5+ hour, 18+ min ago (538+ words) Boston is a youthful, musical city made up of about 250,000 students from more than 50 colleges and universities and a vibrant scene of both small, local performers and larger acts who stop here on tour." It is also a queer city " 23.4% of 18 to 24-year-olds in Massachusetts identify as LGBTQ+, according to a 2025 report from The Fenway Institute and the Equality Fund at the Boston Foundation. These qualities make me wonder why Boston Calling is the only music festival the city has to offer. This year, the headliners of Boston Calling included Luke Combs, Avril Lavigne, Vampire Weekend and Dave Matthews Band. While these are big names, they're arguably not the most relevant among young or queer people. What Boston needs is its own version of All Things Go Music Festival, which would appeal to both the city's youth and queer populations....

9+ hour, 34+ min ago (770+ words) Elizabeth Metts is a 9th grade history teacher, team leader and teaching fellow mentor at Excel Academy Charter High School in East Boston. She is a 2025-26 Teach Plus Massachusetts Policy Fellow. What's another word that ends with "-cracy? Think about the type of government we have in America." I prompted Vanessa with this question during a review session before our 9th grade world history exam on ancient bureaucracies. She smiled in that way students do when they're so close " her glasses caught the light, the gears turned, the silence stretched " but the word never surfaced. Vanessa was one of the first students in our state to take the new Civics Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test as an 8th grader last spring " and one of only 39% of students statewide who passed it." Yet, in my high school course, she couldn't recall that the United…...

1+ day, 2+ hour ago (704+ words) Dating apps and I are mortal enemies. I've never liked them. When I first started trying them out, there were absolutely no gender options outside of "male" and "female." I'd blink a few times before hitting "female" and feel like I was lying to myself and everyone else. To make up for it, I'd aggressively add my pronouns to my bio and hope that was enough. Sometimes, it was. I got into the habit of asking everyone I talked to if they were okay with me being nonbinary. Some people were. Others would immediately un-match with me. Some would match with me just to tell me how disgusting my identity was. Listen, I'm already a picky person when it comes to who I'm willing to talk to on dating apps. At the very least, you need a solid bio and…...

1+ day, 2+ hour ago (445+ words) Describing something as "incredibly chic" has become social media's favorite way of describing the new cultural shift. Quiet luxury has appealed to the masses " again. As we know from our general existence, what goes around comes around." "Old money" in the American context refers to the wealth established in the Colonial era, predating the Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age. That is when the term "old money" gained prominence, as families tried to distinguish themselves from the wealthy industries, which implied the existence of "new money." During the Gilded Age, new money described the financiers like the Vanderbilts or Rockefellers, who made their fortune rather than inherited it." Today, the general rule of thumb among social scientists is that money must be sustained for at least three generations to be considered old money. In the modern-day perspective, the new money…...

2+ day, 9+ hour ago (1172+ words) Recently, Justin Baldoni dropped his counterclaim against Blake Lively because his stance that she was defaming him for accusing him of workplace sexual harassment was deemed not viable. While it's a win for Lively and sets her up well for their March 2026 trial, does it really matter? What is happening here is more than just vapid celebrity drama. It's an example of the prevalence of manufactured online hate campaigns against women that everyone indirectly or directly participates in. As a society, we go through cycles of choosing a woman whom we believe deserves to be punished. Maybe she reminds you of the girl who bullied you when you were young or the first girl who rejected you romantically. Perhaps we don't like the way she smiles, or she just seems like a liar. Maybe she represents everything you are morally…...

5+ day, 15+ hour ago (662+ words) Thanksgiving is a strange holiday when you think about it. We gather with the people who raised us, taught us and shaped us " only to spend the day playing it safe. My Thanksgiving has come to be defined by the same routine: coming together, eating food and watching football. It's familiar and simple " most of the conversations that take place are surface-level. What we are supposed to and not supposed to talk about is almost an unwritten rule. Recently, I've brought up politics at family dinners. Not only are these conversations a way to connect with my like-minded grandma, but it also presented an opportunity to express the frustration I've experienced with our current administration. As a result, I've been branded as "too political." Now, I'm not ashamed of this label. Actually, I think it's a funny concept to be…...

1+ week, 23+ hour ago (788+ words) Invisible to the naked human eye, cellular behavior tells a complex yet enduring story about the origins of all life on Earth. On Nov. 20, visitors to the Museum of Science could see and hear that story through an unconventional medium " dance." Presented by the Multiverse Concert Series, "Cellular Dance: The Fold" is a collaborative performance weaving together biology, dance and electro-symphonic music. After being forced into a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, the event finally returned to the stage. Based on University of Massachusetts Boston professor Alexey Veraksa's research on cell signaling in embryos, the ballet depicted the inner workings of the cell, how cells navigate their surroundings and how tissues work together in a developing embryo. Founded and led by director David Ibbett, a composer and music professor at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the Multiverse Concert Series is a…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (667+ words) Stuffed turkey. Gravy and cranberry sauce. Mashed potatoes. Pumpkin pie. Giving thanks. Watching football. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade." This is what Thanksgiving means to millions of Americans. It's gathering together in one house with the family, dinner in the oven and the TV playing in the background. It's warmth. It's gratitude." But for millions of others, it's a day of mourning. A day of remembrance. A day of fasting. While others are gathering to eat their fill, thousands of Indigenous people abstain from food. In honor of their ancestors. Why celebrate a day that commemorates the genocide of millions of Native Americans? Whether you acknowledge it or not, it's a colonial holiday with colonial origins. It's not Thanksgiving. It's the National Day of Mourning. The United American Indians of New England began to call the holiday for what it…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (644+ words) The bride looked stunning. Her hair was adorned with flowers, her hands painted with henna and her head covered in a veil. The wedding was short and quick " a simple religious ceremony with a reception afterward in her family home. In the Indian subcontinent, the institution of marriage is a significant matter for women. It is something that permeates our entire lives " so much so that it seems we are nothing without it. South Asia is an extremely patriarchal society, and marriage is a way to uphold that patriarchy by molding women into perfect brides for marriage. For example, in my native tongue, Bangla, a man "marries" while a woman is to be "married off." I wanted to know who my mother was before she became a wife and mother. When I asked her what her dreams were, she struggled…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (718+ words) Boston University students called on the administration to adopt sanctuary campus policies and protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a walkout and rally Friday that concluded at BU President Melissa Gilliam's home." The protest, organized by the Back Bay Young Democratic Socialists of America, began at Marsh Plaza, continued through St. Mary's Street and Ivy Street and ended at Gilliam's residence." Protesters carried signs that read "Sanctuary campus now" and "ICE off campus." They also chanted "No ICE, no KKK, no fascist U.S.A." "The Trump administration, Zac Segal, and BU administration are all traitors to the working class of Boston because they have, in one way or another, been complicit in ethnic cleansing," the BBYDSA wrote in its Instagram post announcing the rally. "If BU administration wants to right its wrong, it must accept our Sanctuary Campus demands now! BBYDSA Co-chair…...