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Fully vaccinated customers gather at the bar inside Risky Business, a private members-only club, that was once The Other Door but closed during the Covid-19 pandemic in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California on May 21, 2021. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Jun 14, 2021

How The Pandemic Changed Us: 5 Lessons From A Horrid Year

Life will never be just as it was before the pandemic, writes Dr. Nancy Rappaport, because we've changed. Here are her lessons from the pandemic.

Tomas, a 4-year-old Jack Russell Terrier plays in the water with his owner Kirsten Moskowitz, of Londonderry, N.H., near the Winthrop Public Boat ramp on August 12, 2020 in Winthrop, Mass. (Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

Our Perfect Dog

Jun 11, 2021

The author at 13 with her family, her mother at center, her father far right, in Tennessee. (Courtesy)

My Mother, The Doctor. She's Still Inside There Someplace

03:21Jun 10, 2021

In this Wednesday, Jan. 4, 1995 file photo, Masssachusetts State Trooper Daniel Dhionis stands guard at the Planned Parenthood Clinic of Greater Boston in Brookline, Mass,, where flowers and letters were left after two women were killed, and five people injured in shootings at Planned Parenthood and another clinic. Planned Parenthood clinics have been repeated targets of bombings, arson and protests. (Julia Malakie/AP)

26 Years Ago, John Salvi Killed My Colleague. Now I Volunteer As An Abortion-Clinic Escort

Jun 10, 2021

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I'm A Black, Gay Physician. I'm Here Today Because My Friends Saw Me — All Of Me

26 Years Ago, John Salvi Killed My Colleague. Now I Volunteer As An Abortion-Clinic Escort

Heavy Meddle: Help! My Husband Can't Stand My Parents, And Now It's Affecting Our Marriage

How The Pandemic Changed Us: 5 Lessons From A Horrid Year

We Asked 10 People To Imagine Life After The Pandemic. Here's What They Said

My Mother, The Doctor. She's Still Inside There Someplace

In Case You Missed It

The Pandemic Taught Me I Had A Drinking Problem

Apr 15, 2021

A Palestinian man runs away from tear gas during clashes with Israeli security forces in front of the Dome of the Rock Mosque at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City Monday, May 10, 2021. (Mahmoud Illean/AP)

I'm A Man Of Faith. But I Don't Know If I Believe Anymore That Peace Is Possible

May 13, 2021

After so much hardship and loss, the psychological recovery from this trauma will be long, writes Dr. Molly Colvin. (Klaus Vedfelt/Getty)

Why You Can't Shake Pandemic Anxiety

03:26Mar 9, 2021

People march through the streets after the verdict was announced for Derek Chauvin on April 20, 2021 in Atlanta, United States. The jury found Chauvin guilty on all three charges. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

'What It Felt Like Was Stillness': Finally, Accountability For The Murder Of George Floyd

03:29Apr 21, 2021

On Air Commentaries

What will life look like after the pandemic? (Dan Nott for WBUR)

We Asked 10 People To Imagine Life After The Pandemic. Here's What They Said

08:06Mar 17, 2021

Woman walks up stairs from a tunnel in Iran. (Getty)

'Just When You Think It's Over, It Comes On Again': My Year With Long-Haul COVID

03:13Mar 10, 2021

My Mother, The Doctor. She's Still Inside There Someplace

03:21Jun 10, 2021

Marianna, a 15-year-old high school student is seen during her online math lesson in her room, in Warsaw, on January 18, 2021. (Wojtek Radwanksi/ AFP via Getty Images)

The Kids Are Not All Right

04:53May 21, 2021

Politics

Jun 9, 2021

Trans Kids Are Pawns In Republican Culture Wars

Transphobia isn't a fear, writes Julie Allen. It's a Republican political strategy.

Long-tailed ducks along a barrier island outside Kaktovik, Alaska. Every fall, long-tailed ducks gather near Kaktovik on the northern edge of ANWR, Arctic Alaska, Brooks range in the background. (Sylvain CORDIER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Does Biden Support Or Oppose Drilling For Oil In Alaska? Yes

Jun 8, 2021

Vice President Kamala Harris watches as President Joe Biden takes a question from a reporter after speaking about distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, in the East Room of the White House, Monday, May 17, 2021, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Biden's Big-Hearted $6 Trillion Budget Has One Big Omission — A Public Option

Jun 3, 2021

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, left, and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., walk to the chamber as the Senate tries to finish to its work going into the Memorial Day recess with Republican leaders insisting they will block a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, May 28, 2021. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

What's More Sacred: The Filibuster Or American Democracy?

Jun 2, 2021

A converted Sprinter campervan is seen next to the Extraterrestrial Highway sign at the junction of state Routes 138 and 375 on January 23, 2021 in Lincoln County, Nevada. (Josh Brasted/Getty Images)

The U.S. Government Says UFOs Are Real, And So Do I

Jun 2, 2021

More From Cog

The author in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco. (Courtesy)

I'm A Black, Gay Physician. I'm Here Today Because My Friends Saw Me — All Of Me

I’m a pediatric psychiatrist. I’m trained in the science and the literature, but I also understand how the power of community can heal, writes Chase Anderson.

Jun 8, 2021

A Kashmiri health worker takes a nasal swab sample to test for COVID-19 in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020. (Dar Yasin/AP)

We All Have COVID Until None Of Us Has COVID

India’s COVID crisis has made it clear that people’s communal faith is the miracle holding together India’s health care scaffolding, writes Shipli Suneja.

Jun 7, 2021

The Weymouth gas compressor station. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Enough Is Enough. It's Time To Shut Down The Weymouth Compressor

The North Weymouth compressor station has had four near-misses in nine months, write Dr. Caren Solomon and Dr. Philip Landrigan. As physicians concerned about community health, social justice and climate...

Jun 4, 2021

Emily Baumgartner, left, and Luke Finley, second from left, join friends in a birthday toast at the Tiki Bar on Manhattan's Upper West Side Monday, May 17, 2021, in New York. Restaurants, shops, gyms and many other businesses in New York can go back to full occupancy if all patrons are inoculated. (Kathy Willens/AP)

I'm Waiting Tables Without A Mask Again. Is It Too Soon?

After a year of distancing, masking and sanitizing, restaurants are adjusting to the end of most COVID restrictions, writes Rebecca Johnson, a server at a Nantucket restaurant.

Jun 3, 2021

President Joe Biden speaks to the press during a meeting with (L-R) Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Shelley Capito (R-WV), and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, to discuss the administration’s infrastructure plan at the White House on May 13, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (T.J. Kirkpatrick-Pool/Getty Images)

Why Joe Biden's Plea For Bipartisanship Is Shrewd Strategy

Joe Biden’s overtures for bipartisanship are unlikely to win any Republican votes in the Senate, write Robert C. Bordone and Sarah Doktori. But they may just win over Joe Manchin....

Jun 1, 2021

The author’s grandmother, Marie Moran, in Breezy Point, 1947.

I Know The Water Is Coming. But I Can't Bear To Sell My Family's Cottage

This house is the thread that holds me to my father, whom we buried in March with a seashell in his casket, writes Barbara Moran.

05:08May 28, 2021

Bob Dylan performs as part of a double bill with Neil Young at Hyde Park on July 12, 2019 in London, England. (Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images for ABA)

Bob Dylan Turned 80 This Week. He’s Been With Me All Along

"The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan" was one of the first albums Peter Guthrie ever owned. He almost wore the vinyl smooth he played it so many times.

May 28, 2021

In this screen grab released on April 4, 2021, Jason Sudeikis performs as "Ted Lasso" during the 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on April 04, 2021. (27th Annual SAG Awards/Getty Images for WarnerMedia)

A Love Letter To The TV Shows That Got Me Through The Pandemic

Sara Shukla and her husband spent many hours watching TV during the pandemic. Their nightly routine became a balm, something they could share that wasn't just trauma.

05:15May 27, 2021

People pass by a mural of poet Amanda Gorman, painted by San Francisco muralist Nicole Hayden, center, on Page Street on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 in San Francisco, California. (Gabrielle Lurie/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Poetry Belongs In The Classroom. Now More Than Ever

I’m afraid that just when students need the comfort and challenge of poetry the most, writes Karen Harris, our (adult) panic about falling behind will make us more metrics-obsessed and...

May 26, 2021

University of Pittsburgh candidates for graduation line up to receive their diplomas during the graduation ceremony for the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and the School of General Studies at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, May 4, 2021.(Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Public College Is Expensive, Too. My Son Has $27K In Debt — From UMass

Graduates of public universities in Massachusetts once had the second-lowest student debt in the country, writes Nancy Grossman. Now they have one of the highest.

May 25, 2021

Chelsea, an environmental justice community, has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. In this photo, residents line up to receive boxes of food supplies at a food pantry in Chelsea Square. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

The Guaranteed Income Program In Chelsea, Mass. Should Be A National Model

As COVID-19 swamped Chelsea's economy, officials tried a new strategy: dispensing up to $400 a month to 2,000 families. President Biden could pursue an even more ambitious program, writes Rich...

May 24, 2021

Spectators begin to disperse following the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 01, 2021 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Sam Mallon/Getty Images)

I Broke My Pandemic Quarantine At The Kentucky Derby

The race forced me to rip my COVID Band-Aid off with one quick yank, writes Anne Gardner.

May 21, 2021

Freshman students walk the hallway in between classes during the bell break, which normally would be packed by students, at Brockton High School in Brockton, Mass. on March 2, 2021. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Reflections On A Year Of Pandemic Learning: From 'Team Resilience' To 'Seeing My Strong Kids Crumble'

We asked parents and guardians to contemplate a year of pandemic school. Here’s what they said.

May 20, 2021

A photo taken by the author while playing soccer in a village outside of Bethlehem in the West Bank. (Courtesy)

I’m An American Jew. Let Me Tell You Stories Of Palestine

I am fixated on the intimate moments I’ve shared because I refuse to erase the humanity of those caught in this most recent episode of inhumanity, writes Daniel Osborn.

May 20, 2021

My Dad Was A Political Extremist. The 'Big Lie' He Believed Hurt Us All

Each time I watch footage of the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, I do not see the armed and enraged insurrectionists as much as I envision...

May 19, 2021

A 7-year-old migrant girl from Honduras, left, walks with Fernanda Solis, 25, center, also of Honduras, and an unidentified man. They're approaching a U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing center to turn themselves in while seeking asylum, moments after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Mission, Texas. (Julio Cortez/AP)

Biden's Plan To Resettle More Refugees Will Ease The Crisis At The Border

Increasing resettlement from Latin America to the U.S. will prevent people from taking great risks to reach our border, write Sasha Chanoff and Ed Shapiro.

May 19, 2021

Family members embrace each other amid burning pyres of victims who lost their lives due to the Covid-19 coronavirus at a cremation ground in New Delhi on April 26, 2021. (Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images)

After A Year Of Treating COVID Patients, I Still Feel Helpless To Save The People I Love

Day after day, my family and friends in India reach out for guidance, writes Dr. Pranay Sinha. I haven’t slept properly in weeks because of distressed texts and calls at...

May 17, 2021

The author at the Greenberg Town Hall waiting for early voting, New York, October, 2020.

Why I Won’t Quit My Mask. Not Yet

Wearing a mask isn’t about eternal virtue signaling, writes Kaivan Shroff. For me, it’s about acknowledging that our actions influence others.

May 14, 2021

Crismely Tinidad, left, the Housing Service Coordinator at the Bronx River Community Center, translates for a resident who only speaks Spanish as he registers with a Somos Community Care screener at a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination site at the Bronx River Addition NYCHA complex, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

How A Community Center In Boston Got More Shots Into Arms

Vaccine distribution shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach, writes Iván Espinoza-Madrigal and Nina Garcia. Community-based sites offer a local option and human touch.

May 13, 2021

Hey, Google! Who Was I Before I Met You?

A move prompts writer Julie Wittes Schlack to question: Are we lords of a smart home or serfs of a lazy one?

May 12, 2021