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Cognoscenti

12 hours ago

The climate bill passed — now comes the hard part

The stage is set for a decade of struggle over the bill's implementation, writes Frederick Hewett. The fossil fuel industry will not go quietly into the night.

Owner Ted Caplaneris, left, and waitress Sandy Dooley handle orders at The Old Townhouse, a 45-year-old institution in San Diego's Ocean Beach neighborhood on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. (Elliot Spagat/AP)

As we find our way back to each other, ‘Thank you for seeing me’

Aug 17, 2022

American actor Richard Dreyfuss (left) (as marine biologist Hooper) and British author and actor Robert Shaw (as shark fisherman Quint) look off the stern of Quint's fishing boat the 'Orca' at the terrifying approach of the mechanical giant shark dubbed 'Bruce' in a scene from the film 'Jaws' directed by Steven Spielberg, 1975. (Photo by Universal Pictures courtesy of Getty Images)

‘Jaws’ reigns as the perfect summer movie — especially in our era of paranoia

Aug 16, 2022

David McCullough signs copies of his book "The Pioneers" at Barnes & Noble Union Square on May 7, 2019 in New York City. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

David McCullough taught us that history is for everyone

Aug 12, 2022

Support the news

'He Followed A Benign Beat': Remembering Balloonist Brian Boland

Why people in my native Russia aren't protesting the attacks on Ukraine

My Wife Is Black. My Son Is Biracial. But White Supremacy Lives Inside Me

How Beverly Cleary Changed Children’s Literature

How to hike through 25 miles of green space in Boston

The climate bill passed — now comes the hard part

In Case You Missed It

Female nurse and surgeon in scrubs during surgery (Getty Images)

I'm a high-risk OB-GYN: Abortion helps me save lives

Jul 1, 2022

Demonstrators hold signs during a rally with senators outside the U.S. Capitol to demand the Senate take action on gun safety on Thursday, May 26, 2022, in the wake of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Texas. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

We have to stop sanitizing the carnage of mass shootings

May 27, 2022

Abortion rights demonstrators gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Friday. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

If only the Supreme Court justices had better sex ed

Jun 24, 2022

Nasa broadcasts the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope on the Piccadilly Lights screen in London. Picture date: Tuesday July 12, 2022. (Photo by James Manning/PA Images via Getty Images)

What the Webb telescope might tell us about ourselves

Jul 20, 2022

On Air Commentaries

Miles Howard stops to enjoy the view of Boston from Kevin W. Fitzgerald Park. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

How to hike through 25 miles of green space in Boston

06:52Jun 16, 2022

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

When COVID-19 caught up to Cloe Axelson’s family in the final weeks of school -- with second grade field day at stake -- one of her twin daughters reminded her how, even after the past two years, plenty of things are worth fighting for. (Thomas Barwick/Getty Images)

My 8-year-old taught me to 'just keep swimming'

03:29Jun 22, 2022

Jeff Davis (front) front leads members of Black Men Run on a run in Boston. (Courtesy Jeff Davis)

Let Black men run

05:21Dec 3, 2021

Politics

Aug 10, 2022

We know the T is broken. Why can't we make repairs easier for riders?

The MBTA leadership needs to take responsibility for recent failures, but the blame ultimately lands on Gov. Charlie Baker, writes Staci Rubin.

InfoWars website coordinator Alex Jones gives a speech to Trump supporters before the Electoral College votes are counted in Washington D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Alex Jones is a kook, but some people listened. Media literacy can help

Aug 9, 2022

The author's grandparents at a family wedding in the mid 1930s. (Courtesy Diane Forman)

Are fears of authoritarianism in the U.S. hyperbole? What would my German grandparents say?

Jul 29, 2022

Customers wait in line at a Kroger grocery store on July 15, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The Mass. tax rebate plan is a bad idea

Jul 27, 2022

The waiting room at Alamo Womens Reproductive Services is empty as just an hour earlier, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, shutting down abortion services at the clinic on June 24 in San Antonio, Texas. The clinic had to turn patients away once the ruling came down. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

How the fall of Roe could change abortion care in Mass.

Jul 26, 2022

More From Cog

Grace Segran with her two grandchildren, Lily and Ella. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

'I have loved and am loved': I am at peace

Grace Segran has been writing about her terminal cancer diagnosis for Cognoscenti since the end of 2021. In this piece, produced for the radio, Grace shares how she's choosing to...

07:32Aug 12, 2022

Kids enjoyed the cool of the water at Dilboy Pool in Somerville, Mass. on a hot afternoon, July 7, 2014. (Dina Rudick/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

At the pool, my boy can enjoy summer like everyone else

Something profound happens here at the public pool, with all its vivid life on display, writes Alysia Abbott. It's a richness that makes space for all sorts of differences, including...

Aug 12, 2022

Australian actress and singer Olivia Newton-John holds a press conference at the Inn On The Park, London, UK, 29th November 1978. She is starring in the 1978 film adaptation of the musical 'Grease'. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Olivia Newton-John was the soundtrack to my childhood. She meant even more to me as an adult

That’s the thing about childhood heroes, writes Kimberly Hensle Lowrance -- our memories of them may become fuzzy and worn over the years, but we remain hopelessly devoted to them.

Aug 10, 2022

Police work outside the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin where a gunman stormed the mass and opened fire August, 5, 2012 Oak Creek, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

10 years after the massacre in Oak Creek, I remain committed to my faith — and my country

Kanwar Singh joined the military after the massacre in Oak Creek, Wisconsin because he wanted to demonstrate that Sikhs are not a threat -- that they are proud and patriotic...

Aug 8, 2022

Wedding guests tossing rice at newlyweds, outdoors (Getty Images)

'Happily ever after': In praise of guests who see beyond the big day

While more couples will marry in 2022 than in any other year in recent history, no detail will escape your notice on your special day, writes T.M. Blanchet. Well, except...

Aug 5, 2022

"Mass Ave Lola, surveying her empire," as captioned by the author in an Instagram post, March 2019, Cambridge, MA. (Courtesy E.B. Bartles)

'Mass Ave Lola' wasn't my dog, but she helped me feel at home

Without even knowing her, so many people had loved this dog, writes E.B. Bartels. She brought us together.

Aug 4, 2022

Beyonce performs during the show at the 94th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 27, 2022. (Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Beyoncé’s 'Renaissance' is like being together again

The new album motivates us to keep weathering the disruptions of COVID and to keep fighting the forces of prejudice and racism, writes Harvey Young.

Aug 3, 2022

Boston Celtics' player Bill Russell hooks a shot during the NBA championship's final game in 1960 against the Saint Louis Hawks. (Getty Images)

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.

Aug 2, 2022

A view outside The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2020 in New York City. (Noam Galai/Getty Images)

The staggering cost of unpaid art internships

It's not only a few months of employment that's at stake, but also the welfare of our most prestigious art museums, writes Nikki Greene.

Aug 2, 2022

Joni Mitchell performing at "California Celebrates the Whales" at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California on November 20. 1976. (Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Joni Mitchell's not done yet

How can Joni inspire and comfort those of us getting on in years, and dreading all the indignities that may accompany it? asks Julie Wittes Schlack. By absorbing what she...

Aug 1, 2022

The author's husband and two sons on the C&O Canal Towpath, June 2022. (Courtesy Mandy Syers)

Biking 335 miles with my family took a whole lot of planning — and a little bit of magic

Mandy Syers planned for every variable on her family’s summer bike trip from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh. But the magic happened in spite of -- not because of -- those...

Jul 28, 2022

Joni Mitchel sings in a special Joni Jam performance at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival at Fort Adams State Park on July 24, 2022. (Carlin Stiehl for The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Joni Mitchell still knows our hearts

For me, Joni Mitchell's surprise performance was a gift during this time of pandemic and political maelstrom that has overwhelmed our lives, writes Glenn Rifkin.

Jul 27, 2022

I eventually got the miscarriage care I needed. But the post-Roe world is crueler to people like me

Sometimes the miscarriage memo is slow to arrive naturally, and medicine must intervene, writes Jennifer Handt. Sometimes women in my position need what is arguably an abortion.

Jul 22, 2022

A Red Line MBTA train arrives at the Braintree station on June 21, 2022 in Braintree, Massachusetts. (Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

Good grief, get the T some help

In recent months, T accidents are coming faster than trains, writes Rich Barlow. The MBTA is in desperate need of support from the state.

Jul 22, 2022

Donald Trump speaks during a retreat with Republican lawmakers at Camp David in Thurmont, Maryland, January 6, 2018.(Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Mining Trump's 'Heart of Darkness'

There is one universal element in the psychology of a Trump voter: the capacity to justify their support by any means necessary.

Jul 21, 2022

Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., pay respects to Hershel Woodrow Woody Williams, the last Medal of Honor recipient of World War II to pass away, in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda as his remains lie in honor in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, July 14, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

It's Joe Manchin's world

The whim of the small-state senator is more than just another political setback for the Biden administration, writes Frederick Hewett.

Jul 19, 2022

An abortion-rights protester displays placards as they gather in Franklin Square Park to march towards the White House to pressure on the Biden administration to act and protect abortion rights in Washington, D.C., July 9, 2022. (Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP)

Choosing abortion wasn't about safety or survival

For me, abortion was about choosing a path that I wanted over a path that I didn’t, writes Sarah Nager.

Jul 18, 2022

American comedic actor, writer, and director Mel Brooks acting surprised circa 1978. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Life's absurd. Mel Brooks helps

More than ever, I’m cognizant of sending my kids out into a world that can’t — or won’t — keep them safe, writes Sara Shukla. It’s the hardest truth to...

Jul 15, 2022

The author with her grandchildren, Lily and Ella, at Sofra in Cambridge, June 2022. (Courtesy Grace Segran)

Cancer treatment took my mojo. Hospice gave it back

The window will close at some point, but hospice care has given me my life back, for now, writes Grace Segran.

Jul 15, 2022

A girls holds a sign in support of abortion rights following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

'My girls are part of that hope': Why I talk to my daughters about hard things

Hard conversations, like advocacy, must be ongoing, writes Anri Wheeler.

Jul 14, 2022

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The climate bill passed — now comes the hard part

As we find our way back to each other, ‘Thank you for seeing me’

‘Jaws’ reigns as the perfect summer movie — especially in our era of paranoia

David McCullough taught us that history is for everyone

'He Followed A Benign Beat': Remembering Balloonist Brian Boland

Why people in my native Russia aren't protesting the attacks on Ukraine

My Wife Is Black. My Son Is Biracial. But White Supremacy Lives Inside Me

How Beverly Cleary Changed Children’s Literature

How to hike through 25 miles of green space in Boston

The climate bill passed — now comes the hard part

I'm a high-risk OB-GYN: Abortion helps me save lives

We have to stop sanitizing the carnage of mass shootings

If only the Supreme Court justices had better sex ed

What the Webb telescope might tell us about ourselves

How to hike through 25 miles of green space in Boston

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

My 8-year-old taught me to 'just keep swimming'

Let Black men run

We know the T is broken. Why can't we make repairs easier for riders?

Alex Jones is a kook, but some people listened. Media literacy can help

Are fears of authoritarianism in the U.S. hyperbole? What would my German grandparents say?

The Mass. tax rebate plan is a bad idea

How the fall of Roe could change abortion care in Mass.

'I have loved and am loved': I am at peace

At the pool, my boy can enjoy summer like everyone else

Olivia Newton-John was the soundtrack to my childhood. She meant even more to me as an adult

10 years after the massacre in Oak Creek, I remain committed to my faith — and my country

'Happily ever after': In praise of guests who see beyond the big day

'Mass Ave Lola' wasn't my dog, but she helped me feel at home

Beyoncé’s 'Renaissance' is like being together again

Let's remember Bill Russell for the radical he was

The staggering cost of unpaid art internships

Joni Mitchell's not done yet

Biking 335 miles with my family took a whole lot of planning — and a little bit of magic

Joni Mitchell still knows our hearts

I eventually got the miscarriage care I needed. But the post-Roe world is crueler to people like me

Good grief, get the T some help

Mining Trump's 'Heart of Darkness'

It's Joe Manchin's world

Choosing abortion wasn't about safety or survival

Life's absurd. Mel Brooks helps

Cancer treatment took my mojo. Hospice gave it back

'My girls are part of that hope': Why I talk to my daughters about hard things