Author: Lance Garrison
Many people who want to get into shape are unaware that there is more to fitness than well-toned muscles and a tight abdomen. There is no shortage of exercise regimes that strictly promote the perfection of the body. Centuries ago, Western culture lost its focus on the interconnectedness between the body and the mind or spirit, and how each of these has the power to affect the other. There are, however, many traditional fitness modalities from Asia that aim to cultivate the body and spirit together. Let’s look at yoga, one of the best-known.What Is Yoga?Yoga is the Sanskrit word…
Listen to and follow ‘Matter of Opinion’Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicIt’s not just bad vibes — America’s kids are not OK. As study after study shows worsening youth mental health, a popular theory has emerged: The rise of smartphones and the addictive nature of social media is making young people miserable. But can it really be that simple?This week on “Matter of Opinion,” the hosts debate the myriad possible factors contributing to teenagers’ unhappiness, and discuss how parents, schools and the government can protect kids without doing further harm. Plus, a sui generis Lozada family vacation.(A full transcript…
To be clear, we abhor all expressions of antisemitism and wholeheartedly reject any role for antisemitism on our campuses. Equally, we believe that conflating criticism of Israel or Zionism with antisemitism is dangerous. Equating the criticism of any nation with inherent racism endangers basic democratic freedoms on and off campus. As the A.C.L.U. wrote in its November statement, a university “cannot fulfill its mission as a forum for vigorous debate” if it polices the views of faculty members and students, however much any one of us may disagree with them or find them offensive.In a wave of crackdown on pro-Palestinian…
Her body may be broken, but our mother is still the experience-seeker she has always been. She left home at 18 for a college a thousand miles away, traveled alone to the Middle East and never met a boat, big or small, she didn’t love.These days, our mom can barely walk. She moves around via a scooter. Her back is so damaged from osteoporosis and an unsuccessful surgery that she cannot sleep, stand or sit without pain. Still, she remains the same stubborn and determined person she has always been. Years ago, this meant going to law school at the…
I’ve reached for “Carrie” many times since, and my relationship with the story has continued to shift and evolve. Like most teenagers, I suppose, I initially reacted to Carrie’s story with pure horror; I was mortified by the way she was teased, repulsed by the pig’s blood that gets dumped over her at prom and fascinated by the death and destruction she wrought in retaliation. In my 20s, when I revisited the novel, the horror I felt at her tale turned to something closer to sympathy. By that point, I’d moved from Colombo to California to Britain and then back…
By Douglass Williams, as told to Champ ClarkI was diagnosed with Crohn’s when I was 16. We knew something was wrong. At first, they thought it was appendicitis, but the doctors at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia rightly identified it as Crohn’s disease.Crohn’s is an inflammation of the intestines, and mine was smack in the middle between the lower and upper intestine, where the ileum is. The ileum is the prime spot where nutrients go to get absorbed by the body, and the doctors removed 6 inches of intestine and then connected everything back together. Douglass Williams I’ll never forget when…
Produced by ‘The Ezra Klein Show’The internet is in decay. Do a Google search, and there are so many websites now filled with slapdash content contorted just to rank highly in the algorithm. Facebook, YouTube, X and TikTok all used to feel more fun and surprising. And all these once-great media companies have been folding or shedding staff members, unable to find a business model that works.And into this weakened internet came the flood of A.I.-generated junk. There’s been a surge of spammy news sites filled with A.I.-generated articles. TikTok videos of A.I.-generated voices reading text pulled from Reddit can…
In 1999, a Florida lawyer, Anuraag Singhal, represented a man convicted of gunning down a police officer. Singhal had to somehow persuade a jury that his client, Jeffrey Lee Weaver, should face life in prison rather than the electric chair, the punishment the hard-charging prosecutor sought.“I hope you can find some love in your heart for Jeff Weaver, and I hope you’ll let him die in prison,” Singhal said, according to a report in The Sun Sentinel, the local newspaper. The article described tears rolling down his cheeks, and his voice breaking with emotion as he pleaded for Weaver’s life.…
It is never easy to re-examine one’s fundamental convictions, but now I am forced to question my previous disbelief in the existence of Satan. I am compelled to confront this ugly possibility by the fact that from time to time my electronic devices seem to fall under demonic possession.Now, I should start by saying that I am not someone with a natural animosity toward personal technology. I have been known to be completely reasonable when the supermarket self-checkout machines refuse to let me proceed until I place my last purchased item into the bagging area. I patiently explain, sometimes with…
Donald Trump’s campaign is reportedly strapped for cash. Small-dollar donations are running far behind their 2020 pace. Big Trump rallies aren’t yielding his biggest cash hauls. Some large-dollar donors are hesitant, in part because they worry (with good reason) that their money will be used not for the campaign but to pay his legal bills. So he has been wooing right-wing billionaires.I have no idea how successful he’ll be, but it seems highly likely that at least some billionaires will provide substantial sums to a man who tried to overturn the last election and has been open about his authoritarian…