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A section that asks “what if?” and “why not?”
IDEAS | TED SUTTON

For Parkinson’s disease, a remedy under my skin

Mr. Roboto I’m not. But Deep Brain Stimulation has given me hope — and more than a little affinity for the mechanical creatures that transfixed me in my youth.
IDEAS | EVAN SELINGER

Being an influencer is harder than it looks

Emily Hund investigates how the shifting definition of “authenticity” is the basis of a $16 billion industry.
IDEAS | CRAIG FERHMAN

Are you too easily distracted? 19th-century Americans could relate.

In the category of innovations that make us impatient and harried, the smartphone joins the train, the telegraph, and the pulpy novel.
IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERG

Boston has never elected a Black mayor. A quiet experiment could change that.

Black voter turnout in Massachusetts isn’t nearly as high as it could be.
IDEAS | CAREY GOLDBERG

Eric Lander is getting uncanceled

The genomics pioneer left the White House after being accused of bullying. Now, on the verge of his return to the Broad Institute, colleagues are speaking up for him.
IDEAS | DANA RAMOS

A new domestic violence prevention hotline — for abusers

Massachusetts is the first state in the nation to offer such a service. Proof that it’s needed? Calls are coming in from around the country — and the world.

may i have a word?

May I have a word: Old saws get new teeth
Readers refresh truisms from a bygone time.

May I have a word: Two ways we cling to fantasy

May I have a word: Filling some holes in English

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The Globe Ideas Team

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.
Born broken: The deep history of the TWhat is the T for, anyway?
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.
Explore visionary plans for housing, education, climate, and transit →Bold visions from urban planners, policy experts, and readers →

Editing the Constitution

The Constitution is undergoing massive changes in the Supreme Court. It’s time to put the founding document in the hands of the people.
Public health
IDEAS | Traci Green, Jeffrey Bratberg, & Josiah Rich

Let pharmacists prescribe addiction medicine

IDEAS | V.M. VINES

Why I volunteer for medical trials

IDEAS | NATALIA LINOS & BENJAMIN MAZER

Ideas conversation: Has public health gotten too political?

democracy under siege
IDEAS | STEPHEN KINZER

As Turkey turns 100, its democratic future still has not arrived

IDEAS | MILES TAYLOR

The midterms and Trump’s return show why we need a third party

IDEAS | FRANCESCO BERTOLUCCI AND STEFANO MORELLI

Step right up for the ‘20 years of fascism’ tour

politics
IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERG

Boston has never elected a Black mayor. A quiet experiment could change that.

IDEAS | TODD WASHBURN

We’re all to blame for the chaos in Congress

IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERG

An opportunity for Democrats, hiding in plain sight

civil rights

IDEAS | MARY ZIEGLER

As its 50th anniversary looms, Roe v. Wade still matters

IDEAS | MARIAH G. SCHUG

The price of prejudice: States that ban same-sex marriage leave millions on the table

IDEAS | SCOTT BANE

The Respect for Marriage Act, a century after one of Boston’s undercover same-sex love affairs

inequality
IDEAS | ABDALLAH FAYYAD

How the language of social justice is used to protect the status quo

IDEAS | MILES HOWARD

Open Mass. beaches to everyone — with buses

IDEAS | ABDALLAH FAYYAD

A recession, if we choose

climate crisis

IDEAS | STEPHEN KINZER

Costa Rica’s new president may test the commitment to eco-consciousness

IDEAS | VERONIQUE GREENWOOD

For one afternoon, lab-grown meat was the talk of the town

IDEAS | JOAN LUKEY

My road trip revealed that electric cars still have a long way to go

education

IDEAS | STEPHEN ASMA

A way out of the campus free speech wars

IDEAS | WILLIAM DEVINE

The business of college sports deserves to collapse

IDEAS | ADRIANA BARTON

The ‘Mozart effect’ is bunk. But your brain on music is still a wondrous thing.

development
IDEAS | MILES HOWARD

Evictions are rising again. It’s time to get creative.

IDEAS | ALAN WIRZBICKI

What is the T for, anyway?

IDEAS | ABDALLAH FAYYAD

Wu’s stubborn optimism is exactly what this transit crisis needs

history
IDEAS | CRAIG FERHMAN

Are you too easily distracted? 19th-century Americans could relate.

IDEAS | FRANCESCO BERTOLUCCI AND STEFANO MORELLI

The leather school in Florence that owes a debt to America’s 34th president

IDEAS | REBECCA TAYLOR

The enduringly lovely, dark, and deep lines published by Robert Frost 100 years ago

housing
IDEAS | CLAIRE DUNNING

The unintended consequences of Boston’s nonprofit-led urban development

IDEAS | STARRE JULIA VARTAN

Consider the small landlord

IDEAS | NOAH Y. KIM

Housing will test white support for Black lives

technology

IDEAS | EVAN SELINGER

Being an influencer is harder than it looks

IDEAS | EVAN SELINGER

Pondering a world without humans

IDEAS | EVAN SELINGER

ChatGPT taught me something powerful about human collaboration

essays
IDEAS | TED SUTTON

For Parkinson’s disease, a remedy under my skin

IDEAS | ASHLEY LEFRAK

The ‘main basic’ thing my son’s collections have taught me

IDEAS | ANTHONY AMORE

Brian Walshe and the art of the (sloppy) con

more special projects

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.