Up To Date

It’s easy to lose interest in political campaigns, but it’s the news media’s responsibility to make it interesting – and get it right.

Whether you're searching online for the best shoe sales or driving directions, chances are good that the first thing you do is "Google it." And why wouldn't you? With its recent foray into social media and services offering everything from out-of-print books to cell phones, Google is fast becoming a one-stop shop for, well, everything. But could the search engine be too good at what it does?

50 years ago, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, making a brief suborbital mission that marked the first manned launch of Project Mercury.

An assassination attempt on the American president, a world-famous inventor on a deadline and a hard-headed doctor named Doctor Bliss. You couldn't make this stuff up, and Leawood author Candice Millard found it too good not to write about.

Looking for a great art, independent, foreign, or documentary film to see the weekend of December 24-25, 2011?

Up to Date's critics share their three favorite showing on area screens.

So it's not going to be a white Christmas.  But that's okay: there's still plenty to do this holiday weekend.  To help get you out, Brian McTavish offers up these five fun and unique things to do in Kansas City.

So your kid went off to college, experienced freedom, set his own schedule, abided by his own rules, and now he’s home for winter break…for a few weeks.

Yeah, there’s gonna be some tension.  We've seen it play out in movies and TV shows that poke fun at family dysfunction around the holidays.

It’s hard enough to keep your kids away from the Xbox on a normal weekday… it must be even tougher when they’re home for winter vacation.  But technology might just help this time around: perhaps you can even convince your child to turn off the video game and pick up a Kindle...or a Nook… an iPad or even (yes!) paper…and dig deep into a great story.

When religion is part of the news stories of the day, it can be very good - as when people of many faiths work together to provide disaster relief - or very bad, as when religious institutions become embroiled in financial shenanigans or sexual abuse.  In today's pluralistic world, even stories that might never be covered by the religion desk - like foreign policy debates, armed conflicts worldwide, or presidential election campaigns - have undeniably religious angles and implications.

The wait is over. You can breathe easy once again. Up to Date's art, independent, foreign and documentary film critics have broken down the year's best flicks and given us their ten favorites from 2011, in no particular order.