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Hospitality

Tipping

There’s a reason why you might tip so much

Culture

Companies are now using psychological tricks to get you to tip more.

Erik Bruner-Yang, chef and owner of Honeycomb Asian market in Washington, DC

Honeycomb is making Asian food in Washington, DC a bit sweeter, and a lot more local

Food
Kikkoman Soy Sauce

Remembering the Japanese designer who was compelled to create something beautiful after seeing Hiroshima’s devastation

Culture
A ship called Blue Sky M docking in southern Italy on New Year’s Eve 2014 after being rescued. Locals interrupted their celebrations to help the hundreds of freezing refugees on board.

Southern Italians ditched their New Year’s Eve parties to help freezing refugees rescued at sea

Conflict
Stuffed cat Meggy Weggy with her Unagi Travel tour group in Tokyo.

If you truly loved your teddy bear, you’d send him to Tokyo

Culture
Annie and Rhys Cok

Pigs’ feet and roasted ginger made my traditional postpartum month off

Health

In Chinese tradition, women who give birth are supposed to spend a month indoors with their new babies. It’s not easy to follow that tradition here in the US, but one second-generation Chinese American woman in New York City did savor one part of the tradition — special foods made by her mother-in-law.

John Wurdeman, co-founder of Pheasant’s Tears winery in the eastern Georgian province of Kiziqi. He was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and became fascinated by Georgia after stumbling onto a CD of folk music from the country.

How a CD in the state of Virginia led to a wine rebirth in the country of Georgia

Food

Almost 25 years ago, John Wurdeman stumbled onto a CD of traditional Georgian music at a record store in Virginia. Now he lives in the tiny former Soviet republic and is involved in its wine renaissance.

Students prepare food during a class by French chef Eric Cros (left) at the Institut Paul Bocuse.

French chefs say they shouldn’t have to take the heat to stay in the kitchen

Culture

If you’re familiar with Gordon Ramsay, you probably know how high-pressure professional kitchens can be. But in the face of long-running verbal and physical abuse from their bosses, some French cooks have created a manifesto to put an end to kitchen hazing.

A panel from the new book, "Terms of Service: Understanding Our Role in the World of Big Data."

Al Jazeera America explains big data with help from a comic book artist

Books

“Term of Service” explores and answers question about big data. And it does it in a way where you can actually understand what it means and why you should care.

Cyclists ride over a 230 feet stretch of a new bike made entirely of solar panels in The Netherlands.

This bike path is made entirely of solar panels

Environment

The Netherlands opened up a 230-foot stretch of bike path. It’s made entirely of solar panels, generating enough energy to power several homes.