After working on a story about how the left and right sides of the face convey very different sets of emotions (check it out in the September issue of Reader's Digest!), I've become obsessed with the science of expression. It turns out I'm not alone. The New Yorker magazine recently created a short video, using clips from classic Ben Stiller flicks such as There's Something About Mary, Zoolander, and Along Came Polly. In the video, the actor's… Read More >>

This won't help you with the Fahrenheit, but if you're like me and you get strung out about actually getting out the door to go on vacation, then you might want to pick up the paperback of Priscilla Warner's savvy book Learning to Breathe: My Year Long Quest to Bring Calm to My Life.  Warner is like a terrific, funny friend who freaks out a lot.  After decades of suffering from not-funny anxiety and panic attacks, she… Read More >>

When you're chained to your office desk on a 80-degree-and-cloudless July day, you might find your mind wandering to some far-away place: the shore, the mountains, your backyard lawn chair under a sputtering sprinkler. But I bet you haven't spent a whole lot of time thinking about heading to Mars. Until now. NASA recently releaseda totally mind-blowing panoramic photo of the… Read More >>

Many call "Singin' in the Rain" the greatest musical of all time, and it's getting a diamond anniversary party on July 12—a special one-day-only theatrical event at a multiplex near you. Break out your tap shoes! Call Debbie Reynolds! And get a look at this excellent collection of 25-Things-SITR trivia from Moviefone.com, including: 1. The original title was "Excess Baggage." (Alicia Silverstonewonders what if… Read More >>

Now, there's no beef here, Mr. President, because clearly you know your way around a patty (ahem, obamaeatingburgers.tumblr.com), but when you recently made a surprise stop for burgers in northern Ohio, you and your crew should have kept going towards Cleveland to my favorite Ohio joint, The Beer Engine. Without even glancing at the menu, you'll ask for a Picnic Basket Burger. It's a half-pound cheddar cheese burger with lettuce… Read More >>

In her outstanding new novel, Home Front, author Kristin Hannah tackles marriage, family, and war with grace and insight, using her fictional drama to address the real-life way that our country treats its veterans after they return from combat. Jolene Zarkades—mother, wife, and Army helicopter pilot—was once passionately in love with her husband, Michael, but… Read More >>

As a health book editor, I'm always on the lookout for new diet ideas, so a studypresented last week at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting caught my eye. Researchers at Tel Aviv University randomly assigned 200 adults to eat one of two diets, each with the same number of daily calories (1,600 for men and 1,400 for women). While one group ate just a… Read More >>

Every year, my whole family heads to Cape May, NJ for the first week of August, where we splash around in the sun, eat farm-fresh produce, and sleep for 9+ hours a night. I feel like I'm living the ultra healthy, sun-kissed life. But recently I read about the gross thingslurking in and around America's oceans and beaches: pet waste, runoff from waste water… Read More >>

Marriage proposals are tough. Ask my wife. She had a lot of trouble proposing to me. I made it easier on her by saying “Uhm, yeah, sure.” Of course, one wants to get the right reaction after the question has been popped. That, after all, is part of the experience. For example, saying “No, I don’t wish to marry you,” is considered a poor response… Read More >>

You hear things like "eagerly awaited new book" all the time. An author writes something that's a hit, and everybody wants to read the next book. Now flash back a little. Remember all those people throwing Harry Potter parties at midnight at their local bookstores when the newest volume came out? Granted, most of them were kids, because they told us that the… Read More >>