Gertrude Stein celebrated at two Washington DC museums by Jane O'Brien

Why do we care about Gertrude Stein? Two exhibits in Washington DC show that her influence extends far beyond the Jazz Age.

I've often wondered whether approaching a subject from a standpoint of total ignorance sharpens my investigative powers, or whether it simply leads to inevitable embarrassment from which I'll never recover.

Could the US crack high-speed rail? by Tom Geoghegan

A conference in New York is looking at plans to spend $600bn (£380bn) on a national network of high-speed railways, to rival continental Europe's. But how likely is it to happen?

The fastest train in the US pulls slowly out of platform 10 at New York's Penn Station, heading west.

Keeping a leisurely pace on the other side of the Hudson River, the Empire State Building sticks stubbornly to the horizon before eventually receding into the distance. Thirteen minutes later, the Acela Express makes its first stop, in Newark.