Two years before she went on public assistance, Joanna Rakoff had a best-selling novel that won literary awards. She presented like a middle class working mom. But in reality, she was struggling — worried about feeding her kids and keeping a roof over their heads.
Cog editor Cloe Axelson interviewed Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and her dog Bailey, who's dressing up as Stephen Colbert for Halloween this year. They talked about dogs, political humor in a democracy, and why she keeps moving.
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Few people can claim their birth informed the ending to one of the 20th century’s most iconic novels, writes Tom Putnam. But that was the case for Patrick Hemingway, who...
What many misunderstand about Día de los Muertos is that it isn’t a celebration of death, nor a denial of how much it hurts, writes Evy Peña. It’s a way...
The real power of “KPop Demon Hunters” lies not in its stellar animation and heart-pounding songs, but in its willingness to explicitly address the concept of shame, writes Thuy Phan....
Breast cancer research is exceptionally well funded. Other diseases, including epilepsy — which took my little girl’s life — are less so. With the Trump administration slashing research budgets and...
I have no idea what made me ask for Bruce Springsteen’s new boxed set for Christmas in 1986, when I was 14, writes Kate Neale Cooper. But I do know...
It seems like Bruce Springsteen is everywhere right now, writes Marjie Alonso. Maybe he and his song, “Tougher Than the Rest,” are rising again because his testament to possibilities speaks...
I never deliberately set out to raise a daughter attuned to death. But given my professional background, perhaps it was inevitable, writes Anita Hannig, a cultural anthropologist who studies the...
Diane Keaton possessed the comfort and grace to be herself -- to blithely accept her shortcomings as an integral part of her character, her persona. I wanted to do that...
In the 60th Head of the Charles Regatta, Frank and Caitrin Lynch, father and daughter, will help row an eight-person racing shell between boathouses on the Charles River, delivering it...
Susan Stamberg was one of one, writes Margaret Low, WBUR’s CEO, in this reflection about a "founding mother" of NPR who died this week at 87.
I was shocked to learn that a sizable subset of hardcore Swifties hate Taylor's latest album writes Joanna Weiss. Maybe it’s because they're viewing the new album, not just as...
Instinctively, with my toes covered in surf, I grabbed Sarah’s hand. And she grabbed back. The water taught me how to do that, to reach beyond worry to trust, and...
In the 19th century, urban planners and engineers did what we’ve all been guilty of doing with our problems: They buried them, writes Cog editor Kate Neale Cooper. Sometimes, rivers...
The word “daylighting” appeals to the poet in me, writes Jan Donley. Bringing something out of the shadows and into the sun is, after all, a poetic story. So standing...
Since I was a teenager, I’ve jumped at any opportunity to watch Jean Valjean break parole, Fantine dream a dream and Javert swear by the stars, Karen Wilfrid writes. She’s...
The first week in October is Banned Books Week, and it prompted Hannah Harlow to reflect on her younger son’s love of dragons, how following his interest helped him gain...
The distance between Kathmandu and Washington is vast, but the warning is shared: without credible rules and accountability, even old democracies wobble, writes Monik Bhatta.
Fred D. Ledley first encountered Jane Goodall in 1964, at a lecture hosted by the National Geographic Society when he was 9 years old. Goodall believed nature was attainable to...
Unlike in March, when Democrats caved to keep the government open, this time around they are holding the line, betting that voters will reward them for showing some backbone, writes...
Jonathan D. Fitzgerald is not having a midlife crisis. At least, that's what he thought — then he read MIT philosophy professor Kieran Setiya's book, "Midlife,” and started looking at...
