Cloe Axelson
@cloeax.bsky.social
senior editor of cognoscenti (@cogwbur), @wbur's essays and opinions page. mom of three girls, writer, runner, long-suffering cubs fan. "let's play two."
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Commentary: "Our task is not to make vulnerable populations more adaptable to injustice, but to make the powerful more accountable for it."
Resilience is no substitute for justice
The development sector's embrace of “resilience” redirected attention away from governments as duty bearers, writes Jehane Sedky, and made it easier for donors to fund a patchwork of NGO projects rath...
www.wbur.org
November 21, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Commentary: "Our task is not to make vulnerable populations more adaptable to injustice, but to make the powerful more accountable for it."
I visited @elizabeth-warren.bsky.social at home for @wbur.org @cogwbur.bsky.social -- to see Bailey's Halloween costume (he was Stephen Colbert!) and talk about a lot of other things too: books, democracy, pushing back against Trump, her exercise routine and "The Wire." www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...
Elizabeth Warren takes her dog's Halloween costume seriously
Cog editor Cloe Axelson interviewed Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and her dog Bailey, who's dressing up as Stephen Colbert for Halloween this year. They talked about dogs, political humor in a democracy, and...
www.wbur.org
November 1, 2025 at 2:05 PM
I visited @elizabeth-warren.bsky.social at home for @wbur.org @cogwbur.bsky.social -- to see Bailey's Halloween costume (he was Stephen Colbert!) and talk about a lot of other things too: books, democracy, pushing back against Trump, her exercise routine and "The Wire." www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Doctors are devoting more time to debunking misinformation and explaining how immunizations work as they confront growing confusion and hesitancy about vaccines.
How Mass. pediatricians are fighting vaccine hesitancy, one patient at a time
Pediatricians across Greater Boston said they are extending patient visits and booking follow-up appointments to talk to families about vaccines, sometimes at the expense of other important topics lik...
www.wbur.org
October 27, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Doctors are devoting more time to debunking misinformation and explaining how immunizations work as they confront growing confusion and hesitancy about vaccines.
I've always loved the the Proust questionnaire. Now we're asking contributors to answer a shorter version (16 questions only!) for @cogwbur.bsky.social's Substack. First up: Libby DeLana open.substack.com/pub/cogwbur/...
The Proust Questionnaire: Libby DeLana
" ... [S]ometimes, I lie to myself. Quietly."
open.substack.com
October 20, 2025 at 5:29 PM
I've always loved the the Proust questionnaire. Now we're asking contributors to answer a shorter version (16 questions only!) for @cogwbur.bsky.social's Substack. First up: Libby DeLana open.substack.com/pub/cogwbur/...
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Boston and other Mass. cities turned out for No Kings today: www.wbur.org/news/2025/10...
'No Kings' rally fills Boston Common, as thousands of other protests take place across the country
Demonstrators in Boston and around the country took to the streets to decry what they describe as "abuses of power, cruelty and corruption" in the Trump administration.
www.wbur.org
October 18, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Boston and other Mass. cities turned out for No Kings today: www.wbur.org/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Essay: Instinctively, with my toes covered in surf, I grabbed Sarah’s hand. And she grabbed back. The water taught me how to do that, to reach beyond worry to trust, and hold it in the palm of my hand, writes Libby DeLana, in this excerpt from her book, "Cold Joy."
Getting to calm. Getting to warm
Instinctively, with my toes covered in surf, I grabbed Sarah’s hand. And she grabbed back. The water taught me how to do that, to reach beyond worry to trust, and hold it in the palm of my hand, write...
www.wbur.org
October 14, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Essay: Instinctively, with my toes covered in surf, I grabbed Sarah’s hand. And she grabbed back. The water taught me how to do that, to reach beyond worry to trust, and hold it in the palm of my hand, writes Libby DeLana, in this excerpt from her book, "Cold Joy."
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Essay: I live in a city shaped by the James River, and work in a city shaped by the Charles River, writes Kate Neale Cooper. I've been thinking about rivers change us, and we change them.
How river shape cities — and us
In the 19th century, urban planners and engineers did what we’ve all been guilty of doing with our problems: They buried them, writes Cog editor Kate Neale Cooper. Sometimes, rivers once poisoned by i...
www.wbur.org
October 13, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Essay: I live in a city shaped by the James River, and work in a city shaped by the Charles River, writes Kate Neale Cooper. I've been thinking about rivers change us, and we change them.
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Commentary: Measuring food insecurity over the next few years will be especially critical since the One Big Beautiful Bill Act included $186 billion in cuts to SNAP, write Paul Shafer and Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba.
First, the Trump administration cut SNAP benefits. Now it wants to stop measuring food insecurity
On the heels of $186 billion in cuts to SNAP, the Trump Administrations announced plans to cancel a long-running annual report on food security. But stopping the count doesn’t stop the suffering, writ...
www.wbur.org
October 9, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Commentary: Measuring food insecurity over the next few years will be especially critical since the One Big Beautiful Bill Act included $186 billion in cuts to SNAP, write Paul Shafer and Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba.
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Doug Brown collects rare books on early America. But he recently acquired a desk that once belonged to Constance Miekevicz (nee Gore-Booth), an Irish revolutionary and suffragist. He was inspired by the story of her extraordinary life.
Why 'history is more thrilling than any romance'
Doug Brown collects rare books on early America. But he recently acquired a desk that once belonged to Constance Miekevicz (nee Gore-Booth), an Irish revolutionary and suffragist. He was inspired by t...
www.wbur.org
September 25, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Doug Brown collects rare books on early America. But he recently acquired a desk that once belonged to Constance Miekevicz (nee Gore-Booth), an Irish revolutionary and suffragist. He was inspired by the story of her extraordinary life.
Defend public media, defend @wbur.org. Our journalism is free, no paywalls.
Our federal funding is gone, but the news won’t stop coming.
We need you and we are grateful for you.
Donate: donate.wbur.org/secure/heart...
Our federal funding is gone, but the news won’t stop coming.
We need you and we are grateful for you.
Donate: donate.wbur.org/secure/heart...
September 25, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Defend public media, defend @wbur.org. Our journalism is free, no paywalls.
Our federal funding is gone, but the news won’t stop coming.
We need you and we are grateful for you.
Donate: donate.wbur.org/secure/heart...
Our federal funding is gone, but the news won’t stop coming.
We need you and we are grateful for you.
Donate: donate.wbur.org/secure/heart...
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Essay: Child psychologist Ellen Braaten often does media appearances, trying to reassure parents and kids in the wake of school shootings. She used to tell her audience that the adults in their lives do everything they can to keep them safe, but she doesn't say that anymore. We haven’t. We don’t.
The more I talk about gun violence, the less I have to say
Child psychologist Ellen Braaten wasn't an expert on gun violence when she received a call from a TV producer in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy. But I did know how to comfort and advise parents af...
www.wbur.org
September 19, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Essay: Child psychologist Ellen Braaten often does media appearances, trying to reassure parents and kids in the wake of school shootings. She used to tell her audience that the adults in their lives do everything they can to keep them safe, but she doesn't say that anymore. We haven’t. We don’t.
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
I do not know how to fix it, but I cannot say enough how much we in the news need to figure out how to handle the “flood the zone with shit” strategy.
September 14, 2025 at 8:03 PM
I do not know how to fix it, but I cannot say enough how much we in the news need to figure out how to handle the “flood the zone with shit” strategy.
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Healey's measures include requiring insurance carriers to cover vaccines that the state's public health department recommends and allowing pharmacies to administer the COVID-19 vaccine.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is first in U.S. to require insurers to pay for COVID vaccine
Healey's measures include requiring insurance carriers to cover vaccines that the state's public health department recommends and allowing pharmacies to administer the COVID-19 vaccine.
www.wbur.org
September 5, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Healey's measures include requiring insurance carriers to cover vaccines that the state's public health department recommends and allowing pharmacies to administer the COVID-19 vaccine.
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Steps away from the Capitol, victims of Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and sex offender, on Wednesday demanded that all people who received sexual favors through Epstein be identified. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
September 4, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Steps away from the Capitol, victims of Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and sex offender, on Wednesday demanded that all people who received sexual favors through Epstein be identified. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
+1. I say this every year
I can’t believe medicine hasn’t come up with a better way to do mammograms. That is some primitive shit right there.
September 3, 2025 at 10:02 PM
+1. I say this every year
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Essay: Kathy Gunst resisted tennis as a kid. Her parents were fanatics, and on principle, she decided the sport — and the country club — wasn't for her. Then she found the game again, on a public court, at 68.
I started playing tennis again. It's great, mostly
Kathy Gunst resisted tennis as a kid. Her parents were fanatics, and on principle, she decided the sport — and the country club — wasn't for her. Then she found the game again, on a public court, at 6...
www.wbur.org
August 28, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Essay: Kathy Gunst resisted tennis as a kid. Her parents were fanatics, and on principle, she decided the sport — and the country club — wasn't for her. Then she found the game again, on a public court, at 68.
Today's my kids' first day of school. It was these kids' third. Why do we choose to live like this over and over? We are the only country in the universe where this happens.
Live Updates: At Least 2 Killed and 17 Injured in Shooting at Minneapolis Catholic School www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08...
Live Updates: At Least 2 Killed and 17 Injured in Shooting at Minneapolis Catholic School www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08...
Live Updates: At Least 2 Killed and 17 Injured in Shooting at Minneapolis Catholic School
www.nytimes.com
August 27, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Today's my kids' first day of school. It was these kids' third. Why do we choose to live like this over and over? We are the only country in the universe where this happens.
Live Updates: At Least 2 Killed and 17 Injured in Shooting at Minneapolis Catholic School www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08...
Live Updates: At Least 2 Killed and 17 Injured in Shooting at Minneapolis Catholic School www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08...
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Commentary: While some organizations in Massachusetts work to simplify access to health care and solve for food insecurity, federal policy moves in the opposite direction, write Alister Martin and Annamarie Rapa.
New requirements make it harder for Americans who need help to get it
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act added work requirements and other administrative burdens for people seeking government benefits, write Alister Martin and Annamarie Rapp. These things sound reasonable i...
www.wbur.org
August 21, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Commentary: While some organizations in Massachusetts work to simplify access to health care and solve for food insecurity, federal policy moves in the opposite direction, write Alister Martin and Annamarie Rapa.
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
We should be clear-eyed about what is happening in our nation’s capital, writes Andrew Carleen. The Trump administration is exerting its will via the power ministries of the federal government. It is a dress rehearsal for things to come. spr.ly/63320f2l7C
Is the slide into autocracy supposed to feel so humdrum?
Trump is consolidating power over government entities with the authority to unleash violence. Such a brazen power grab would be one thing if the administration were more popular, writes Andrew Carleen, but this government is not comporting itself as though it fears the consequences of future elections.
spr.ly
August 26, 2025 at 3:53 PM
We should be clear-eyed about what is happening in our nation’s capital, writes Andrew Carleen. The Trump administration is exerting its will via the power ministries of the federal government. It is a dress rehearsal for things to come. spr.ly/63320f2l7C
I am not a Hulk Hogan person, but this is a total delight. www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...
August 4, 2025 at 5:09 PM
I am not a Hulk Hogan person, but this is a total delight. www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Essay: Bees, like people, need each other, writes Linda Button. Bees, like all of us, do best when they lean on each other’s strengths.
Bees, like people, need each other
When Linda Button's other half decided to become a beekeeper, he transformed their backyard. He cleared a space for the hives, lining it with rocks and building trellises with flowering vines to guide...
www.wbur.org
July 9, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Essay: Bees, like people, need each other, writes Linda Button. Bees, like all of us, do best when they lean on each other’s strengths.
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
ESSAY: "Stopping the fight against drug resistant TB today, even temporarily, will have irreversible, catastrophic effects in the long run — for generations to come," write KJ Seung and Kunda Kwabisha Mikanda. @wbur.org @pih.org @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...
Tuberculosis doesn't respect borders
Tuberculosis kills 1.3 million people each year, making it the deadliest infectious disease in the world, write KJ Seung and Kunda Kwabisha Mikanda. Eliminating U.S. funding to combat it around the gl...
www.wbur.org
June 24, 2025 at 6:14 PM
ESSAY: "Stopping the fight against drug resistant TB today, even temporarily, will have irreversible, catastrophic effects in the long run — for generations to come," write KJ Seung and Kunda Kwabisha Mikanda. @wbur.org @pih.org @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...
Wondering how the good and smart folks at The Daily made an entire episode about Trump and Iran, with no mention of the deal — negotiated by the Obama administration — that Trump shredded during his first term open.spotify.com/episode/3oK4...
Will the U.S. Join Israel’s War With Iran?
The Daily · Episode
open.spotify.com
June 19, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Wondering how the good and smart folks at The Daily made an entire episode about Trump and Iran, with no mention of the deal — negotiated by the Obama administration — that Trump shredded during his first term open.spotify.com/episode/3oK4...
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
Commentary: El Salvador’s past and present are deeply intertwined with U.S. policy, writes Iván Espinoza-Madrigal. To understand the roots of migration, you have to understand the country’s political, social and economic realities.
5 things to know about El Salvador
El Salvador has been in the headlines for weeks, primarily because of an agreement its president struck with the Trump administration to accept and detain deported migrants. But the country’s past and...
www.wbur.org
May 14, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Commentary: El Salvador’s past and present are deeply intertwined with U.S. policy, writes Iván Espinoza-Madrigal. To understand the roots of migration, you have to understand the country’s political, social and economic realities.
Reposted by Cloe Axelson
COMMENTARY: Like Project 2025, "Project Esther" is also a creation of the Heritage Foundation. “It's an exercise in cynicism by an administration eager to prey on people’s worst fears,” writes Anita Diamant.
‘Project Esther’ and Trump’s playbook against antisemitism
Many people believe President Trump is weaponizing antisemitism in his war against diversity, equity and inclusion. What many may not realize, however, is that his administration seems to be following...
www.wbur.org
May 5, 2025 at 11:05 AM
COMMENTARY: Like Project 2025, "Project Esther" is also a creation of the Heritage Foundation. “It's an exercise in cynicism by an administration eager to prey on people’s worst fears,” writes Anita Diamant.