Cognoscenti: WBUR’s Weekly Ideas Newsletter
Where — and who — we come from
While on vacation with her family, Cog editor Cloe Axelson saw examples from historian Colin Woodward's book, "American Nations," at every turn.
The stories we tell ourselves about ourselves
Cog editor Kate Neale Cooper is a runner. Or at least she used to be. In midlife, I’m not willing to accept that my running days are over, she writes,...
The wedding is only the beginning
The average engagement lasts 15 months, writes Kate Neale Cooper. During that time, couples often talk about bridesmaids dresses and centerpieces, first dances and seating arrangements. But what if, instead,...
To stay on ‘nodding terms’
Theoretically, Cog editor Cloe Axelson should be great at keeping a journal. But she has a nagging (if slightly unhinged) worry that she could be run over by a bus:...
13 ways to savor the season
To savor our region’s sweet few temperate months, I created a summer checklist that I endeavor to make my way through once summer begins, writes Alysia Abbott. Soaking up the...
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Dreaming small in my backyard
In the span of not-quite four weeks, I’ve transplanted dozens — maybe hundreds — of plants from my parents’ yard to my own. What is happening to me? asks Cog...
A little help from my friends
The best thing about friendship — and somehow the part that keeps surprising me — is the reassurance of time, that we can come back to each other again and...
The Girls from Boston are back in the spotlight
Despite our team's enthusiasm for Meg Heckman's essay about the "Girls from Boston," it wasn’t an easy story to produce, writes Cog editor Kate Neale Cooper. It’s hard to put...
The serious business of fun
There are the places you expect to find joy, and there are the places where it finds you, writes Cog editor Sara Shukla. Sometimes, that place is a yo-yo competition...
Thoreau's mom did do his laundry, but it's not what you think
The laundry and soccer cleats and bedtime battles are moments of connection – literal minutes and hours – that become less frequent as kids mature. It’s bittersweet, this parenting business,...
The simple joys of the tavern down the street
Cog editor Kate Neale Cooper and her family have a favorite neighborhood restaurant, and there's nothing fancy about it.
The things we carry — in our totes
For the newshounds among us, the last few months have been unrelenting, writes Cloe Axelson. And this interrogation of what we carry in our bags feels, to me, like what...
Q&A with Laura Green: Keep running, keep laughing
When it comes to the Boston Marathon, running influencer (and comedic genius) Laura Green has lots of ideas. She talked with Cog editor Kate Neale Cooper about why the race...
It's the small stuff that endures
There’s a sameness to the ritual we use to memorialize the dead -- readings, eulogies, prayers, music -- but I somehow always learn something funny or quirky about the person...
We are all creative people: 5 questions with Maggie Smith
I think the things that are essential for creating are also essential for living, says poet Maggie Smith. There’s a lot of overlap between making things and just being a...
When your reporting beat becomes personal
Shame can interfere with our actions -- even when we’re experts on the topic at hand, even when we know the right thing to do, writes Cloe Axelson. Sometimes there...
It's our job to remember the pandemic — even as the beat goes on
This month marks five years since the COVID pandemic began. Maybe forcing ourselves to go back, to remember, can remind us of the dignity and kindness we owe one another,...
Finding my people
Even if you can manage to metabolize what’s happening in Washington, life is so often steeped in worry closer to home too, writes Sara Shukla. Being a person is hard,...
The cost of being a baby-making being
There's much more to menopause than the symptoms that have been the punchline of jokes for eternity: hot flashes, insomnia, brain fog, hormonal rage, writes Cloe Axelson. Half the population...
Q&A with Theresa Okokon: She wrote a memoir for her future self
Theresa Okokon is out with her first book, a memoir in essays, titled "Who I Always Was." She talked with Cog editor Cloe Axelson about the relationship between memory and...