An influential doctor and advocate of adolescent gender treatments said she had not published a long-awaited study of puberty-blocking drugs because of the charged American political environment. The doctor, Johanna Olson-Kennedy, began the study in 2015 as part of a broader, multimillion-dollar federal project on transgender youth. She and colleagues …
Read More »Opinion | Who Was Looking Out for Liam Payne?
Liam Payne was just 14 when he took his first shot at the big time, trying out for the hit star-making show, “The X Factor.” He was 17 when the show’s judges teamed him up with Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson — all young, handsome, telegenic-but-relatable …
Read More »Halloween’s Mutation: From Humble Holiday to Retail Monstrosity
On Nov. 1, 1876, The New York Times declared Halloween “departed,” destined for the grave. In 2024, consumers are expected to spend $11.6 billion celebrating the holiday, up from $3.3 billion in 2005. Perhaps it is time to eat some crow. Halloween, steeped in tradition, has transformed from a pagan …
Read More »Novelty Acts
This summer, for the first time in my life, I was the — recipient? beneficiary? some (not me!) would say victim — of a surprise birthday party. It was a delight through and through, but the thing I keep marveling at is how genuinely surprising it all was, from the …
Read More »In a Bid to Feed More Families, WIC Diversifies Its Menu
Ileana Arroyo pushed a shopping cart down tidy aisles of fresh produce, whole grains, baby food and other items at a small grocery store in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago. Ms. Arroyo, who was shopping for food for her four children, scanned a wall of cereal. Above the brightly …
Read More »Why Two Million Children May Starve in Africa
Nearly two million children may die of malnutrition because a product used to treat the condition is in short supply, the United Nations Children’s Fund said on Monday. Four countries — Mali, Nigeria, Niger and Chad — have exhausted their supplies of the peanut-based, high-nutrient product, called ready-to-use therapeutic food, …
Read More »Opinion | Polio Threatens Gaza Today. Tomorrow, It Could Be Cholera.
In August, health officials recorded the first case of polio in Gaza in more than 25 years, in an unvaccinated 10-month-old baby whose lower left leg became paralyzed by the virus. Sadness and frustration washed over me when I first heard the news. It is outrageous that polio — which …
Read More »Opinion | America Needs More Children. JD Vance’s Shame Game Won’t Get Us There.
Listen to and follow ‘The Opinions’Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube | iHeartRadio Despite concerns over the falling birthrate, especially on the right, the Times Opinion columnist David French recognizes that the push to have more families — and bigger ones — has become problematic. In this …
Read More »Opinion | Doctors, A.I. and Empathy for Patients
More from our inbox: Breast Cancer ScreeningWalz’s MisstepsMental Health Support for Schoolchildren To the Editor: Re “ChatGPT’s Bedside Manner Is Better Than Mine,” by Jonathan Reisman (Opinion guest essay, Oct. 9): Dr. Reisman notes that ChatGPT’s answers to patient questions have been rated as more empathetic than those written by …
Read More »5 Children’s Movies to Stream Now
‘Trolls Band Together’ Stream it on Netflix. The third installment in the DreamWorks “Trolls” franchise dives into boy band territory, which is fitting since Branch, the films’ main character, is voiced by Justin Timberlake, of ’N Sync fame. For years, Branch has kept his boy band past secret; he has …
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