Story Archives of 'Lifestyle'

And now a follow-up on a story we did last summer about urban beekeeping. Hundreds of do-it-yourself beekeepers have defied the law in New York City in order to grow local honey. On Tuesday, the city’s board of health unanimously lifted a ban on urban beehives, sparking joy and relief from urban beekeepers, who can now focus on their bugs and not on city politics.

It can get lonely out there on the open road. Truckers spend several days at a time driving solo through the vast expanses of the American West. One of those drivers, named Copperfield, is in love with Cherry Rose, a working girl at a legal Nevada brothel, called Donna’s Ranch.

There’s more to a cup of tea than you think. In a little hole-in-the-wall shop in Seattle's international district, tea connoisseurs gather to drink cup after cup of high mountain oolong tea. There, they meet Jeffrey McIntosh, a 19-year-old who is apprenticing to become a master of all things tea. Producer Catherine Spangler brings us his story.

Bird watching as a hobby dates back to the 1800s when watching birds became more fashionable than hunting them for food.

These days advances in technology have revolutionized birding – from high-tech binoculars to smart phones aps that can play recordings of bird songs to try to lure them in. But some birders have their own special ways to attract our feathered friends.

For Living on Earth, producer and naturalist Laurie Sanders has this profile.

Now for an irresistibly geeky topic that's trending on Twitter. For those unfamiliar with the microblogging site, users post updates, or "tweets," and can tag their tweets with hash marks followed by topic titles. And anyone can search for tweets about a trendy topic, be it "Tiger Woods" or "Iran Election."

In the 19th and 20th century, urban planners and landscape architects designed our modern cities in a way that addressed infectious diseases and even mental health issues. These days, with childhood obesity rates tripling in the last 30 years, many people have started thinking about how urban planning can impact childhood obesity and public health.

From the race to end aging, to the brazen denial of it. Rugby is a sport typically associated with young, brutish college students who don’t mind being beaten around on the field. But in northeast Washington, DC, the weekend sports crowd congregates for a rugby team of an atypical age… senior citizens. For NPR’s Intern Edition, producer Ben Brudevold Newman brings us this report.

Functional foods are those that have been modified in some way to provide health benefits like probiotic yogurts, or cereals enriched with vitamins. In many countries the market for these foods is increasing. But there's still a question of what you're really getting, and whether it really will make you any healthier. Japan has come up with a solution. The country now requires legal definitions for functional foods and mandates that health claims be backed up with evidence.

Most people pass a homeless person on the street and keep on driving. That very sight inspired an Atlanta teenager and her family to change their lives. Together they decided to liquidate their assets and give half away. From Georgia, independent radio producer Philip Graitcer sends us this story.

Listen to the story on Public Radio Exchange