How we fail our female vets

My latest piece, from the 7/12 issue, is about the VA hospital system's struggle to accommodate growing numbers of female veterans. Read it here.

A Brief History of YouTube

YouTube turns five this month. It's changed a lot since its simple beginnings in an office above a California pizza joint. Click here for a brief history of YouTube.

Best in Show: Jane Lynch

I missed this week's Madonna episode, but I'm nonetheless psyched Glee has returned from its 4-month hiatus. To mark the occasion, I sat down with Jane Lynch, who plays the show's deliciously evil cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester. She's actually really nice! Read the profile in this week's mag here.

Why Do Women Still Earn Less Than Men?

On Equal Pay Day--an advocacy day intended to raise awareness of the fact that American women still earn 77 cents on the male dollar--my Time.com story explores reasons for the persistent gap. One study I find compelling explored the wage trajectory for workers who underwent a sex change. Even when controlling for factors like education, men who transitioned to women earned, on average, 32% less after the surgery. Women who became men, on the other hand, earned 1.5% more.

Which U.S. Presidents Have Appointed the most Supreme Court Justices?

Once Obama's nominee to succeed Justice Stevens is confirmed (whoever that nominee turns out to be), the President will have seated as many Justices as any first-termer since Richard Nixon, who pushed through four. And we're barely into Year 2.

My piece on Time.com today looks at prolific appointers of ages past.

Q&A: The Male Brain

Despite all that old talk about Mars and Venus, men and women are much more biologically alike than not. But differences in the way our brains are built shed light on everything from the way we flirt, to the way we fight, to how we raise our boys, argues neuropsychiatrist Dr. Louann Brizendine in her provocative new book, The Male Brain. She and I talked about what neurology tells us about sex, the daddy brain, and why some men cheat. Read the interview here.

Why do Americans eat so much salt?

Pepsi's plans for "designer salt" that preserves taste while slashing sodium content are intended to combat a growing public-health problem: Americans consume about twice as much salt as our bodies need, a habit that contributes to hypertension and heart disease. We started developing our salt addiction after World War II, and today it's tough to tell how much we're ingesting. My piece in the mag this week explores why.