Hara Estroff Marano

Technology can be highly misleading about what matters most in the search for a mate.

"Hector and the Search for Happiness" is the title of a new film directed by Peter Chelsom. Its point is that making happiness the goal doesn't work. Part of the problem is that in questing for happiness we flee from unhappiness. But real happiness is richness, encompassing the full spectrum of emotions.

Backstage with Joan Rivers

Joan Rivers was hilarious. She was brilliant. And she could be shockingly cutting. Best of all, she was a real working girl.

Joan Rivers was hilarious. She was brilliant. And she could be shockingly cutting. Best of all, she was a real working girl.

The New Rules of Relationships

These are the elements of a healthy relationship.

These are the elements of a healthy relationship.

How is it that those who mean only the best for their kids can wind up bringing out the worst in them?

Helicopter Parenting—Uh-Oh, It's the Law!!

Custody disputes and child-support allocations now force parents to outdo each other at overparenting. By some strange twist of law, that's now considered to be in "the best interests of the child."

Custody disputes and child-support allocations now force parents to outdo each other at overparenting. By some strange twist of law, that's now considered to be in "the best interests of the child."

The Cost of Sobriety

How helpful are interventions in getting people to give up alcohol or other substances of abuse? The data are clear. And such confrontational methods can have lingering negative effects.

How helpful are interventions in getting people to give up alcohol or other substances of abuse? The data are clear. And such confrontational methods can have lingering negative effects.

The Worst Idea in the World

So distorted has child-rearing become in the U.S. that the entire enterprise of attachment has been subverted. Take the case of "attachment parenting."

So distorted has child-rearing become in the U.S. that the entire enterprise of attachment has been subverted. Take the case of "attachment parenting."

Feeding Kids via Pouch—You've Got To Be Kidding

Oh, no. Is it now too much to demand of our kids that they actually sit at a table with us for dinner?

Oh, no. Is it now too much to demand of our kids that they actually sit at a table with us for dinner?

The Grudging Guru

In a frequently funny new documentary called Kumaré, young American filmmamker Vikram Gandhi grows a beard, adds an accent and a mantra, sheds a lot of clothes, and transforms himself into an Eastern guru who gains a following in the western desert. Kumaré just might be the best-natured takedown of belief you'll ever see.

In a frequently funny new documentary called Kumaré, young American filmmamker Vikram Gandhi grows a beard, adds an accent and a mantra, sheds a lot of clothes, and transforms himself into an Eastern guru who gains a following in the western desert. Kumaré just might be the best-natured takedown of belief you'll ever see.