columns
SCOT LEHIGHBiden and Trump both get low grades on fiscal discipline"Responsible fiscal policy may not be good politics, but it is absolutely necessary to make the country strong enough to deal with all the other challenges they are going to be talking about on the campaign trail,” the head of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said.
Jeff JacobyWhat a nutty lawsuitIce cream wasn't perfect? Make a federal case out of it.
RENÉE GRAHAMWill Biden be ‘overprepared’ in his debate against Trump? Don’t believe the hype. There’s no such thing as over preparing for this (almost) presidential debate.
MARCELA GARCÍAWhat happens when Biden’s immigration record comes into focus on the debate stage?Voters say that immigration is the top problem facing the United States. I asked three experts how the president should address his record on the hotly contested political issue.
op-eds
Brittany CharltonHow to address health inequities affecting the LGBTQ communityThe thesis is simple and intuitive: Stress caused by experiencing bias, rejection, hostility, and marginalization takes a toll on the body and mind. The data bear that out.
Rachel Hall-CliffordLong COVID is like having a gun to my headI hope everyone who hasn’t experienced long COVID never really understands what I’m talking about — that our abled bodies are only temporary.
Jarred JohnsonBenefits of a new rail link would far outweigh the costsBoston needs to think big about transportation.
William StrausYears later, rail link plan still a bad ideaOther priorities, such as Cape bridge replacements, should take priority.
editorials
Parents through IVF, surrogacy need equal protectionLegal update would protect couples, including same-sex, who use assisted reproduction.
The Cannabis Control Commission has gone to potMired in dysfunction, the agency in charge of regulating legal cannabis needs serious reform.
Clarence Thomas’s ethical lapses bring shame on the nation’s highest courtIf judges won’t police themselves, then Congress must play a bigger oversight role.
letters
The dean will see you now: Harvard administrator fires salvo on faculty speech
Derrick White — Celtics’ sixth man?!
Mass. makes strides by widening ways for inmates to be connected
If officials won’t, citizens can shape state transportation
🎧 Beating Burnout: A four-part series from ‘Say More’
Part 1: We’re in a Burnout Epidemic. There’s Hope.Part 2: Cal Newport says We’re Thinking about Productivity WrongPart 3: Krista Tippett says burnout is a spiritual issue. The solution? Getting quiet.
Read our editorial series on higher education →
With US college-age population falling, luring more international students could help schools surviveThe ‘demographic cliff’ is coming. Colleges must be prepared.
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Editor's picks
PODCAST | SAY MORE WITH SHIRLEY LEUNGWe’re in a burnout epidemic. There’s hope. The Globe’s Say More podcast is launching a four-part series, Beating Burnout, to spotlight insights and advice from leading experts on the topic, from a Harvard stress doctor to “On Being” host Krista Tippett.
EDITORIALWhat friends of Israel and the Palestinians should be demanding nowThe fighting needs to stop. Hostages must return home. Israel and the Palestinians both need new leaders. And the diaspora of both sides should be pressing for lasting peace in the form of a two-state solution.
RENÉE GRAHAMTrump is not the problemIt’s his followers. It’s always been his followers.
Renée LothFlorida, the new nanny stateFor a guy who crusades against nanny-state overreach, Governor Ron DeSantis is doing an awful lot of finger-wagging lately about other people’s lives.
IDEAS | ZACH RAUSCHWhy are religious teens happier than their secular peers?Here’s what we can learn from the way faith communities stay rooted in the real world — and diminish the harms of the virtual one.
IDEAS | KAT ROSENFIELDA 1920s doctor with a phony insanity cure was hailed as a hero. It’s a cautionary tale for today.A combination of self-delusion and self-righteousness is a surefire way for experts to lose our trust.
Cartoons
Kirsten BarrettTo confine and contain: The many lives of Penikese Island
Christopher WeyantGetting ready for the big debate
Patrick ChappatteWhen Putin meets Kim
Christopher WeyantIt’s like an oven out there
Will DowdRemembering James Joyce
Christopher WeyantObsessive control issues
More from Globe Opinion
MARCELA GARCÍA
What happens when Biden’s immigration record comes into focus on the debate stage?Voters say that immigration is the top problem facing the United States. I asked three experts how the president should address his record on the hotly contested political issue.
Rachel Hall-Clifford
Long COVID is like having a gun to my headI hope everyone who hasn’t experienced long COVID never really understands what I’m talking about — that our abled bodies are only temporary.
Jarred Johnson
Benefits of a new rail link would far outweigh the costsBoston needs to think big about transportation.
EDITORIAL
The Cannabis Control Commission has gone to potMired in dysfunction, the agency in charge of regulating legal cannabis needs serious reform.
William Straus
Years later, rail link plan still a bad ideaOther priorities, such as Cape bridge replacements, should take priority.
EDITORIAL
Clarence Thomas’s ethical lapses bring shame on the nation’s highest courtIf judges won’t police themselves, then Congress must play a bigger oversight role.
JEFF JACOBY
Will a government warning label really make social media safer?The surgeon general’s recommendation has merit, but it raises serious legal concerns.
RENÉE GRAHAM
A famous father won’t let haters dim his pride in his trans sonMarlon Wayans wants his kids "to be free in spirit, free in thought, free to be themselves."
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SPECIAL PROJECTS
IDEASBlueprints for a new downtown BostonIt's time to reimagine the identity of the city's core — and we've got ideas.
When accidents happen: True stories from an ICU nurseAn interactive comic that explores how medical mistakes can happen in the chaotic environment of an ICU.
Not so fast, fashionHow to be fashionable and equitable while saving the planet from climate change.
Teens SpeakWe asked. They delivered. Teens from across the country offer a candid look at how they’re navigating life, school, friendships, social media, expectations, and so much more.
Blue sky Boston: Where inspiration meets aspiration for the city’s future Sustainable living. Gondolas. A science expo. Evaluation of student humanity. Here’s what a Boston of the future could be.
ERNESTO BARBIERI WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY JESS RULIFFSONTenderness and brutality: True stories from an ICU nurseAn illustrated opinion piece that examines the porous border between healing and suffering in one hospital’s intensive care unit.
IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERGHow Uphams Corner got wealthier without getting whiterThe scrappy Dorchester neighborhood has fulfilled the community activist’s dream: development without displacement.
IDEASWhere did all the workers go?For two years, employers have been desperate for workers — and there’s no indication the labor shortage will soon change. What are we losing — and possibly gaining — as a result?
Explore the project ➞
IDEAS | PETER THOMSONThe radical, forgotten experiment in educational integration that changed my lifeIn 1971, kids from Roxbury and Lincoln spent half the year attending school together in the city and the other half in the suburb. Fifty years later, I tracked down my fellow students to see how it shaped them — and whether something like it could work today.
Globe Opinion’s 2022 Top 10The readers have spoken: Take a tour through The Boston Globe opinion section’s top 10 most read columns, editorials, cartoons, letters, and Ideas stories of 2022.
RENÉE GRAHAMRemembering trans lives taken in 2022Even before a gunman killed five people and injured nearly 20 last month at Club Q, a popular LGBTQ nightspot in Colorado Springs, Colo., 2022 was already a deadly year for trans and gender nonconforming people. At least 35 have been killed nationwide, most of them Black trans women.
TIMELINEAssault on American democracyJan. 6, 2021, was one of the most alarming days in American history. Boston Globe Opinion columns, editorials, letters, and cartoons untangle the continuing aftermath of the attack on the US Capitol.
IDEAS | JOAN VENNOCHIHow the MBTA went off the railsNearly everything about Boston has changed in the past few decades, yet the T has the same big problem — a failure to prioritize the rider experience above all.
IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERGBoston was once a wildly ambitious city. It’s time to go big again.Soaring housing costs, a broken T, and other existential problems require sweeping fixes that meet the moment.
Young people and the power of social mediaSocial media holds enormous power over young people. Can they find a way to navigate safely through its ever-changing landscape?
How do we memorialize the pandemic?As the United States neared its one millionth COVID-19 related death, artists, architects, and community leaders are calling for a permanent memorial to honor all those touched by COVID. Globe Opinion asked several artists for their vision of what a COVID memorial could look like.
Explore the rest of the project →
IDEAS | ABDALLAH FAYYADEditing the ConstitutionThe Constitution is undergoing massive changes in the Supreme Court. It’s time to put the founding document in the hands of the people.
ideasThe Future of WorkThe past year has shattered expectations of what workdays look like. Parenting while Zooming. An uncrowded T. Wary interactions with customers. In this special issue of Ideas, we explore which of these changes will stick — and how they’ll affect the quality of our lives.
The Longevity HubThe Boston Globe Opinion section and MIT's AgeLab present The Longevity Hub, an ongoing series seeking to spark Greater Boston's transformation into the Silicon Valley of aging.
EDITORIALFuture-proofing the presidencyDonald Trump brought our democracy to the brink and exposed its weak spots. Here’s how to thwart the next American tyrant.
EDITORIALA battle for affordable housing in MassachusettsThe Globe editorial board's 2020 series on the need for inclusive housing reform in Newton and across the Commonwealth.
Brave New PlanetBrave New Planet is a podcast that delves deep into the most exciting and challenging scientific frontiers, helping us understand them and grapple with their implications. Dr. Eric Lander, president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, is host.
The future of foodWhat we eat, where it comes from, and how we get it are being reimagined like never before. In this special issue, we celebrate the role of food in our communities and explore how it can be tastier, more accessible, and healthier for us and the planet.
LettersPostcards from the pandemicInvited to take a walk, in fact, lots of walks; dining room table repurposed — a snapshot of how readers were coping.
An archive of conversations with the experts writing thought-provoking Globe Opinion op-eds and Ideas features.
The Other swing voterPolitical coverage often focuses on voters who oscillate between political parties in a few key swing states. Here we feature perspectives and opinions from and about demographics of Americans — young voters and Black and brown voters —who swing between voting and not voting.
From voter suppression to gerrymandering to foreign interference, the integrity of US elections is under attack. In a three-part weekly series, Globe Opinion examines how the nation arrived at this moment and what needs to be done to protect voting rights.
Thomas E. PattersonTrapped: Why the GOP's death is imminentThe Republican Party is destroying itself. Thomas Patterson of the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center explains the five traps the party has set for itself and warns that the party's future is in peril without reform.
Black voices nowGlobe Opinion seeks to amplify the perspectives and the voices of Black community members, scholars, activists, doctors, teachers, business leaders, students, and parents as op-ed and letter writers, and as innovators and provocateurs featured in Globe Ideas. Here we feature Black voices from the community amid the historic protests following the killing of George Floyd. We aim to amplify yet more Black voices going forward.
IDEASMassachusetts WorksWe turn the typical model of journalism on its head — instead of focusing on what’s broken, we’re taking a look at what Massachusetts gets right.
Legal Lens documentariesLaw and documentary film may seem far apart, but they actually share many connections. With the guidance of filmmaker and producer Joseph Tovares and support from the Hewlett Foundation, 12 Harvard Law School students from eight countries have worked since January on the Legal Lens project. You can view the films here on BostonGlobe.com.
Choosing, using, and losing your health care: A policy first-aid kitIn a four-part weekly series, Globe Opinion offers a baseline assessment of health care as well as prescriptions for fixing the industry.
Journalists are not the enemyA central pillar of President Trump’s politics is a sustained assault on the free press. Journalists are not classified as fellow Americans, but rather “the enemy of the people.”
National Student Essay Competition winners announced
