Cognoscenti

23/04/2025

"We, as people of color, as Black folks in this city have had to fight for things. We've been nervous and not trusting around systems, from Charles Stuart to redlining. To build that trust is going to take some time," says Imari Paris Jeffries. But the optimism is still there.

" The opportunity for place-making for people of color has changed. We've seen some improvements under the last four or five years."

On April 23, 1965, Arielle Gray's grandfather — then a teenager — joined the march to the Common led by King drawing attention to the racial imbalances in Boston.

23/04/2025

When Pope Francis seemed to shrug off a centuries-old posture of judgment in favor of humility, curiosity and accompaniment, it shook foundations for some, writes Robert C. Bordone. It also opened space for something deeply needed in our polarized age: the ability to engage disagreement not as a threat, but as a path to growth.

By giving Catholics permission to speak their lived experiences and differences openly, Pope Francis legitimized interior wrestling, writes Bob Bordone. He made it safer to be “in process” and “in community" at the same time.

19/04/2025

Who opts to spend their free time marching around in old-timey woolen garb, carrying a musket and playing the fife or drum? As it turns out, people who care a whole lot about preserving history, writes WBUR’s Cloe Axelson, in this profile of Carl Sweeney, the captain of the Concord Minute Men.

The 250th anniversary couldn't come at a better time to remind people it's OK to have different beliefs, Carl Sweeney, captain of the Concord Minute Men, told WBUR's Cloe Axelson. But you need to talk, he said, our forefathers did that, and when push came to shove they stood up for their beliefs.

17/04/2025

Carl Sweeney is many things: a retired educator, a golf coach, a National Guard veteran, a poet, a husband, a dad, a grandpa, just to name a few. He's also the captain of the Concord Minute Men, which will help mark the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord this weekend.

"The 250th anniversary couldn't come at a better time to remind people it's OK to have different beliefs," he told told WBUR's Cloe Axelson. "But you need to talk, you need to speak. Our forefathers did that. And when push came to shove, they stood up for their beliefs, and now we have the fruits of their labor.”

The 250th anniversary couldn't come at a better time to remind people it's OK to have different beliefs, Carl Sweeney, captain of the Concord Minute Men, told WBUR's Cloe Axelson. But you need to talk, he said, our forefathers did that, and when push came to shove they stood up for their beliefs.

17/04/2025

A little more than 3A little more than 3% of WBUR's annual budget comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. But that doesn't fully encapsulate the potential impact of CPB cuts.

A little more than 3% of WBUR's annual budget comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. But that doesn't fully encapsulate the potential impact of CPB cuts.

16/04/2025

Running has become my form of survival, writes Erika McMahon. It’s a space where I can feel my mother’s presence, where I can process my grief step by step. But more than anything, it has taught me that resilience isn’t about avoiding pain—it’s about moving through it.

16/04/2025

Immigration policy is not an abstract discussion happening far away from us, writes Bosnian native Ismar Volić, who came to the U.S. as a teenager. It is the difference between hope and despair, between opportunity and ruin and sometimes between life and death.

15/04/2025

The wildlife trade is the world’s fourth most lucrative illegal trade behind arms, drugs and human trafficking. It generates nearly $25 billion annually. Mostly, when people think about the wildlife trade, they imagine ivory, armed park rangers or rhinos, but few know about the primate sanctuaries that are key to protecting chimpanzees in the wild. Amy Hanes says that these sanctuaries -- which provide "forever homes" to orphaned chimps NGOs rescue from poachers and traffickers -- are more essential than ever.

Amy Hanes is a cultural anthropologist who studies conservation. As part of her research, she helped raise a chimpanzee orphan named Daphne. The Trump administration is gutting conservation efforts worldwide, but now is the time to prioritize sanctuaries.

11/04/2025

"I have come to know that we can’t run away from increasingly frequent weather-related disasters," writes Geri Denterlein. "Much as we gain from nature — its warmth, its serenity, its beauty — it is our turn to give back by honoring the people who live and work year-round in coastal communities."

Much as we gain from nature — its warmth, its serenity, its beauty — it is our turn to give back by honoring the people who live and work year-round in coastal communities, writes Geri Denterlein. When we are gone, they are rebuilding.

10/04/2025

"The first review of 'The Great Gatsby,' published a century ago, was not quite a rave. 'F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Latest a Dud' was the headline run by The New York World," writes Steve Almond. "Fortunately, critics don’t decide whether a book will endure. Readers do. And the reason 'Gatsby' has endured, is because it continues to articulate our national aspirations and anxieties a century after its debut."

A hundred years ago, F. Scott Fitzgerald saw the dire patterns we are living through today. This is why “The Great Gatsby” still matters, writes Steve Almond.

09/04/2025

We all know about the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. But there's another critical event in American colonial history that took place three days earlier. The story centers around Isaiah Thomas, a revolutionary patriot and printer of the revolutionary Boston newspaper, The Massachusetts Spy. Thomas snuck his printer out of Boston -- under the cover of night -- on the recommendation of John Hancock. Doug Brown tells the tale.

On April 16, 1775, Isaiah Thomas, a revolutionary patriot and printer of the radical Boston newspaper, The Massachusetts Spy, snuck his printing press out of Boston under the cover of darkness. It was taken by Thomas Bigelow, a fellow patriot, to Worcester, Mass., where it remains to this day. Doug ...

09/04/2025

ESSAY: "Can we be the best versions of ourselves when we actively choose not to confront our flaws? Aren’t we more doomed to repeat history when we refuse to learn from it?"

The new HBO documentary, “Celtics City,” shows how the team really is Boston — all of it together, writes Khari Thompson. The Black. The white. The love and hate. The rich and working class. The North End and Roxbury. The dominant yet complicated past and the bright future.

06/04/2025

"Thirty years as a psychiatrist were spent with one foot in an era of hand-written charts and diagnostic creativity, and the other in an era of a lockdown of any individuality," writes Elissa Ely.

Elissa Ely gave her daughter some advice, which she decided not to take. Interestingly, it turned out just fine.

03/04/2025

Young activists, like my friends and me, are angry, writes Jo Almond. To us, older Democrats are clinging to a political reality that doesn't exist anymore, and they are compromising democracy, human rights and our ecological system in the process.

Democrats need to live up to the values they claim to share with us, writes Jo Almond, an 18-year-old activist. The current moment requires radical action and policies.

02/04/2025

"The problem was never, ever patients. The problem—pretty widely-acknowledged, now—was a system that no longer prioritizes the human," writes Elissa Ely. "I did not want my child to suffocate with the same resentments in her profession that caused me to leave paid employment in mine."

Elissa Ely gave her daughter some advice, which she decided not to take. Interestingly, it turned out just fine.

01/04/2025

"Massachusetts never legalized sterilization of the disabled, largely because of the actions of one man: Dr. Walter E. Fernald," writes Alex Green. "At a moment where eugenic ideas are common, supports for disabled people are being stripped, and our politics seek to demonize disability, it is a story that tells us how much one person’s commitment to their values can shape the lives of others."

Massachusetts might have become a major hub for the sterilization of disabled people in America. It never did, largely because of the actions of one man: Dr. Walter E. Fernald. At a moment where eugenic ideas are common and our politics seek to demonize disability, it's important to remember how one...

27/03/2025

It’s impossible for me to talk about writing without talking about living, writes Maggie Smith, the award-winning poet and author of the new book, "Dear Writer." It’s all connected. Collectively, our choices make our lives what they are.

It’s impossible for me to talk about writing without talking about living, writes Maggie Smith, author of the new book, "Dear Writer." It’s all connected. Collectively, our choices make our lives what they are.

27/03/2025

Suzanne Cope has spent the last decade studying revolutionary groups, including antifascist women in Italy during World War II, the Black Panthers and Occupy Wall Street. Those movements have key lessons to impart to today's activists, she writes.

Suzanne Cope, a NYU professor, has spent the last decade studying revolutionary groups, including anti-fascist women in Italy during World War II, the Black Panthers and Occupy Wall Street. Those movements have key lessons to impart to today's activists, she writes, about organizing, mobilization an...