Mark Hyman wonders what parents who test their kids genes for sports talent are expecting to do with that knowledge.

Geoffrey Canada explains the Harlem Children's Zone to Stephen Colbert, who wonders if it's something like Gymboree.

Bill Ayers discusses past, present, and future with Chris Matthews on Hardball.

Marian Wright Edelman asks if we are preparing our children to lead in science.

Author's Guild President Roy Blount, Jr., calls for a book-buying surge. If you're in Portland, Oregon, you may want to start at In Other Words. At Beacon yesterday, we watched the documentary Paperback Dreams as part of our occasional lunchtime movie series. The film profiles two independent Bay-Area bookstores, Kepler's and Cody's, and their financial struggles in the age of big-box retailers and online shopping. This past year, Cody's, sadly, went the way of Ruminator (aka Hungry Mind), Coliseum, Olsson's and countless others.

Recent Beacon Broadside posts:

Why Are All the Hapa Kids Sitting Together?

Eboo Patel on NPR

Putting Hussein in Christmas

Caring for the Soul of the World

Health Care: The Change We Need