Team USA Diana Taurasi (L) and Brittney Griner listen to the national anthem during the WNBA All-Star Game at Footprint Center in Phoenix on July 20, 2024. PARIS — Brittney Griner’s “unprecedented” journey back to the Olympic Games less than two years after she was released from a Russian prison in a saga that rocked…
For much of my childhood in the Berkshires region of western Massachusetts, I didn’t give a hoot about the Housatonic River. In contrast to the many lakes where my brother and I would swim or skate, attend Scout camps or sprawl out for family picnics, the hushed and shaded Housatonic seemed unfamiliar and at times…
In the predawn darkness, a procession of druid priests in white robes carry banners by the monoliths of Stonehenge, the ancient British archaeological site. There is an aroma of burning sage; a bagpipe calls in the distance. As dawn approaches, fever-pitched drumming mounts. If you hadn’t already felt the power in the stones at this…
My 40th birthday celebration had been in the works for months. The plan was as follows: On Friday, my husband was throwing a party for me in the private room of a hillside restaurant with gorgeous views of Los Angeles. Our closest friends and family would be there. Philip had hired a D.J., rented a…
Washington Square Park is known for its lively atmosphere and eclectic characters. That was no different on Wednesday morning, when hundreds of Muslims filled the park to attend a morning prayer gathering for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. People celebrate Eid by getting dressed to the…
As guests trickled into Jenna Zhang and Irene Kim’s apartment in Astoria, Queens, on a recent Saturday evening, no one needed an explanation for the array of raw ingredients before them — the marbled sliced meats; fish tofu and rolled, fried skins; napa cabbage; plump pink rice cakes; and ramen noodles. Electronic dance music hummed…
