THE SWANS OF HARLEM: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History, by Karen Valby The sense of loss in “The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History” is strong. No matter how painstaking the detail or how sparkly…
Starter episode: “Raised to Present Well — Dr. Kate Truitt” As the name suggests, this series offers a variety of practical and problem-focused techniques that listeners can use in their daily lives, with an emphasis on anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (O.C.D.) and depression. The host, Kimberley Quinlan, a licensed marriage and family therapist, strikes a…
T’s monthly travel series, Flocking To, highlights places you might already have on your wish list, sharing tips from frequent visitors and locals alike. Sign up here to find us in your inbox once a month, and to receive our weekly T List newsletter. Have a question? You can always reach us at tlist@nytimes.com. In…
Good morning. There was a bald eagle flying up Shin Creek in the Beaverkill Valley, in the Catskill Mountains of New York. I was driving alongside her, on the roadbed above the stream. The eagle was looking for trout, as I would be later, she undoubtedly more successfully than me, and fair play to her…
The first blush of asparagus season never gets old. Every April, seeing those violet-tipped bunches at the farmers’ market sends my pulse zipping and my mind whirling. Dreaming up new ways of preparing them is almost as thrilling as eating them, though clearly not as satiating. Because asparagus cook so quickly and are delightful at…
When my sister Dinah’s marriage ended after 25 years, one of her friends set up twice weekly “vent walks,” where my sister could say anything she wanted about her divorce — with no fear she was being a burden. “After a while, you feel self-conscious talking about it,” Dinah told me, “like people want you…
Beijing beer made with American hops, to highlight the trade relationship between the two countries. Tibetan food, to send a human rights message. Mushrooms with possible hallucinogenic properties, just because they taste good. Where, what and how American dignitaries eat when they visit China is a serious matter. Choices of restaurants and dishes are rife…
After rhapsodizing about the joys of hosting last week, I walked the walk and threw an elaborate dinner party on Sunday. It was a truly delightful way to spend the weekend, but I’ll say this: After all of the shopping and the prepping and the being on my feet for 12 consecutive hours, I don’t…
Federal regulators have discovered fragments of bird flu virus in roughly 20 percent of retail milk samples tested in a naturally representative study, the Food and Drug Administration said in an online update on Thursday. Samples from parts of the country that are known to have dairy herds infected with the virus were more likely…
Pulling into the Santa Lucia train station in Venice on Thursday morning, passengers were told via an overhead announcement that they might have to pay a 5-euro fee to enter the city’s historic center. Failure to pay could result in a fine from 50 to 300 euros, the announcement said. Outside the station, police officers…
