Festivals and Culture
Jane Austen: "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of"
At the age of eleven, Jane Austen finished her formal education and returned home. It was in this environment, encouraged by her family — all enthusiastic readers themselves — that she began to write poems, stories, and plays for her family’s as well as her own amusement. more »
Is It Speed-Dating Or Dîner En Blanc
After 20 years of events in Paris and elsewhere, Dîner En Blanc is coming to New York City. One observer (see YouTube clip)muses as to whether it's a speed-dating event. Is it still possible to be on the invite list? more »
Book Review: Oldman's Brave New World of Wine: Pleasure, Value and Adventure Beyond Wine’s Usual Suspects
I look for value wherever I go. I buy clothes when they’re on sale. When I donate to public radio or charity, I try to do it when there’s a matching offer. So when I notice the word "value" in a book title about wine, I pay attention. more »
The Woman Who Warned About the Financial Meltdown Ahead
Brooksley Born speaks on a re-broadcast of PBS Frontline program, The Warning, about her failed campaign to regulate the secretive, multi-trillion-dollar derivatives market whose crash helped trigger the financial collapse in the fall of 2008. "What was it that was in this market that had to be hidden?" more »
