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Making Language Immersion Fun for the Kids
The New York Times: It was summer in Tuscany. The rolling hills were adorned with their famous haystacks. The cypress trees were majestically verdant against the golden backdrop. We were in the picturesque Renaissance town Pienza, its spire shooting up into a cloudless sky. I watched as my children boarded a scuolabus with 15 Italian kids they’d never met before. The bus pulled away, heading to a local terra-cotta museum. I looked at the faces of my children — crying, hysterical, their tiny hands banging on the windows. And I was filled with joy. I should explain. What brought me to this pocket of Italy for a month, and inspired me to take a leave of absence from work and my husband?
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It Pays to Have an Eye for Emotions
From Gordon Gekko in Wall Street to Miranda Priestly in the Devil Wears Prada, successful people in the workplace are often shown as tough and single-minded, with little concern for the feelings of others. In most fields, intrapersonal “soft skills” are rarely given the same weight as more technical qualifications. But a new study finds that an eye for emotions can really pay off.
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Bad habits are like potato chips, you can’t break just one
Chicago Tribune: I'm walking around with natural fingertips for the first time in years. No red stain from Flamin' Hot Cheetos. No orange hue from Nacho Cheese Doritos. No trace of purple from Takis Fuego. Just flesh, hopefully without preservatives. Try not to judge me a bad person, but I've eaten a bag of chips nearly every day since I was a teenager. (I'm only exaggerating a little.) We were poor, and it was a cheap snack growing up. I'm a stress eater, and it's comfort food. That's how I came to rely on the processed potato. I've cut back in recent years but have often kept a bag or two hidden around the apartment in case of emergency. Read the whole story: Chicago Tribune
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Rent the Runway means you can always wear something new. Should you have to?
The Washington Post: The main entrance to the new Rent the Runway boutique, which opened just in time for New Year’s Eve celebrations, faces M Street NW in the middle of old Establishment Georgetown. Despite the high-tech, data-driven, proudly disruptive business model of the company, which was founded on the premise that it makes more sense for a woman to rent her special-occasion clothes than buy them, the store recalls those intimate, personal shopping salons of yore that were filled with slimming mirrors, makeup tables and discerning saleswomen ready to cast a sober eye on the emotional process of getting dressed.
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Perceptions of Race at a Glance
The New York Times: Jennifer L. Eberhardt, 49, an associate professor of psychology at Stanford University, studies the effect of unconscious ideas about race on the workings of the criminal justice system. She was one of 21 winners of 2014 MacArthur “genius” grants. Interest in her work has grown after the deaths of black suspects at the hands of police officers in Missouri and New York. We spoke for two hours in New York in September and again by telephone on Jan. 1. Here is an condensed and edited version of our conversations. WHEN YOUR MACARTHUR WAS ANNOUNCED, IT WAS SAID YOU HAD SHOWN HOW CRIMINAL SENTENCING WAS RELATED TO SKIN COLOR AND RACIAL STEREOTYPING. HOW DID YOU DO THAT?
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People Who Weigh Themselves More Lose More Weight
New York Magazine: Within the general category "trying to lose weight," there is a huge range of behaviors. Some people take this quest very seriously, diligently tracking seemingly every category down to the bite. Others see it as a more general long-term goal, but one that doesn't end up hugely affecting their day-to-day life. It's not surprising that this latter group tends to be less successful in their efforts, and anew study in PLOS ONE led by Elina Helander from Tempere Univeristy of Technology in Finland (and co-authored by friend of Science of Us Brian Wansink) makes the case for a vigilant approach to weight loss, at least when it comes to weigh-ins.
