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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 | DAVID SCHARFENBERG

Massachusetts weighs the legalization of psychedelics — and the future of tripping

A proposed ballot question stirs deeper questions about how we should approach hallucinogenic drugs.
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

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The Globe Ideas Team

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.