Long Story Short: UCLA student talks honestly about his transformation into Abraham Lincoln

Take a moment and imagine Abraham Lincoln, a very tall man with an iconic beard and honest gaze. So how does a 5-foot-6, Asian second-year economics student pull off Abe’s look? Charlie Tso talks about his attempt to costume up as our 16th president. [2:37]

Long Story Short: UCLA student shares what the protests in Egypt were like before UC students were evacuated

Morgan Walsh, a fourth-year Middle Eastern and North African Studies student from UCLA, was evacuated from Egypt last week, joining 18 other University of California students. Finally back in Los Angeles, Walsh shows us the recent protests through her eyes. [8:22]

Long Story Short: UC Berkeley professor emeritus Maxine Hong Kingston talks about her work and most recent memoir, “˜I Love a Broad Margin to My Life’

Author Maxine Hong Kingston visited UCLA last week, reading excerpts from her writings, including her newest memoir, “I Love a Broad Margin to My Life.” Kingston is a professor emeritus of literature at UC Berkeley and a winner of the National Book Award for her novel “China Men.” Kingston’s work focuses on gender identity and ethnicity. Host Andrea Wang spoke with her over the phone this weekend. Hear Kingston read an excerpt from her book here. [8:02]

Tips for a better experience at dineLA Restaurant Week

It’s hard enough to sift through the rows of tiny blue text on the dineLA website, hoping to find a gem amongst the long list of L.A. eateries. Lunch or dinner, French, Italian, Japanese … oh my, choosing isn’t easy.

While my taste buds know exactly what they want, I am a terribly indecisive person. Come restaurant week, my Internet browser is inundated with tabs. I’m reading all sorts of reviews and blog posts, scrutinizing food photos, counting stars. Valuable time spent on research should be rewarded with positive dining experiences.

But it’s never that simple. From the steps it takes to get you from the computer monitor to the restaurant table, countless things can go wrong. And looking back on previous experiences, there are a few things I wish I knew.