Best of Car Talk

Apr 9, 2021

‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ Is Finally Here. We’ve Both Come A Long Way In 13 Years

Taylor Swift is re-releasing her celebrated 2008 album. For me, "Fearless (Taylor’s Version)" is a rare and beautiful invitation to reflect, writes Kat Read.

Vanessa Nguyen holds a Stop Asian Hate sign while joining community leaders during a candlelight vigil mourning the victims of the Atlanta shootings, in Garden Grove, CA, on March 23, 2021. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

I Wasn’t Ready For This Kind Of Grief

Apr 8, 2021

R.N Natalie O'Connor greets her first patient of the day Rita Fuller, 83, at her home and goes over a COVID-19 pre-vaccine checklist before administering it in Manchester, Connecticut on February 12, 2021. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

A 'Care' Agenda Is Essential Policy

Apr 8, 2021

A student of Carmen Rios’ kindergarten class raises her hand during an English lesson at Barbieri Elementary School in Framingham. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Kids Are Returning To School. But Let’s Avoid A Return To Academic Pressure

Apr 7, 2021

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‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ Is Finally Here. We’ve Both Come A Long Way In 13 Years

In The Company Of Women: The Pandemic Void Only My Girlfriends Can Fill

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

How To Write A Sympathy Note In The Time Of Coronavirus

When The Time Comes: Tips For How To Visit The Dying

Stop Billionaires From Buying Elections

In Case You Missed It

Two women walking arm in arm and watching something on the other side of the road. Sankt Moritz, March 1969 (Getty Images)

In The Company Of Women: The Pandemic Void Only My Girlfriends Can Fill

Feb 11, 2021

Poet Amanda Gorman speaks at the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Amanda Gorman's Poetry Opened The Door, And 'Let Everyone In'

Jan 22, 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

Rower and climate activist Frederick Hewett rows on the Charles River. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

When Climate Change Comes Home: Behind The Essay

Feb 28, 2019

On Air Commentaries

Joni Mitchell posed in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1972 (Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns via Getty Images)

Why 'A Case Of You' Is The Best Love Song Of All Time

05:17Feb 12, 2021

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

Salman Wasti and his daughter Noreen Wasti, pictured at Noreen's wedding in Bristol, Rhode Island, in Sept. 2013. (Courtesy)

Singing Bollywood In The Sunroom: A Daughter Remembers Her Dad As He Was Before COVID

08:51Feb 19, 2021

A model attends a Black Lives Matter fashion show and protest by fashion designer Jason Christopher Peters at Washington Square Park on July 12, 2020 in New York City. (Noam Galai/Getty Images)

'It Doesn’t Matter If It’s Your Fault': I Warn My Daughter About Police As My Father Warned Me

02:57Jul 16, 2020

Politics

Apr 5, 2021

The Quiet Revolution Underway To Pay Parents

Democratic and Republican proposals would redefine paid work, writes Rich Barlow. This norm-upending idea to pay parents is overdue.

The Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples can marry nationwide in 2015. (Michael Rowley/Ghetty)

The Equality Act Is 46 Years In The Making. The US Senate Should Pass It Now

Apr 2, 2021

Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at an event on the steps of the U.S. Capitol for the "For The People Act of 2021" in Washington, DC, on March3, 2021. Th act is hailed as the most significant voting rights and democracy reform in more than half a century. (Photo by Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images)

Stop Billionaires From Buying Elections

Apr 1, 2021

U.S. President Joe Biden answers questions during the first news conference of his presidency in the East Room of the White House on March 25, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

No Yelling, No Insults. Joe Biden Answered Questions — And That Felt Remarkable

Mar 25, 2021

Former Boston City Council President Kim Janey, 55, speaks after being sworn in as Boston's new mayor at City Hall, Wednesday, March 24, 2021, in Boston. (Elise Amendola/AP)

Mayor Kim Janey Just Made History In Boston. This Is Our Chance For Real Change

Mar 25, 2021

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More From Cog

A photo of the author's mother in the 1960s wearing "Justin Beaver." (Courtesy)

My Life With 'Justin Beaver': Confessions Of A Closet Fur-Owner

PETA may have moved on from fur -- but I'm not ready, writes Anne Gardner.

Apr 6, 2021

Beverly Cleary at home in Carmel Valley, California in 2006. Cleary died on March 25, 2021. (Christina Koci Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

How Beverly Cleary Changed Children’s Literature

Some have compared Cleary to authors of adult literature in her grasp of the human condition, her use of language and satire. But I think she was uniquely authentic at...

Apr 2, 2021

A worker spray-paints "Opening Day" behind home plate at Fenway Park in Boston on March 30, 2021. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

'The Inning Isn't Over': On Baseball And The Pandemic

The start of baseball season for me this year is more than a distraction, writes Jay Baruch. It’s an operating manual for getting through the seemingly never-ending pandemic.

Apr 1, 2021

"After a year of COVID, I was a spent force in a depleted department," writes Michael P.H. Stanley. (Getty Images)

Talking To Patients And Their Families, Even When There's Nothing To Say

Dr. Michael P.H. Stanley called the wife of his cancer patient every day with updates. Then he missed a day.

03:34Mar 31, 2021

Tulips are seen inside Asia's largest Tulip Garden after it opens for general public and tourists in Srinagar, Kashmir, India on March 25, 2021. (Faisal Khan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The Ancient Jews Carried Trauma And Joy Into Their New Lives. We Can, Too

I don’t believe in “back to normal” anymore, writes Jessica Ullian. I do believe in better, though, and these days I wake up knowing that some version of better lies...

Mar 30, 2021

Beverly Cleary, then 90, at home in Carmel Valley, Calif. in 2006. (Christina Koci Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

‘How True It All Felt’: Beverly Cleary Helped Us Understand Ourselves

Beverly Cleary, the children's author who died last week, never forgot what it felt like to be a child, where so much of life is beyond your control, writes Laura...

Mar 29, 2021

Two friends maintain social distance by sitting on separate benches and wearing protective face masks. (Getty)

It's OK To Laugh. A Group Of Teenagers Showed Me The Way

In a year when we have lost so much, writes Courtney E. Cole, sometimes it’s the littlest things that hit the hardest. Connection looks different now, but it's there for...

Mar 26, 2021

Alice Mao holds a sign during an anti-Asian hate vigil at Chinatown's Madison Park in downtown Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. (Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)

Hate Won't Be My ‘Background Noise.’ Not Anymore

After a young boy shouted racist slurs at Jackie Hsieh and her family, she confronted the boy's father. In that conversation, she found an unexpected ally.

Mar 25, 2021

BOULDER, CO - MARCH 23: Sarah O'Keefe and Maura Kieft pay their respects to Officer Eric Talley, who was killed after a gunman opened fire at a King Sooper's grocery store on March 23, 2021 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images)

'Wandering Between Fury And Despair': Mass Shootings Amidst A Deadly Pandemic

Atlanta and Boulder have me wandering between fury and despair, wanting to scream and cry, writes Anita Diamant. But pulling up the covers -- for anything more than a day...

Mar 24, 2021

A daycare center employee pushes a KinderVan filled with preschool children on an outing along the National Mall in Washington, D.C. (Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

Child Care Is A Public Good. Our Government Should Start Treating It That Way

A new bill recently introduced in the U.S. House marks a turning point, writes Rebecca Rewald, when we start recognizing the importance of child care as a fundamental part of...

Mar 24, 2021

A migrant girl from Central America waits with her mother for a bus after they are dropped off by the US Customs and Border Protection at a bus station near the Gateway International Bridge, between the cities of Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico, on March 15, 2021 in Brownsville, Texas. (Chandian Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)

The Misery At The Border Never Stopped. This Is Biden's Chance To End Family Separation

The orchestra of chaos and misery at the border never dissipated, writes pediatrician Fiona Danaher, we are just finally being permitted to hear it again.

Mar 23, 2021

The author at a rowing competition just before the pandemic shutdown began, March 1, 2020. (Scullingfool Photography/Courtesy)

My Physical Therapist Made Me Feel Like An Athlete. In The Pandemic, That Was A Gift

When an injury sidelined Bethany Ericson from rowing at home during the pandemic, she started physical therapy. To her surprise, when her shoulder healed, it was hard to say goodbye....

Mar 23, 2021

A woman passes in front of a Bitcoin exchange shop on April 4, 2018, in Krakow, Poland. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty)

Bitcoin Is Terrible For The Planet. Now There Are Better Choices

The cryptocurrency is estimated to use more energy than all of Argentina, writes Frederick Hewett. Unlike Bitcoin, newer electronic currency competitors aren't needlessly bad for the environment.

Mar 22, 2021

The childhood home of the author's mother in Dahlem, photographed by the author's sister in 1982. (Courtesy)

My Family's Home Survived Nazi Germany, But Not Modern Life

Diane Forman went to Germany to see the house where her mother lived before her family fled the Nazis. She didn't find what she expected.

Mar 19, 2021

Clover Tran holds her phone during a candlelight vigil in Garden Grove, California, on March 17, 2021 to unite against the recent spate of violence targeting Asians, and to express grief and outrage after yesterday's shooting that left eight people dead in Atlanta, including at least six Asian women. (APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images)

Call The Shootings In Atlanta What They Were: Targeted Violence Against Asian American Women

Without the mainstream acknowledgement that these shootings were a hate crime against Asian women, we cannot work to address the true issues we face, writes Caroline H. Lee.

Mar 18, 2021

Competitors race in the Girls 3k event during the Australian Cross-Country Championships at Kembla Grange on August 24, 2019 in Wollongong, Australia. (Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

Being A Runner Saved Me. Don't Take Sports Away From Other Transgender Kids

As a teen navigating what it meant to be trans, running cross country made Ellis Barrera feel hopeful. Transgender kids shouldn't have to choose between who they are and what...

Mar 18, 2021

Kiran Munir speaks on behalf of bereaved families during a national remembrance service in Christchurch on March 13 to mark two years since the Christchurch mosque attacks in which 51 people were killed and dozens were injured. (Sanka Vidanagama/AFP via Getty Images)

In The Two Years Since The New Zealand Mosque Attack, I’ve Learned The Power Of My Voice

When hate graffiti appeared in my town of Arlington, Mass., a day after the New Zealand killings, a neighbor helped me address the white supremacist message, writes Nada Siddiqui.

Mar 16, 2021

Students yell to President Barack Obama after he receives an honorary doctorate of laws during the 250th anniversary commencement ceremony at Rutgers University on May 15, 2016 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

Biden's Student Debt Plan Is Prudent — And Compassionate

Forgiving $10,000 in student debt would help the people who need it most, writes Rich Barlow, including almost every American who borrowed money for college and dropped out before earning...

Mar 16, 2021

Health Care Workers Get The Applause, But Our Families Are Essential, Too

Much has been written about the labors of health care workers in the pandemic, writes critical care physician Walter J. O'Donnell. Equally heroic, however, are their partners and loved ones...

Mar 15, 2021

A scene from the film, "Minari." (Courtesy/A24)

In ‘Minari,’ I Saw My Family. But Hollywood Has Made Asian Americans Outsiders, Once Again

The Golden Globes labeled "Minari" a foreign language film, not qualified for "Best Motion Picture," because it contains too much Korean dialogue. What is American enough? asks Rosann Tung.

Mar 12, 2021