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EDITORIAL

Russians vote with their feet against Putin’s folly

JEFF JACOBY

Even now, slavery is a worldwide scourge

Human bondage was banned long ago, yet 50 million men, women, and children are enslaved.
Elissa Ely

Another white coat in the family

This is what there is in common between 40 years ago and now: On one end, patients still want to be cared for. On the other end, doctors still want to give care.
NEWSLETTER

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A new weekly Globe Opinion newsletter about the future of transportation in the Boston area and across New England.

MARCELA GARCÍA
In praise of activist lawyers
In response to the Trump anti-immigrant era, Massachusetts developed a strong legal and advocacy muscle.

Renée Loth
Go back to the office — please!
My once-serene neighborhood has become an open-air office: business casual exiles ambling down my street arguing loudly about puts and shorts, or supply chain woes, or what Chris said to Tony on Slack.

CHRISTOPHER WEYANT
Price check, aisle 5
Cartoonist Christopher Weyant's take on the news.

SCOT LEHIGH
At the UN, Biden deftly deals with two of the world’s biggest autocrats
His speech demonstrated a differential approach toward Russia and China.

letters

The ‘R-word’ still stings and, sadly, endures

A new school year, the same concerns about bias in sports settings

‘Give us your huddled masses,’ say Massachusetts residents

Another rate hike, and we shudder

Meet Globe OpinionSubmit a letter to the EditorSubmit an Op-Ed
Finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing
EDITORIAL

Future-proofing the presidency

Donald Trump brought our democracy to the brink and exposed its weak spots. Here’s how to thwart the next American tyrant.
Read more →

Editor's picks

Joan Vennochi
With Ricardo Arroyo and the women who backed him, the #MeToo fever has broken
From Elizabeth Warren to Michelle Wu, powerful women are inclined to first give the benefit of the doubt to a man accused of sexual misconduct — if that man shares their politics.

Kimberly Atkins Stohr
To help close the wealth gap, put more money into Black and brown wealth managers’ hands
Of the roughly $69 trillion in wealth that is professionally managed in the United States, 98.7 percent is managed by firms owned by white men. You read that right: Firms owned by women and people of color control only 1.3 percent of that pie.

IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERG
Boston was once a wildly ambitious city. It’s time to go big again.
Soaring housing costs, a broken T, and other existential problems require sweeping fixes that meet the moment.

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.

Cartoons

public health
EDITORIAL

Patients’ rights in the Live Free or Die state

IDEAS | CATESBY HOLMES

The latest COVID booster is recommended for pregnant women, so why don’t more of them know that?

LETTERS

Biden brings cancer fight to the fore

climate crisis
LETTERS

Buildings are at risk, but groundwater fixes should proceed with care

Julia Blatt

How to get Massachusetts through the next drought

LETTERS

Higher PFAS levels in Cambridge stir renewed calls for safeguards

education
LETTERS

Literacy screenings mandated, but don’t get your hopes up

LETTERS

At last, a downward trend for college rankings

Kaylene Stevens

How to raise a generation of better citizens

securing democracy
LETTERS

Civic engagement: sounds great in theory, but ...

IDEAS | STEPHEN KINZER

How to rewrite a constitution

JEFF JACOBY

Congress sued to block Trump’s illegal spending. Now it should sue to block Biden’s.

technology
IDEAS | EVAN SELINGER

Democrats are losing on a key battleground — the meme wars

LETTERS

Digital inequities extend beyond health care access

IDEAS | EVAN SELINGER

Escape plans of the rich and famous

civil rights
Kimberly Atkins Stohr

John Roberts’s constitutional color-blindness threatens civil rights

Alma Adams

DeSantis and Abbott are using tactics straight out of the Jim Crow playbook

EDITORIAL

Trafficking in human lives should have consequences for its Republican perpetrators

Community Voices
LETTERS

‘Give us your huddled masses,’ say Massachusetts residents

LETTERS

A student nurse at MGH in 1950s, she still recalls how Dr. Austen reassured her

LETTERS

First there was the destination wedding, then came the hitchhiking

Globe Opinion Columnists & Contributors

Newlsetters

Editorials

Russians vote with their feet against Putin’s folly
Calls for staying the course and “just punishment” for atrocities in Ukraine gain traction at the UN.

Kill the Jones Act

Hurricane Fiona highlights an ugly truth about the US maritime industry.

DA Hayden must take juvenile justice reform seriously

On Kevin Hayden’s watch, teens in legal trouble are less likely to be diverted into alternative programs before arraignment. He needs to explain why.

How long will Democrats hunker in their hidey holes?

The Democratic candidates for statewide offices are mostly dodging debates with their Republican rivals. They are doing a disservice to voters.

A safer MBTA requires a new watchdog

An understaffed utilities regulator, lacking independence, is ill-equipped for the job.

Letters

A new school year, the same concerns about bias in sports settings
Public schools use taxpayer dollars to fund a system that is basically the same as it was in 1903, when high school sports essentially began.

The ‘R-word’ still stings and, sadly, endures

So much has changed since then: Life spans have increased, inclusive education is the law, employment barriers have come down, and more options for housing are available. Still, there is more work to be done.

‘Give us your huddled masses,’ say Massachusetts residents

The actions of people on the Vineyard are exemplary of what our American spirit should be.

Another rate hike, and we shudder

Basic Keynesian economics includes other tools to fight inflation. In particular, taxes can be raised to cool demand during boom times and lowered during times of weak demand.

Very funny, but ‘quiet quitting’ may just be workers’ healthy response to ‘job creep’

"Quiet quitting" is not failing to do one’s job but rather a recognition that the employer is not entitled to more time than what is being paid for.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

How do we memorialize the pandemic?

As the United States neared its one millionth COVID-19 related death, artists, architects, and community leaders are calling for a permanent memorial to honor all those touched by COVID. Globe Opinion asked several artists for their vision of what a COVID memorial could look like.
Explore the rest of the project →
Letters

Postcards from the pandemic

Invited to take a walk, in fact, lots of walks; dining room table repurposed — a snapshot of how readers were coping.
An archive of conversations with the experts writing thought-provoking Globe Opinion op-eds and Ideas features.
The Boston Globe Opinion section and MIT's AgeLab present The Longevity Hub, an ongoing series seeking to spark Greater Boston's transformation into the Silicon Valley of aging.
Finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing
EDITORIAL

Future-proofing the presidency

Donald Trump brought our democracy to the brink and exposed its weak spots. Here’s how to thwart the next American tyrant.
Read more →
Finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing

EDITORIAL
A battle for affordable housing in Massachusetts
The Globe editorial board's 2020 series on the need for inclusive housing reform in Newton and across the Commonwealth.

Brave New Planet is a podcast that delves deep into the most exciting and challenging scientific frontiers, helping us understand them and grapple with their implications. Dr. Eric Lander, president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, is host.
Political coverage often focuses on voters who oscillate between political parties in a few key swing states. Here we feature perspectives and opinions from and about demographics of Americans — young voters and Black and brown voters —who swing between voting and not voting.
From voter suppression to gerrymandering to foreign interference, the integrity of US elections is under attack. In a three-part weekly series, Globe Opinion examines how the nation arrived at this moment and what needs to be done to protect voting rights.

Trapped: Why the GOP's death is imminent

The Republican Party is destroying itself. Thomas Patterson of the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center explains the five traps the party has set for itself and warns that the party's future is in peril without reform.

Black voices now

Globe Opinion seeks to amplify the perspectives and the voices of Black community members, scholars, activists, doctors, teachers, business leaders, students, and parents as op-ed and letter writers, and as innovators and provocateurs featured in Globe Ideas. Here we feature Black voices from the community amid the historic protests following the killing of George Floyd. We aim to amplify yet more Black voices going forward.

Legal Lens documentaries

Law and documentary film may seem far apart, but they actually share many connections. With the guidance of filmmaker and producer Joseph Tovares and support from the Hewlett Foundation, 12 Harvard Law School students from eight countries have worked since January on the Legal Lens project. You can view the films here on BostonGlobe.com.

Choosing, using, and losing your health care: A policy first-aid kit

In a four-part weekly series, Globe Opinion offers a baseline assessment of health care as well as prescriptions for fixing the industry.

Journalists are not the enemy

A central pillar of President Trump’s politics is a sustained assault on the free press. Journalists are not classified as fellow Americans, but rather “the enemy of the people.”
National Student Essay Competition winners announced