Dara-Lynn Weiss, freelance writer and mother, started a firestorm with her Vogue essay about putting her 7-year-old daughter on a diet.  She adds to the story in her new book, The Heavy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Diet--A Memoir. 

We turn to doctors to save our lives -- to heal us, repair us, and keep us healthy. But when it comes to the critical question of what to do when death is at hand, there seems to be a gap between what we want doctors to do for us, and what doctors want done for themselves.

David Giles, research director at the Center for an Urban Future and the author of the report, "Branches of Opportunity", argues that New York City's public libraries deserve even more support in the digital age.

Robert Lustig, pediatric endocrinologist and obesity expert, author of Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease, offers his take on the link between sugar and the public health obesity crisis and what to do about it.

Farmers Jeff and Adina Bialas talk about growing and using the increasingly popular root vegetable salsify. Try their recipe for simple salsify with pasta and lemon parsley sauce.

Jeff and Adina Bialas of J&A Farm in Goshen, New York, get their turn under the spotlight for this 60-Second Stir-Fry.

Vivek Bald, documentary director and assistant professor of writing and digital media at MIT and the author of Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America, reveals the little known history of early South Asian immigrants, from Tremé to Harlem.

→explore the Bengali Harlem website, including an excerpt from Aladdin Ullah's one-man show here.  

WNYC looks back at the best Oscar-related conversations on our air - from Leonard Lopate's talk with Samuel L. Jackson to the real-life sex surrogate who inspired Helen Hunt's Academy Award-nominated role.

+ Full List: 'Lincoln' Leads With 12 Oscar Nominations

+ Bookmark it: Awards Night Bingo with Studio 360

The woman who turned her love and appreciation of the built environment into a pioneering career as an architecture critic has died.  Ada Louise Huxtable was 91.  Her attorney, Robert Shapiro, says Huxtable died Monday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan.

Maria Konnikova, journalist, psychologist and author of Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, uses the fictional account of the super-detective's reasoning skills to explore the real-world science of improving cognitive function.

→Event:  Maria Konnikova will be reading from Mastermind on Monday, January 7, starting at 7:00pm at Book Court,

→Event: On Wednesday, January 16 at noon, Maria will be at 92Y Tribeca, where she will be reading, talking, conducting an audience Q&A and signing copies of her new book, tickets can be purchased here.   

Chef Jacques Gautier explains his motivations for raising rabbits on his rooftop garden and using them for food. He also shares his recipe for rabbit tacos.

Four bartenders from Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens recommend seasonal cocktails for ringing in the new year. Try recipes for homemade eggnog and the New Brunswick.

Chef Jacques Gautier takes his second turn in the hot seat for this round of 60-Second Stir-Fry.

Einat Admony, the chef of Balaboosta and Taïm, talks about the best way to make latkes and shares her recipe for Potato, Yam & Carrot Latke with Honey, Preserved Lemons & Yogurt Sauce.

In Quentin Tarantino’s newest film, “Django Unchained,” Samuel L. Jackson plays a character who represents a more ambiguous characteristic of slavery: a loyal slave.

When he was just 10 years old, Shankar began performing in Europe and the US with his family's Indian dance troupe. But at age 18, Shankar gave up all the glitter to study with a guru who taught him the sitar. He became a master, and introduced the West to his country's music.

The Canadian trio was among the bands that many fans thought had been unfairly excluded. Now, though, Rush is being inducted along with Heart, Public Enemy, Randy Newman, Donna Summer, Quincy Jones and Lou Adler.

Whitney Wright of Gilt Taste talks about the different textures and multiples uses for fennel. Try her recipe for Easy Fennel Gratin.

Former cook at Per Se and current Gilt Taste senior editor Whitney Wright takes a turn under the spotlight.