COMMENTARY

Last month, four people were arrested for trespassing after staging a sit-in outside the Mayor’s office at Boston City Hall. They were calling for a public hearing to rename Boston’s Faneuil Hall, an iconic marketplace and public meeting space. Commentator Nick DeLuca says the protests provide us an opportunity to face some uncomfortable history and he hopes we’ll take it.

"Don’t get into the cars of strangers," most of us — quite sensibly — have been told. But our commentator says hitching can be a valuable way to connect.

A fan of a popular 1960s TV sitcom reflects on the dangerous irony he now realizes was stitched into one of his favorite childhood shows.

An Episcopal priest says some of society's impassioned differences over gender and sexuality might be resolved by reconsidering how a seminal biblical passage about God's image is usually interpreted.

Election day was a week ago, but the work of local election officials in Massachusetts has not stopped, with the vote certification deadline approaching. Commentator Grace Bannasch is town clerk in Shutesbury, population 1,700. She’s been nonstop busy for months.

A judge in Connecticut on Thursday ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay $500 million to relatives of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, on top of a previous award of almost $1 billion. Commentator Jenny Hubbard lost her 6-year-old daughter Catherine in the tragedy. Hubbard says those parents who sued Jones have her unwavering support — but she chose not to join them in the lawsuit.

Grace Segran has been writing about her terminal cancer diagnosis for Cognoscenti since the end of 2021. In this piece, produced for the radio, Grace shares how she's choosing to spend the time she has left.

The parents of commentator Madelaine Zadik only left Nazi Germany after her father had been in a concentration camp and her mother in prison. Zadik says she's finally beginning to understand why they waited as long as they did.

Many businesses, including retail stores, have shuttered since the start of the pandemic, continuing the tough times for brick-and-mortar stores. This past week another joined the list — A.J. Hastings, a store in Amherst, Massachusetts, selling stationary, books, gifts and more. Commentator Martha Ackmann thinks much more than a store has been lost.

Interactions with wildlife can be tricky, especially when the wildlife starts acting a little less than wild.