the Road” is a cheap, skip-around glimpse of what the beat movement of the mid-1940s to early 1950s might have been like. I compare reading this work by Jack Kerouac to walking up to a house, peeking in through the mail slot by the front door, and seeing the foul, raunchy house party going on inside. The sight innervates you. It feels incorrect and wrong that you are standing there watching that party at this moment. This may sound melodramatic, but it is how I remember feeling as I read the book. This book and the characters inside it might make pretty much anyone ...

Kids are in a ‘reading recession,’ as test scores continue to decline

May 14, 2026

MODESTO, Calif. — Before every important test, teacher Nancy Barajas dims the lights, turns on a disco ball and blasts music from her playlist. Her sixth graders dance together as a "pre-celebration" to boost their confidence, then take their exam. Lately, there's been a lot to celebrate ...

Americans love their iPhones (though sometimes they wish they could live without them)

May 14, 2026

SAN FRANCISCO — The American obsession with the iPhone is complicated, as most love-hate relationships are. It sometimes seems like a talisman so magical that we can't fathom living without all the pleasures and conveniences that it bestows almost anytime or anywhere. The iPhone, and its ...

Microgardening means getting a surprisingly big harvest from a windowsill or balcony garden

May 14, 2026

Short on space? Consider microgardening. Although the term might conjure thoughts of minuscule garden gnomes and fairies, the reality is quite the opposite. You can get a surprisingly high yield from a small space, even a windowsill or balcony, if you plant it right. One way to maximize ...

Sandra Oh, Kumail Nanjiani and Bowen Yang are in a HBO doc on being Asian American, Pacific Islander

May 14, 2026

Director Eugene Yi has always been interested in the term Asian American and Pacific Islander and which ethnicities it includes. "When we're talking about Asian Americans or Asian people in the U.S., oftentimes it's people who might look like you and me, and maybe not people who look like ...

A Cannes Film Festival light on Hollywood but not lacking in star power kicks off in France

May 13, 2026

CANNES, France — The red carpet has been rolled out at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in the South of France. The French Riviera festival which began Tuesday will include 12 days of nonstop world premieres before culminating May 23 with the presentation of the Palme d'Or, the festival's top ...