culture

Director Jim Jarmusch’s latest film, The Limits of Control, is a confection of weirdness and camp with a sprinkling of brilliance, and that turns out to be not enough. There is a plot outline, but no real plot. And while there is a first-rate cast, some of whom have previously worked with Jarmusch on some…

Mention “soul food” and you will hear scores of health and medical professionals claim that it is the downfall of the health and well-being of African Americans. It is true that African Americans have some of the highest rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and some cancers of any group in this country. But frankly,…

It’s the middle of spring, the nadir of the off-season for football junkies, yet all over New York City, if not all across the nation, Jets fans are laughing derisively at the Minnesota Vikings. Some even giggle at the mere sight of purple, the Vikes’ trademark team color. The reason is simple. The Brett Favre…

Clearly, it’s part of the job description, this celebrity compulsion to live life large, and largely in front of the camera. Even if that camera is attached to an iPhone. Blame it on the Madonna-ian philosophy (pre-Guy Ritchie, post-Truth or Dare) that members of the glitterati subscribe to: I am filmed, therefore, I am. This…

Pamela K. El has a job she loves, as a marketing vice president for State Farm Insurance Company. Two years ago, her company began sponsoring “The 50-Million Pound Challenge,” a national, interactive program to help people lose weight. El traveled across the country with Dr. Ian Smith, the physician, journalist and well-known author of The…

On a blighted stretch of industrial highway in Maryland, Artmosphere, an arts-focused restaurant/bar/coffee shop, was a little light in the darkness. Creative types—writers, painters, musicians—would flock there for the camaraderie and to feed off of each other’s energy. On any given night, there was Miss Jane, poet Jane Landolt, eating dinner at her usual perch…

Finally! It took four games, but the Boston Celtics second-round series with the Orlando Magic is no longer looking like a severe letdown. Most basketball fans have had the series circled since mid-April, when the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched the best record in the Eastern conference, and put Boston and Orlando, the teams with the third-…

Front Page: Wanda Sykes Dispenses Topical Humor to Journalists, President CNN: Have We Overcome Our Race Problems?…Uh…Sure, Why Not? AA: Ghana on Cusp of Oil Boom; Daniel Day-Lewis Readies for ‘There Will Be Blood II’ BET: First Black Supermodel Gets Sued for Something or Other J&J: HBCUs to Obama: Not Everyone Went to Ivy League…

I have spent a significant portion of my 15-year career as a financial journalist at the New York Stock Exchange. Whether I was working for Dow Jones, CBS or CNN, I put in a great deal of time reporting from the NYSE trenches. I learned to speak the language of money straight from the horse.…