Florida is banning the thing that helped kids like me

Also: Three perspectives on "The Slap" [View in browser](    [❤️]( April 3, 2022 Dear Cog reader, Whether or not you watched the Oscars last Sunday, it was impossible to avoid exhaustive analysis of Will Smith’s open-handed slap of Chris Rock. Cog was no exception. And while hot takes abound, I like to think the essays we presented offered some unique perspectives. Arielle Gray [wrote]( that the debate about whether Smith was somehow “right” or “wrong” was irrelevant — and entirely glosses over the inherent hypocrisy of the response. Lauren Daley [said]( the whole debacle revealed more about us, as a society, than anything else. And John J. Winters [argued]( that if Smith really wants to be a “light” and a “vessel” for good, he missed the mark in dramatic fashion. Also this week, new Cog contributor Jason Prokowiew [wondered]( how he would have fared as a child under Florida’s new so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill: "What would have happened if a teacher like Ms. Notaro, fearing a lawsuit, ignored my cry for help? How much further would the weeds of my depression have stretched?" And finally, we’re still looking for Marathon stories! We’re especially interested in talking to people who are running this year's race to honor a loved one lost to COVID. Is that you? Or someone you know? Please get in touch by responding to this email. Frannie Carr Toth Editor, Cognoscenti [Follow]( Support the news   Must Reads [Whether Will Smith was right or wrong is irrelevant]( I don’t think anyone is saying Smith’s slap was some liberatory gesture, writes Arielle Gray. But this preoccupation with positioning “violence” as bad and “non-violence” as somehow morally superior isn’t new. [Read more.]( [Whether Will Smith was right or wrong is irrelevant]( I don’t think anyone is saying Smith’s slap was some liberatory gesture, writes Arielle Gray. But this preoccupation with positioning “violence” as bad and “non-violence” as somehow morally superior isn’t new. [Read more.]( ['The Godfather' made Mario Puzo famous. But his best work is about about a woman like my 'Ma']( I thought Puzo didn't understand women, writes Marianne Leone. Then I read "The Fortunate Pilgrim" and it helped me better appreciate my own Italian mother. [Read more.]( ['The Godfather' made Mario Puzo famous. But his best work is about about a woman like my 'Ma']( I thought Puzo didn't understand women, writes Marianne Leone. Then I read "The Fortunate Pilgrim" and it helped me better appreciate my own Italian mother. [Read more.]( [Florida is outlawing the one thing that helped gay kids like me]( Florida's governor says parents, not teachers, should talk about sexual orientation, writes Jason Prokowiew. But who will the kids who grew up like me talk to? [Read more.]( [Florida is outlawing the one thing that helped gay kids like me]( Florida's governor says parents, not teachers, should talk about sexual orientation, writes Jason Prokowiew. But who will the kids who grew up like me talk to? [Read more.]( [Commentary: The awful truth about The Slap]( Vacuous gossip sure does feel better than dealing with real problems, writes Lauren Daley. [Read more.]( [Commentary: The awful truth about The Slap]( Vacuous gossip sure does feel better than dealing with real problems, writes Lauren Daley. [Read more.]( [Sexual abuse ruined my life. Then I worked with sex offenders]( I was stunned by what the men said about their crimes, writes Joy von Steiger. [Read more.]( [Sexual abuse ruined my life. Then I worked with sex offenders]( I was stunned by what the men said about their crimes, writes Joy von Steiger. [Read more.]( What We're Reading "Other people are all that we have left. I don’t want righteous alienation for my young son and my niece. I want community." "[I’m Tired of Judging Other People’s Covid Choices]( The New York Times. "Pavlo texts me almost every day, but he doesn’t say much. It is what he keeps from me that worries me." "[My fiance is joining the front line in Ukraine]( The Washington Post. "The pandemic loosened ties between people ... Sociologists think all of this isolation shifted the way we behave." "[Why People Are Acting So Weird]( The Atlantic. "This preoccupation with positioning 'violence' as bad and 'non-violence' as somehow morally superior isn’t new." — Gray, "[Whether Will Smith was right or wrong is irrelevant]( ICYMI [Mitt Romney's latest provocation]( Mitt Romney voted to impeach President Trump, twice. Now he's withholding his endorsement of fellow Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee. His decisions to put country over party are infuriating Republicans, writes Rich Barlow. [Read more.]( [Mitt Romney's latest provocation]( Mitt Romney voted to impeach President Trump, twice. Now he's withholding his endorsement of fellow Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee. His decisions to put country over party are infuriating Republicans, writes Rich Barlow. [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? 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