The Inside Job / Sept. 17, 2006

The boss thought she was the hardest-working person on his payroll. Maybe she was. It’s not easy building—and hiding—an extravagant second life with company money. But how could a scam this big go unnoticed for so long?

These wealthy neighbors have been at war for nearly 25 years / Aug. 10, 2016

In a beachfront enclave north of Boston, the battle has been waged with harsh words, pricey lawyers, and smelly porta potties.

What makes people gay? / Aug. 14, 2005

The debate has always been that it was either all in the child’s upbringing or all in the genes. But what if it’s something else?

Life and love inside a sprawling retirement community / Oct. 30, 2005

As the populations continues to gray, sprawling retirement complexes are cropping up all over. Spend time inside one of these places and you'll see laughter and tears, romance and cliques—and complaints about the chocolate pudding. You may also see your future.

The Innocent / Dec. 31, 2006

Though street violence had confined her to life in a wheelchair, 5-year-old Kai Harriott forgave her shooter - shocking and inspiring the world with the power of grace.

Mitt’s mutt & me / Jan. 9, 2012

The writer who unearthed the story of Seamus, the dog Mitt Romney once strapped in a carrier to the car roof for a drive to Canada, reflects on why the anecdote won’t go away.

If the elites go down, we’re all in trouble / Oct. 5, 2017

Self-proclaimed populists love to blame “over-educated know-it-alls” for the government’s ills. Now the scapegoating has taken a dangerous turn.

Why workplace accidents tend to happen late in a project / Feb. 20, 2015

Most people assume the most dangerous day on a job is the first day, when workers are adjusting to a new site, new equipment and new colleagues. That assumption isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous.

At summer’s end, an ode to the outdoor shower / Aug. 25, 2016

Neil Swidey on a particular delight of New England’s all-too-short season.

Why food allergy fakers need to stop / Oct. 14, 2015

From gluten to garlic, diets and dislikes are being passed off as medical conditions. Chefs and real sufferers have had enough.

The college debt crisis is even worse than you think / May 18, 2016

We tell students they need a bachelor’s degree to get ahead. But for too many, the numbers no longer add up.

Robert F. Kennedy saw conspiracy in JFK’s assassination / Nov. 24, 2013

The JFK assassination through Bobby’s eyes — and the haunting fear that that he had been the real target.

Sharks on Cape Cod: Just how scared should we be? / July 9, 2019

The odds of an attack are low, experts say, yet their advice today is not to go into the ocean above your waist. Are our carefree swimming days over?

Gina McCarthy’s straight talk on climate change / May 22, 2018

Now at Harvard, the Obama administration alum admits it’s been hard to watch the Trump administration take aim at the work she’s proudest of. But she hasn’t lost hope.

The secret world of the Dunkin’ Donuts franchise kings / Sept. 17, 2014

How these families are building empires, medium regular by medium regular.

N.Y. vs. Boston: The endgame / July 6, 2012

They’ve dwarfed us in size, eclipsed us in culture, and dominated us on the diamond. And now they’re coming for the one thing we have left: our smarts.

Where did ISIS come from? The story starts here / March 10, 2016

It took us years to talk honestly about Vietnam. It’s time to do that with Iraq, and Paul Bremer’s tenure is the place to begin.

Back To Top ↑

Trapped Under the Sea: Tragedy beneath Boston Harbor / Feb. 9, 2014

In 1999, two divers died deep in the nearly 10-mile-long Deer Island sewer tunnel. This selection from Neil Swidey’s Trapped Under The Sea follows the detective who investigated their fatal mission.

The Assist: On the Line / Jan. 6, 2008

In an excerpt from his book, The Assist, Neil Swidey finds Jack O'Brien, the impossibly intense basketball coach of Charlestown High, struggling to help one of his toughest players, Jason White, take his big shot at a better life, before it slips away.

Trump’s anti-immigration playbook was written 100 years ago. In Boston. / Feb. 5, 2017

How a trio of Harvard-educated blue bloods led a crusade to keep the “undesirables” out and make America great again.

SIDEBAR: A prestigious Harvard fellowship, and the nativist it’s named after

Trump’s travel ban wouldn’t work anyway. But this would. / March 15, 2017

If the president truly wants to make America safer, he should target actual dangerous criminals.

Would my immigrant grandparents (and yours) make it into the US today? / Sept. 18, 2017

Neil Swidey writes that those who signed up for DACA have the same grit, resilience, and affection for their country as his immigrant grandfathers.

The Mobilizers of Martha’s Vineyard / Dec. 16, 2022

When a political stunt brought 49 migrants to their island, these year-rounders stepped up to welcome them.

Back To Top ↑

The Boston outbreak that turned into the deadliest pandemic in modern history / Oct. 9, 2018

The city’s new health commissioner had to get the public to take the crisis seriously, without setting off a panic. When it was over, 50 million had died worldwide.

Sex, spies, and the national anthem: The BSO scandal you’ve never heard of / Nov. 2, 2017

One hundred years ago, one of the world’s top conductors was ensnared in a scandal involving patriotism and sex. It almost toppled Boston’s famed orchestra.

N.Y. vs. Boston: The endgame / July 6, 2012

They’ve dwarfed us in size, eclipsed us in culture, and dominated us on the diamond. And now they’re coming for the one thing we have left: our smarts.

David McCullough’s plan to recast John Adams, the forgotten Founding Father / Nov. 5, 2000

Whether ignored or misrepresented, John Adams has never gotten his due. Can bestselling historian David McCullough finally change that?

Back To Top ↑

Mitt Romney and the lessons of the father / Aug. 13, 2006

How the “brainwashing” cloud that derailed George Romney’s presidential campaign continues to hang over his son and his own White House ambitions.

Mitt Romney Bio Series
: Privilege, tragedy, and a young leader / June 24, 2007

The forces that shaped Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney Bio Series: Journeys of a shared life / June 27, 2007

Building a family while building a business: Mitt on the ascent.

Mitt’s mutt & me / Jan. 9, 2012

The writer who unearthed the story of Seamus, the dog Mitt Romney once strapped in a carrier to the car roof for a drive to Canada, reflects on why the anecdote won’t go away.

PLUS: WHY MITT LOST

The Story That Continues to Dog Romney / Jan. 13, 2012 (“On the Media” /NPR)

In 1983, Mitt Romney took his family on a road trip from Boston to Canada, with the family dog Seamus strapped to the roof of the car. Almost 5 years ago, the Seamus story made it into a Boston Globe story, and to this day, the anecdote of Seamus the dog continues to haunt Romney. Bob speaks to Boston Globe Magazine writer Neil Swidey, the person to first dig up the Seamus story. Published by “On the Media.”

Ted Kennedy Bio Series: Turbulence and tragedies eclipse early triumphs / Feb. 16, 2009

Stunning events convulse the nation, turning a young senator into the family patriarch and liberals' hope.

Robert F. Kennedy saw conspiracy in JFK’s assassination / Nov. 24, 2013

The JFK assassination through Bobby’s eyes — and the haunting fear that that he had been the real target.

Alternate history: What if George H.W. Bush had beaten Bill Clinton? / July 10, 2018

How the Democrats might have been better off if Poppy Bush had beaten the Comeback Kid in 1992.

SIDEBAR: The backstory to this alternate history

Back To Top ↑

The ascent of Ayanna Pressley / Dec. 21, 2018

The first African-American woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress, Pressley is following the path blazed by her childhood idol — and trying to avoid the traps of being a “first.” The 2018 co-Bostonian of the Year (with Alex Cora).

SIDEBAR: INTERVIEW EXCERPTS WITH PRESSLEY

Marty Walsh has a confession to make / July 18, 2017

After an early crisis of self-doubt, Boston’s 48th mayor found his own way.

Grover Norquist: Emperor of no / March 16, 2012

The curious rise — and staying power — of America’s most influential anti-tax crusader.

John Kerry and Ernie Moniz: The minds behind the Iran nuclear deal / Dec. 19, 2015

Seemingly in the sunset of their careers, they worked together to make history.

Gina McCarthy’s straight talk on climate change / May 22, 2018

Now at Harvard, the Obama administration alum admits it’s been hard to watch the Trump administration take aim at the work she’s proudest of. But she hasn’t lost hope.

Energy Secretary Ernie Moniz: A cabinet star is born / July 22, 2015

How an MIT professor from Fall River got to the center of everything from climate change to nuclear Iran.

Bill Weld’s return to politics is brief. (That’s all he can afford.) / Oct. 4, 2016

The Republican-turned-Libertarian ex-governor works to defeat Donald Trump but may end up helping to elect him.

If Jill Stein is so smart, why does she keep running? / Oct. 5, 2016

The perennial Green presidential candidate admits even her siblings ask “why am I still doing this.”

On joining the club / Nov. 3, 2013

Senator Elizabeth Warren talks with Neil Swidey about what women can do for Washington.

The life of the party: Scott Brown / Dec. 17, 2014

By winning “the Kennedy seat,” the Republican shocked the political world and inspired a legion of long-shot challengers.

The Democrats’ choice problem: The trouble with too many options  / March 19, 2019

If the field remains big for too long, it could benefit the same candidate who shook up the system in 2016.

Alternate history: What if George H.W. Bush had beaten Bill Clinton? / July 10, 2018

How the Democrats might have been better off if Poppy Bush had beaten the Comeback Kid in 1992.

SIDEBAR: The backstory to this alternate history

Back To Top ↑

If the elites go down, we’re all in trouble / Oct. 5, 2017

Self-proclaimed populists love to blame “over-educated know-it-alls” for the government’s ills. Now the scapegoating has taken a dangerous turn.

The costly case of the purple pill / Jan. 10, 2018

The story of one blockbuster heartburn drug tells you everything you need to know about the high cost of prescription medicine.

Do airport security lines have to be so awful? A rare look inside TSA / Dec. 8, 2016

With a history of dysfunction and new calls to privatize, can the agency’s big plans to make airport security less miserable get off the ground?

We know this sounds crazy, but GE could help fix our unfair tax code / April 19, 2017

Bernie Sanders and others have scolded the company for (legally) paying no taxes. Here’s how the Boston newcomer could emerge a hero.

How to rethink the Olympic bid for Boston’s benefit / June 23, 2015

With planning and discipline, we could create a better city for all—even if the torch never makes it here.

The Good Doctor / Dec. 12, 2023

What happens when a 40-year veteran of the homelessness crisis, who does his best work in “blessed obscurity,” gets the Tracy Kidder bestseller treatment. Bostonians of the Year.

Back To Top ↑

The bin Laden family breaks its silence / Oct. 7, 2001

The first interview anywhere with immediate family members of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.

The 14th-century text that may have been Osama bin Laden’s playbook / Dec. 16, 2001

Osama may have used it as a kind of road map for his terror campaign.

The man who put a price tag on the lives lost on 9/11 / Feb. 1, 2004

As special master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, Ken Feinberg alone put a price tag on the lives lost and injuries suffered in the terrorist attacks. He was never the same.

Tipping points: How military occupations go sour / April 27, 2003

The seductive trap of military occupations, and how the U.S. may well be headed for the same fate in Iraq.

All the rage / April 20, 2003

Even as Middle Eastern students hotly denounce US policies, they line up for an American-style college education. For many, it’s their only ticket up and out.

Egypt struggles to retain leadership in the Arab world / Feb. 3, 2003

The fighting in Iraq, the reverberations in Egypt.

Analysts say little is known about Iraq / March 26, 2003

A short piece that didn’t get much play at the start of the Iraq war, but which previewed the problems that lay ahead.

The guru, and his disciples who started the Iraq war (but forgot his most important lesson) / May 18, 2003

Strategy guru Albert Wohlstetter spent decades arguing for military flexibility and precision targeting. But have his Washington disciples learned his real lessons?

The 9/11 Attacks, 10 years later / Sept. 11, 2011

A reporter remembers the terrible feeling that separated 9/11 from other tragedies.

Where did ISIS come from? The story starts here / March 10, 2016

It took us five years to talk honestly about Vietnam. It’s time to do that with Iraq, and Paul Bremer’s tenure is the place to begin.

New gulf city / March 9, 2003

Dubai has audacious architecture, little oil, and lots of foreigners. Is this the new Middle East?

Back To Top ↑

A medical collision with a child in the middle / Dec. 15, 2013

PART 1/2 of A Collision at the Edge of Medicine. Justina has a metabolic disease. Or does she? Her parents and Children’s Hospital deadlocked, she was placed in state custody.

Frustration on all fronts in struggle over child’s future / Dec. 16, 2013

PART 2/2 of A Collision at the Edge of Medicine. Court works to untangle battle of parents, doctors, and the state.

A family doctor’s transition / Aug. 12, 2007

PART 1/2. Dr. Deborah Bershel’s life seemed to be the picture of stability: loving wife and family, successful practice. But to find her true self, she needed to risk all of that.

Freeing up Deborah / Aug. 19, 2007

PART 2/2. Dr. Deborah Bershel’s life as a transgender woman, and the affects on her long marriage and medical practice.

An update on Deborah Bershel / Feb. 28, 2010

AN UPDATE. An update to the 2007 stories on Dr. Deborah Bershel.

Life and love inside a sprawling retirement community / Oct. 30, 2005

With 2 million Massachusetts baby boomers set to turn 55 between now and 2020, sprawling retirement complexes are cropping up all over. Spend time inside one of these places and you'll see laughter and tears, romance and cliques—and complaints about the chocolate pudding. You may also see your future.

Sharks on Cape Cod: Just how scared should we be? / July 9, 2019

The odds of an attack are low, experts say, yet their advice today is not to go into the ocean above your waist. Are our carefree swimming days over?

These wealthy neighbors have been at war for 25 years / Aug. 10, 2016

In a beachfront enclave north of Boston, the battle has been waged with harsh words, pricey lawyers, and smelly porta-potties.

AN UPDATE FROM 2020: One owner celebrates a path to finally being able to build on his oceanfront lot; the other vows to appeal.

SIDEBAR: Trouble with your neighbors? It can always get worse.

The Virus’s Tale: A COVID-19 narrative investigation / May 30, 2020

Track the coronavirus pandemic in Massachusetts to its roots and you find a story driven by heroics, ingenuity, error, pain, and a hard question: How could a state famous for health care excellence have suffered such a vast loss of human life?

Back To Top ↑

The Inside Job / Sept. 17, 2006

The boss thought she was the hardest-working person on his payroll. Maybe she was. It’s not easy building - and hiding - an extravagant second life with company money. But how could a scam this big go unnoticed for so long?

Silence / Feb. 26, 2006

Jenry Gonzalez was shot in a crowded park while trying out for Pop Warner football. His unsolved shooting shows how reversing Boston’s climate of witness fear will take a lot more than pulling "Stop Snitchin’ " T-shirts off the shelves.

The Innocent / Dec. 31, 2006

Though street violence had confined her to life in a wheelchair, 5-year-old Kai Harriott forgave her shooter - shocking and inspiring the world with the power of grace.

One desperate night / Oct. 17, 2010

A man jumps off the Mass. Ave. bridge into a cold, choppy Charles River. In an instant, his best friend dives in after him. Theirs is a story of lives forever altered.

‘You don’t understand, Captain. He has a gun’: The hijacking of Flight 1320 / March 20, 2020

An Eastern Airlines shuttle to Boston 50 years ago started out routine. It ended up changing how America flies.

What Went Wrong? / March 21, 2004

The son of a prominent Boston doctor, David Arndt was on his way to becoming a leading surgeon in his own right when a bizarre blunder interrupted his climb: He left his patient on the operating table so he could cash his paycheck. A series of arrests followed, exposing a life of arrogance, betrayal, and wasted promise, leaving only one question left to answer.

For a fallen surgeon, a higher power / February 28, 2010

The follow-up to What Went Wrong?

Back To Top ↑

Walter Willett’s food fight / July 28, 2013

The world’s most influential nutritionist is waging a war against unhealthy eating, obesity, and, every once in a while, his fellow researchers.

Why food allergy fakers need to stop / Oct. 14, 2015

From gluten to garlic, diets and dislikes are being passed off as medical conditions. Chefs and real sufferers have had enough.

How we made gluten into a monster / Oct. 27, 2015

A pioneering celiac doctor explains the misguided origins of “the most popular diet that you can imagine.”

Diet advice changes by the minute. How are we supposed to figure out what to eat? / Aug. 20, 2019

As my own family sought out healthier habits, I took the question to the experts and found three truths they seem to agree on.

The hidden power of taking a walk / Jan. 8, 2020

Exercise made easy.

Panera sued for serving a child a grilled cheese with peanut butter / June 5, 2016

A case reflecting the growing tensions around food allergies.

Back To Top ↑

What Went Wrong? / March 21, 2004

The son of a prominent Boston doctor, David Arndt was on his way to becoming a leading surgeon in his own right when a bizarre blunder interrupted his climb: He left his patient on the operating table so he could cash his paycheck. A series of arrests followed, exposing a life of arrogance, betrayal, and wasted promise, leaving only one question left to answer.

For a fallen surgeon, a higher power / February 28, 2010

The follow-up to What Went Wrong?

Living with cancer / May 17, 2017

The pair of Mass. General MDs behind a powerful method of care offer advice on what to do when you get that awful news.

The healthcare revolutionary / Jan. 4, 2004

Don Berwick’s ambitous plan to improve the nation’s health system.

The man behind the private equity play for hospitals / Feb. 6, 2011

He stunned the medical world by getting a private equity giant to buy a group of debt-drowning community hospitals. But that's just step one of Ralph de la Torre's plan to build a model for the nation.

The PANDAS puzzle: Can a common infection cause OCD in kids? / Oct. 28, 2012

A medical mystery that has families in crisis.

Why do shrinks flock to this tiny Cape Cod town? / July 23, 2014

Every summer, thousands of mental health professionals pack their bags and set off for Wellfleet.

The Virus’s Tale: A COVID narrative investigation / May 31, 2020

Track the coronavirus pandemic in Massachusetts to its roots and you find a story driven by heroics, ingenuity, error, pain, and a hard question: How could a state famous for health care excellence have suffered such a vast loss of human life?

Back To Top ↑

Gina McCarthy’s straight talk on climate change / May 22, 2018

Now at Harvard, the Obama administration alum admits it’s been hard to watch the Trump administration take aim at the work she’s proudest of. But she hasn’t lost hope.

Energy Secretary Ernie Moniz: A cabinet star is born / July 22, 2015

How an MIT professor from Fall River got to the center of everything from climate change to nuclear Iran.

What if the lights go out? / Feb. 3, 2012

In our wired society, surviving even a day without electricity can be a hardship (Just ask the nearly 2 million of us who lost it last October). But thanks to the combination of freak storms and a groaning grid, darker days may still be ahead.

Back To Top ↑

What makes people gay? / Aug. 14, 2005

The debate has always been that it was either all in the child’s upbringing or all in the genes. But what if it’s something else?

What makes people gay? (An update) / Aug. 23, 2015

Returning 10 years later to one of the most-read Boston Globe stories of all time, we find new evidence that the answers may lie in the womb.

Alan Guth: What made the Big Bang bang / May 2, 2014

Nearly 35 years ago, the MIT physicist figured out what made the Big Bang bang. Finally, there’s evidence. (Or is there?)

The hunt for Ebola answers / Jan. 10, 2015

Pardis Sabeti, a multi-tasking computational geneticist, roller-blader and rock singer, leads her Cambridge lab in the fight against a deadly virus devastating West Africa.

The virus hunters, the ice-bucket innovator, and the good loser / Dec. 19, 2014

Mini-profiles of some of the people who inspired us in 2014.

Jim Collins and Dan Barouch: The researchers racing to stop Zika / Dec. 14, 2016

As the disease reached epidemic levels, their Longwood labs worked overtime to develop breakthroughs.

The woman who may end football’s reign / Dec. 13, 2017

Football may never be the same after the VA Boston scientist’s research on head injuries. The 2017 Bostonian of the Year.

In just two weeks, Stacey Gabriel helped set a new COVID-19 testing standard / Dec. 10, 2020

How one scientist quickly stood up a sophisticated test processing operation that became the centerpiece of New England’s response — and could be a model for the nation

414 days at work, zero days off / Dec. 15, 2021

The scientist who developed the J&J COVID vaccine.

Back To Top ↑

Google and the end of privacy / Feb. 2, 2003

How the Internet search engine Google is changing what we can find out about one another—and raising questions about whether we should.

The end of alone / Feb. 8, 2009

At our desk, on the road, or on a remote beach, the world is a tap away. It’s so cool. And yet it’s not. What we lose with our constant connectedness.

Friends in a Facebook world / Nov. 30, 2008

For the 35-plus crowd now flooding the website, it's a revelation. It can also be a never-ending high school reunion.

Inside the mind of the anonymous online poster / June 20, 2010

These users comment on everything from today’s news to hotel rooms. Many are harmless. But some are ruthless. Who are they exactly, and why do they do what they do?

The tiny startup making sense of social media / Nov. 25, 2012

Facebook users “like” things 2.7 billion times a day. People share their opinions more than 500 million times daily on Twitter. Now, this start-up is betting it can change everything from product placement to how we elect our president.

Driverless? Self-driving? No matter what you call them, these cars haven’t passed all road tests / June 3, 2015

Driverless vehicles are being tested in Singapore and Silicon Valley. We traveled to both places to find out out when your ride will be ready.

Spambusters / Oct. 5, 2003

Cyberwarriors of many stripes have joined the battle against junk e-mail. But the enemy is wily, elusive—and multiplying.

Does GoFundMe confirm our best—or our worst—assumptions about millennials? / May 23, 2017

Created by a millennial from Massachusetts, the crowdfunding site proves the generation has chutzpah.

Back To Top ↑

The college debt crisis is even worse than you think / May 18, 2016

We tell students they need a bachelor’s degree to get ahead. But for too many, the numbers no longer add up.

Colleges must stop holding student transcripts hostage / June 17, 2016

How one nearly universal policy mistreats struggling students and makes the debt crisis worse.

‘ZooMass’ no more. Is turning UMass Amherst into an elite university what the state needs? / Jan. 8, 2019

Inside Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy’s savvy plan to transform Massachusetts’ flagship university into ‘Cambridge West.’

Our college sports system is broken. Do we have the guts to fix it? / May 15, 2019

From big-money Division I football and basketball to the privileged niche sports caught up in the Varsity Blues scandal, campus athletics needs a complete overhaul. Could this bold idea work?

SIDEBAR: How young is too young to recruit kids for college teams?

An MIT dean foretold the admissions scandal, before experiencing her own disgrace / May 15, 2019

Faked credentials led to her downfall as dean of admissions. Now she preaches authenticity to stressed out high schoolers applying to college.

The four-year college myth / May 31, 2009

It's a path ingrained in us: Go to a university right after high school and graduate in four years. But that couldn't be further from reality. And until education leaders take that into account, too many students will lose out.

The secret to stopping a bully? / May 2, 2010

After decades of research, no one has yet found a way to reduce bullying in US schools. But in the shadows, you just might find the solution.

My surprising education in starting a charity / Oct. 30, 2015

When Neil Swidey wrote about Boston boys using basketball to try to beat the odds, he was moved to act.

Back To Top ↑

The new nun / July 20, 2003

A 32-year-old woman is letting go of what she calls the "image of success for a Medford girl"—marriage, big house, adorable kids, and a part-time law practice. Her reason: Because God has something else in mind.

God on the quad / Nov. 30, 2003

New England's liberal college campuses have become fertile ground for the evangelical movement, which is attracting students in record numbers. But after they graduate, will they keep the faith?

The promise of Francis / Feb. 23, 2014

The new pope has gotten worldwide attention with a dramatically different message. But for Boston Catholics who have drifted for more than a decade, will it be enough to bring them back?

Could the future of Catholicism be taking shape in this church basement? / Oct. 8, 2019

In Fall River, a group of parishioners won the chance to run their crumbling church. If their experiment works here, it might just work anywhere.

Back To Top ↑

Exposed! / March 17, 2002

“Walter Scott's Personality Parade” is the gossip column for millions every Sunday. But there is no Walter Scott. There is Ed Klein, the former editor of the New York Times Magazine and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, now answering questions about Britney Spears' bellybutton.

The meanest man on television / Dec. 1, 2002

Sure, Bill O’Reilly is a blowhard. But that’s not how the former weekend anchor of the lowest-rated local station in Boston got to the top of cable TV news.

Playing by the book / Aug. 17, 2003

It takes more than talent to become a best-selling novelist. Timing, marketing, and luck are also key. For Carolyn Parkhurst, they all fell into place with “The Dogs of Babel.”

God & comedy / Jan. 17, 2018

An affair ended comedian Pete Holmes’ marriage and made the Evangelical Christian question everything he lived by. But out of that wreckage came his partnership with Judd Apatow, his HBO show “Crashing,” and a new kind of spirituality.

What does it take to become a Disney star? / May 27, 2012

Why so many kids have come to expect fame, and what parents need to know about the often treacherous world of searching for stardom.

With ’80s rockers, is it the Journey or the destination? / July 18, 2010

For fans of aging rock bands, is a reproduction better than the real thing?

Novelist Junot Diaz’s big year / Dec. 23, 2012

The MIT writing professor had a string of successes in 2012, though he still struggles with the creative process.

The subversiveness of Louis C.K. / Nov. 27, 2005

Before Louis C.K. became the nation’s most beloved — and then its most loathed — standup comic, he tried to reinvent the TV sitcom. Although that experiment failed, the roots of all his Emmy Award-winning successes were evident back then. Go behind the scenes on that fascinationg experiment through this piece, the first in-depth magazine profile in C.K.’s career.

The self-promoting, fan-financed, go-it-alone star / Sept. 14, 2012

How a new breed of entertainers are seizing control of their brands — and rocking the entertainment world.

Back To Top ↑

Getting through to your kids in the digital age / March 1, 2013

How smartphones, family dinners, and admitting you don’t know everything can help you connect.

Why an iPhone could actually be good for your 3-year-old / Nov. 1, 2009

Parents who hand smart phones to their preschoolers as a distraction are shocked to see how quickly the kids become pros. They may worry about such early screen time. But for this generation of "mobile kids," portable, wireless technology promises to improve the way they learn.

Spying on the text generation / June 8, 2008

When it comes to watching over their tech-obsessed teenagers, parents are learning the dangers of too much information.

Back To Top ↑

All talked out: The little lawyers in your house / Nov. 7, 2004

Some negotiating with your kids is good. But spending 20 minutes debating your 4-year-old on why it’s time to leave the park is not. Children’s mouths can keep up, but as research is showing, their brains cannot.

Rush, Little Baby / Oct. 28, 2007

How the push for infant academics may actually be a waste of time—or worse.

Full House: 3 is the new 2 / May 28, 2006

In a tightening economy, why are family sizes up once again in many towns?

Inside the mind of an 11-year-old girl / March 1, 2009

No longer a girl, but not quite an adolescent, Adele knows she’s on the precipice of something big. Maybe that’s why she wants to cling a little bit longer to the trappings of girl world.

What happened to losing? / Aug. 22, 2010

Today's kids live in a world of scoreless games and trophies for everyone. When we cushion them from defeat at the early ages, are they less prepared to cope when real competition kicks in?

The meaning of lice / March 2, 2008

It upends schools and turns rational parents into raging lunatics. Will new science finally save the day?

Back To Top ↑

Kristi Noem’s Cricket, Mitt Romney’s Seamus, and the GOP dog problem / May 6, 2024

The instant comparisons were a pretty good metaphor for understanding how discourse within the Republican Party has coarsened.

A week that coronavirus changed everything, too fast and too slow / March 23, 2020

It’s like a switch went off — a week and a half too late — triggering massive changes every day.

In praise of the outdoor shower / Aug. 25, 2016

An ode to a delight of New England’s all-too-short season.

Dad’s big Cape Cod vacation gamble / May 2, 2017

For one week every summer, my parents would pack us five kids into the station wagon — and leave one big question to chance.

Boston Marathon tragedy: The week we’ll never forget /April 28, 2013

Reflections on a city’s return to something like normalcy.

The civilian first-responders of the Marathon bombing / Dec. 22, 2013

Everyday people thrust into extraordinary circumstances.

New rules for bike path etiquette / Sept. 14, 2016

Some completely unsolicited and sure-to-be-contested advice for sharing the path without driving each other bonkers.

Let the handshake meet an end / July 19, 2009

Long before the pandemic, Neil was waging a campaign to replace our standard, germ-spreading greeting.

The naked truth / March 6, 2005

Is it still the same old pornography if the model is your classmate from Psych 101?

Back To Top ↑

Cuba at another crossroads / Nov. 28, 2018

After the end to the brief glasnost of improved relations, it is once again hard to get to Cuba. But it’s worth the effort.

The Singapore he built, and the house he wanted destroyed / June 20, 2015

What if George Washington had insisted in his will that Mount Vernon be destroyed? Would Americans have followed his instructions? That thought experiment will give you an idea of why people in Singapore are struggling with their founding father’s dying request.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and the glimmering, uncertain future / March 16, 2016

Modeled on Hong Kong’s success, Shanghai is emerging as China’s top portal to the West. Tour both now to deepen your world view.

The underappreciated allure of the Azores / March 24, 2013

A four-hour direct flight from Boston brings you to this string of volcanic islands, and transports you to an altogether other world.

Why Portugal is this year’s hottest destination / March 14, 2017

Relatively affordable with fascinating history and even a little Harry Potter mystique, this tiny country is suddenly on everyone’s must-visit list.

All the President’s Spin / June 16, 2002

A visitor to the Richard Nixon Library finds the place much like the man: defensive, misleading, and still arguing about Watergate.

Back To Top ↑

Would you pay a million bucks for this house? / Sept. 12, 2004

With everything from modest homes to million-dollar dumps now commanding princely sums, it's no wonder that Boston's hospitals, colleges, and biotech firms are seeing so many job offers rejected. Who can afford to live here?

Can there be a teardown that everybody agrees on? / Feb. 6, 2015

Demolitions are on the rise again in Massachusetts, reigniting the McMansion-vs.-preservation debate. But not all teardowns are the same.

The Dissenter / Oct. 3, 2004

The youngest member of the court that rocked the world, Martha Sosman, long viewed as a rising judicial star, adjusts to life after the historic gay marriage decision.

Battle of the shrinks / July 23, 2014

Every summer, thousands of mental health professionals pack their bags and set off for the tiny town of Wellfleet, the scene of a decades-long battle.

The Prosecutors: Rachael Rollins & Andrew Lelling make their mark from the left and right / Dec. 11, 2019

These fiercely dedicated prosecutors don’t agree on much, except this: Justice needs to be for everyone. The 2019 Bostonians of the Year.

Back To Top ↑

Our college sports system is broken. Do we have the guts to fix it? / May 15, 2019

From big-money Division I football and basketball to the privileged niche sports caught up in the Varsity Blues scandal, campus athletics needs a complete overhaul. Could this bold idea work?

Restart: The future of the Marathon / May 10, 2013

Marathon 2014 will be different. But if next year will be a corrective, what will the race look like in five years? And how will we tell the story of what happened?

MORE MARATHON COVERAGE:

• THE EVERYDAY PEOPLE TURNED FIRST-RESPONDERS

• THE WEEK WE’LL NEVER FORGET

Back To Top ↑

Being Nomar / May 16, 2004

The famously tightlipped shortstop opens up on everything from the angst of his off-season to his relationships with his family, his bosses, and his fans. Oh, yeah, he talks about that little contract squabble, too.

The Survivor: Paul Pierce / Dec. 21, 2008

After a decade of losing and a lifetime of obstacles, Paul Pierce finally vanquished his doubters and his attackers by winning on the court and growing up off it. The 2008 Bostonian of the Year.

The Jacoby Factor / March 30, 2008

The question isn't whether he's ready for the Red Sox, it's whether they're ready for him.

The Architect: Theo Epstein / Dec. 18, 2004

Theo Epstein had to bury the fan inside him before he could boldly assemble the team that defied history. But what comes next may be even tougher. The 2004 Bostonian of the Year.

David Ortiz: The slugger who spoke for all of us / Dec. 14, 2016

In 14 fantastic years, he delivered clutch hits, reversed a curse, and helped us heal.

The other side of Jerry Remy / April 19, 2009

The beloved Red Sox broadcaster built his wildy successful brand on being the kind of guy you’d love to grab a beer with. In other words, he built his brand on complete fiction.

The Olympians: Aly Raisman & Kayla Harrison / Dec. 21, 2012

US women snared more gold medals than the entire squads of all but two countries at the Olympics, led by two of our own. The 2012 Bostonians of the Year.

Firsts with a purpose: Ayanna Pressley and Alex Cora / Dec. 21, 2018

She’s the first African-American woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress. He’s the first manager of color in Red Sox history. But their “firsts” are only part of their stories. The 2018 Bostonians of the Year.

Celtics center Enes Kanter: Hoops and human rights / Dec. 11, 2019

The NBA star ad activist is an outspoken, sometimes lone voice against the regime in his native Turkey.

Back To Top ↑

The secret world of the Dunkin’ Donuts franchise kings / Sept. 17, 2014

How these families are building empires, medium regular by medium regular.

The It toy / Dec. 17, 2006

Hasbro asked its top engineers and marketers to turn a germ of an idea—a life-size, interactive pony—into the one toy every little girl would crave. But overcoming design hurdles and sticker shock were just the first of many challenges the Rhode Island company would face.

Guarding the house: Bruce Marks / Dec. 30, 2007

Wall Street made billions off the backs of homeowners. But when the mortgage crisis blew up, a pit bull named Bruce Marks stood up for the Average Joes and, incredibly, got some of the biggest banks to bend. The 2007 Bostonian of the Year.

Meet Boston’s invisible billionaire / May 3, 2015

Gerald Chan is buying up Harvard Square and has sunk half a billion dollars into this area. So why has no one ever heard of him?

Put away that credit card. You need to use cash more / Aug. 15, 2018

Big banks are the big winners when shoppers whip out the plastic. Meanwhile, Americans sink further into debt.

Inside DraftKings’ war room as the fantasy sports battle rages / Dec. 3, 2015

How the nerds who built a billion-dollar powerhouse are struggling to save their industry.

Why do people earn what they earn? / June 2, 2015

Sometimes the answer is simple supply and demand. But often it’s something much stranger.

Why are you really ranting on Yelp? / April 3, 2018

Ticked off about a lousy meal or surly service? Before trashing the business online, try telling someone who can actually fix the problem.

The good boss: Robert Lappin / Dec. 20, 2009

Against the advice of his lawyers, in a departure from current-day business practices, and at considerable cost to his family fortune, the Bernie Madoff victim did the right thing. He passed a test many others would have preferred to fail.

Greetings from Gun Valley / April 14, 2013

Booming sales. Good-paying factory jobs. Tax breaks for employers. With little fanfare, firearms manufacturing is thriving in our blue, blue state.

Back To Top ↑