Mexico’s Last Countercultural Coast

Stepping off the plane in Puerto Escondido, on the Pacific Coast of Oaxaca, I gulped the thick, tropical air. After three days in Mexico’s high-elevation capital, inhaling the vital, pungent smell of sea and damp vegetation felt like a resuscitation. I hired an “authorized” taxi and drove northwest from the airport, passing papaya farms and…

Taco Pizza and Other Stories

Good morning. It’s Caucus Day in Iowa, and a chunk of our newsroom is hunkered down in Des Moines, getting ready to report what’s happening into the night and early-morning hours of Tuesday. I hope you’ll follow along on our home page, and participate in our efforts to understand the news of the day and…

J. Lo and the Power of 50

Fifty won the Super Bowl. Fifty years between wins for the Kansas City Chiefs, and 50-year-old Jennifer Lopez, whose halftime performance in a series of barely-there Versace bodysuits sent social media into something of a meltdown. More than four decades ago, Gloria Steinem crafted an aphorism that went down in history when, on her 40th…

Helping Teenagers With Menstrual Pain

Period-related pain, medically known as dysmenorrhea, colloquially often called “cramps,” should not prevent an adolescent from participating fully in school, in sports, in social life. If that’s happening on a regular basis, she needs evaluation and help and support — from her family, and from the medical profession. “Painful periods can be very debilitating; I’ve…