My specialties include general lifestyle, arts and culture, profiles, beauty, shelter/design, business and wellness. Note that some articles were written under my pseudonym, Pauline Estrem.
Halle Berry on Her New Wellness App and Continuing to Open Doors for Actresses of Color
For Halle Berry, 1989 was a major turning point both personally and professionally — specifically, her role as Emily Franklin on the ABC series Living Dolls. Not only does the Oscar and Emmy winner consider it her breakthrough role, but it was also a pivotal moment for her health. One day, while taping the show, Berry, then 32, suddenly fell into a coma. Soon after, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
Everything You Wanted to Know About Plant-Based Milk
If you’re getting in line for a latte each time your favorite coffee chain adds a new plant-based milk to its menu, you’re not alone. These dairy alternatives are more popular than ever, and the global market for non-dairy milk is expected to reach more than $38 billion by 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate of more than 14 percent from 2018 to 2024, according to a March 2019 report by Arizton Advisory and Intelligence.
Olympian Alexi Pappas Defines Bravery on Her Own Terms
The New York Times called her a “renaissance runner.” The Hollywood Reporter described her as a “blend of Audrey Hepburn and Joan Cusack.” As an Olympic runner, actress, filmmaker, and writer, Alexi Pappas can be hard to define — and that’s just the way she likes it.
Emma Donoghue’s ‘The Pull of the Stars’ Is Eerily Perfect for These Times
No, Emma Donoghue doesn’t have a crystal ball. The best-selling author didn’t see COVID-19 coming when she decided to write her new novel, The Pull of the Stars, which is set amid the 1918 flu pandemic. But after reading an article two years about the devastating disease, which killed over 50 million worldwide, Donoghue’s interest was piqued. Given her penchant for historical fiction (The Wonder, Frog Music, Slammerkin), it seemed like an intriguing backdrop for a story.
What Happens When Being Home So Much Makes Your Agoraphobia Worse?
In our series What It’s Like, we talk with people from a wide range of backgrounds to learn how their lives have changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For our latest installment, we spoke with Megan Lane, a freelance writer in Wading River, New York. In addition to depression, generalized anxiety disorder, anorexia nervosa, and ADHD, the 30-year-old has been diagnosed with agoraphobia.
Agoraphobia is often simply defined as a fear of leaving home. In reality, it’s an anxiety disorder that...
Eva Clark on Kobe Bryant’s Literary Legacy
Whether on the basketball court or on the page, Kobe Bryant was a storyteller, weaving tales of passion, sportsmanship, discipline and greatness.
The Facebook Page That Led to 30 Drug-Rehab Arrests
While Facebook may no longer be the most relevant social media platform, with young users quitting it in droves, it has become more and more important in the work of law enforcement. For one detective in Delray Beach, Florida—part of the “rehab capital of America” and a major hub of the opioid epidemic—Facebook has been essential in the fight against corrupt operators in the area’s drug rehabilitation industry.
Actress Marcia Gay Harden’s memoir takes on her mother’s Alzheimer’s: 'I do for my mother what she can no longer do. I remember.'
Marcia Gay Harden is known for being an Oscar and Tony winning actress and a mainstay on primetime TV. But before she was celebrated for her craft, before she became a mother, before she got her MFA or her first role, she was Beverly’s daughter.
Body Neutrality Is the New Body Positivity — Here's Why It Matters for Your Kid
If you search the hashtag #BoPo — short for body positivity — on Instagram, you’ll find nearly 670,000 posts by individuals of all shapes and sizes celebrating their bodies.
9 subtle ways technology is making humanity worse
For many of us fully immersed in the digital age, it's hard to imagine a world before the advent of the internet, cloud storage, and smartphones.
Experts have found that in addition to making our lives more convenient, but there's a negative side to technology — it can be addicting and it can hurt our communication skills.
Extended screen time can result in health ramifications like insomnia, eyestrain, and increased anxiety and depression.
After My Mother Died, I Found an Unexpected Best Friend: Her Identical Twin
In honor of Mother’s Day, we’re sharing stories from the Brit + Co community about mother figures who shape our lives.
How Gay Conversion Therapy Came to Be, and How It Persists Today
A renewed conversation about the pseudo-scientific technique of gay conversion therapy seems to be emerging nationwide, thanks to the upcoming premieres of two high-profile films on the subject.
Fad diets never worked for me, but a fitness app helped me lose 28 pounds in four months
MyFitnessPal, along with healthy diet and exercise, helped author Chelsea Greenwood lose weight. The app helps her stay accountable by tracking calories and her weekly workouts. Here's how MyFitnessPal app helped her lose 28 pounds in four months.
10 foods you shouldn't eat in the morning
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Even though science doesn't fully back up that claim - and many people do just fine skipping it altogether - it still pays to eat smart first thing in the morning. To know which dishes to avoid, we rounded up the worst foods to eat first thing in the morning.
"13 Reasons Why" Season 2 Recap: Here's Where All the Characters Stand at the End of the Finale
13 Reasons Why season 2 debuted on May 18. The first season of the Netflix show followed a high school student named Clay Jensen who is tasked with following a series of tapes left to his classmates by a girl named Hannah Baker, after she died by suicide.