Former news editor turned health nerd. Editor-in-chief at @PublicGoodNews Previously @Curbed/@VoxMedia/@NYMag
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Articles by Megan Barber
Americans don’t need ‘dramatically’ more protein, despite officials’ claims
Leer en español In unveiling new dietary guidelines, federal health officials have claimed they are correcting past guidance that created a “generation of kids low in protein” and that Americans should get “dramatically” more of the nutrient. While some individuals may benefit from more protein, Americans are not generally protein-deficient.
Inside the battle for the future of addiction medicine
NEW ORLEANS — Elyse Stevens had a reputation for taking on complex medical cases. People who’d been battling addiction for decades. Chronic-pain patients on high doses of opioids. Sex workers and people living on the street. “Many of my patients are messy, the ones that don’t know if they want to stop using drugs or not,” said Stevens, a primary care and addiction medicine doctor.
Vaccines are helping older people more than we knew
Leer en español Let’s be clear: The primary reason to be vaccinated against shingles is that two shots provide at least 90% protection against a painful, blistering disease that a third of Americans will suffer in their lifetimes, one that can cause lingering nerve pain and other nasty long-term consequences.
Las vacunas ayudan a las personas mayores más de lo que se pensaba
Read in English Seamos claros. La razón principal para vacunarse contra la culebrilla (shingles, la infección que genera el virus herpes zóster) es que dos dosis brindan una protección del 90% contra una enfermedad dolorosa, que produce ampollas y puede causar dolor nervioso persistente y otras complicaciones graves a largo plazo. Y que afectará a un tercio de los estadounidenses a lo largo de su vida.
Waning immunity and falling vaccination rates fuel pertussis outbreaks
Leer en español Rates of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, are surging in Texas, Florida, California, Oregon, and other states and localities across the country. The outbreaks are fueled by falling vaccination rates, fading immunity, and delays in public health tracking systems, according to interviews with state and federal health officials. Babies too young to be fully vaccinated are most at risk.
Suicidios y adolescentes: consejos para proteger a tus hijos si usan ChatGPT u otros asistentes de IA
Si solo tienes unos segundos, lee estas líneas: Casi 3 de cada 4 adolescentes utilizan chatbots de compañía y 1 de cada 3 considera que sus conversaciones con la inteligencia artificial (IA) son tan o más satisfactorias que con sus amigos reales, según una investigación de Common Sense Media. Varias investigaciones indican que algunos chatbots pueden ofrecer información peligrosa a menores, incluyendo métodos de suicidio o autolesiones.
25+ Best Christmas in July Gifts To Celebrate This Summer
Christmas in July dates back to 1933. When the weather is hot outside, sometimes you just need to take your mind off the heat. Do that with a summer Christmas celebration filled with fake snow and presents. Deck the halls with some fun decorations and serve up a meal of turkey and ice cream. Complete the event with simple yet special Christmas gift ideas for family members and close friends! Nothing is off the table on this unofficial holiday! Have you ever wondered how Christmas in July came about?
My Top Five Winter Reads
All the bright places – Jennifer niven My all-time favourite book, this novel has captured my heart since 16-year-old me picked it up in the bookstore. Despite being a classic young adult work, I think its themes are timeless in their discussion. ATBP is a poignant story of love, heartbreak and mental health. The two main characters, Violet and Finch, find each other at their lowest moments, finding unity in the darkness they see themselves in.
11 urban gondolas changing the way people move
Editor's Note: This post was originally published in July 2016 and has been updated with the most recent information. In North America, gondolas are usually used on a ski vacation to access amazing terrain in ritzy towns like Aspen or Whistler. Increasingly, however, urban areas in the United States are considering proposals for gondolas and cable cars to efficiently move people from place to place. In New York City, the East River Skyway would connect Williamsburg in Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan.
A Waterfall Wall in a Lower East Side Carriage House
Photo: Jon Nissenbaum, Courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens Residential Sales Although it’s located a block from the Sara D. Roosevelt Park and the M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden, this four-bedroom carriage house on Eldridge Street has plenty of nature within its own four walls thanks to a plant-filled, custom-designed waterfall, which cascades from the third floor to the first floor under a large skylight.
Everything We Know About the New ‘Mini’ Ikea Store in NYC
Photo: Courtesy of IKEA A new, smaller-format Ikea store will open this month in a shopping mall in Rego Park after the coronavirus pandemic pushed back the outpost’s planned summer 2020 opening. The 115,000-square-foot space at the corner of Queens and Junction Boulevards is the first “mini” Ikea store in the U.S. and is part of the retailer’s plan to reach more urban consumers.
9 (Vetted) Winter Airbnbs to Rent Within Three Hours of NYC
Photo: Airbnb During the winter, an Airbnb’s amenities become especially important. The cold, combined with a lack of light and a dearth of outside-the-house activities, means that ensuring a genuinely comfortable couch, a fireplace that works as it’s meant to, and speedy Wi-Fi is essential. Access to downhill skiing or snowshoe trails doesn’t hurt, of course, nor do saunas or picture windows with pine-forest views. It takes work to find a house with this type of attention to detail.
A Shingled House With a 13,000-Square-Foot Deck on Quantuck Bay
Photo: Corcoran Details Location: Quogue, New York Year built: 1987 Architect: Norman Jaffe Specs: 5 beds, 5.5 baths, 6,226 square feet, 5.3 acres Price: $18,750,000 Listed by: Tim Davis, Corcoran After studying at UC Berkeley’s design school in the ’50s, architect Norman Jaffe worked for several years for Bay Area architect Joseph Esherick, who’d later go on to build some of the best-known sloped-roof cabins at the Sea Ranch.
This Modernist Landmark in New Orleans Has Had Only Two Owners Ever
Photo: IMOTO Photo Details Location: New Orleans, Louisiana Year built: 1963 Architect: Curtis and Davis Architects Specs: 4 beds, 4.5 baths, 4,160 square feet, 0.23 acres Price: $1,850,000 Listed by: Ricky Lemann, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Preferred Nathaniel C. “Buster” Curtis Jr. is one of New Orleans’ most famous 20th-century architects — his firm designed both the main branch of the New Orleans Public Library and the Louisiana Superdome.
Inspecting 11 Rooms From The Queen’s Gambit
Photo: Uli Hanisch/Netflix’s, The Queen’s Gambit Photo: Uli Hanisch/Netflix’s, The Queen’s Gambit The Queen’s Gambit is set across the country in the 1960s, from a traditional mid-century-modern home in Kentucky, to a glitzy Las Vegas hotel room, to a basement brownstone apartment in New York. But, in fact, 95 percent of the show was filmed in Berlin.
McKim, Mead & White Designed This Castle, the Olmsted Brothers Did the Grounds
Photo: Courtesy of Tuxedo Hudson Realty Details Location: Tuxedo Park, NY Year built: 1930 Architect: McKim, Mead, and White Specs: 14 beds, 11.5 baths, 24,064 square feet, 8.2 acres Price: $10,900,000 Listed by: Tuxedo Hudson Realty After joining forces in the 1870s to design summer cottages in the beach resort town of Elberon, New Jersey, Charles McKim, William Mead, and Stanford White would go on to design homes for the most prominent New York City families in the late 19th century,...
Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired home on private island now wants $10M
A heart-shaped private island 50 miles north of New York City is still on the market, now at an over 20 percent discount from its 2018 list price. Called Petra Island (also called Petre Island), the 10-acre property boasts two homes with Frank Lloyd Wright ties, an original ’50s guest house that Wright actually built and a larger residence built decades later based on Wright’s early drawings. In 1949, the engineer Ahmed Chahroudi purchased the island and commissioned Wright to design a residence.
Stone, Stucco, and Chimneys Galore: A Chateau in Litchfield County for $2.2M
Photo: Anne Day Details Location: Norfolk, Connecticut Year built: 1904 Architect: Alfredo Taylor Specs: 6 beds, 5.5 baths, 7,268 square feet, 40.14 acres Price:$2,185,000 Listed by: Elyse Harney Real Estate Alfredo Taylor, a Florence-born American architect, first came to Norfolk — a small town in Litchfield County — in 1902, just after graduating from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, alongside classmates like William Delano and Julia Morgan.
What COVID Memorials Look Like, From New York to Los Angeles
In Washington, D.C., artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg is planting a white flag for every COVID victim for the installation In America: How Could This Happen. Photo: Timothy Fadek In Washington, D.C., artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg is planting a white flag for every COVID victim for the installation In America: How Could This Happen. Photo: Timothy Fadek As of November 11, at least 241,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States.
Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian on Market for First Time Since 1965, at $1.7M
Photo: Matara Media for Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty Details Location: Glenview, Illinois Year built: 1950 Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright Specs: 4 beds, 3.5 baths, 2,973 square feet, 3.05 acres Price: $1,695,000 Listed by: Erica Goldman and Christopher Stephens of Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty After Frank Lloyd Wright built the first Usonian home in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1936, he spent decades iterating on his concept of affordable middle-class housing, tweaking angles and...
A Brooklyn Heights Curiosity Is on the Market for the First Time
Photo: DDREPS, Courtesy of The Corcoran Group On a leafy, one-block-long Brooklyn Heights street lined with well-preserved Greek Revival townhouses, a rare bit of mid-century modern history has gone up for sale. Close to — though still set back from — the oft-crowded Brooklyn Heights Promenade, 48 Willow Place is one of three mid-century townhouses designed by local architects Joseph and Mary Merz.
Mid-century House by a Frank Lloyd Wright Apprentice Is Now $1M Cheaper
Photo: Visual Marketing and Design Details Location: Maplewood, New Jersey Year built: 1968 Architect: John Rattenbury with Taliesin Associated Architects Specs: 7 beds, 10 baths, 7,000 square feet, 1.84 acres Price: $2,000,000 Listed by: Benjamin Garrison / Coldwell Banker Clothing retailer Daniel Kessler had always imagined living in an original Frank Lloyd Wright house were he ever to make enough money. Unfortunately, by the time he did, in 1966, Wright was six years dead.
Neutra’s Kaufmann Desert House Asks $25M in Palm Springs
Photo: Dan Solomon Details Location: Palm Springs, California Year built: 1946 Architect: Richard Neutra Specs: 5 beds, 6 baths, 3,162 square feet, 2.18 acres Price: $25,000,000 Listed by: Gerard Bisignano, Vista Sotheby’s International Realty Before Frank Sinatra commissioned his Twin Palms Estate or Elvis and Priscilla honeymooned in the “House of Tomorrow,” department-store magnate Edgar Kaufmann asked Richard Neutra to design him a home in the California desert.
From Tiny Trailers to Huge RVs, a Definitive Guide to Every Type of Camper
This Class B Sportsmobile camper van sleeps a family of six and has plenty of storage for gear and food. Photo: Lucy Beaugard This story was originally published by Curbed before it joined New York Magazine. You can visit the Curbed archive at archive.curbed.com to read all stories published before October 2020. There’s a lot to love about campers and RVs — that’s why we started a community group just for camper addicts.
12 (Vetted) Tree Houses to Rent, From Silicon Valley to Woodstock
Photo: Courtesy of Airbnb Finding the perfect tree-house rental is slightly more challenging than booking your average A-frame. Some are rustic, with bathrooms located in an outhouse and no running water (if you can’t make it through the night without peeing, perhaps look elsewhere). Others are downright homey, with toilets, showers, and full kitchens. And no matter the tree house, you’ll likely have to climb up ladders or steep steps to enter.
Jazz Icon Dave Brubeck’s Connecticut House Feels Frozen in 1963
Photo: Courtesy of Douglas Elliman Location: Wilton, Connecticut Year built: 1963 Architect: Beverley David Thorne Specs: 8 beds, 5.5 baths, 6,252 square feet, 7.5 acres Price: $2,750,000 In 1954, Dave Brubeck — “Cool Jazz” icon and noted architecture obsessive — hired architect Beverley David Thorne to design a steel-framed cantilevering house in Oakland.
Ex-Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh Is Buying Houses En Masse in Utah. Why?
Ex–Zappos chief Tony Hsieh is buying up millions of dollars’ worth of real estate in the small ski town of Park City, Utah, and no one quite knows why. After two decades as CEO, Hsieh quietly stepped down from the online shoe retailer this past August without a formal announcement. His retirement present to himself? Tens of millions of dollars in Utah homes.
Why Is Ex–Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh Buying Houses En Masse in Utah?
Photo: Peter Bohler/Redux This story was originally published by Curbed before it joined New York Magazine. You can visit the Curbed archive at archive.curbed.com to read all stories published before October 2020. Ex–Zappos chief Tony Hsieh is buying up millions of dollars’ worth of real estate in the small ski town of Park City, Utah, and no one quite knows why. After two decades as CEO, Hsieh quietly stepped down from the online shoe retailer this past August without a formal announcement.
6 Frank Lloyd Wright Homes for Sale Right Now
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Avery Coonley House — on the market for $550,000 — began life in 1912 as a private elementary school. Photo: Photo by Nick Miller/VHT Studios, courtesy of Compass listing agent Mike McCurry Itchin’ to surround yourself in architectural history all day, every day? We’ve found six different homes — all currently for sale — designed by the legendary American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Some are Prairie School gems that look out onto verdant gardens.
The 10 Best Alternatives to Airbnb
A 2,160-square-foot apartment in Rome available for rent through the Plum Guide. Photo: Luca Tranquilli This story was originally published by Curbed before it joined New York Magazine. You can visit the Curbed archive at archive.curbed.com to read all stories published before October 2020. Thanks to well-known companies like Airbnb and Vrbo, short-term vacation rentals are here to stay in America’s cities.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Final Design, Auctioned Last Year for $1.7M, Now Asks $8M. Huh?
Location: Phoenix, Arizona Year built: 1967 Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright Specs: 3 beds, 3 baths, 3,095 square feet, 1.32 acres Price: $7,950,000 Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright just before his death in 1959, the house commissioned by Norman and Aimee Lykes in the suburbs north of Phoenix was ultimately built in 1967 by Wright’s apprentice, John Rattenbury.
John Black Lee Mid-Century in New Canaan (With a 2,600-Square-Foot Addition) Asks $5M
Location: New Canaan, Connecticut Year built: 1957 Architect: John Black Lee, with renovations and addition by Joel Sanders Specs: 4 beds, 4 baths, 5,612 square feet, 2.8 acres Price: $5,000,000 Though he went to Brown, John Black Lee is often referred to as the sixth member of New Canaan’s Harvard Five, having apprenticed with Harvard Five member Eliot Noyes and designed more than half a dozen homes in the modernist hot spot himself.
John Black Lee Mid-Century Modern in New Canaan Asks $5M
Photo: Peter Aaron/Peter Aaron Location: New Canaan, Connecticut Year built: 1957 Architect: John Black Lee, with renovations and addition by Joel Sanders Specs: 4 beds, 4 baths, 5,612 square feet, 2.8 acres Price: $5,000,000 Though he went to Brown, John Black Lee is often referred to as the sixth member of New Canaan’s Harvard Five, having apprenticed with Harvard Five member Eliot Noyes and designed more than half a dozen homes in the modernist hot spot himself.
The 5 Best Camper Vans for Your DIY Conversion
The Next Gen van from Outside Van uses a Mercedes Sprinter as its base and a fun teal, leather, and orange color scheme. Photo: Courtesy of Outside Vans This story was originally published by Curbed before it joined New York Magazine. You can visit the Curbed archive at archive.curbed.com to read all stories published before October 2020. Whether you want to live in a van full-time or just use it as a weekend camper, #VanLife gives you prime access to the outdoors.
5 Shipping Container Homes You Can Order Right Now
Photo: Courtesy of Alternative Living Spaces This story was originally published by Curbed before it joined New York Magazine. You can visit the Curbed archive at archive.curbed.com to read all stories published before October 2020. Shipping containers have been used for everything from urban farms to off-the-grid getaways and all-in-one pools.
5 Teardrop Trailers You Can Buy Right Now
This “polygonized teardrop” is a fresh take on the classic shape, can be towed by any car, and starts at $13,995. Read more about the Polydrop Trailer, over here. Photo: Courtesy of Polydrops This story was originally published by Curbed before it joined New York Magazine. You can visit the Curbed archive at archive.curbed.com to read all stories published before October 2020. There are many types of campers out there, from huge Class As to midsize camper vans.
The 5 Best Affordable RVs and Camper Vans for Sale
Phoenix-based Boho Camper Vans converts Promaster High Roofs into livable camper vans with well-lit wood interiors. Photo: Courtesy of Boho Camper Vans This story was originally published by Curbed before it joined New York Magazine. You can visit the Curbed archive at archive.curbed.com to read all stories published before October 2020. If Instagram has anything to say about it, #VanLife isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
DIY Camper Van: 5 Affordable Conversion Kits for Sale
The new modular cube system from Happier Camper works as a van conversion kit for the 144-inch wheelbase Mercedes Sprinter. Photo: Courtesy of Happier Camper This story was originally published by Curbed before it joined New York Magazine. You can visit the Curbed archive at archive.curbed.com to read all stories published before October 2020. The van life craze shows no sign of stopping.
In Palm Springs, a Krisel Mid-century Home With a Yellow Shadow-Block Wall
Location: Palm Springs, California Year built: 1959 Architect: William Krisel Specs: 3 beds, 2.75 baths, 1,225 square feet, 0.23 acres Price: $815,000 The late American architect William Krisel is an icon of mid-century design, a modernist who designed more than 40,000 homes over the course of his 50-year career. The majority were built in Southern California, where Krisel was known for angled roofs, concrete breeze blocks, and floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
In Palm Springs, a Krisel Mid-century Home With a Yellow Shadow-Block Wall
Photo: Craig Bernardi Photography Location: Palm Springs, California Year built: 1959 Architect: William Krisel Specs: 3 beds, 2.75 baths, 1,225 square feet, 0.23 acres Price: $815,000 The late American architect William Krisel is an icon of mid-century design, a modernist who designed more than 40,000 homes over the course of his 50-year career. The majority were built in Southern California, where Krisel was known for angled roofs, concrete breeze blocks, and floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Mid-Century on Five Acres in Wilton (Designed by Walter Gropius’s Son-in-law) Asks $1.2M
In Outside the City, Curbed uncovers exceptional properties within a reasonable distance of NYC that will tempt even the staunchest city-dwellers.
Let’s Snoop Around Diane Keaton’s ‘Modern Farmhouse’ inn California
During the pandemic, Diane Keaton — like other celebrities — started broadcasting short, three-minute Instagram videos from her very nice Brentwood, California, home. The house in question is an 8,000-square-foot brick home she designed and built in 2017 in what could be best described as a kind of sophisticated yet rustic ‘modern farmhouse’ style.
A Meticulously Restored Marcel Breuer (With Hudson River Views) Asks $4.2M
Location: Croton-on-Hudson, New York Year built: 1953 Architect: Marcel Breuer Specs: 6 beds, 4 baths, 4,064 square feet, 3.4 acres Price: $4,200,000 Bauhaus-trained architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer is responsible for dozens of iconic Brutalist buildings, from the Y-shaped UNESCO headquarters in Paris to the “inverted-ziggurat” Met Breuer museum in New York City.
A Meticulously Restored Marcel Breuer (With Hudson River Views) Asks $4.2M
Photo: Photo by Undine Prohl, courtesy of Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty This story was originally published by Curbed before it joined New York Magazine. You can visit the Curbed archive at archive.curbed.com to read all stories published before October 2020.
Original (But Not at All Fusty) Stickley House in Maplewood Asks $1.4M
In Outside the City, Curbed uncovers exceptional properties within a reasonable distance of NYC that will tempt even the staunchest city-dwellers.
Renovated Cottage in Litchfield County’s Washington Depot Asks $295K
In Outside the City, Curbed uncovers exceptional properties within a reasonable distance of NYC that will tempt even the staunchest city-dwellers.
Live in an 1846 Farmhouse in the "Little Alsace of Texas" for $515K
Price: $515,000 Location: Castroville, Texas Red poppies, half-timbered houses, and stone churches: At first glance, the tiny hamlet of Castroville, Texas, looks more like the French countryside than a 3,000-person town just west of a major metropolitan area. Castroville was established in 1844 by the French diplomat Henri Castro and was settled by German-speaking Alsatians who built European-inspired farmhouses, shops, and taverns, all within commuting distance (30 minutes) of San Antonio.
Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian (Built With Local Bricks and Red Tidewater Cypress) Asks $425K in Wisconsin
Price: $425,000 Location: Wausau, Wisconsin This small town of around 40,000 people is a two-hour drive north of Madison, Wisconsin, and about one and a half hours west of Green Bay. The Wisconsin River runs straight through Wausau and is its most important feature — a place to swim, fish, canoe, and kayak in the town’s white-water park.
A ‘Floating’ Glass House Asks $7.5M in Dallas
Price: $7,495,000 Location: Dallas, Texas Nestled between mature oak trees, 11345 West Ricks Circle is located in the North Dallas neighborhood of Hillcrest Estates, where sprawling houses come equipped with pools and leafy backyards. The 2.2-mile Northaven Trail located just a block to the south is a popular spot for the community, bringing together runners, joggers, and walkers; an eastward expansion of the trail is set to begin this year.
Carmel Oceanfront Home With Barrel-Vaulted Ceilings Asks $14.5M
Price: $14,500,000 Location: Carmel, California Perched above a sandy stretch of Carmel Bay on the Monterey Peninsula, 2645 Ribera Road sits on one of the winding blocks that make up this secluded oceanfront neighborhood. The property is just a few steps down a hill to Ribera Beach and the Carmel Meadows trail. Leaving the neighborhood, a ten-minute drive north takes you to the fairy-tale-like Carmel-by-the-Sea downtown.
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