ArtsThe real winners at the Oscars this yearThe Oscars this year reminded us that the glamorous trappings of Hollywood are stitched together out of very thin thread, writes Joanna Weiss. The real victors are the people who...Mar 11, 2024'Are you a gal or a mouse': Iris Apfel changed my sartorial lifeAnita Diamant never met fashion icon Iris Apfel in person, but she did spend an afternoon among the many delights of Apfel's storied closet at a Peabody Essex Museum exhibit...Mar 8, 2024I want my students to stand on their own two feet. But I also want them to understand joyI love anything that makes my students happy, but I also hold them accountable, says Shaumba-Yandje Dibinga, the founding creative director of OrigiNation Cultural Arts Center. It's not just tiptoeing...Feb 29, 2024Finding ‘the real thing’ with U2 at SphereI had no way of knowing that as The Edge strummed the arpeggios of “Where The Streets Have No Name,” I would experience something entirely new, writes Sara Schreur. And...Feb 2, 2024Why I'm teaching Taylor Swift at HarvardHer songs speak to my privilege, to my insecurities, to my wish for attention, to my hopes that everybody will love me for who I am, writes Stephanie Burt, a...Jan 22, 2024AdvertisementAt Boston Children’s Chorus, creating the world I want to live in: joy, love and ‘true colors’The value I've taken from my experience as a musician, and the confidence, skill and fluency of language I’ve built, it all makes me feel proud showing up exactly as...Jan 12, 2024Life lessons from Josh Groban, 365 days a yearWhile Josh Groban makes an appearance on radio waves and playlists every holiday season, Thuy Phan has been a fan year-round since she was 12. Josh’s insistence on being versatile,...Dec 20, 2023The soundtrack to our stories: The 2023 Cog PlaylistThirty of the essays we published on Cognoscenti in 2023 featured music: All in all, the names of nearly 60 singers, songwriters and bands appeared on our pages. So, we...Dec 13, 2023I still reach for Elliott Smith, 20 years after his deathMy 2023 concert calendar has been packed with reunion tours, but my favorite artist, Elliott Smith, died 20 years ago, writes Sara Schreur. His story has always been more than...Nov 9, 2023‘The show must go on’: 20 years of life lessons from QueenWhen Paula Moura was a teenager in Brazil, the music of Queen filled her house: the songs reminded our hearts of joy and filled them with courage, she writes. It’s...Nov 2, 2023Horror movies are like fine art — the best ones endureWhile some may see the horror genre as silly or low-brow schlock, jump scares shouting “boo!” writes Rich Barlow, they disregard the fact that strumming fear, like guitars, separates maestros...Oct 27, 2023‘Reservation Dogs’ reminded me that I carry my Native community with meWhen it comes to Native history, laughter makes as much of an impact as tears, writes Vanessa Lillie. “Reservation Dogs” reminded me, again and again, how community isn’t only good...Oct 5, 2023You can’t be a truth-teller when you deal in willful liesA recent New Yorker article documents how stand-up comic Hasan Minhaj has fabricated many of the searing, personal stories that make up his act. What matters in the realm of...Sep 21, 2023‘Everything will change’ — except the music we fall in love with when we’re youngSara Schreur discovered Death Cab for Cutie when she was 13 -- right when she needed them. Watching them perform the same album 20 years later, she writes, in the...Sep 14, 2023Don’t underestimate the kids who spend their summers in theater campWhen you’re a kid, or a teenager, it can often feel like adults aren’t taking you seriously. Theater camp wasn’t like that, writes Amy Sokolow. We all had jobs to...Aug 17, 2023My buzz cut is more than a shaved headWhile shaving my head began as an act of despair, it’s evolved into one of empowerment, writes Katie Bannon. It makes me feel seen. Aug 10, 2023My brain tumor and Shaun CassidyI adored Shaun Cassidy when I was younger, writes Stacey Curran. Decades later, after brain surgery, it made sense to finally see him.Aug 1, 2023I loved Sinéad for her wild courage and rageSinéad helped me understand myself at a time when it didn't feel safe to question my sexuality, writes Aimee Seiff Christian.Jul 28, 2023'Barbie' isn't about the matriarchy or the patriarchy. It’s about fantasy vs. realityConservative critics are missing the point, writes Alysia Abbott. The emotional conflict in Barbie isn't between men and women. It's between the life we imagined for ourselves as kids and...Jul 28, 2023We all contain multitudes. Even BarbieThere are toys that see us through stages of life, and there are people, writes Sara Shukla. Seeing "Barbie" with an old friend reminded her of all the different versions...Resume05:24Jul 27, 2023Next Page
The real winners at the Oscars this yearThe Oscars this year reminded us that the glamorous trappings of Hollywood are stitched together out of very thin thread, writes Joanna Weiss. The real victors are the people who...Mar 11, 2024
'Are you a gal or a mouse': Iris Apfel changed my sartorial lifeAnita Diamant never met fashion icon Iris Apfel in person, but she did spend an afternoon among the many delights of Apfel's storied closet at a Peabody Essex Museum exhibit...Mar 8, 2024
I want my students to stand on their own two feet. But I also want them to understand joyI love anything that makes my students happy, but I also hold them accountable, says Shaumba-Yandje Dibinga, the founding creative director of OrigiNation Cultural Arts Center. It's not just tiptoeing...Feb 29, 2024
Finding ‘the real thing’ with U2 at SphereI had no way of knowing that as The Edge strummed the arpeggios of “Where The Streets Have No Name,” I would experience something entirely new, writes Sara Schreur. And...Feb 2, 2024
Why I'm teaching Taylor Swift at HarvardHer songs speak to my privilege, to my insecurities, to my wish for attention, to my hopes that everybody will love me for who I am, writes Stephanie Burt, a...Jan 22, 2024
At Boston Children’s Chorus, creating the world I want to live in: joy, love and ‘true colors’The value I've taken from my experience as a musician, and the confidence, skill and fluency of language I’ve built, it all makes me feel proud showing up exactly as...Jan 12, 2024
Life lessons from Josh Groban, 365 days a yearWhile Josh Groban makes an appearance on radio waves and playlists every holiday season, Thuy Phan has been a fan year-round since she was 12. Josh’s insistence on being versatile,...Dec 20, 2023
The soundtrack to our stories: The 2023 Cog PlaylistThirty of the essays we published on Cognoscenti in 2023 featured music: All in all, the names of nearly 60 singers, songwriters and bands appeared on our pages. So, we...Dec 13, 2023
I still reach for Elliott Smith, 20 years after his deathMy 2023 concert calendar has been packed with reunion tours, but my favorite artist, Elliott Smith, died 20 years ago, writes Sara Schreur. His story has always been more than...Nov 9, 2023
‘The show must go on’: 20 years of life lessons from QueenWhen Paula Moura was a teenager in Brazil, the music of Queen filled her house: the songs reminded our hearts of joy and filled them with courage, she writes. It’s...Nov 2, 2023
Horror movies are like fine art — the best ones endureWhile some may see the horror genre as silly or low-brow schlock, jump scares shouting “boo!” writes Rich Barlow, they disregard the fact that strumming fear, like guitars, separates maestros...Oct 27, 2023
‘Reservation Dogs’ reminded me that I carry my Native community with meWhen it comes to Native history, laughter makes as much of an impact as tears, writes Vanessa Lillie. “Reservation Dogs” reminded me, again and again, how community isn’t only good...Oct 5, 2023
You can’t be a truth-teller when you deal in willful liesA recent New Yorker article documents how stand-up comic Hasan Minhaj has fabricated many of the searing, personal stories that make up his act. What matters in the realm of...Sep 21, 2023
‘Everything will change’ — except the music we fall in love with when we’re youngSara Schreur discovered Death Cab for Cutie when she was 13 -- right when she needed them. Watching them perform the same album 20 years later, she writes, in the...Sep 14, 2023
Don’t underestimate the kids who spend their summers in theater campWhen you’re a kid, or a teenager, it can often feel like adults aren’t taking you seriously. Theater camp wasn’t like that, writes Amy Sokolow. We all had jobs to...Aug 17, 2023
My buzz cut is more than a shaved headWhile shaving my head began as an act of despair, it’s evolved into one of empowerment, writes Katie Bannon. It makes me feel seen. Aug 10, 2023
My brain tumor and Shaun CassidyI adored Shaun Cassidy when I was younger, writes Stacey Curran. Decades later, after brain surgery, it made sense to finally see him.Aug 1, 2023
I loved Sinéad for her wild courage and rageSinéad helped me understand myself at a time when it didn't feel safe to question my sexuality, writes Aimee Seiff Christian.Jul 28, 2023
'Barbie' isn't about the matriarchy or the patriarchy. It’s about fantasy vs. realityConservative critics are missing the point, writes Alysia Abbott. The emotional conflict in Barbie isn't between men and women. It's between the life we imagined for ourselves as kids and...Jul 28, 2023
We all contain multitudes. Even BarbieThere are toys that see us through stages of life, and there are people, writes Sara Shukla. Seeing "Barbie" with an old friend reminded her of all the different versions...Resume05:24Jul 27, 2023