THOMAS F. BERTONNEAU writes: Readers of The Thinking Housewife might recall the Swedish vocal quartet Kraja. It seems that the four young women are still singing and have issued their third album. Here is a Swedish television performance showing that they have kept their youthful grace from earlier appearances and have not succumbed to crass [...]

The eroticism of this photograph of Finnish soprano Karita Mattila in the title role of the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Puccini’s Tosca, one of the most beloved of Italian operas, gives you some idea of what it’s like when one of today’s hip nihilists takes over a traditional art form. This production was booed by Met fans [...]

  Mark writes:  From a cultural perspective, I was wondering if you had any thoughts worth sharing about the whole Jon and Kate plus Eight  phenomenon (which for all I know is just about played out). My wife & I are usually way behind the curve on these things; since we don’t have a TV, our only familiarity with the [...]