Editor's Picks category, Page 71

NEW YORK — Is the year of Taylor Swift over now? Not yet. Time magazine named Swift its person of the year on Wednesday, a week after Spotify announced she was the most-played artist on the streaming platform. Swift was picked from a group of nine finalists that included Barbie,...

NEW YORK — The white-bearded Christian saint whose acts of generosity inspired America’s secular Santa Claus figure is known worldwide — but Saint Nicholas’ origin story is not. The legends surrounding jolly old St. Nicholas — celebrated annually on Dec. 6 — go way beyond delivering candy and toys to...

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Just wondering why we haven’t seen Chris Hoffman on KDKA-TV for quite a while. — Linda, via Facebook Rob: Hoffman posted to social media that...

Santa hats and sparkly outfits adorned the crowd Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena in Uptown Pittsburgh, and with so much holiday bling, there’s only one show it could have been for — singer Mariah Carey’s “Merry Christmas One And All!” tour. Opening the concert with an overture to “Sugar...

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, under the direction of Manfred Honeck, performed George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” on Tuesday in the Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica. First performed on April 13, 1742, in Dublin, Ireland, “Messiah” didn’t have its premier in London until nearly a year later....

Former Los Angeles Times and New York Times food critic, chef and author Ruth Reichl said the quality of American food isn’t nutritionally what it once was — or should be. The James Beard Award-winning writer took the stage at Upper St. Clair High School Theater, pulled her glasses down...

You can see it all across America: One person puts up their Christmas decorations, then another person, then another, each with increasingly more lights and wreaths. If this is something you, reader, have seen, you’re not alone in your observation: A new survey on 2023 holiday decorating trends has found...

It’s a simple enough question: If you were stranded on a desert island, what three albums would you want with you? Plenty of bands who either played or were scheduled to perform in Pittsburgh this fall offered their choices, with albums ranging from big band to gospel to alternative rock,...

Looks like Christmas came early for fans awaiting a sneak peek at Rockstar Games’ long-awaited “Grand Theft Auto VI.” The gaming company posted Friday on X (formerly Twitter) that the trailer would arrive Tuesday. However, a now-suspended X account leaked the trailer early and prompted the company to officially release...

The Latrobe Area Historical Society has evolved and expanded throughout the past 50 years — but its continued service to the local community is reliant on the work of numerous dedicated volunteers. President Mary Lou Townsend said the society is seeking younger volunteers to spearhead future growth of the organization....

LONDON — Oxford University Press has named “rizz″ as its word of the year, highlighting the popularity of a term used by Generation Z to describe someone’s ability to attract or seduce another person. It topped “Swiftie” (an enthusiastic fan of Taylor Swift), “situationship” (an informal romantic or sexual relationship)...

A popular chicken-finger chain is opening a second Pittsburgh-area location this week. Louisiana-based Raising Cane’s is opening a new location in North Versailles on Tuesday, according to a press release. The restaurant is located at 298 Lincoln Hwy. in the Mon Valley suburb and will become the second Raising Cane’s...

Former Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Cole Tucker has a new position to play: husband. The Pirates’ first-round draft pick in 2014 married “High School Musical” actress Vanessa Hudgens over the weekend, according to several media reports. People Magazine broke the story, reporting the couple married on Saturday in Tulum, Mexico. TMZ...

In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment including this weekend’s news that Hulu has dropped Lee Daniels’ Sammy Davis Jr. biographical series that had planned to film in Pittsburgh in 2024. Producers...

Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2023 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available): JANUARY Fred White, 67. A drummer who backed up his brothers Maurice and Verdine White in the Grammy-winning ensemble Earth, Wind & Fire. Jan. 1. Ken Block, 55....

OKLAHOMA CITY — An iconic chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller, inspired countless Native American children as a powerful but humble leader who expanded early education and rural healthcare. Her reach is now broadening with a quintessential American honor: a Barbie doll in the late Mankiller’s likeness as part...

Hanukkah — also spelled Chanukah or other transliterations from Hebrew — is Judaism’s “festival of lights.” On eight consecutive nightfalls, Jews gather with family and friends to light one additional candle in the menorah — a multibranched candelabra. In Hebrew, Hanukkah means “dedication,” and the holiday marks the rededication of...

LONDON — Spotify says it’s axing 17% of its global workforce, the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs this year as it moves to slash costs while focusing on becoming profitable. In a message to employees posted on the company’s blog Monday, CEO Daniel Ek said the jobs were...

Taylor Swift didn’t just enchant Spotify as its top artist of 2023, but she’s also to track to earn more than $100 million in royalties from the streaming service this year. The “Enchanted” singer, 33, will take home that gorgeous figure after hitting 26.1 billion streams around the world since...

It’s the birthplace of a famous Hollywood star and a major holiday destination dubbed the “Christmas Tree Capital of the World.” Take a Daycation Destination trip to Indiana, Pa., set amid the rural, scenic foothills of the Allegheny Mountains in Indiana County, about an hour east of Pittsburgh. It’s home...

New Kensington is kicking off the holiday season. Residents gathered Friday evening at Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue for carols and the lighting of the city’s Christmas tree. That was followed by Mayor Tom Guzzo’s annual holiday dinner at the city’s nearby No. 1 fire hall on Fourth Avenue. The...

TribLive TV writer Rob Owen offers reading tips for recent books about TV. One of the pitfalls of writing about TV in the #peakTV era is that if you don’t make a point to take a break from watching screeners of TV shows, you’ll never find time to pick up...