This is what dying feels like

Also: What the Jan. 6 hearings are really about [View in browser](    [❤️]( June 12, 2022 Dear Cog reader, Every so often we like to offer a peek behind Cog’s editorial curtain. How do we decide to run certain pieces and when? How do we commission essays? How do we determine where to spend our time as editors? There is no shortage of news to cover right now (or ever really). But usually on Fridays, we like to take a step back from the daily grind and publish essays that are more “evergreen.” Often, these essays speak to some universal experience. Or maybe they feature especially sharp and descriptive writing. Even if the material isn’t always fun, they're enjoyable to edit and produce, because they can be so personal. We have two such pieces this week. Anne Gardner writes about her encounter with Olympia Dukakis, who died about a year ago. Dukakis – the cousin of former Massachusetts governor and Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis – grew up in Somerville and Lowell (she graduated from Arlington High School and has two degrees from Boston University). Anne had the occasion to meet the actor about 10 years ago for a graduate school project about the evolution of feminism. I knew Dukakis from her starring roles in “Moonstruck” and “Steel Magnolias," but there's far more to it than that. Over her long career, she appeared in more than 60 films, 50 television series and 130 productions for the stage. In the essay, Anne shares moments from [their unlikely afternoon together]( as well as two beautiful photos of Dukakis’s hands: “I always thought people's hands were the best barometer of the kind of life they had led,” she writes. Grace Segran wrote an essay for us last fall about her [terminal cancer diagnosis](. This week, she’s back, with a courageous and heartfelt piece about her decision to stop treatment – and [enter hospice care](. As she describes, the cocktail of drugs her doctors prescribed left her feeling nauseous, exhausted and lifeless for months. “The decline was so swift my mind and body couldn’t keep up,” she writes. When a nurse suggested she consider transitioning to hospice care, she agreed on the spot. And now she waits – for the toxicity of the drugs to leave her system, and for the cancer to take hold. Working with authors like Grace on essays like this one is among the most challenging but rewarding parts of our job. We think it’s important to make space for these most human stories. Of course, we’re also paying careful attention to the [Jan. 6 committee hearings]( which started on Thursday night and resume Monday. Regular contributor Steve Almond urges the committee to go beyond simply reconstructing the events of Jan. 6. He writes that they must inspire action to stop on-going efforts to erode American democracy. P.S.— At Cognoscenti, it’s our job to bring you perspectives and thoughtful opinions from Boston’s community of deep thinkers. We’re able to do this work thanks to the generous support of WBUR’s members. Please join them! We’re on a mission to recruit 500 new monthly contributors by June 30 and your gift of $10 or $12 a month will make a big difference — to everyone who values Cog and this newsletter. Please consider [becoming a monthly contributor today](. Cloe Axelson Editor, Cognoscenti [Follow]( Support the news   Must Reads ['Night is now falling': This is what dying looks like]( About a year after her cancer diagnosis, Grace Segran decided to stop treating the disease. Her hope is to get back to the business of living -- for at a limited time at least, until the cancer takes over. [Read more.]( ['Night is now falling': This is what dying looks like]( About a year after her cancer diagnosis, Grace Segran decided to stop treating the disease. Her hope is to get back to the business of living -- for at a limited time at least, until the cancer takes over. [Read more.]( [What the Jan. 6 hearings are really about]( The central goal of the Jan. 6 hearings shouldn’t be limited to retelling the story of the insurrection. It should be to help voters recognize how fragile our democracy has become. [Read more.]( [What the Jan. 6 hearings are really about]( The central goal of the Jan. 6 hearings shouldn’t be limited to retelling the story of the insurrection. It should be to help voters recognize how fragile our democracy has become. [Read more.]( [My time with Olympia Dukakis, the lioness of Lowell]( The actor’s Massachusetts childhood gave root to her candor, her feistiness, her political bent, her sexual mores and her strident disapproval of the sins of patriarchy, writes Anne Gardner. Dukakis died last year. [Read more.]( [My time with Olympia Dukakis, the lioness of Lowell]( The actor’s Massachusetts childhood gave root to her candor, her feistiness, her political bent, her sexual mores and her strident disapproval of the sins of patriarchy, writes Anne Gardner. Dukakis died last year. [Read more.]( [Let's forgive student debt, but only for the hardest-luck borrowers]( President Biden shouldn't listen to those who push for greater student loan forgiveness, writes Rich Barlow. [Read more.]( [Let's forgive student debt, but only for the hardest-luck borrowers]( President Biden shouldn't listen to those who push for greater student loan forgiveness, writes Rich Barlow. [Read more.]( [Oh Celtics, take me to the promised land]( This year's Celtics have been a revelation, writes Glenn Rifkin. I watch Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown with the same expectations I had for Bird and Havlicek and Garnett. [Read more.]( [Oh Celtics, take me to the promised land]( This year's Celtics have been a revelation, writes Glenn Rifkin. I watch Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown with the same expectations I had for Bird and Havlicek and Garnett. [Read more.]( What We're Reading "We were learning that pain and love could coexist. We weren’t risking our hearts, we were expanding them." "[Our daughter had a year left to live. We had to do something wonderful with the time she had left.]( The Boston Globe. "Most mass shootings are related to domestic violence." "[Ending the Breeding Ground of Violence]( Newsweek. "It was a very expensive but very effective form of therapy." "[I ran for office full of anger and despair. I felt hope when I dropped out.]( The Washington Post. "The central goal of the hearings ... should be to step back and help your average voter recognize how fragile our democracy has become." — Steve Almond, "[What the Jan. 6 hearings are really about]( ICYMI [States took Big Tobacco to court and won. Can they now beat Big Oil?]( Some 50 years of legal challenges against the tobacco industry demonstrate that products previously unquestioned can become stigmatized and, to a degree, marginalized. Will a similar approach work against fossil fuels? [Read more.]( [States took Big Tobacco to court and won. Can they now beat Big Oil?]( Some 50 years of legal challenges against the tobacco industry demonstrate that products previously unquestioned can become stigmatized and, to a degree, marginalized. Will a similar approach work against fossil fuels? [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.