He first appeared to me last November at a bar where I’d gone to watch the Falcons–Saints game. As usual, there were spirited drinkers with heavy beards milling around and grown-ups playing Golden Tee. Read More

Last October, my best eating buddy passed away unexpectedly. I could count on Leon to stomach four barbecue joints during an afternoon research blitz, don a jacket and tie for dinner at Quinones at Bacchanalia, and debate the fine points of artisan gins over late-night cocktails. A native Atlantan, Leon gamely explored the fringes of his hometown, accepting impromptu invites to try Oaxacan moles in Jonesboro or Korean monkfish stew in Duluth. Read More

The classic order at the Skylight Inn in Ayden, North Carolina—about ninety miles from Raleigh—is a tray, rather than a sandwich, that includes a small red-and-white-checkered tub mounded with frilly, pink-beige pork; a thin, rectangular slab of unsweetened cornbread glossed with hog fat; and a boat of milky, minced coleslaw. Read More

Would you rather lose $1,000 or gain 20 pounds? A new survey says more than half of Americans would rather lose the cash. Probably because it's a lot harder to eventually lose the weight. Read More

I had sex with George Clooney. Not many people know this—or, I should say, not enough people know this—but not because I don’t broadcast it. I do. George Clooney, by the way, may disagree with me. But I have witnesses. Read More