This summer, America has an extraordinary opportunity to cheer on one of our country’s wounded warriors, Lt. Bradley Snyder, as he swims for the gold at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. I was deeply moved by author Bill Briggs’ inspiring three-part pieceon the 28-year-old Navy lieutenant, who was serving in Afghanistan as an "explosive ordinance demolition… Read More >>

It's been a week since the fifth season finale of "Mad Men" and my mind is still reeling. How could he...? Why did they...? And then that happened...?! (Don't worry: No spoiler alerts here.) I did, however, stumble upon Buzz Feed's list of 25 things you didn't know about the popular showand found myself almost coughing on my coffee at a few of them. So here it goes: Five interesting Mad Men factoids... 1. "Mad Men" was… Read More >>

Aside from my job at Reader's Digest, I'm taking a class in Narrative Theory and Screenwriting. One of the books that's required reading is 99 Ways To Tell A Storyby Matt Madden. When I first opened it, I was intrigued; instead of how-to text, Madden uses comic-book style illustration to help push writers beyond their creative boundaries. Madden starts with one story: A man, sitting at a… Read More >>

It’s easy to sound the alarm on childhood obesity—and share the shocking stats (rates have tripled in the last three decades). It’s much harder, however, to take the steps to fight it—especially for schools, as so many districts have faced devastating budget cuts. That makes the story of Red Hawk Elementary Schoolin Erie, Colorado, even more impressive. The school is… Read More >>

June is Audiobook Month. If you aren't already, now's a good time to become a fan. My dedication to them began once I started driving to work. News radio is fine, I found, but a little goes a long way. Music is lovely, but gets mighty tinny without Carnegie Hall acoustics. Audiobooks, however! I have become a devoted listener. But they're so distracting!… Read More >>

What's not to love? In this great 8-minute clip, funnyman Conan O'Brien teaches first graders about soulful blues at Chicago's Francis Xavier Warde school. If only he'd stopped by when I went to Sunday school there all those years ago! Read More >>

Here's to all the great dads out there. Frank McKinney in Delray Beach, Florida, walked his daughter to school nearly every day for a decade. Benjamin Molina, Sr., father of Major League Baseball players Benjie, Jose and Yadier, the only brothersin baseball history to each win a World Championship, changed his work hours so he could play ball with the boys every day after… Read More >>

Although I have played Battleship, the board game, I have no urge to see Battleship, the movie. That said: While I have played Jenga, Hungry Hungry Hippos, and Connect Four, after seeing the parody posters for them and more at Entertainment Weekly, I am desperate to buy a ticket to all of those made-up movies. Especially Jenga, with its hilariously sinister tagline: "The Jenga Corporation has… Read More >>

There was a time when the Big Mac was—symbolically, at least—the champion of caloric excess in fast food. But the 540-calorie burger is no longer the fattiest beef on the block by a long shot.

Esquire's "Eat Like a Man" blog did a recent survey of the McDonald's menu, gathering up the unhealthiest items and publishing them in a digestible format. Turns out the 32-ounce chocolate tripleshakes… Read More >>

I’m a very good eater—it comes with my food editor job, or so I tell myself. So whenever there’s a trade show, like last week's “Food Fete” I of course show up, taste away, and snap lots of iPhone pictures. Here are three new items I loved: Cookie-Crackers: I’ve been a fan of 34 Degrees’s thin, crispy crackers for years—they’re super light, so I can load up on… Read More >>