Stephen breyer

Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers By Mary Rodgers and Jesse Green Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 480 pp. $35 - - - Mary Rodgers (1931-2014) had a modestly successful career in musical theater ("Once Upon a Mattress" was her one big hit as a composer) and became a best-selling author in 1972 with "Freaky Friday," a young adult novel about a mother and daughter magically swapping bodies that spawned two movie adaptations and two sequels. By virtue of being Richard Rodgers's daughter and Stephen Sondheim's close friend, she was a privileged, as well as astute, observer of pivotal moments in the American musical theater from "Oklahoma" to "Company" and beyond. The "beyond" included her son Adam Guettel, yet another composer in the family, who won a Tony Award in 2005 for the score of "Light in the Piazza." That show was also nominated for best musical, and before they announced the winner, Adam leaned over to say, "I love you, Mom." To which Rodgers replied, … [Read more...] about Book World: Mary Rodgers’s memoir weighs in on her famous dad and Stephen Sondheim

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 8 NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is expected to be questioned under oath in the coming days in the New York attorney general's long-running investigation into his dealings as a real estate mogul. The deposition could be a critical moment in the investigation of allegations that the Republican billionaire's company, the Trump Organization, misled banks and tax authorities about the value of prized assets like golf courses and skyscrapers. New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office said in May that it was nearing the end of its probe and that investigators have amassed substantial evidence that could support legal action against Trump, his company or both. Trump's deposition — a legal term for sworn testimony that’s not given in court — is one of the few remaining missing pieces, the attorney general's office said. Two of the former … [Read more...] about Trump testimony expected soon in NY civil investigation

Click here to read the full article. In an episode of Netflix’s new drama The Sandman , two characters discuss a shared fondness for the works of William Shakespeare. One of them objects to a recent King Lear production that drastically altered the story, while the other assures him, “The great stories will always return to their original forms.” The latter sentiment is the key to understanding both the assets and challenges of making a TV series out of a comic book long held as one of the medium’s greatest, but also one of its most unadaptable. More from Rolling Stone George Pérez, Influential and Dynamic Comic Book Artist, Dead at 67 Neal Adams, Legendary Comic Book Artist Who Revitalized 'Batman,' Dead at 80 Stephen Sondheim's Death: Stars Pay Tribute to Broadway Legend Written by Neil Gaiman and drawn by a rotating series of artists, The Sandman , which ran from 1989 to 1996, posits that there is a family of cosmic beings more powerful than any … [Read more...] about ‘The Sandman’: Neil Gaiman’s Twisted Dark Fantasy Is Finally Brought (Almost) to Life

WASHINGTON - As Democrats hurry to finalize $739 billion climate, health-care and tax legislation that was revived last week to the surprise of most Washington insiders, business lobbyists and issue advocates are working to support, tweak or derail the bill entirely. The measure, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, would provide the largest investment in U.S. history for clean energy and other efforts to combat climate change. It also aims to lower health-care costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, and it would levy a new minimum corporate tax and bolster the Internal Revenue Service budget to go after tax cheats. The sudden revival of the legislation last week launched a flurry of efforts by groups for and against it, who are using television and newspaper ads and personal outreach to try to sway Democrats to their side before the Senate votes. Much of the fiercest lobbying has focused on the bill's health-care provisions. Research by Patients for … [Read more...] about Lobbyists are rushing to influence the Democrats’ spending bill

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 8 MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The al-Shabab extremist group has exploited Ethiopia’s internal turmoil to cross the border from neighboring Somalia in unprecedented attacks in recent weeks that a top U.S. military commander has warned could continue. The deadly incursions into Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country and long seen as an anchor of security in the Horn of Africa, are the latest sign of how deeply the recent war in the northern Tigray region and other ethnic fighting have made the country more vulnerable. Ethiopia has long resisted such cross-border attacks by the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, in part by deploying troops inside Somalia, where the extremist group controls large rural parts of the country’s southern and central regions. But the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and its security forces have struggled with unrest at home … [Read more...] about In a first, Somalia-based al-Shabab is attacking in Ethiopia

As election workers spend long hours tallying ballots in Arizona and elsewhere in the days after Tuesday’s primary elections, some critics are arguing they should be finished counting by now. Widely shared Twitter posts this week called the delayed results “corrupt” and “unacceptable,” while Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake in a press conference on Wednesday said Arizona voters should know the winner “when they go to bed on election night.” She repeated that gripe during a radio interview Friday, the day after the AP declared her victory in the primary, saying “we had days of waiting to get the ballots counted. It’s a mess.” These complaints ignore the realities of modern-day ballot processing, which requires extensive time and labor, according to election officials and experts. In fact, states have never reported official election results on election night, experts say. Here’s a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: In the past, election results have been released on … [Read more...] about FACT FOCUS: Why final election results take days, not hours

A lawsuit filed Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida accuses Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban of misleading investors through his promotion of cryptocurrency trading platform and brokerage Voyager Digital, which filed for bankruptcy in July. The class-action suit compiled by the Moskowitz Law Firm based in Coral Gables, Fla., claims Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks were a vital outreach arm for the platform masterminded by Stephen Ehrlich, CEO and co-founder of Voyager Digital . Lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that Ehrlich's company targeted small-time traders with tempting introductory rewards and ultimately fleeced more than three million investors of $5 billion in total funds. The suit describes Voyager Digital as an "unregulated and unsustainable fraud, similar to other Ponzi schemes" that "specifically target[s] young and inexperienced investors." It states Cuban and Ehrlich "personally reached out to investors, individually and … [Read more...] about Mark Cuban accused of defrauding investors with $5 billion crypto ‘Ponzi scheme’

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 PITTSFIELD, Mass. - Revisiting as many Sondheim musicals as possible is not an arduous undertaking, and one I have engaged in at many junctures of my life. But this year, the first in the aftermath of Stephen Sondheim's death, feels like an essential part of a grieving process. As much as I can - to paraphrase one of Sondheim and James Lapine's own characters in "Sunday in the Park With George"- I want to live again in his canvasses. Broadway has recently obliged with outstanding revivals of "Company" (1970) and "Into the Woods" (1987), and the months ahead offer other intriguing possibilities: Sondheim-centric Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va., is turning its new season into a veritable retrospective, offering up three Sondheim musicals, including the rarely seen "Pacific Overtures," from 1976, to be directed by Ethan Heard, the company's recently appointed associate artistic … [Read more...] about I’d go anywhere right now to see a Sondheim musical

Nico H?�??lkenberg won the prestigious F3 Masters race at Zolder after pole sitter Romain Grosjean stalled on the grid and was relegated to the rear of the field. The victory is a timely boost for H?�??lkenberg who has had a very mixed season in the F3 Euroseries, winning in the wet at Zandvoort last weekend , but often incurring the wrath of the stewards. Franck Mailleux ran second before incurring a penalty for jumping the start. That left Yann Clairay to take second from Signature team mate Jean Karl Vernay on a day when the European teams sent their British rivals packing. Top British championship finisher was series leader Marko Asmer who finished tenth for Hitech. At least he fared better than his counterpart from the European championship – Grosjean finishing 14th after his earlier delays. Sebastien Buemi, second in the F3 Euroseries, was not present as he was on GP2 duty at the Hungaroring. Sam Bird, who is second in British Formula Three, was a lapped 27th. … [Read more...] about H?�??lkenberg wins F3 Masters as Grosjean stalls