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."
Good news. I only wish my own suburban school district would follow: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/01/n...
New York City Bans A.I. in Elementary and Middle Schools
A new policy announced by the Department of Education bars younger students from using artificial intelligence, but stops short of a moratorium.
nytimes.com
"As an aspiring female journalist, I saw Gloria Steinem point the way," writes Pulitzer winner Eileen McNamara. "I didn’t have to write for 'the women’s pages.' I could ask out loud why there even was such a section in the newspaper!" wbur.fm/4xCiTMW
Gloria Steinem pointed the way
"As an aspiring female journalist, I saw Gloria Steinem point the way," writes Pulitzer winner Eileen McNamara. "I didn’t have to write for 'the women’s pages.' I could ask out loud why there even was such a section in the newspaper!"
wbur.fm
Reading posts on X from Alpha School students (they are promoted on the Alpha account so seem to be real). This one seems particularly sad: "optimizing" paper writing by figuring out how to prompt for "solid thesis options" to finish before lunch. Why bother doing at all if not doing the thinking?
While they are conducting their research, I know some great people who could take an additional $10 million and figure out how to design some really wonderful writing assignments for students to complete without AI so that we can compare. Let us know if you know of any funders!
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · last wk.“…the WRITE AI Center will lead a national effort to answer one of higher education’s most urgent questions: How can AI improve student learning while ensuring students continue to develop the writing, critical thinking and communication skills essential for success?”
ESSAY: "Dolly taught me that loving makeup and clothes and shoes and jewelry was okay — that I could be smart and creative and like the color pink," writes Heather Hach. "Being a buxom blonde and having writing chops aren't mutually exclusive.” wbur.fm/3UmCxxR
Dolly taught me how to be myself
"Dolly taught me that loving makeup and clothes and shoes and jewelry was okay — that I could be smart and creative and like the color pink," writes Heather Hach. "Being a buxom blonde and having writing chops aren't mutually exclusive."
wbur.fm
I had a great time talking with @annhandley.bsky.social @cloeax.bsky.social and @sashastiles.bsky.social at the @wbur.org festival about AI /creativity. The transcript of our chat is now posted and here's something I said that is central to how I've been thinking about AI /1
Y'all this is cool! I got to ask @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social and @faithsalie.bsky.social a few questions about their new podcast, "You Could Make This Beautiful" for @cogwbur.bsky.social's newsletter. These supernovas are fun + smart. The show is a delight. Read: www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...
'You Could Make This Beautiful’: A Q&A with Maggie Smith and Faith Salie
Poet Maggie Smith and journalist Faith Salie have a new three-episode podcast series, “You Could Make This Beautiful,” produced by WBUR. In an interview with Cog editor Cloe Axelson, Smith said: "The ...
wbur.org
ESSAY: "August is a long, frenzied farewell to summer — a month I pack so full of fun and life, that I’ll be ready to collapse by the end of it." wbur.fm/4wapWer
August to the maximus
August really is grand, writes Cog senior editor Cloe Axelson. It's 31 days of peak summer -- tomatoes, beach days, novels, baseball games, shooting stars, road trips, as much corn on the cob as a belly can fit.
wbur.fm
Was so happy to be part of this @wbur.org festival conversation with @annhandley.bsky.social @sashastiles.bsky.social and @cloeax.bsky.social www.wbur.org/the-wbur-fes...
Spark or slowdown?: Creativity in the age of AI
Does our increased use of AI amplify human imagination, or risk dulling our capacity for original thought?
wbur.org
Hi! Did you know @cogwbur.bsky.social has a weekly newsletter? Comes out Sunday mornings. Includes an original essay by one of the editors and links to all our must-reads of the week. Sign up! www.wbur.org/opinion/sect...
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Stories to remind you we’re all part of something bigger.
wbur.org
Commentary: "It seems it’s only a matter of time before U.S. soldiers are deployed against the American people," writes Navy veteran Andrew Carleen. "When that moment comes, I wonder what kind of moral courage will we see from uniformed leadership?"
We need our military leaders to show their moral courage
"It seems it’s only a matter of time before U.S. soldiers are deployed against the American people," writes Navy veteran Andrew Carleen. "When that moment comes, I wonder what kind of moral courage wi...
wbur.org
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...
wbur.org
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...
wbur.org
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...
wbur.org
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
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.
wbur.org
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...
wbur.org
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...
wbur.org
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...
wbur.org
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...
wbur.org
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...
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...
wbur.org
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.
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.
wbur.org
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...
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...
wbur.org
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
nytimes.com
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...
wbur.org
