When director Tanya Wexler got the pitch for Hysteria, a movie about the invention of the vibrator in Victorian England, seven years ago, she says, “It made me laugh so hard I said, ‘I have to do it!’” The “thinking woman’s romantic comedy” opens in New York City and Los Angeles on May 18 and expands to more cities over the next few weeks. (Photo credit: Ricardo Vaz Palma/Sony Pictures Classics)
We caught a preview last week of HBO’s upcoming four-part documentary The Weight of the Nation and we have a spoiler alert for you: A lot of us Americans are fat! OK, so the obesity crisis isn’t breaking news, but this well-intentioned documentary, which airs tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET/PT, does have some surprises up its sleeve. (Photo credit: Courtesy HBO)
Along with warmer weather, gardening, hiking and camping come the insects. We’ve told you about the dangers of contracting Lyme disease from deer ticks before, but experts say this year will be a bad one thanks to the mild winter we just had in the Northeastern and Midwestern states. (Photo credit: Courtesy ExOfficio)
Every 68 seconds, someone in the United States is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and by 2050, that frequency will increase to every 33 seconds. These sad statistics have already struck close to home for many of us, and that’s why we support fundraisers such as the Alzheimer’s Association’s A Night at Sardi’s held recently at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, CA. Each year, top film and television stars lend their voices to the cause.
After a fitful night of worry punctuated with bits of nightmare-plagued sleep, we had to smile at the arrival of Freeing Yourself From Anxiety: 4 Simple Steps to Overcome Worry and Create the Life You Want (Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2012) by Tamar E. Chansky, Ph.D. The new book aims to help those with clinical depression, anxiety disorders and anyone who wants to see problems in a more rational light and find productive solutions, and it seemed like exactly what we needed.
It’s been a few years since we told you about The Happiness Project (Harper, 2009), writer Gretchen Rubin’s narrative of how she spent a year trying to achieve greater happiness. Since then we’ve been fascinated with the pursuit of happiness and how such a simple, universal goal remains so elusive for many. So we’re looking forward to the premiere of Happy, a film by Roko Belic that will be screened throughout the world (when else?) on World Happy Day, Feb. 11. The film features interviews with leading happiness and well-being experts, as well as real-life stories from five continents.
We know there’s a special mother-daughter bond when one generation passes along kitchen wisdom and beloved family recipes to the next. When Lee Clayton Roper’s mother, Sally Clayton, started to suffer from osteoporosis and memory loss, the two embarked on a project to collect and publish their favorites in A Well-Seasoned Kitchen (MLC Publishing, 2009). Originally available only in the Claytons’ home state of Colorado, the book recently has become available in local bookstores stores across the country, and is also available through online retailers. A portion of all sales benefits the Alzheimer’s Association Colorado Chapter.
We’re always fascinated by real-life medical mysteries and stories of survivors who beat the odds. So we’re not surprised that singer-songwriter Jewel wanted to host The Incurables, Veria Living’s TV series that delves into the real-life journeys of patients dealing with chronic — and often life-threatening — illnesses, especially since she has dealt with a few health problems of her own.
We’re familiar with Anna Deavere Smith from her work on The West Wing and as hospital administrator Gloria Akalitus in Showtime’s Nurse Jackie, and were aware of her accomplishments as a playwright (Fires in the Mirror and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992). So we were excited to hear that she’s bringing her acclaimed one-woman play Let Me Down Easy — an exploration the modern health care system and the way we deal with illness — to Great Performances on PBS Jan. 13 at 9 p.m. ET.
The yoga community has been abuzz since an article called “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body” was published Jan. 5 in The New York Times Magazine. The excerpt is from an upcoming book called The Science of Yoga: The Risks and Rewards (Simon & Schuster, 2012), by William J. Broad. The section that ran in the Times looked at the risk and severity of yoga injuries. What stuck with us were the gruesome anecdotes: yoga-induced popped ribs, hip replacements, nerve damage and strokes.
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