L.A. Times - Meghan Daum

Daum: The gift of a great dog

Meghan Daum — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

If Rex could have talked, we would have finished each other's sentences.

We got another dog right away. That wasn't the plan. But back in March, less than two weeks after Rex died and when I still had faint bruises from digging my fingers into my forehead amid uncontrollable sobs, I signed us up to "foster" a Saint Bernard mix that had been rescued from a crack den.

Daum: Real beauty, really Dove?

Meghan Daum — Thu, 2 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The soap company's latest ad campaign misses the point.

Chances are by now you've seen " Real Beauty Sketches ," a video released a few weeks ago by the Dove soap people. It documents a social experiment: Women describe themselves to a forensic sketch artist, who draws them from behind a curtain. Then the artist draws the same women based on descriptions from people who've only just met them.

Daum: Getting it wrong in Boston

Meghan Daum — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The urge to tweet 'news' of the marathon bombings is a natural tendency to be part of the action. But it can lead to a mountain of misinformation.

As social media sites have pelted out news of the Boston bombing, playing fast and loose with the numbers of the dead and injured and amplifying hearsay into a cacophony of confusion, one tweet seemed to say it all: "Dear Journalism: Get yourself together and report verified facts or don't report anything at all."

Daum: Which comes first, husband or career?

Meghan Daum — Thu, 4 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Princeton alumna Susan Patton's letter about finding a husband in college raised a lot of hackles. But it might be more right than wrong.

Maybe it's spring fever or maybe it's the centrifugal force from all that Sheryl Sandberg-led "leaning in," but it's been a big week for outrage about women and their place.

Daum: Cure for homophobia? It's personal

Meghan Daum — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Though it's frustrating to those who believe in fairness, the best antidote for anti-gay bigotry remains real families, as Sen. Rob Portman's turnaround showed.

The other day, I stumbled across a conversation about homosexuality on a local Christian radio station. There were three people talking, and after the predictable hemming and hawing about loving the sinner and hating the sin (though in this case, the sin and sinner seemed so inextricably linked when it comes to sexual activity that the distinction was largely irrelevant), one of them homed in on a grand observation.

Daum: Online's 'nasty effect'

Meghan Daum — Thu, 7 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0800

A new study shows that comments can actually sway the perceptions and opinions of otherwise objective readers.

Finally! Scientific research backs up my perennial gripe about the soul-killing, society-destroying effects of online comments. A study published last month on the website of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (which does not allow comments) shows that comments can actually sway the perceptions and opinions of otherwise objective readers.

Daum: Vassar vs. Westboro

Meghan Daum — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800

Vassar College has turned a planned picketing by the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church into a charity fundraising boon.

The Westboro Baptist Church, best known for picketing military funerals because God hates a country that tolerates gay people (or something like that), is picketing my alma mater next week. Vassar College, a small liberal arts school in New York's Hudson Valley, is hardly the first school that Westboro's "congregation" (which is really just one large family in Topeka, Kan., led by 83-year-old pastor Fred Phelps) has visited with signs bearing its signature motto, "God Hates Fags." But Vassar may be the first to pull the jujitsu move of using the demonstration to raise money in support of the very thing being demonstrated against.

Daum: Amazon's algorithm of love

Meghan Daum — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800

The behemoth online retailer releases its a list of America's 20 most romantic cities.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Amazon, the behemoth online retailer and knower of all habits and tastes, has released a list of America's 20 most romantic cities.

Daum: Wingnuts, guns and liberals

Meghan Daum — Thu, 7 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800

'Doomsday Preppers' is easy to caricature, but gun owners come in all flavors.

On the recommendation of several friends, I spent the better part of a recent weekend ("better part" as in the time I could have been doing something better, like having brunch or washing the dog) learning about what to do in the event of a world agricultural collapse or the North and South poles switching places.

Daum: Judging a book, and its author

Meghan Daum — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800

It's not easy being a book consumer these days.

It's not easy being a book consumer these days. For starters, books seem so long — at least compared to the blog posts and online news items that have recalibrated the pace of the average American attention span.