Too many loners, not enough joinersThis week, Robert Putnam’s ideas and an essay about book clubs and the presidential debate have been sloshing around in my brain, an odd stew. It made me want to...Sep 15, 2024The first rule of book club is: We do not talk about booksThe first few meetings of Laura McTaggart's book club involved minimal scholarly discussion and no one complained. We must be doing something right because more than a decade later, the...Sep 13, 2024We can't let the state Legislature squander Mass.' clean energy opportunityAs lawmakers consider calling a special session to address their unfinished work, they shouldn’t lose sight of the nationwide interest in investing in clean energy, writes Mindy Lubber, the CEO...Sep 12, 2024Donald Trump, the candidate, is a media fictionThe press isn’t responsible for Trump’s lies or his crimes or his blatant incoherence, writes Steve Almond. But they have fallen into a pattern of ignoring and sanitizing, and thus...Sep 10, 2024My daughter begins college in Paris, while I return to Cambridge. ‘Home’ is changing for us bothMonths before Alysia Abbott's daughter, Annabel, left for her freshman year of college, they talked about how hard it might be to leave home -- how lonely and lost she...Resume04:16Sep 6, 2024AdvertisementWhat would trailblazer Alice Marble think about today's US Open?If Marble were to attend today’s U.S. Open, I can see her strolling through the grounds, insisting on a photo next to the statue of Althea Gibson, erected in 2019,...Sep 6, 2024We can build a culture of belonging — one that includes people with disabilitiesWhen it comes to disability, we can tell a story of loss and lack, or we can tell a story of the inherent worth and purpose of every individual, writes...Sep 4, 2024In a dementia clinic, our work is full of long goodbyesAs a fellow in cognitive neurology, I coached patients in my dementia clinic on how to say the long goodbye over and over, to different parts of who they are,...Sep 3, 2024The poetry (and delight) of summer fruitSoon the produce aisles at my local grocery store will be full of apples, writes Anita Diamant. Those will get me through the winter well enough, but for the next...Aug 30, 2024My only child died of a drug overdose. She's one of 1.1 million Americans lost since 2000Substance use disorder is incredibly common — 16.5% of Americans battle it — yet the disease remains stigmatized, writes Nellie King, whose daughter died 10 years ago. We idolize and...Aug 28, 2024I love my air conditioning. But it’s complicatedDuring one of this summer’s heat waves, a friend who lives without central air asked me how I was handling the heat. It hit me then: I was handling it...Aug 27, 2024This hour of life is magicIn the empty nest articles I read last summer, there was a lot of advice about relationships with other people, writes Meaghan Shields. But I had no idea that becoming...Aug 23, 2024My friend Kathy Willens wasn't the type for shortcutsPulitzer Prize winner Madeleine Blais remembers her friend Kathy Willens, a pathbreaking Associated Press photojournalist for nearly 45 years, who died in July at 74 from ovarian cancer. Aug 23, 2024'In the room where it happens' — a day in the life of a DNC delegateThere's nothing ceremonial about the role of delegate at this year's Democratic National Convention, writes Kaivan Shroff.Aug 22, 2024Voter registration in hospitals is the new frontier in health careVoting isn't just a civic duty, write Alister Martin and Aliya Bhatia. It's a social determinant of health.Aug 20, 2024In August, we floatBy mid-August, nature beckons us to slow down: the crickets’ chirps grow in intensity; the hydrangeas have lost their colors; the mornings are cool; the sun feels less sharp than...Aug 18, 2024Shall we dance? How the cha-cha helped my marriageNo matter how old we are, the discomfort of learning to do basic dance steps with strangers is one way to become a kinder person. Especially to your spouse, writes...Aug 16, 2024Beware the media distortion field aheadDonald Trump has yet to find an effective line of attack against Kamala Harris, writes Steve Almond. But once he does, he's likely to find a willing accomplice in the...Aug 14, 2024AI teaching assistants are no match for human beingsMorehouse College will introduce AI teaching assistants in some classes this fall. Replacing human TAs with AI that uses the same technology many schools and teachers prohibit seems hypocritical at...Aug 13, 2024Republican attacks on Tim Walz's military service are baselessJD Vance is trying to "swift boat" Tim Walz. But in style and substance Vance, Trump and their Republican colleagues have shown nothing but contempt and disregard for our men...Aug 12, 2024Next Page
Too many loners, not enough joinersThis week, Robert Putnam’s ideas and an essay about book clubs and the presidential debate have been sloshing around in my brain, an odd stew. It made me want to...Sep 15, 2024
The first rule of book club is: We do not talk about booksThe first few meetings of Laura McTaggart's book club involved minimal scholarly discussion and no one complained. We must be doing something right because more than a decade later, the...Sep 13, 2024
We can't let the state Legislature squander Mass.' clean energy opportunityAs lawmakers consider calling a special session to address their unfinished work, they shouldn’t lose sight of the nationwide interest in investing in clean energy, writes Mindy Lubber, the CEO...Sep 12, 2024
Donald Trump, the candidate, is a media fictionThe press isn’t responsible for Trump’s lies or his crimes or his blatant incoherence, writes Steve Almond. But they have fallen into a pattern of ignoring and sanitizing, and thus...Sep 10, 2024
My daughter begins college in Paris, while I return to Cambridge. ‘Home’ is changing for us bothMonths before Alysia Abbott's daughter, Annabel, left for her freshman year of college, they talked about how hard it might be to leave home -- how lonely and lost she...Resume04:16Sep 6, 2024
What would trailblazer Alice Marble think about today's US Open?If Marble were to attend today’s U.S. Open, I can see her strolling through the grounds, insisting on a photo next to the statue of Althea Gibson, erected in 2019,...Sep 6, 2024
We can build a culture of belonging — one that includes people with disabilitiesWhen it comes to disability, we can tell a story of loss and lack, or we can tell a story of the inherent worth and purpose of every individual, writes...Sep 4, 2024
In a dementia clinic, our work is full of long goodbyesAs a fellow in cognitive neurology, I coached patients in my dementia clinic on how to say the long goodbye over and over, to different parts of who they are,...Sep 3, 2024
The poetry (and delight) of summer fruitSoon the produce aisles at my local grocery store will be full of apples, writes Anita Diamant. Those will get me through the winter well enough, but for the next...Aug 30, 2024
My only child died of a drug overdose. She's one of 1.1 million Americans lost since 2000Substance use disorder is incredibly common — 16.5% of Americans battle it — yet the disease remains stigmatized, writes Nellie King, whose daughter died 10 years ago. We idolize and...Aug 28, 2024
I love my air conditioning. But it’s complicatedDuring one of this summer’s heat waves, a friend who lives without central air asked me how I was handling the heat. It hit me then: I was handling it...Aug 27, 2024
This hour of life is magicIn the empty nest articles I read last summer, there was a lot of advice about relationships with other people, writes Meaghan Shields. But I had no idea that becoming...Aug 23, 2024
My friend Kathy Willens wasn't the type for shortcutsPulitzer Prize winner Madeleine Blais remembers her friend Kathy Willens, a pathbreaking Associated Press photojournalist for nearly 45 years, who died in July at 74 from ovarian cancer. Aug 23, 2024
'In the room where it happens' — a day in the life of a DNC delegateThere's nothing ceremonial about the role of delegate at this year's Democratic National Convention, writes Kaivan Shroff.Aug 22, 2024
Voter registration in hospitals is the new frontier in health careVoting isn't just a civic duty, write Alister Martin and Aliya Bhatia. It's a social determinant of health.Aug 20, 2024
In August, we floatBy mid-August, nature beckons us to slow down: the crickets’ chirps grow in intensity; the hydrangeas have lost their colors; the mornings are cool; the sun feels less sharp than...Aug 18, 2024
Shall we dance? How the cha-cha helped my marriageNo matter how old we are, the discomfort of learning to do basic dance steps with strangers is one way to become a kinder person. Especially to your spouse, writes...Aug 16, 2024
Beware the media distortion field aheadDonald Trump has yet to find an effective line of attack against Kamala Harris, writes Steve Almond. But once he does, he's likely to find a willing accomplice in the...Aug 14, 2024
AI teaching assistants are no match for human beingsMorehouse College will introduce AI teaching assistants in some classes this fall. Replacing human TAs with AI that uses the same technology many schools and teachers prohibit seems hypocritical at...Aug 13, 2024
Republican attacks on Tim Walz's military service are baselessJD Vance is trying to "swift boat" Tim Walz. But in style and substance Vance, Trump and their Republican colleagues have shown nothing but contempt and disregard for our men...Aug 12, 2024