Sentinel Lifestyle
Olivia Rodrigo’s festival is uniting women and girls behind nonprofits promoting their well-being
Evoking the same do-it-yourself pop-rock feminism of her ’90s musical influences, Olivia Rodrigo raised $20 million for women’s well-being with a benefit show that activated her young audience. Daisy Chain Fields united a women-led lineup boasting queer pop star Chappell Roan, breakout rapper Doechii and riot grrrl pioneers Bikini Kill behind issues of women’s health, […]
Need spiritual guidance? Gurus join chatbot trend as people turn to AI for answers
CHENNAI, India | When Kripa Vaidyanathan’s 27-year-old niece died in an Alaska car crash in 2024, her family in Chennai, India, felt shell-shocked. They questioned why this tragedy would befall them when they had such “immense faith in God.” Vaidyanathan, a yoga instructor, helped her grieving sister get face time with a high-profile guru who […]
In Nigeria’s troubled north, a bustling nightlife lives with a morality police and insecurity
SOKOTO, Nigeria | Multicolored strobe lights sweep across a dance floor soon to throng with sweaty revelers and shrilling voices singing along to Afrobeats in a nightclub that is thriving despite being in one of northern Nigeria’s most deeply conservative states. As the DJ prepared his set and attendants arranged bottles of expensive liquor on […]
For everything from troubled hearts to lost keys, Greeks bake cakes for a wish-granting saint
ILION, Greece | For the careless and despairing alike, there’s a special day on the Orthodox Christian calendar to provide relief — with the help of some orange-flavored cake. Thousands of pilgrims gathered late Wednesday and Thursday at the Church of St. Fanourios, 10 kilometers (6 miles) northwest of Athens, with their baked offerings. They […]
One Tech Tip: How to keep your child’s tablets, laptops from becoming distractions from schoolwork
Tablets and computers have become crucial school supplies for many students. But the same devices children use to read text, write essays, solve math problems or research history projects can also offer distractions in the form of games, social media and web browsing. It can be a challenge for parents to figure out how to […]
The epic La Tomatina food fight drew foreigners to paint a small Spanish town red
BUÑOL, Spain | Thousands of revelers — including many lured by a Bollywood film — descended on a small Spanish town on Wednesday for the annual La Tomatina food fight, where they painted Buñol red with tons of overripe tomatoes. Loaded trucks plodded through the crowd with people in their cargo beds throwing tomatoes at […]
Butter me up: Paris gets its first boutique devoted to France’s favorite fat
PARIS | The contradiction of the trim Parisian and the butter croissant now has a storefront. Le Butter Shop, billed as Paris’ first boutique devoted entirely to butter, opened last month a short walk from the Eiffel Tower — with 30 varieties from small family producers in Brittany, the Loire Valley and northern France. France […]
Sippin’ (and chuggin’) through the years with a party mainstay — the red Solo cup
TABOR, S.D. | It’s red. It’s soft plastic. And it probably contains your favorite beverage. The red Solo cup belongs on any list of the country’s most distinctly American objects, but it’s actually more than a single object. It is a symbol of the American psyche — a country that loves a good party, summertime […]
How the No. 2 pencil became a uniquely American school supply staple
For generations of Americans, a sharpened No. 2 pencil has represented childhood and coming of age. Still a fixture of back-to-school shopping lists, it outlines a child’s first letters, erases their mistakes and lets them doodle in the margins when they daydream. For decades, sweaty hands clutched the ridged yellow wood on test day. “Bring […]
How to reset your child’s sleep schedule for back-to-school season
NEW YORK | After a summer of vacations and late nights, it’s time to set those back-to-school alarms. A good night’s sleep helps students stay focused and attentive in class. Experts say it’s worth easing kids back into a routine with the start of a new school year. “We don’t say ‘ get good sleep […]