Samedi Enfance en marge Ce matin, je me suis réveillé sous la neige à Matelica, un village dans le centre de l’Italie. Je dois y rencontrer deux cents lycéens. Les profs leur ont fait lire mon livre Dans la mer il y a des crocodiles, et ils m’ont invité à parler avec eux. Cela fait des mois…

Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 2002. Getty Images/Michael Grecco; Google Type: Vault 49 In November 1999, Douglas Edwards became fledgling Google's first "brand manager," making him employee No. 59. In this excerpt from his new book, "I'm Feeling Lucky," Mr. Edwards gives an inside view…

CHILDHOOD RELIC Jungle gyms, like this one in Riverside Park in Manhattan, have disappeared from most American playgrounds in recent decades. Dith Pran/The New York Times When seesaws and tall slides and other perils were disappearing from New York’s playgrounds, Henry Stern drew a line in the…

Author practices jumping rope with seaweed while work awaits. ``. . . anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment." -- Robert Benchley, in Chips off the Old Benchley, 1949 I have been intending to write this essay for months. Why am I…

If cleanliness is next to godliness, then I can't help but think God must like 1980's Hugo-winning novel, The Fountains of Paradise , by Arthur C. Clarke — even if it's all about getting in His face. It maybe seems odd, at first, to learn that Clarke ultimately identified himself as an atheist.…

There’s one question I’m asked frequently: how to give a TED Talk that works. I’ve given all types of talks. And while all presentations take an investment to make them effective, the creation of a high-stakes, beautifully staged TED-style talk often proves to be especially difficult. It takes work…