Maine is more than spruce trees, wood stoves and flannel shirts. Here are four things you should know, writes Naomi Schalit. spr.ly/63320B8k036

Nearly 2 million brain cells die every minute a major stroke goes untreated. spr.ly/63327B8pbib

Simply casting the Collins-Platner race as a matter of urgent national priority ignores the complex reality of life in Maine, writes Naomi Schalit. spr.ly/63324B8k0Xi

What it’s like to have kids graduating from high school, while still playing music with the friends you made in college? Cog editors Cloe Axelson and Sara Shukla talked to Adam Gardner, of Guster, about long friendships, creativity and collaboration. spr.ly/63328B8k0go

Most people only care about the U.S. Senate election in Maine because of what it means from a national perspective. That ignores the complex reality of life in Maine, writes Naomi Schalit, who worked as a journalist in the state for nearly 25 years. spr.ly/63324B8k0Gm

"Put heaps of poison in the confines of a box, aimed at a particular target, and they will travel," writes Colby Galliher. spr.ly/63320B8pbPy

When it comes to stroke treatment, we need to align incentives with urgency, writes Sandeep Kumar, a vascular neurologist. "That means reimbursing not just for transport, but for readiness and rapid response." spr.ly/63323B8pbZh

Plenty of people will tell you the U.S. has a “collective action” problem. We’re too busy being undone to make progress together, and it’s hard to argue with them, writes Cloe Axelson. But the optimist in me keeps looking for signs of hope. spr.ly/63322B8pwSj

"The loss of Stephen Colbert may not be fully felt on the night he leaves television," writes Bill Lichtenstein. "It will come later." spr.ly/63329B8pwi3

"The pocket forest offers a different possibility ... Over time, a small patch of land will begin to function more like a healthy ecosystem again." spr.ly/63327B8pwPd

"Joy has always been how people under pressure remind themselves — and each other — that they are still alive," writes Emily Isaacson. "Building an infrastructure of joy is another form of that resistance — not a substitute for action, but a sustainer of it." spr.ly/63323BBIvNl

Myrieme Nadri-Churchill is a psychotherapist and the executive director of Parents for Peace. She believes we should tread the radicalization of youth as a public health issue: “We cannot fix what we don’t understand,” she explains. “We have to study extremism." spr.ly/63320BB23vi

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s skepticism about the COVID-19 vaccine led to “a coordinated wind-down” of mRNA research and collaborations. spr.ly/63329BBayC1

I have no statistics about the number of women who experience "breastfeeding grief," writes Miriam Wasser. But I've come to believe that what happened to me, is, if not necessarily common, then at least quite prevalent. spr.ly/63328BBaysQ

"If we become callous to this violence, or worse if we think we have bought our way into places immune from it, we overlook the crucial ways in which we are all interconnected," writes Anri Wheeler. spr.ly/63322BBIvpu

"Susan is still here, more than half a century later — the matriarch, the last mother standing, but also my trusted friend," writes Ethan Gilsdorf of his stepmother. spr.ly/63327BBayVB

Healthy communities are not built through obligation alone, writes Emily Isaacson. They are sustained through shared joy — and shared joy has a skill set. spr.ly/63320BBIvtk

What hit me hard as I went to bed Monday night is how few people I heard from that day, writes Anri Wheeler, a Cambridge resident. Perhaps the news of what happened on Memorial Drive didn’t make it into my friends’ algorithms? spr.ly/63326BBIv16

“Please, please, please, I'd beg, as if I could will — or guilt — her into nursing,” writes Miriam Wasser. “But I couldn't. She wouldn't. And I completely fell apart.” spr.ly/63322BBay1m

"We have stopped practicing one of the most fundamental human skills: talking to people we disagree with," writes Seth Izen. "The cost is real." spr.ly/63329BBxpRN

"I’m fascinated by the internal symphony of the body and all of our rhythms which, like musicians following a conductor, tell various systems of our bodies what they need to do and when," writes Tove Danovich. spr.ly/63324BBaJwk

"Somewhere between her kitchen and mine, a generation of knowledge became silently displaced," writes Namrata Patel. spr.ly/63328BBaHf2

Ethan Gilsdorf's relationship with his stepmother was rocky at first, but it isn't anymore. "As other maternal and paternal figures disappeared, Susan endured," he writes. spr.ly/63328BBaHoj

"In 2020 — after three years of immunosuppression — when I learned of mRNA vaccine research for MS, I was relieved," writes Lindsay Karp. Then came the cuts to the federal government's budget for medical research. spr.ly/63320BBaJ34

"Motherhood and activism are not mutually exclusive," writes Victoria Livingstone. "Rather, they are categories of identity that inform each other." spr.ly/63324BBaHZ2

"Stepmothering is not an easy job in my family," writes Ethan Gilsdorf of his stepmother, Susan. "[She] is still here, more than half a century later — the matriarch, the last mother standing, but also my trusted friend." spr.ly/63329BBg7O5

And if you want to read a passage of it before you commit to the full thing, I'm honored to say my friends at @cogwbur.bsky.social published an excerpt of the essay today! www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...

I have a new piece up today in @cogwbur.bsky.social on the intersections between motherhood + activism. This piece is close to my heart. I reflect on my own family's history + the process of writing this led to some great conversations with my family in Johannesburg. www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...

“Please, please, please, I'd beg, as if I could will — or guilt — her into nursing,” writes Miriam Wasser. “But I couldn't. She wouldn't. And I completely fell apart.” spr.ly/63321BBgAIc

"Although it has taken decades for me to realize this — my 30s, 40s and most of my 50s — Susan never went anywhere," writes Ethan Gilsdorf. "As other maternal and paternal figures disappeared, Susan endured." spr.ly/63325BBg7BF

I have no statistics to cite about the number of women who experience what is sometimes called "breastfeeding grief," writes Miriam Wasser. But I've come to believe that what happened to me, is, if not necessarily common, then at least quite prevalent. spr.ly/63325BBgASX

Bits of joy, and odes to connection -- those are things people want right now, writes Cog editor Cloe Axelson. spr.ly/63320BBwS2E

To paraphrase Audre Lorde, we need poetry because there are no new ideas — only new ways of making them felt. "And, boy, do poems make us feel things," writes Kate Neale Cooper. spr.ly/63327BBRiwt

"There is a particular grief to being a bilingual writer, having access to words and worlds that cannot be easily shared," writes Juliet Faithfull. "But it is also a gift." spr.ly/63329BBRiMt

"[The HLO] serves as a public resource intended to be a safe place to learn and exchange ideas, but it also confronts stigma, discrimination and prejudice," writes Judy Bolton-Fasman. spr.ly/63321BBRi1B

Bob Hall was a fierce advocate for people with disabilities. His organizing and advocacy gave thousands of athletes, across generations, access to sport, and with that, access to something much greater: visibility, acceptance and respect. spr.ly/63327BBDw6V

"These everyday objects are evidence of our shared humanity," writes Kate Peltz.

At first glance, a person in a tri-corner hat and 30,000 people in running shoes don’t seem to have much in common. But as we mark 250 years of America, I’ve been thinking about what connects them, writes Mayor Michelle Wu. spr.ly/63327BBDwkD

Police responding to an accident or traffic stop don’t have the luxury of spending a few minutes to understand a person’s unusual presentation, writes Ilyse Levine-Kanji. spr.ly/63328BBDw9G

"To love our country at this moment is not to excuse its failures, but to insist on its full potential," writes Nikki Stewart. "What are we willing to take risks for? What, and who, are we willing to protect?" spr.ly/63327BBDwRl

"Wartime communication is not a branding exercise. It is not a press conference or a social media post," writes Stuart N. Brotman, the former president and CEO of The Museum of Television & Radio. spr.ly/63321BBDwGS

"According to recent estimates, there are 15,000 to 23,000 cases of pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrests annually. Sudden cardiac arrest is also the leading cause of death on school campuses." spr.ly/63323B6fCOl

"The Trump administration is aggressively seeking to restrict access to the ballot box and undermine public confidence in elections, posing a serious threat to our democracy," writes Traci Griffith of the ACLU of Massachusetts. spr.ly/63324B6fCDe

At first glance, a person in a tri-corner hat and 30,000 people in running shoes don’t seem to have much in common. But as we mark 250 years of America, I’ve been thinking about what connects them, writes Mayor Michelle Wu. spr.ly/63325B6hiy3

"I grew up in Massachusetts and watched the Boston Marathon every year near the top of Heartbreak Hill. Back then, I thought the story was about toughness. Now I think it is about being seen, the simple miracle of people showing up for one another." spr.ly/63323B6f72z

“Sometimes I had to be my brother’s arms, legs, eyes and voice,” writes Brian Trapp. “It often didn’t feel like a burden, more like an alternative way of moving through the world.” spr.ly/63326B6fCZj

"I now see nuclear as an enabling technology for renewables," writes Frederick Hewett. "Solar and wind are the lead singers; nuclear is the rhythm section." spr.ly/63327B6NlwN

“If the device is locked in the nurse’s office or in a different building across campus instead of on the field, you lose valuable time that could be the difference between life and death," writes Courtney Desy. spr.ly/63326B6fCJe

I remember the first time I watched the Boston Marathon, writes Mayor Michelle Wu. I'd moved to Boston for college and I'd never seen anything like it: an entire region turning out to cheer for people they had never met. spr.ly/63326B6AZMY

Almost exactly 140 years ago, in an April 1886 decision, the Supreme Court called voting the "fundamental political right, because [it is] preservative of all rights." That right is now in danger, writes Traci Griffith of the ACLU. spr.ly/63327B6f7hB