Diplo’s Jamaica

Diplo, born Thomas Wesley Pentz, fell in love with Jamaica, particularly its Portland parish on the northeast coast, nearly 20 years ago. “I was D.J.ing on a cruise ship, got off in Ocho Rios, and drove through Port Antonio to get to Kingston,” said the multiple-Grammy nominee and winner who has collaborated with Dua Lipa,…

A Perfect Cucumber Salad to Make Anytime

If my colleague Tanya Sichynsky has chickpea anxiety, then I live with cucumber dependency. I need at least one, ideally two, seedless cucumbers in my fridge at all times, ready for snacking, smashing or slicing up to be the green thing in my grain bowl. If I “accidentally” buy too many cucumbers, that just means…

‘Brainrot’ Is the New Online Affliction

If you or someone you love speaks almost exclusively in internet references — “It’s giving golden retriever boyfriend energy” or “Show it to me Rachel” — they may be suffering from a condition known as “brainrot.” The term refers primarily to low-value internet content and the effects caused by spending too much time consuming it.…

The Sweet Rewards of Bitter Melon

On broad banana leaves, dishes of sweet soy dipping sauce, a creamy pork liver sauce, a bubbling pinakbet, some sticky rice and a raw salad of slivered bitter melon and red onion flank a crackling lechon like planets orbiting the sun. This is the final savory course of the kamayan dinner, a Filipino family-style meal,…