Washington Post Features

Washington Post Features

Inaugural music: It's nice, but it's not a concert
Whether Obama will include music at his second inauguration, later this month, remains a matter of conjecture, but of course it's beside the point. State ceremonies at once exalt and diminish music. They offer a framework in which everyone can understand music's importance and desirability: It is there to support, embellish, illustrate or prolong the moment, or simply to offer some breathing room.

January 4, 2013 1 Photo
From NASCAR to rum, the 10 weirdest parts of the 'fiscal cliff' bill
Congress managed to include all sorts of corporate tax breaks and other arcane provisions into the final bill, covering everything from electric scooters to NASCAR racetracks to taking the subway to work.

January 4, 2013 1 Photo
Fossils may date from 3.5 billion years ago
Scientists analyzing Australian rocks have discovered traces of bacteria that lived a record-breaking 3.49 billion years ago, a mere billion years after Earth formed.

January 2, 2013
Its great famine now just a memory, china confronts a new problem of obesity
Older people in China remember the Great Famine of 1958-61, when 15 million to 45 million people died of hunger and related causes.

January 2, 2013
Celebrate these unusual observances in 2013
We know that many of you probably got a calendar for the holidays. It has become a New Year's tradition in KidsPost to highlight some holidays and other special days that kids might be interested in but that probably didn't make the cut as an "official" holiday on your calendar.

January 2, 2013 1 Photo
Hunger games: The new science of fasting
In 1908, Linda Hazzard, an American with some training as a nurse, published "Fasting for the Cure of Disease," which claimed that minimal food was the route to recovery from a variety of illnesses, including cancer. Hazzard was jailed after one of her patients died of starvation. But what if she was, at least partly, right?

January 2, 2013 1 Photo
7 resolutions for saving money in 2013
Smart spending and saving only happens when you're alert. And whether you're living paycheck to paycheck or managing an eight-figure investment portfolio, we're all saving, investing and hunting for bargains so we can spend later. Even those who can afford to be lazy with their finances usually aren't.

December 28, 2012 1 Photo
Polar bear trade, hunting spark controversy
The polar bear was a mile away and began running toward the dog sled, quickly closing the distance on the frozen Arctic waters of Canada's Resolute Bay. One of Mark Beeler's Inuit guides released two dogs to distract it while Beeler, a skilled bow hunter, quickly shot three arrows, piercing the animal's heart and lungs.

December 26, 2012 1 Photo
Here's what to shop for in the New Year
If you didn't splurge in December, January is a great time to buy, because most of the country is sick of shopping. Expect discounts on everything from carpeting to furniture. Here's what you should buy in the next couple of months.

December 24, 2012 1 Photo
Why I taught my 13-year-old daughter to shoot
A few years ago, I taught my 13-year-old daughter to shoot. She had asked to learn, so we took my brother's single-shot .22 rifle out in the woods, set a beer can against a stump and began plinking away.

December 24, 2012
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