Part 1: Trophy Wives/Old Lady Style

In those gin-soaked days of yesteryear, a beautiful woman on the arm was an executive’s secret weapon for landing the deal.  A young knock-out by your side signaled power, style, and proof that you had it all. Just ask all those Mad Men...That was then.

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International bestselling author Dan Brown talks about science, religion, and life after the Da Vinci Code at a benefit performance for Writers on a New England Stage, live from the Music Hall in Portsmouth. Brown’s novels, and the films based on them, have been banned by the Catholic church, inspired college courses, and have renewed dialogue about the interplay between science and religion.

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Recently CNET reported that the FBI had been lobbying congress for a law that would require social networking companies and other web-based communication systems to make sure their systems are surveillance-compatible. FBI director Robert Mueller seemed to confirm that in an appearance last week before the senate judiciary committee.

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Modern advertisers will put commercials and billboards just about anywhere, but they’re not nearly as intrusive as depicted in the futuristic 2002 Steven Spielberg thriller Minority Report, where street side billboards address city-goers by name, and holographic spokespersons are literally projected into your path.

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Not everybody can make white hair and over large glasses look fashionable – but then few carry have the flair of 90-year old socialite and now makeup mogul, Iris Apfel. One of the striking subjects of a new book by Ari Seth Cohen called Advanced Style. The book, like the blog which inspired it, puts New York City’s stylish woman past a certain age on parade.

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Every four years, the world gears up to become rabid, two-week fans of sports we’d never otherwise watch those featured in the Summer Olympics, like swimming, gymnastics, even equestrian eventing. For the elite athletes who compete at the Olympic level, however, the games are anything but a quadrennial concern. They’re the reward for working the hardest, being the best, and increasingly, it seems, having the latest hi-tech gadgetry in your corner.

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The expansion of forensic databases by US federal agencies. DNA collection of convicted felons is a well- publicized procedure. Recently released documents reveal that the department of homeland security and other federal agencies will be required to collect DNA from any person over the age of fourteen who has been detained -- regardless of criminal activity -- and that plans to include children under 14 are being explored.  

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Sip a glass of Italian wine tonight with dinner.  Savor its full-bodied flavor, or its delicate notes of plum or cherries.    If you really concentrate, you might detect another subtle but important flavor - equality.  Italian women are revolutionizing the way vino is made, promoted and sold.  And women in corporate boardrooms might not be a new phenomenon; their entrance in the world’s male-dominated cantinas and vineyards is, especially as   they’re making changes that are nothing to sniff at.  Nancy Greenleese reports.

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Among this summer’s anticipated films is Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s prequel to his groundbreaking sci-fi flick, Alien. The plot centers on a crew of inter-galactic explorers – among the cast of characters is a humanoid robot, or android, who sounds decidedly more ominous than say, the Jetson’s old-model household cleaner, Rosey.

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When Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman hit Broadway and swept the Tony’s in 1949, it was a middle-class masterpiece – a transformative play that could bring even stoic-factory workers and tough-love fathers to tears. These days, the price of a ticket for the Broadway revival may be as out of reach for the average American family as a pro sports career was for Biff. » E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

America’s war on tourists. Since 9/11, increased security measures and visa restrictions have made travel to the US an increasing hassle. Earlier this month, President Obama announced plans to attract twice as many tourists to America in the next decade. He projected that the initiative would add two-to- three million jobs and result in $250 billion in revenue by the end of 2021. Matthew Yglesias is on board.

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Part 1: The Rise of the Brogrammer

Produced by Jonathan Lynch

In the 1980s classic comedy revenge of the nerds, there was a clear cut boundary between the titular nerds and the preppy, popular frat boys that sought to humiliate them. A recent culture trend in Silicon Valley is looking to completely upend that convention by fusing the two. A new breed of software engineers is on the horizon, and they are just as likely to fine tune code as they are to lift weights and party on the weekend.

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Widespread obesity among Native Americans has led to spiking diabetes rates among young people in the current generation. The phenomenon partially blamed on the lack of access to healthy food on reservations. Edible Idaho’s Guy Hand recently looked at what a food coalition on the coeur d'alene reservation of North Idaho is doing to connect the people there to better eating, starting with their nutrient-rich roots. 

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Today’s report from the USDA’s economic research service upends the notion that healthy food options are more expensive for consumers than sweet and fatty junk-foods. The report points out that price depends on how you measure it. When factored by calorie, a chocolate doughnut will often cost more than a tomato.

Price is the chief concern of Hank Cardello. 

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Between 1978-1988, the murders of seven women in New Hampshire and Vermont were attributed to the Connecticut River Valley serial killer. Investigations of several suspects and one deathbed confession went cold and the killer was never found. Novelist Joseph Olshan makes a bold debut in crime lit with Cloudland, a fictional account of the time.

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