Features
Editor’s Choice
Features
As the population ages, robots are poised to offer a helping hand, a leg up, and a pep for your step.
The Karmic Capitalism of Chip Conley
Starting with the Phoenix, his rock'n'roll hotel that rose from a shabby San Francisco neighborhood, this unorthodox businessman has created a stir in the hospitality industry. But his growing concern is more about people than buildings.
by Robert L. Strauss
On the Edge of Nowhere
A writer/photographer visited the tiny Canadian town of Wallace Stegner's boyhood, looking for clues to the author's world view. He found a setting both beautiful and austere, and the rugged character that shapes Stegner's stories.
by Jim Foley
this dust of words
When English professor John Felstiner stumbled upon a former student's decades-old honors thesis, he set out to renew his acquaintance with the student. What began as a casual inquiry became a monthslong search into a troubled past, with disquieting results.
by John Felstiner
Why Teach?
K-12 education continues to attract promising new teachers, including dozens each year from Stanford. Keeping them is another matter.
by Christine Foster
Luck of the Draw
The Toledo Six, a half-dozen sophomores-to-be, hope to outwit Stanford’s complicated housing draw and score a plum dorm assignment. They have a plan, but can they beat the house rules?
by Marisa Milanese
POW
Comic-book writer Kelley Puckett's new Batgirl packs a wallop but hides a shadowy past. Now if he could only figure out who she really is.
by Taylor Antrim
Straight Talk & Sass
Buckle up, bell hooks is in the building. The feminist author known for her frank style and tempestuous nature can dish out withering criticism, but insists she's really all about love.
by Diane Rogers
Up The Creek
More than 60 summers ago, a Stanford student and his buddies staked their vacation on an improbable quest: to find gold in the Sierra. They endured blistering heat, poisoned water and sore backs, but came away with a treasured memory--and a few nuggets of wisdom.
by Henry Clay Lindgren
Cut from a Different Cloth
What is a former radical atheist hippie doing as the dean for religious life? In his first year on the job, the Rev. Scotty McLennan is trying to show Stanford and the rest of Silicon Valley that faith and action go together.
by Nancy Day
Made to Order
Oncologist Ronald Levy whips up cancer vaccines from his patients' own tumors. The painstaking custom-blending makes this a promising experimental treatment, but may limit how many lives it can save.
by Joan O’C. Hamilton