Motoko Rich

Making a Word Meme

nytimes.com — Agree, disagree, read the book or not: "Lean In," the title of Sheryl Sandberg's manifesto on women's empowerment, has quickly become one of those ubiquitous slogans. One might even say it has reached a tipping point, to borrow a phrase that also made the leap from the best-seller list into everyday conversation.

Visions of College, Colored by Money

nytimes.com — Shanti KumarBronxEssay Written for Princeton University I wonder if Princeton should be poorer. A New York Times article geared towards helping Americans slice their end-of-year charitable pie quoted Peter Singer, a Princeton Professor of Bioethics, saying that, "The marginal difference my dollar can make to an organization that already has a large endowment is not as great as one given to an organization that helps people who have almost nothing."

Hilary Mantel - By the Book - NYTimes.com

nytimes.com — The author of "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies" prefers books with action: "I don't like overrefinement, or to dwell in the heads of vaporous ladies with fine sensibilities." What's the best book you read in the last year? The term "best" would have to stretch.

Steve Jobs’s Widow Sets Philanthropy Goals

nytimes.com — Marlene Castro knew the tall blonde woman only as Laurene, her mentor. They met every few weeks in a rough Silicon Valley neighborhood the year that Ms. Castro was applying to college, and they e-mailed often, bonding over conversations about Ms. Castro's difficult childhood.