Author: Lance Garrison

Beyoncé released a genre-bending country album, “Cowboy Carter,” last week. After listening to it in all the requisite settings — on a walk, in a car and on a plane — I finally understand what Beyoncé, a notoriously enigmatic pop star, wants to say to the world. She wants to be more than popular. She wants to be legendary. But first, she isn’t through taking everyone who has doubted her to the woodshed.In outlaw country tradition, “Cowboy Carter” settles scores with haters and with history. Beyoncé has trilled, growled, marched, stepped, sweated and sung her heart out for almost 30…

If you are expecting twins and wonder what it will be like, many people can relate. That moment when you find out you’ve got two babies on the way often comes from out of the blue. Although you probably can’t fully imagine what it will mean for your day to day life, you can learn a lot before the twins arrive. A twin pregnancy is a double blessing, but it can also carry greater risks than singleton pregnancies.Get to know these things about twin pregnancies from conception through delivery.We all hear that the older we get, the harder it is to conceive. But…

The comedian Jerrod Carmichael spends a remarkable amount of time in his new HBO series, “Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show,” with his head in his hands like Henri Vidal’s 19th-century statue of Cain after he has killed his brother Abel.Maybe that’s fitting, since the series focuses on Carmichael’s tortured process of coming out, and like many people who bravely take that step, arriving at the realization that, in a sense, the old you must die so that the new you can live. More pointedly, you must kill the you who is false.Coming out isn’t always followed by congratulations and celebrations, even…

When you’re pregnant, chances are you’ll hear things like this – sometimes from total strangers: “You’re carrying low. You must be having a boy.” Or: “If you have morning sickness all day, it’s definitely a girl.”There are even  odder myths for predicting the baby’s sex. One suggests that hanging a wedding ring from a strand of the father’s hair over their belly. Another suggests that you mix your urine with Drano; the color is supposedly a clue about your baby’s sex.Now that medical technology makes it possible to determine an unborn baby’s sex with almost total certainty, why do these old tales persist?The internet and…

Exercise can’t erase the years, but it can certainly help stave off the effects of aging. In fact, being physically fit is one of the best things you can do for your physical and mental health.“Physical fitness helps reduce the risk of chronic disease and lower blood pressure and can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression among some individuals,” says Scott Cheatham, PhD, DPT, professor of kinesiology at California State University Dominguez Hills.While fitness won’t change how many candles are on your birthday cake, it could make you functionally years younger. “If you’re fit, you can endeavor to have the…

Donna Rice had a nagging pain in her hamstring. At 65, Rice, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, had been a runner for more than 40 years. Even when in pain, she didn’t like to stop running. It was key to her social life, sense of well-being, and overall quality of life.She rested, stretched, and got massages – things she thought she was supposed to do. Maybe, she thought, it would get better on its own.But it didn’t. Even after 5 months, things hadn’t improved. Rice knew it was time to see a physical therapist. It’s something she has noticed more…

Pep up your entry into April with a politics quiz.

Instead of fun-filled memories of playing hide-and-seek and roasting marshmallows, Lauren Nicks’ summer camp recollections are less playful and carefree. Rather, they’re overshadowed by instances of something that experts call adultification bias.“I can remember when I was around 5 years old attending a summer day camp in Brooklyn and being repeatedly targeted by one of my male camp counselors for my shorts being ‘too short’,” she recalls. “I didn’t really understand what was going on, just that I kept getting in trouble.” Lauren Nicks describes the adultification bias she experienced as a child. Not only was Nicks scolded for her…

It would be great if Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had a copy of “The Portable Karl Marx” with her on her trip to China this week. She could quote from it to the Chinese leaders, whose amended constitution promises to follow “the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”Marx, who sought and predicted a dictatorship of the proletariat, would see little to like in China, whose living standards are far lower than its gross domestic…

April 3, 2024 – Perhaps there is nothing that eludes more people in the world more than sleep. Sleep deficits cross borders and traverse seas, affecting millions across the globe. In the United States, roughly 1 in 4 adults have insomnia every year, but fortunately, 75% are able to recover what are considered normal sleep patterns: falling asleep easily, staying asleep without waking during the night or too early in the morning, and feeling refreshed the next day. An important solution to overcoming sleep deficits might be staying active. Though sleep experts have long touted the benefits of regular exercise as an…