
Alastair Moock
Cognoscenti contributor
Alastair Moock is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter who lives in the Boston area with his wife and twin teenagers. In 2021, he co-founded The Opening Doors Project, an organization committed to amplifying voices of color and advancing conversations about race through the arts.
Recently published

Basketball is an escape — and an inspiration
Alastair Moock appreciates the Celtics brand of basketball more than ever. Rooting as hard as I do for unusually tall men to put a ball through a hoop may seem...

Norman Lear made people talk
Legendary television writer and producer Norman Lear died this week, at 101. What makes his legacy so extraordinary, writes Alastair Moock, is the complexity and nuance of what he created,...

The role of luck — in hoops and life
Basketball is a game of inches. Sometimes the ball falls in the cylinder, sometimes it bounces out, writes Alastair Moock. Why do we struggle so much to accept the role...

Let's remember Bill Russell for the radical he was
Bill Russell defined his own legacy by remaining unabashedly political and by overtly connecting the racial justice fights of the past, to the fights of the present, writes Alastair Moock.

I love basketball for the game — and the politics
Having a winning team to root for sure helps, writes Boston Celtics fan Alastair Moock. But what I really appreciate about the NBA is how outspoken the league has been...
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Why I'd Rather Live Woody Guthrie's Words Than Sing Them
Singer/songwriter Alastair Moock has taught Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" for years. When he was nominated for a Grammy this year, alongside four other white nominees, he decided...

John Prine Made Me Want To Be A Songwriter
Before I discovered Prine, writes Grammy-nominated artist Alastair Moock, I didn't know you could do that with words. Be funny and sad and mystical all at the same time.

My Daughter, The Boy Scout
Some girls just wanna be boy scouts. Alastair Moock explains.