Marketplace

Value this story? Donate

Dec 18, 2020

A Very Melania Christmas

A meditation on Christmas decorations in the time of COVID and climate change.

The author, Dr. Joshua Barocas, gets his COVID vaccine Wed., Dec. 16, 2020. (Courtesy)

Pulled By Hope And Grief: What It Felt Like To Get The Vaccine

Dec 17, 2020

Rev. June Cooper speaks during a rally to prevent Massachusetts evictions in front of Boston Housing Court on Oct. 15, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Matt Stone/ MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)

Evictions Feed The Pandemic

Dec 17, 2020

COVID-19 testing is done on Buffum Street by the Lynn Community Health Center in Lynn, MA on Aug. 11, 2020. (Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

The Safe Communities Act Isn’t Only About Immigration. It Will Protect Public Health

Dec 16, 2020

Support the news

Pulled By Hope And Grief: What It Felt Like To Get The Vaccine

A Very Melania Christmas

We're Pediatricians In A Pandemic. We Shouldn't Be Taking Care Of Your Grandparents

A Holiday Season Gutted By The Pandemic: We're Trying To 'Celebrate And Grieve At The Same Time'

You Can Dismiss 'Jill' — But Not Dr. Biden. That's The Point

Evictions Feed The Pandemic

In Case You Missed It

A Holiday Season Gutted By The Pandemic: We're Trying To 'Celebrate And Grieve At The Same Time'

04:31Nov 20, 2020

The author's grandparents, Emmanuel and Stella, in a photo taken between 1910 and 1917. (Courtesy)

How The 1918 Pandemic Haunted My Family For Generations

Nov 13, 2020

Adri Perez, with Common Cause 866ourvote, waits for a nurse to hand deliver an emergency ballot to a person hospitalized with COVID-19 at Las Palmas Medical Center. (Justin Hamel/AFP via Getty Images)

Here Comes The Pandemic Winter

Nov 6, 2020

Indy Reads is an independent bookstore, where revenue funds a non-profit that provides free tutoring to promote adult literacy. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Need A Respite From Doomscrolling? Buy Books (From Your Local Bookseller) Instead

Oct 30, 2020

On Air Commentaries

Activist Tamika Mallory marches with a child during a demonstration on September 23, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. Protesters marched in the streets in response to Attorney General Daniel Camerons handling of the Breonna Taylor case and the grand jury verdict indicting one of three officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police officers at her apartment on March 13, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Deval Patrick: 'Policing In America Has To Change For Peace In America To Exist'

04:14Sep 26, 2020

An elementary student following online lessons from home on May 15, 2020 in Sint-Marten-Latem, Belgium. (Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

‘Losing The Thread Of What We’ve Lost’: A Postcard From The Pandemic

02:46Oct 2, 2020

Students participate in the Global Climate Strike march on September 20, 2019 in New York City. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via via Getty Images)

Follow Science: That's How To Fight Climate Change — And How We Should Be Fighting The Pandemic

03:02Oct 29, 2020

Wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID19, elementary school students walk to classes to begin their school day in Godley, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (LM Otero/AP)

'Everything Is Up For Grabs': Welcome To 'The COVID Year In Education'

07:27Aug 20, 2020

Politics

Dec 15, 2020

You Can Dismiss 'Jill' — But Not Dr. Biden. That's The Point

"Jill" will take and type up the meeting minutes. "Jill" will give up some of her hiring budget. t is harder to ask "Dr. Biden" to do all of those things, writes Dr. Monya De.

Canada Geese take flight at the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, Mass. (Glenn Rifkin)

Nature Isn't Partisan. And For One Morning, Neither Were We

Dec 11, 2020

The sunset is seen above the Massachusetts State House in Boston, Mass. on December 1, 2020. (Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

The Moral Case For A Wealth Tax Has Never Been Clearer

Dec 10, 2020

David Nelligan picks up his son, while Dorothy Williams looks on at Dottie's Family Childcare in Dorchester in March 2020. Dorothy normally cares for 10 children but was down to two that day as parents increasingly worked from home and removed their children from situations in which they could contract coronavirus. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Boston’s Child Care System Is Collapsing. We Must Bail It Out

Dec 10, 2020

Gov. Charlie Baker wipes his eye after saying "I haven't had a meal with my Dad since February" during a press conference in the Gardner Auditorium in the Massachusetts State House in Boston on Dec. 7, 2020. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Gov. Baker, Now Is Not The Time For Incrementalism

Dec 9, 2020

Support the news

More From Cog

A chalk drawing by Abigail Fichthorn, 8, and her mother Jeanni Fichthorn, outside their home on Penn Ave in Wernersville, Penn. on March 24, 2020. (Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)

What We've Learned To Carry In These 9 Brutal Months

Slogging through nine months of a pandemic requires you to hold the ordinary and the unfathomable in your hands, writes Sara Shukla. Even when it’s steady, it’s work.

Dec 14, 2020

A nurse administers the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a man at a health center on the first day of the largest immunization program in the United Kingdom's history on Dec. 8, 2020 in Cardiff, Wales. (Justin Tallis, Pool / Getty Images)

I'm Empathetic To My Patients' Concerns About The COVID Vaccine. I'll Encourage Them To Get It Anyway

My patients' fears about the vaccine are borne from the country's shameful medical history, writes Dr. Pamela Adelstein.

Dec 11, 2020

Medical staff members discuss as they check up on a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on Dec. 4, 2020 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)

We Are All Tired Of The Pandemic — But Our Actions Can Still Make A Big Difference

We all have choices about the upcoming holidays, writes Abraar Karan. What we do will change the trajectory of the epidemic, in one way or the other.

Dec 9, 2020

Dr. Joseph Varon hugs and comforts a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit during Thanksgiving at the United Memorial Medical Center on November 26, 2020 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)

We're Pediatricians In A Pandemic. We Shouldn't Be Taking Care Of Your Grandparents

We’ll do it, because helping during the pandemic is the right thing to do, write six senior pediatric residents at MassGeneral Hospital for Children. But we’re your last resort, your...

Dec 8, 2020

An empty MBTA Green Line train en route to Government Center. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

The MBTA Is On Life Support. Only The Feds Can Save It Now

This is a national problem and only the federal government has the resources to address it, writes Rich Barlow.

Dec 8, 2020

People walk through the pedestrian zone on Spitalerstraße in Hamburg, Germany(Axel Heimken/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)

As A White Woman With Untreated Schizophrenia, I Was Never Deemed A Threat. Many Aren't As Fortunate

I have a serious brain disease that is a medical condition, not a personal failing, writes Patty Mulcahy. Access to good psychiatric care is becoming a luxury only the rich...

Dec 7, 2020

Elliot Page at an event on September 7, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. The Oscar-nominated Page announced on December 1 that he is transgender. (Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb)

Elliot Page Makes Trans Joy Less Fragile

So many people, beyond the transgender community, shared words of delight upon hearing Elliot Page's news, writes Kasey LeBlanc. Elliot's joy became collective, and in so doing, it became a...

Dec 4, 2020

In this Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019 file photo Meghan the Duchess of Sussex stands after she and her husband Britain's Prince Harry placed a Cross of Remembrance as they attend the official opening of the annual Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey in London. The Duchess of Sussex has revealed that she had a miscarriage in July. Meghan described the experience in an opinion piece in the New York Times on Wednesday. She wrote: "I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second." The former Meghan Markle and husband Prince Harry have a son, Archie, born in 2019. (Matt Dunham/AP)

The Pain Of Losing A Child You've Never Known. And The Relief Of Telling Your Story

Miscarriage is still a taboo subject for many, writes Andrea Meyer. That's why Meghan Markle and Chrissy Teigen opening up about their losses is so meaningful.

Dec 3, 2020

Police advance on demonstrators who are protesting the killing of George Floyd on May 30, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Trump Is Nearly Gone. But We Cannot Stop Our Fight For Civil Rights

We must move forward -- especially in policing, voting and immigration -- and reshape our country by prioritizing equality, writes Oren Sellstrom.

Dec 3, 2020

Ellen Taylor talks to her mother, Eva Taylor, age 100, through the first floor window in Jamaica Plain in Boston on May 8, 2020. The Rogerson House accommodated families that wanted to visit their mothers and grandmothers for Mothers Day. Because of coronavirus, family members have not been allowed inside. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

4 Things Mass. Must Do Immediately To Prevent Another COVID-19 Crisis In Nursing Homes

Nursing homes are ground zero of the pandemic, write Noa Ghersin and Kate Kellogg. Long-term care facilities account for 65% of COVID-19 deaths in Massachusetts, and unless the state provides...

Dec 2, 2020

Dr. Pamela Adelstein wearing a mask and face shield. (Courtesy)

'My Patients Are Sicker Than Ever': The Pandemic's Collateral Damage

Some of my patients can't afford medicine or adequate food, writes Dr. Pamela Adelstein, who works at a community health center in Boston. Others are isolated and no one is...

Dec 2, 2020

Flames come close to houses during the Blue Ridge Fire on October 27, 2020 in Chino Hills, California. (David McNew/Getty Images)

Why Wasn't Climate The Electoral Lever We Thought It Would Be?

Pessimism about the salience of climate policy comes in the wake of this year’s national election, writes Frederick Hewett, despite indications that the issue was more significant for voters earlier...

Dec 1, 2020

Quinton Robinson carries a stack of boxes from Feed The Children.At the Hope Rescue Mission in Reading, PA on August 27, 2020 where a food distribution was held from Feed the Children, in cooperation with Price Rite Marketplace, and Hope Rescue Mission. Families received boxes of food, personal care items, and two backpacks with school supplies. The distribution was done to meet the heightened need during the COVID-19 outbreak. (Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)

It’s Giving Tuesday. Give What You Can — And Then Some

"Effective altruism" advocates evidence-based giving to the best charities. It's meant as a flexible menu with choices, writes Rich Barlow, not as the Ten Commandments.

Dec 1, 2020

Early voting in the Massachusetts primary at the Boston Public Library. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Ranked Choice Voting Failed. ‘Jungle Primaries’ Might Be Our Best Hope For Fair Elections

I didn't vote for Question 2, writes Tom Keane. But we need to improve the way we conduct our elections.

Nov 30, 2020

Eleanor Brody and Sam Brody, the matriarch and patriarch of a sprawling ping-pong dynasty (Sharon Brody/WBUR)

Thanksgiving Without Ping-Pong Was Unthinkable. Could My 88-Year-Old Mother Salvage It This Year?

As we searched for a way to continue our annual holiday ping-pong tournament virtually, writes Sharon Brody, my mom surprised us all.

Nov 26, 2020

The sun sets behind the late autumn vineyards in Bavaria, Rödelsee. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance via Getty Images)

There Will Be No Sweet Harvest In This Bitter Year

In our small Boston yard, our grapevine was a lifeline to future sweetness, writes Rev. Laura Everett. But come fall and the time to harvest, there was none.

Nov 25, 2020

I'm staying home alone this year, writes Theresa Okokon. But I'll pretend my mom is watching TV with me. In this photo, the author is pictured with her mother (Courtesy)

I Can't Be With My Mom This Thanksgiving. At Least We Have Game Shows

I'll stay home alone this year, writes Theresa Okokon. But I'll pretend my mom is watching tv with me.

Nov 25, 2020

Supporters of US President Donald Trump wait to see him to leave Trump National Golf Club on November 22, 2020 in Sterling, Virginia. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Never Underestimate The Power Of Saying 'I Like You Just The Way You Are'

I believe the polarization and intense anger Red and Blue folks share springs from the unconscious wish each person possesses to feel that they are good enough just as they...

Nov 24, 2020

Third grade teacher Cara Denison speaks to students while live streaming her class via Google Meet at Rogers International School on November 19, 2020 in Stamford, Connecticut. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, most children in Stamford Public Schools attend alternate days of distance learning and in-class participation as part of the school district's hybrid education model. A smaller percentage of students distance learn full-time at home due to families' Covid-19 concerns. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Our Infrastructure Is A Mess. Let's Make Universal Broadband Our First Priority

If you thought racial inequality was bad before, wait till you see Inequality 2.0, powered by this digital divide, writes Rich Barlow.

Nov 23, 2020

Supporters of President Donald Trump protest in front of the residence of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Nov. 7, 2020. (Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump Lost. So Why Is The Media Still So Fixated On His Supporters?

At a moment of profound consequence for rebuilding norms around civic discourse, writes Leigh Gilmore, why are we asked to listen to the people who are least interested in that...

Nov 19, 2020