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  • ‘Let’s talk about sex’ — and what American teenagers don’t know about it [VIDEO]

    “Every day in America, 10,000 teenagers catch an STD, 2,400 young girls become pregnant, and 55 young people are infected with HIV.” Those sobering stats are from a documentary airing on TLC tonight, April 9, at 10 p.m. / 9 central. Let’s Talk About Sex is directed by James Houston, a fashion photographer who came […]

  • Ten radical posters to rally green patriots [SLIDESHOW]

    My fellow Americans — my fellow humans! Our planet is in deep, deep trouble. And it needs you to do your patriotic duty fighting climate change. Green Patriot Posters is a project dedicated to getting out that message — by inspiring the modern equivalent of the iconic “Rosie the Riveter” poster from World War II. […]

  • FX’s ‘Justified’ features mountaintop-removal mining controversy [VIDEO]

    One of the best new shows to hit TV in years is Justified, on FX. For one thing, it’s got one of my favorite actors, Timothy Olyphant, doing a variation on the strong, silent, badass type he played in Deadwood — this time as a U.S. marshal. Timothy Olyphant on FX’s Justified. Justified is about […]

  • How to tune up your bike for spring [VIDEO]

    Considering that at some point in our childhood past, almost all of us rode a bike, it’s pretty incredible how much fear bikes can inspire in adults. There’s the fear of riding in traffic — that’s probably the main one, and something I won’t deal with here. There is also the fear of how to […]

  • Too much is not enough for The Edge’s green mansion

    U2’s The Edge is planning a mansion complex that’s a metonymy for post-Joshua Tree U2: It means well, really, but it’s just way, way over the top. The five homes (!) averaging 10,500 square feet (!!) are supposed to be built to LEED Gold standards, so bravo to The Edge for that. But if you […]

  • Is coming out as childfree like coming out as gay?

    As I’ve talked to and read about people coming to terms with their decisions not to have kids, the comparison has come up over and over. “I felt like a gay person must feel, coming out of the closet and having these people validating me.” — Jason Gill, quoted in a New York Times Magazine […]

  • Biodegradable wool coffins keep you cozy six feet under

    Here’s a win-win if we ever saw one: You can spend eternity in the postmortem equivalent of a Snuggie, AND it’s better for the environment. Corpses are one thing we’re never going to be able to stop throwing away, so it’s worth finding lower-impact methods. Wool coffins are all-natural and fully biodegradable, making them a […]

  • Seven lessons from nature on how to make change

    Look closely — what can you learn?Photo: Steve WallThe Center for Ecoliteracy has worked for more than 15 years to make schools greener. During the course of our work, collaborating with thousands of educators and change agents, we’ve learned invaluable lessons about how to tackle the challenge of changing often-entrenched systems. We’re pleased to share […]

  • ‘The beauty of just getting on your bike’ [VIDEO]

    The other night I had the good fortune of going to a meetup of bikers and bikers who blog in New York. The evening very specifically was not about the tiresome political wrangling that has been going on in my city over bike lanes. It was about people who just f**king love to bike in […]

  • All about the food: The NYT on the ‘future of manufacturing’

    Coffee roasting at San Francisco’s Ritual: the future of manufacturing? Photo: Scott Beale of Liquid SquidI wanted to love Allison Arieff’s New York Times opinionator piece on how “The Future of Manufacturing Is Local.” It presents a vision of a world I want to live in: cities revitalized by small, artisanal manufacturing; a revival and […]