What musical chairs can teach us about democracy
Healthy communities are not built through obligation alone, writes Emily Isaacson. They are sustained through shared joy — and shared joy has a skill set.
Healthy communities are not built through obligation alone, writes Emily Isaacson. They are sustained through shared joy — and shared joy has a skill set.
"Wartime communication is not a branding exercise. It is not a press conference or a social media post," writes Stuart N. Brotman, the former president and CEO of The Museum of Television & Radio.




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"In 2020 — after three years of immunosuppression — when I learned of mRNA vaccine research for MS, I was relieved," writes Lindsay Karp. Then came the cuts to the...

Whether a mother-child relationship is healthy and attached, difficult and estranged, or somewhere in between, mothers and motherhood is good fodder for the page, writes Cog editor Cloe Axelson.

"My mother's grocery list is the length of a CVS receipt. Mine is a folder of photos I texted myself consisting mainly of which frozen brand of saag paneer I...

Between DOGE and the rise of AI bots, work is far more precarious than it used to be, writes Joanna Weiss. Amid so much uncertainty, it’s no surprise that people...

"Motherhood and activism are not mutually exclusive," writes Victoria Livingstone. "Rather, they are categories of identity that inform each other."

I have no statistics to cite about the number of women who experience what is sometimes called "breastfeeding grief," writes Miriam Wasser. But I've come to believe that what happened...

Ethan Gilsdorf's relationship with his stepmother was rocky at first, but it isn't anymore. "Although it has taken decades for me to realize this — my 30s, 40s and most...

"Every Brilliant Thing” is getting lots of attention on Broadway this spring. "Clearly, these bits of joy, this ode to connection, is something people of the world -- or at...

“I lost one patient unexpectedly, another predictably and another soon after that. Each time, there were things to do: write notes, check labs, return pages,” writes Alisha Yi. “Then my...

"There is a particular grief to being a bilingual writer, having access to words and worlds that cannot be easily shared," writes Juliet Faithfull. "But it is also a gift."

The HLO, which is expanding into the U.S., shares many of the same objectives as a lending library, writes Judy Bolton-Fasman. "It serves as a public resource intended to be...

To paraphrase Audre Lorde, we need poetry because there are no new ideas — only new ways of making them felt. "And, boy, do poems make us feel things," writes...

In Kate Peltz's public library, there's a box of lost relics that people once used as bookmarks. "Sifting through the dusty pile felt like being in on a delicious secret...

In April 2024, Massachusetts State Police rolled out a voluntary Blue Envelope Program to protect autistic drivers and officers. But the program must still be codified into law to ensure...

The running community lost a legend last week: Bob Hall, the first person to ever race the Boston Marathon in a wheelchair, died at 74. Cog editor Cloe Axelson talked...

"I had always thought of running as an individual sport, a place to measure myself against a watch," writes Mike Dlott. "But by midlife I was slower, and the old...

Most schools in Massachusetts now have AEDs. But ownership is not the same as access, writes Courtney Desy. “If the device is locked in the nurse’s office or in a...

A 100% renewable energy grid isn’t realistic in New England, given increased demand, weather and other factors, writes Frederick Hewett. We need an approach that includes nuclear power.

Cog editor Sara Shukla wrote an essay this week about the Artemis II mission, and there were countless moments of “moon joy” she wished she could have included. Here are...

A few months ago, Linda Button traveled to Seoul for a Hanmadang, a taekwondo festival. Button, a black belt, has been practicing for 20 years. At 68, she was one...