Magazine - The Boston Globe

2023 Feature Archive

September 24, 2023 | Your Home: Make It Modern

Interior designer Rachel Dunham chose comfy leather seats by Ethnicraft for the sunroom because they are easy to move for different situations. Northe Woodworking made the walnut desk, which has a track for the folding partition embedded into the top. “The accordion window can be pulled across the desk to cut down on sound without blocking light,” says Dan Hisel of Hisel Flynn Architects.

Your Home: Make It Modern

Their home taste was traditional. Then they moved to Lexington’s Peacock Farm.

The statement staircase, which doubles as a lightwell, provided opportunity for a tiered garden wall. The couple were adamant about using cold-rolled steel for the structure; they love its industrial look with spots of rust. Glass-panel guardrails for the stairs to the basement, where there’s a playroom and guest room, keep the room airy.

Your Home: Make It Modern

In an East Cambridge home, a modern suspended stairway lets in all the light

Architect Bill Boehm dressed up the garage facade with new siding that extends beyond the roofline for a more modern silhouette. The left portion of the second-story addition is set back from the primary bedroom portion on the right so the design doesn’t look too blocky.

Your Home: Make It Modern

Hints of midcentury modern design bring a Belmont ranch back to the future

Your Home: Make It Modern

How a cramped Brookline condo became modern and airy, in nine steps

The number of Americans living to 100 is exploding. But there’s a glaring problem.

The writer and his dad after the writer made a hole-in-one in 2012.

I used to dread being dragged to the golf course by my dad. Then he got sick.

September 17, 2023 | My Boston History

Mónica Solares, owner of Rincón Guatemalteco in Waltham.

My Boston History | Mi Historia En Boston

Ahead of Central American Independence Day in Boston, I went searching for a taste of home

In 2016, El Oriental owner Nobel Garcia poured cider at the news of Fidel Castro’s death.

My Boston History | Mi Historia En Boston

What does it mean to lose special places where Latinos gather in Boston?

Jorge Arroyo behind the scenes at the Booth Theatre at Boston University.

My Boston History | Mi Historia En Boston

A lighting designer shines a spotlight on the lack of diversity backstage

Dancing at Havana Club

My Boston History | Mi Historia En Boston

My night at Havana Club, the heart of salsa and bachata dancing in Cambridge

Amplify LatinX: Honoring 100 change-making leaders across Massachusetts

From left: Constanza Cabello, Elias Torres, Amanda M. Fernández, Jay Calderín, Silvia López Chavez, and Dr. Daniela RamÍrez Schrempp

Meet six Massachusetts leaders from Amplify LatinX’s ALX100

A Mexican worker loads a conveyor belt with hay at a Vermont dairy farm.

When will we make sure the people who work our farms and cook our food are well fed?

My life was in danger trying to help children in Guatemala. I had to choose exile.

September 10, 2023 | Fall Travel

10 train trips to experience New England’s fall foliage in style

Fall foliage in 2021 in Wallingford, Vermont.

A meteorologist’s guide to New England’s best leaf peeping this fall

From left: Anthony Bourdain, chef Pepe Blázquez, and the writer at dinner at Casa Salvador in 2010.

A 70-year-old Madrid restaurant was near its end. Then Anthony Bourdain arrived.

Patients still discriminate against health care workers of color. Why don’t more hospitals ban it?

Troops leaving Camp Myles Standish in Taunton for the Boston Port of Embarkation.

Why my dad never forgot Rosh Hashana at Camp Myles Standish in 1944

August 27, 2023

Pot prices have tanked. Dispensaries are closing. Is a great crash coming?

Ysabel Garcia at her happy place, The Artist Cafe in Springfield.

Ysabel Garcia knows the danger of a mental health crisis. She has a lifesaving message.

In a world of blabber, shutting up and listening is a superpower

‘You don’t need to be everywhere’ is some of the best advice I ever got

Ysabel Garcia en su lugar feliz, The Artist Cafe, en Springfield.

Ysabel Garcia conoce los peligros de una crisis de salud mental. Ella tiene un mensaje que salva vidas.

August 20, 2023

The New England Revolution’s B-team, known as Revolution II, during a game.

He’s the youngest soccer player ever signed by the Revolution: ‘If people came to a game ... they wouldn’t believe his age’

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 2023.

The affirmative action ruling is a disaster for college students. This is the path forward.

My parents bought our family burial plots years ago. But my plans might change.

Why I always look down when I walk on the beach

August 13, 2023

A man who goes by the alias Zero struts down the runway during a clothing-optional gun show at Body Freedom Village, on the fourth day of the Porcupine Freedom Festival, an annual event held by the Free State Project.

These libertarians want to take over New Hampshire. But first, a clothing-optional gun show.

New Hampshire writer Grace Metalious created a stir in 1956 with the publication of "Peyton Place."

‘Wicked, shocking, dirty’: ‘Peyton Place’ and the inevitable failure of book bans

AI is muddying the truth. We’ve known how to fix it for centuries.

When I worked nights, my grandpa and I bonded with calls while everyone else was at work

July 30, 2023

He was caught trying to defraud a COVID relief fund. Then he vanished.

We need to talk about the ACL injuries hanging over the Women’s World Cup, for the sake of female athletes everywhere

The writer leads a rally for student debt cancellation held near the White House on June 20.

Why I know the NAACP’s next generation is going to accomplish great things

The writer, right, and her twin sister, Jan, in 1959.

Since my sister’s death, I wonder if I should introduce myself as a ‘twinless twin’

July 23, 2023 | Your Home

A Rakks shelving system is an economical solution for storing the homeowner’s book collection in the living room, where simple lights don’t interfere with the leafy view.

Your Home | Small Spaces

How a Roxbury home uses Japanese design principles to feel larger than it is

A bunk inspired by sailboats creates two distinct spaces for the teenagers who share the bedroom.

Your Home | Small Spaces

To split a bedroom for two teens, they borrowed from sailboat design

Architect Diane Lim enlarged the window in the living room, positioning it high enough so as not to interfere with the seating arrangement. She also opened the staircase with an airy rail and exposed brick beams that visually tie the interior to the exterior.

Your Home | Small Spaces

Swapping the kitchen and dining room locations brings light to a small condo

Six ways to boost your home’s curb appeal without breaking the bank

Hollywood, please bring intermissions back to your bloated blockbusters. Do it for our kidneys!

While searching for my lost cat, I found friends in my new neighborhood

July 16, 2023

The Cars in 1979, from left: Benjamin Orr, Greg Hawkes, Ric Ocasek, Elliot Easton, and David Robinson

How a WBCN deejay and a Harvard dining hall concert helped The Cars get their big break

I spoke about climate change as a TV meteorologist. Then came the death threat.

It seems unnatural to think of cities as part of nature. But environmental resilience depends on it.

Remember when Walmart was the Evil Empire? Now our whole retail economy is.

Marcos the fisherman on one of his daily visits.

Twenty years ago, I had an epiphany and made a big life change

July 9, 2023

Frank Smith was locked up for eight decades, likely longer than anyone alive.

Frank Smith was locked up for eight decades. At 98, what would it mean to be free?

As a former cop, I know better policing isn’t easy. But it can happen in Boston.

I attended the Market Basket academy of summer jobs. It’s still paying off.

HP Component Magazine tie

Two hours before my husband died, we were laughing over spilt milk

June 25, 2023 | Your Summer Beach Bag

Salisbury Beach Center, the section operated by the town, offers a range of food options for discerning taste buds.

Your Summer Beach Bag

The 12-plus best New England beaches for kids, foodies, accessibility, and more

Mango Yogurt Ice Parfait at Caffe Bene on Mass. Ave.

Your Summer Beach Bag

10 ice cream treats to cool you off as summer heats up around Boston

Martin's Park opened in 2019 near Boston Children's Museum.

Seven of the best playgrounds around Boston, kid tested and expert approved

Ingredients for a gourmet beach picnic.

Your Summer Beach Bag

Nine gourmet treats to build the perfect beach picnic

Greg Grady works on a design for a sand sculpting competition.

Your Summer Beach Bag

Six tips for building great beach sandcastles, from a pro sand sculptor

A book sitting in the sand with blue skies and water behind it. The pages are blowing in the wind.

Your Summer Beach Bag

10 great books to read on a New England beach this summer

Your Summer Beach Bag

My essential Boston summer playlist from the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s

Three ways to improve high school education from a Mass. Teacher of the Year

The writer's dance shoes.

How do you rebuild your self-image after three years of rejection by your ex?

June 18, 2023

Catherine T. Morris is is the founder and artistic director of Boston Arts & Music Soul Festival, better known as BAMS Fest.

‘It’s a seed I’m planting’: How Catherine Morris willed BAMS Fest into life

Kei was named Boston Music Awards’ “New Artist of the Year” last year. This month, the Dorchester native will perform at BAMS Fest on Saturday, June 24.

Five must-see events and things to do at BAMS Fest 2023

The author fly fishes on Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough in April 2022.

My father and brother are gone. I hoped fishing could help me grieve.

Zoning in the Boston suburbs is stacked against families with children

My father retired as an investigator. Then he began investigating our family tree.

June 11, 2023 | Your Home: Summer Living

The owners recently screened in the covered porch at the back of the home.

Your Home | Summer Living

After renting a designer’s Vermont vacation home, they decided to buy their own

Dark green Blu Dot chairs add color to the screened porch.

Your Home | Summer Living

A widower builds a net-zero home in Maine to gather with his grown children

Designer Jess Cooney jumps off the dock behind her house, newly stained dark green to blend with the trees, on Lake Garfield in the Berkshires.

Your Home | Summer Living

Floor-to-ceiling windows with a lake view persuade a designer to rehab a Berkshires home

A home health aide steadies her client as he exercises at home.

Finding a home health aide to care for sick loved ones shouldn’t be this hard. (Not here.)

The lying liars who ghost women and how I unknowingly fell for one

June 4, 2023

I went searching for a relative who escaped the Holocaust. I found a secret some want to forget.

Thomas, the moray eel.

What it’s like to dive in the New England Aquarium’s giant tank (watch out for Thomas the eel)

We need to better regulate our banks. Even the father of capitalism thought so.

On Cape Cod, I’ll always try to stay in my summer landlord’s good graces

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May 21, 2023

Stacey Hamel, shown in late February, succeeded in getting new barriers installed on the French King Bridge

This bridge needed lifesaving barriers. It took a grieving mother to get them.

The author with his older sister and grandfather, who are wearing hanbok, traditional Korean clothing, on New Year’s Day in 1984.

I struggled with my Korean-American name. Now I realize it was a gift.

I spent $900 on Taylor Swift tickets and won’t even get inside Gillette

The writer in the copilot seat of a Boeing B-29 bomber, at an air show.

My dad flew B-29s in WWII. An air show let me reconnect with his memory.

May 14, 2023 | Tech Power Players

Tech Power Players 2023

Tech Power Players 2023

The Boston Globe’s 2023 Tech Power Players

What distinguishes Boston’s tech sector is perseverance, determination, and confidence to take the long view — qualities exhibited by the diverse entrepreneurs, financiers, and intellectuals on The Boston Globe’s Tech Power Players 50 list.

Tech Power Players 2023

The Boston tech sector’s defining characteristic in 2023? Resilience.

Siyu Huang, founder and CEO of Factorial Energy.

Tech Power Players 2023

Climate change is a major problem. These Boston leaders have solutions.

From left to right: Steve Fredette, Aman Narang, and Jonathan Grimm.

Tech Power Players 2023

The Toast of tech: These entrepreneurs are revolutionizing restaurants

Yvonne Hao, secretary of economic development in Governor Maura Healey's administration.

Tech Power Players 2023

‘This is the moment’: Yvonne Hao stepped up just in time for Mass. tech

Everyone has pandemic amnesia. But we’re not ready for the next big one.

The writer, center, is surrounded by some of the moms in his life after graduating from Hamilton College in 2016.

Honoring my moms — all 10 of them — on Mother’s Day

May 7, 2023

Smugglers dumped millions in drugs off Maine’s coast. Struggling fishermen saw a jackpot.

A groundhog invaded my vegetable garden. It was the start of an all-out war.

There are 300,000 edible plant species on earth. Why do we eat so few of them?

Smoking is horrible. Yet it sure made it easy to meet new friends.

April 23, 2023 | Top Spots to Live

A colorful illustration of some popular foods of summer. From left to right: a lobster, a soft serve ice cream cone, a cup of Del's frozen lemonade, a hotdog and a cheeseburger.

24 perfect foods worth a New England road trip this summer

The Russian Orthodox Church on Unalaska Island, part of the Aleutians.

A journalist, her father, and a quest for family history in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands

‘Love you brother, but despise your politics’: How families can teach us to get along

When I was married to a man, no one ever asked if he was my brother

April 23, 2023 | Top Spots to Live

Top Spots to Live in Greater Boston 2023

Tyngsborough Bridge over the Merrimack River

Top Spots to Live 2023: North of Boston

Mission Hill is the top city spot in the $700,000 to $900,000 price range.

Top Spots to Live 2023: Boston and Cambridge

Brockton is the top spot south of the city in the under $600,000 price range.

Top Spots to Live 2023: South of Boston

Nashua River Rail Trail through Ayer.

Top Spots to Live 2023: West of Boston

Will real estate prices on Cape Cod and the Islands ever come back to earth?

New Hampshire real estate: How people from Mass. drive up prices

A billboard from Stop Handgun Violence, a Massachusetts based organization, in 2018.

The brutal calculus of life expectancy and where you can afford to live

My ‘grandpa’ came to say goodbye for a second time

April 16, 2023 | The Marathon Issue

Clockwise from left: The Hoyts during one of their races; Spencer the dog; ultramarathoner Verna Volker; and Micah Herndon.

26.2 tales of personal triumph from the Boston Marathon

US President Barack Obama speaks during the "Healing Our City: An Interfaith Service" dedicated to those who were gravely wounded or killed in the Boston Marathon bombing, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 18, 2013. Obama is in Boston to mourn victims of the deadly marathon attacks, as investigators study images of a suspect who may have planted the bombs. No arrests have been made in connection with Monday's twin bombings near the finish line of the race, which sent metal fragments and nails into a crowd of thousands of runners and spectators, killing three people and wounding 180. AFP PHOTO/Jewel SamadJEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

How President Obama wrote his ‘love letter to Boston’ after the Marathon bombing

Britain’s Geoff Smith limps through the tape to win the 1985 Marathon.

The forgotten story of how the Boston Marathon almost collapsed

5 habits to build a sustainable future — without breaking the bank

Why springtime asparagus reminds me of a childhood friendship

April 2, 2023 | Your Home: Renovations

CHRISTOPHER MUTHER

My new house saved my life. I decided to return the favor.

Mixed media artwork enlivens the traditional architecture in the living room. An Anthony Fahden piece hangs above the fireplace and another by Laurent Laporta is over the slatted console by Would.

Your Home | Renovations

After a divorce, a mother of three goes all in on her own home style

The team devoted a lot of time to determining exactly which portion of the construction-grade plywood sheets would be visible, particularly in this office nook. “The task was to elevate simple, budget-conscious materials,” says architect Penn Ruderman.

Your Home | Renovations

Nearly 500 square feet of found space: Renovating an attic into an art studio

Two giant windows transformed dead space into a light-filled reading nook between the sitting areas in the front and the back of the house on the second floor.

Your Home | Renovations

Turning a cookie-cutter town house into a cheerful forever home

I want to yell at a kids’ basketball coach but I can’t. So what can I do?

An illustration showing two women in separate panels. One panel shows a woman standing near a hospital bed in a hospital setting. The second shows a woman standing by herself with her head bowed as if sad.

When I lived too far to help my dying dad, a stranger stepped in to help

March 26, 2023 | The College Issue

What do Boston’s college students worry about today? And what gives them hope?

On September 2, 2022, funeral workers carried a coffin with the body of an unidentified civilian, killed by Russian soldiers in the Bucha massacre.

When the war in Ukraine comes to classrooms in New England

Can we lose COVID — but keep the new outlook it gave us?

He fed me peaches. But love like that doesn’t always last.

March 19, 2023 | Spring Travel

London's Elizabeth Tower, also known as Big Ben.

How to get the most out of a visit to London, before the coronation crowds take over

Practicing a yoga pose by the Stockbridge Bowl, which is also called Lake Mahkeenac.

Learning to relax at the Kripalu retreat in the Berkshires

The town of Myrina, capital of Lemnos island.

Looking for a gorgeous Greek island you can actually afford to visit?

There’s an easy way to retrain the nasty internal voice telling you you’re not good enough

To stay safe on bike trips, we rely on planning and our guardian angels

March 12, 2023 | Spring Arts Preview

Clockwise from top left: A photograph from the Todd Webb in Africa exhibition; Jamez McCorkle in "Omar"; Simone Leigh’s Cupboard IX; a scene from Justin Peck's ballet "Everywhere We Go"; and The Great Mystery by Kent Monkman.

30 of the best dance, theater, book, art, and classical music events in New England this spring

James Tellin and John O’Reilly in a 2017 photograph by Seth David Rubin.

In the ’60s, a gay couple made their Worcester home into a refuge of art and community

An illustration of the Oscar statuette lying on a therapist's couch with a male therapist, with glasses, a balding head, and a black moustache, sitting on a chair behind the statuette's right shoulder taking notes. The illustration is on a white background and the color palette for the drawing is gold, a dark red, and black.

After a bruising 2022 Academy Awards, Oscar could use some professional advice

Front view Oscar award statue isolated on white background. 3D illustration. The base of the statue has been altered to say "Consolation Prize."

Why I reserve special, ornery ire for the ‘we owe you’ Oscar nomination

The writer and two of her Gotland sheep in Western Massachusetts.

Would my new sheep have any wool? Yes sir, three bags full!

March 5, 2023

An alleged drug trafficker, a detective trying to take him down, and the woman caught in the middle

The strange story of the man behind the popularization of ‘resilience thinking’

Pigs on a farm in Illinois.

The thing that could finally get us to eat less meat is — meat

My first meeting with Afghan women when I was deployed with the Air Force gave me hope

February 26, 2023 | Health & Biotech Issue

Health & Biotech

12 conditions from Alzheimer’s to Lyme that Mass. biotechs are developing treatments for now

Dr. Anthony Fauci retired as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the end of 2022.

Why Dr. Anthony Fauci, recently retired, will never retire

Illustration of a female scientist wearing a white lab coat walking toward a double-helix.

Why are we more likely to call men ‘geniuses’?

The writer (left) with his father, Dr. Lionel Zheutlin, and brother, Mike, circa 1958.

When cancer forced my pediatrician dad to close his practice, hundreds of letters followed

February 19, 2023 | Your Home

To help make this bedroom feel like a cozy escape, Heidi Lachapelle lined it in Wandle wallpaper. When Morris designed the pattern in 1884, it would have required 32 blocks to print it.

Designed in the 1800s, William Morris wallpaper is once again on trend — in a big way

A Currey & Co. chandelier hangs in the music room, which opens to a space with reproduction Friedeberg hand chairs.

He likes angles in furniture. She likes curves. Their interior designer gave them both.

A built-in hutch with a countertop hides the microwave and coffee maker.

With a serene Maine lake setting for a cottage, a designer finds inspiration all around

Lee Jofa wallpaper panels by Aerin lend a romantic garden feel to the wife’s office.

A formal center-hall Colonial gets a homey makeover

Marion Westermeyer (pictured in 2006) was a daily swimmer well into his 90s.

When it comes to aging, 90-plus or even 100 might not be ‘extreme’ anymore

The continuing adventures of Wilbur, the dog who loves hot dogs

February 12, 2023

Coretta Scott King kisses Martin Luther King Jr. as he leaves court in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1956.

When Martin met Coretta in Boston, he found his match in more ways than one

Visitors to "The Embrace" on the last weekend of January.

The Twitterverse had its say about ‘The Embrace.’ Here’s what real visitors think.

Martin Luther King III and wife Arndrea Waters King carrying on a legacy of Black love.

A legacy of love, faith, and family: Martin Luther King III and Arndrea Waters King

Black Love is a Beautiful Resistance

The beautiful resistance of Black love

We’ve heard a lot about ‘commitment’ to DEI. Where’s the follow-through?

An illustration of a bride and groom on a watch face. There is a light purple strip that runs underneath the watch face like a watch strap.

As a first-time bride at age 53, I knew my husband and I were starting our ‘forever’ late

February 5, 2023 | The Parenting Issue

In the irresistible competition to be the favorite grandparent, all bets are off

We’re too tired to be helicopter parents. Our kids will be happier for it.

The secret talent of kids who swear

My son once taught me a lesson about fatherhood. Here it is, comic-book style.

Breast-feeding and Black moms — why I’m breaking a generational cycle

Now that it’s ending, I can admit it: I loved carpooling my kids

January 29, 2023

Roomba, SharkNinja, and the $3 billion battle of the robot vacuums

Looking down at Crawford Notch from Mount Willard.

Why do hikers keep dying in the White Mountains of New Hampshire?

Carter G. Woodson.

The visionary thinking behind Black History Month

My dad was in and out of my life, until I had a health scare

January 15, 2023

A photo illustration of a large bear standing over a large pile of trash in a landfill.

The big stink: How a proposed landfill is roiling a tiny New Hampshire town

Denied a state job because she was Black, she took a stand. And became a hero.

What I didn’t know about having a miscarriage

Step-grandparenting can be bittersweet — and beautiful

January 8, 2023

In 1848, an enslaved couple fled to Boston in one of history’s most daring escapes

Dr. Jim O’Connell checks on a homeless person on the grounds of the Old West Church in 2017.

‘If you want to solve homelessness in Boston, you’ve got to take a look at the real estate market’

We can fix the housing crisis. But we have to act now.

Charles Fessenden “Fez” Morse III, the writer’s father-in-law, at age 90, near Swan’s Island in Maine.

My father-in-law recently turned 100. His life has been quietly extraordinary.

January 1, 2023

The 23 best photos of 2022 from Boston Globe photographers

Here’s a New Year’s resolution: Stop giving unsolicited advice. Especially to parents.

In Sterling in 1975, the writer (middle) on horseback with her brother, Jimmy, in back and her sister, Jodi, in front as a family friend holds the reins.

My brother was many things to me: hero, rival, co-conspirator, keeper of our shared history