The Ukraine dream

Also: What I want people to know about Paul Farmer [View in browser](    [❤️]( February 27, 2022 Dear Cog reader, This week gave me whiplash. On Monday, we learned of the untimely death of Dr. Paul Farmer, a global health icon. On Wednesday, the temperature in Boston hit 70 degrees (yet as I write this, it’s snowing at a rate of 2 inches per hour). On Thursday, Russian invaded Ukraine, broadcast for all the world to see. And on Friday, President Biden announced his nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. With all that news, we want to point you to three pieces in particular: - Harvard scholar Oleh Kotsyuba writes about the situation in his native Ukraine through the lens of literature. "For Putin and his authoritarian regime, the will of my family and friends, and [their right for self-determination as a people]( do not exist...,” he writes. - Fred Hewett makes the case that Russian aggression is as much about oil as anything else. And he argues that [Big Oil is wasting no time exploiting the current crisis]( for lasting effect. - And finally, Jim Ansara, who founded Shawmut Design & Construction, wrote a remembrance of his dear friend and colleague, Paul Farmer. His essay chronicles the effort to build a state-of-the-art teaching hospital after the 2010 earthquake in Mirebalais, in Haiti’s central plateau. “Paul’s directive to us was to go design and build the biggest and best hospital possible, as quickly as we could,” he [writes](. “He told us to ignore budgets, he would find the funding.” It’s quite the story. We’ll have a more comprehensive round up of reflections on Farmer’s life and legacy next week. P.S.– Are you over winter? WBUR is launching a new pop-up newsletter, [The Pick Me Up]( to help you get through the month of March — as well as your weekday afternoons. We’ll send you one thing each weekday afternoon that is bringing us joy. It could be a story, photo or a funny tweet. [Sign up here!]( Cloe Axelson Editor, Cognoscenti [Follow]( Support the news   Must Reads [What I want people to know about Paul Farmer]( There will be more great physicians and scholars in global health. There will be other teachers and visionaries. But there will never be another Paul Farmer, writes Jim Ansara. [Read more.]( [What I want people to know about Paul Farmer]( There will be more great physicians and scholars in global health. There will be other teachers and visionaries. But there will never be another Paul Farmer, writes Jim Ansara. [Read more.]( [The Ukrainian dream, and how Russian aggression helped solidify it]( As a scholar, Oleh Kotsyuba studies the ways literature communicates meaning that is hard to grasp otherwise. Now, in the face of a Russian offensive in his native Ukraine, he is revisiting some classic texts. [Read more.]( [The Ukrainian dream, and how Russian aggression helped solidify it]( As a scholar, Oleh Kotsyuba studies the ways literature communicates meaning that is hard to grasp otherwise. Now, in the face of a Russian offensive in his native Ukraine, he is revisiting some classic texts. [Read more.]( [What if a nation's energy reserves had no bearing on its geopolitical power?]( Will the conflict in Ukraine finally underscore the advantages of moving away from energy sources that are vulnerable to geopolitical disturbances? [Read more.]( [What if a nation's energy reserves had no bearing on its geopolitical power?]( Will the conflict in Ukraine finally underscore the advantages of moving away from energy sources that are vulnerable to geopolitical disturbances? [Read more.]( [College may look different for your pandemic-era kid. That's OK]( Ellen O'Donnell is familiar with college-related anxiety in her job as a pediatric psychologist. But now her own son is applying to schools, two years into the pandemic. If we’re honest with ourselves, she writes, we don’t know any more or less about what the future holds for our kids than we ever did. [Read more.]( [College may look different for your pandemic-era kid. That's OK]( Ellen O'Donnell is familiar with college-related anxiety in her job as a pediatric psychologist. But now her own son is applying to schools, two years into the pandemic. If we’re honest with ourselves, she writes, we don’t know any more or less about what the future holds for our kids than we ever did. [Read more.]( [MIT’s investment in fossil fuels is wrong. We also think it's illegal]( MIT refuses to use its power — including control of its $27.4 billion endowment — for climate action, write Owen Leddy and Ellie Rabenold. [Read more.]( [MIT’s investment in fossil fuels is wrong. We also think it's illegal]( MIT refuses to use its power — including control of its $27.4 billion endowment — for climate action, write Owen Leddy and Ellie Rabenold. [Read more.]( What We're Reading "The war, not yet a day old, seems sure to transform Biden’s Presidency. In many ways, it already has." "[In Washington, a Ukraine Tragedy Foretold]( The New Yorker "For tens of millions of knowledge-economy workers, the office is never coming all the way back. The implications — for work, cities, and the geography of labor — will be fascinating." "[The Five-Day Work Week Is Dying]( The Atlantic "I find it hard to imagine a world without him in it, especially in this moment when cynicism and cupidity seem to have become cardinal virtues, and compassion and decency are deemed a sucker’s pursuit. " "[He Wanted to Make the Whole World His Patient]( New York Times "If we’re honest with ourselves, we don’t know any more or less about what the future holds for our kids than we ever did." — Ellen H. O'Donnell, "College may look different for your pandemic-era kid. That's OK" ICYMI [Understanding (and taming) your COVID anger]( Two years into the pandemic, exhaustion, cognitive overload and perceived injustice have combined to make people very, very angry. Dr. Molly Colvin explains what’s happening in our brains. [Read more.]( [Understanding (and taming) your COVID anger]( Two years into the pandemic, exhaustion, cognitive overload and perceived injustice have combined to make people very, very angry. Dr. Molly Colvin explains what’s happening in our brains. [Read more.]( If you’d like to write for Cognoscenti, send your submission, pasted into your email and not as an attachment, to opinion@wbur.org. Please tell us in one line what the piece is about, and please tell us in one line who you are. 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news     Want to change how you receive these emails? Stop getting this newsletter by [updating your preferences.](  I don't want to hear from WBUR anymore. Unsubscribe from all WBUR editorial newsletters [here.](  Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? [Click here.]( Copyright © 2022 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved.