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The section that asks “what if?” and “why not?”
IDEAS | Boštjan Videmšek with photographs by Matjaž Krivic
How to collect a sperm sample from an elephant
Fertility rates of the majestic creatures are in decline, both in the wild and in captivity. Frozen Dumbo 3 aims to reverse that.
IDEAS | CARINE HAJJAR
Rejecting students who support terrorism isn’t cancel culture
Universities have become way too intolerant of diverse viewpoints. But some viewpoints are morally reprehensible.
IDEAS | STEPHEN KINZER
The beauty queen who terrifies a dictator
Nicaragua’s bizarre autocratic regime gives the impression it’s in total control. So why does Miss Universe pose such a threat?
IDEAS | OMER AZIZ
Thomas Paine is overdue for recognition as America’s greatest Founding Father
Let's give him a proper memorial.
IDEAS | JOSHUA PEDERSON
Don’t draft horrible people for your fantasy sports team
I won’t add domestic abusers and other morally compromised players to my roster. If only real league coaches and owners would do the same.
IDEAS | LARISSA KOSMOS
In praise of the staple
The diminutive metal bracket does so much more than fasten. It is an enduring rejoinder to flimsy commitment, shoddy craftsmanship, and ephemeral everything.
may i have a word?
May I have a word: Lost and found
A word for those who mislay an item that magically reappears as soon as it has been replaced.
May I have a word: An indignity of the layering season
May I have a word: Halloween-related terms that really strike a gourd
Submit to Globe Ideas
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special projects
IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERG
How Uphams Corner got wealthier without getting whiter
The scrappy Dorchester neighborhood has fulfilled the community activist’s dream: development without displacement.
Where 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?
IDEAS | PETER THOMSON
The radical, forgotten experiment in educational integration that changed my life
In 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.
Public health
IDEAS | JENNIFER BLOCK
Youth gender medicine has become a hall of mirrors
IDEAS | ANNE ZINK
Syphilis, the ‘Great Pretender,’ is back
IDEAS | AMIRA SKEGGS
Rethinking our lonely heroes
democracy under siege
IDEAS | STEPHEN KINZER
The beauty queen who terrifies a dictator
IDEAS | Boštjan Videmšek
‘If we stop fighting, we, Ukrainians, will be gone’
IDEAS | ALISSA VALLES
‘1984’ was meant as a critique of the USSR, but it really fits Putin’s Russia
politics
IDEAS | STEPHEN KINZER
Argentina may be undertaking the world’s most radical experiment in populism
IDEAS | OMER AZIZ
Biden’s real reelection problem isn’t his age. It’s his waning popularity.
IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERG
The unexpected opportunity in the House’s nasty speaker’s fight
civil rights
IDEAS | MARY ZIEGLER
Another brick in the wall blocking abortion access
IDEAS | MARY ZIEGLER
Women’s stories may change the abortion narrative
IDEAS | MARY ZIEGLER
The latest antiabortion tactic: Silencing doctors
inequality
IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERG
The deficit has doubled — to $2 trillion. This economist says worrying about it is silly.
IDEAS | Leslie McCall & Jennifer Sherman
It’s time for an expansive new labor movement
IDEAS | ABDALLAH FAYYAD
Probation is supposed to be an alternative to prison. It might be a trapdoor instead.
climate crisis
IDEAS | VANESSA NAKATE
Why I became a climate activist in my native Uganda
IDEAS | VERONIQUE GREENWOOD
Apples of the future take root in the nation’s strategic fruit repository
IDEAS | JOHN GOVE
Extreme weather forces New England farmers to be more collaborative than ever
education
IDEAS | CARINE HAJJAR
Rejecting students who support terrorism isn’t cancel culture
IDEAS | MAGGIE JACKSON
For struggling families, classes in resilience can be lifelines
IDEAS | HOWARD AXELROD
On college campuses, a new form of pressure: to take a stand
development
IDEAS | KARA MILLER
All those empty office buildings could spell trouble for you and me
IDEAS | JOAN VENNOCHI
Lynn is trying to reinvent itself. Will inertia at the MBTA derail its plan?
IDEAS | MILES HOWARD
Evictions are rising again. It’s time to get creative.
history
IDEAS | OMER AZIZ
Thomas Paine is overdue for recognition as America’s greatest Founding Father
IDEAS | DART ADAMS
On the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, a look back at Boston’s forgotten rap history
IDEAS | CRAIG FEHRMAN
We’re drowning in historical fiction
housing
IDEAS | MILES HOWARD
Making too little to get affordable housing — and other problems with trying to stay in Boston
IDEAS | CLAIRE DUNNING
The unintended consequences of Boston’s nonprofit-led urban development
IDEAS | STARRE JULIA VARTAN
Consider the small landlord
technology
IDEAS | LEIF WEATHERBY
ChatGPT broke the Turing test
IDEAS | JOY BUOLAMWINI
How I accidentally became a fierce critic of AI
IDEAS | MITCHEL RESNICK
Transforming screen time: Kids can use smartphones to enhance their creativity
essays
IDEAS | JOSHUA PEDERSON
Don’t draft horrible people for your fantasy sports team
IDEAS | LARISSA KOSMOS
In praise of the staple
IDEAS | NICHOLAS DAWIDOFF
Remembering my pal of pals, Edward Koren, whose second art was friendship
more special projects
IDEAS | JOAN VENNOCHI
How the MBTA went off the rails
Nearly 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 SCHARFENBERG
Boston was once a wildly ambitious city. It’s time to go big again.
The pandemic is still shattering expectations of what workdays look like. In this special issue of Ideas, we explore which of these changes will stick — and how they’ll affect the quality of our lives.
Editing the Constitution
The pandemic is still shattering expectations of what workdays look like. 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 Future of Work
The pandemic is still shattering expectations of what workdays look like. 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 Future of Food
What we eat, where it comes from, and how we get it are being reimagined like never before.
Massachusetts Works
We 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.