Kristen Meinzer

The participants in DOROT's annual Passover Seders ask the four questions, sing traditional songs, list off the ten plagues, and pray. They do everything that one would expect to do at a Seder, only they do it while each participant is still in his or her own home.

From Jamie Oliver’s 'Food Revolution' to the first lady’s national crusade, it seems that the issue of child obesity is everywhere. Clearly a major health issue, it is also a major self-esteem issue for children, which leads us to wonder: Is it possible to help our kids take off the extra pounds without giving them a complex?

Noah Baumbach, best known for his films The Squid and the Whale and Margot at the Wedding, has a new movie in theaters nationwide today. It’s called Greenberg, and it follows a narcissistic man-child played by Ben Stiller as he tries to get his life together.

Baumbach talks with us about why he chose Stiller for the role, whether he sees Greenberg as a “guy movie,” and what it’s like working with his real-life wife Jennifer Jason Leigh, who appears in the film and shares story credits.

Today, the widely anticipated John Cusack/Rob Corddry vehicle, "Hot Tub Time Machine" hits theatres nationwide. As the title suggests, the film centers on a hot tub that transports its characters through time, back to the more innocent year of 1986.

Rafer Guzman, Takeaway movie contributor and Newsday writer talks about the most memorable time travel movies, and why audiences find these tales so compelling.

This week, inspired by "Hot Tub Time Machine," Rafer and Kristen take their own trip through time.

These days, it seems that technology connects us with everything we want to know. Using our phones, Facebook, the pages of Wikipedia and YouTube videos, we instantly fulfill our desires for information, connection and amusement. But as a result, have we eliminated many of life's surprises?

For this week's conversation about food, we talk with one of the most celebrated chefs and TV personalities in the world: Jamie Oliver. First known to the world as The Naked Chef, Jamie is coming to America for a new TV show on ABC. We ask him how he's trying to get Americans to eat healthier and how food culture differs on this side of the Atlantic.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, one in five Americans is considered disabled. As of this month, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is nearly 14 percent, significantly higher than the 10 percent unemployment rate for the general population. How can we narrow the gap?

For this week’s family segment, we discuss a topic that’s on lots of teenagers’ and parents’ minds right now, as April 1st ticks closer: college acceptance. And how to balance hopes for a dream school versus the reality of what a family can afford.

Today, the widely anticipated girl-band biopic “The Runaways” hits theatres in limited release. It follows the real-life story of Joan Jett and Cherie Currie’s 1970s rock band.

In honor of the film, we look back on our favorite girl band movies of all time with the help of Emily Rems, managing editor for Bust Magazine and Rafer Guzman, Takeaway contributor and Newsday film critic.

Today, we pay tribute to something that's in almost every piece of portable technology today: the humble battery. Henry Schlesinger is the author of a new book called "The Battery: How Portable Power Sparked a Technological Revolution." He explains how the battery went from animating a frog’s leg, back in the beginning, to powering your cell phone today.

While its connection to St. Patrick is tenuous, at best, fans of the the Shamrock Shake herald its annual return with glee (and green food dye). Can't find any near you? Learn how to make your own!

Each week, Newsday film critic Rafer Guzman and Takeaway producer Kristen Meinzer get in a heated, but friendly debate about the movies. This week, inspired by "Runaways," they take on movies about rock and rock bands.

According to Newsweek, recent high school and college graduates aren’t asking their parents for vocational and financial advice. Instead, they’re turning to their depression-era grandparents. After all, their grandparents survived a time when the American unemployment rate was 25 percent, while their parents came of age well after that devastating time and well before the recession of today.

When it comes to breast-feeding, the pendulum may be swinging back from "breast is best" to "formula is fine." Among the reasons: assertions that the health benefits of breast milk may be exaggerated, the perception by some that breastfeeding advocates are overly judgmental, and new research indicating that mothers who nurse may face negative economic consequences.

Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass, the actor-director team behind the hugely successful "Bourne Identity" franchise release "Green Zone" today, inspired by an account of life in Baghdad's Green Zone.

Every year, the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, brings together a mix of musicians, film makers and technologists. This year's gathering starts tomorrow, and the docket includes eye...

When it comes to environmentally responsible eating, we’re often told what not to eat: Don’t eat tuna because it’s overfished. Don’t eat Chilean sea bass because it’s bottom-trawled. Don’t eat beef because of carbon dioxide emissions from cows.

But what we’re not often told is that putting jellyfish on the menu will help save the world.

 

Since December 2007, seven million jobs have been lost in our country, and the majority of those who’ve lost their jobs have been men. At the same time, females have been returning to the workforce in higher numbers than their male counterparts, and more and more women have taken on the role of primary breadwinner for their families.

 

Each week, Newsday film critic Rafer Guzman and Takeaway producer Kristen Meinzer get in a heated, but friendly debate about the movies. This week, they commemorate their third date with a talk about Sunday night's Oscar show.