5 working moms learn rock 'n' roll 🎸

Also: A letter from Sweden [View in browser](    [❤️]( October 30, 2022 Dear Cog reader, During the pandemic, some people took up knitting, lots of people started baking bread and many of us mastered the art of Zoom board game nights (especially in those early days of strict social distancing). Joanna Weiss and her friends did all that, and then some. In the summer of 2021, still knocked out of their normal routines and reminded of life’s fragility, they decided to start a rock band. They called themselves “The Lazy Susans” because they wanted to take turns at the microphone. Their first live performance was at Milton Porchfest in September 2021, and things have only picked up from there — a long piece in Boston Magazine, an appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (during “Rad Moms Week”), interest from movie producers. [Joanna chronicles that wild trip in her essay]( radio piece this week (and during [an appearance on]( Boston](. It’s a delightful story about rock 'n' roll and working motherhood and enduring friendship. The Lazy Susans also helped us celebrate Cog’s 10th birthday at an event Tuesday evening at CitySpace. The band was one of five featured Cognoscenti contributors who shared their stories from the stage. We heard about “Blackness,” enduring love, the power of vulnerability and how “winning” is more complicated than numbers on a score sheet. It was an extraordinary night, a celebration of the diverse and welcoming community of writers Cog has fostered in the last decade. In other news, Election Day is unbelievably less than two weeks away. Make time this weekend to read Julie Lindahl’s [letter from Sweden]( where the far-right — the Sweden Democrats — has gained political power in recent years, and is now the country’s second-largest party. Julie’s name may be familiar to you: Her grandfather was a SS officer in Hitler’s Germany, and she’s shared with Cog [her journey]( of trying to understand how her family members, among millions of other Germans, “could have become part of a political force that eventually ushered fascists into the ‘fine room’ of German politics.” Lindahl has been thinking about how interconnected we have become, and how the global far-right ecosystem has been nourished by disinformation. "In today’s world, more than ever," she writes, "what happens in Sweden matters in America and vice versa." Thank you for reading, Cloe Axelson Editor, Cognoscenti [Follow]( Support the news   Must Reads [‘Five moms gone electric’: The Lazy Susans will rock you]( We’d been part of these crowds for years, writes Joanna Weiss. But this time, we were the ones getting ready to step on the porch and play: five suburban moms — gone electric. [Read more.]( [‘Five moms gone electric’: The Lazy Susans will rock you]( We’d been part of these crowds for years, writes Joanna Weiss. But this time, we were the ones getting ready to step on the porch and play: five suburban moms — gone electric. [Read more.]( [A letter from Sweden: The far right is shifting public norms]( What happens in Sweden matters in America and vice versa, writes Julie Lindahl in this reflection on the reemergence of the far right in Europe -- and lessons for the U.S. midterm elections. [Read more.]( [A letter from Sweden: The far right is shifting public norms]( What happens in Sweden matters in America and vice versa, writes Julie Lindahl in this reflection on the reemergence of the far right in Europe -- and lessons for the U.S. midterm elections. [Read more.]( [Cancer haunted my family for generations, until I found a way to leave my fear behind]( After finishing her treatment for stage III/IV Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Kathy Gunst wanted to get back to living. She had some bigger healing to do first. [Read more.]( [Cancer haunted my family for generations, until I found a way to leave my fear behind]( After finishing her treatment for stage III/IV Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Kathy Gunst wanted to get back to living. She had some bigger healing to do first. [Read more.]( [The world is burning. Our politics are broken. And we still need to vote]( In building a new society, young voters cannot afford to entirely turn their backs on the existing one, writes Julie Wittes Schlack. [Read more.]( [The world is burning. Our politics are broken. And we still need to vote]( In building a new society, young voters cannot afford to entirely turn their backs on the existing one, writes Julie Wittes Schlack. [Read more.]( [The sorry state of voting rights in America]( As the midterm elections approach, restrictive new laws could destabilize our democracy by disenfranchising eligible voters, writes Jamie Hoag. [Read more.]( [The sorry state of voting rights in America]( As the midterm elections approach, restrictive new laws could destabilize our democracy by disenfranchising eligible voters, writes Jamie Hoag. [Read more.]( What We're Reading "It is a perverse reality that the nations positioned to manage best, adapting most successfully to their new ecosystems, are likely to be the same nations responsible for most of the world’s carbon output." [The New World: Envisioning Life After Climate Change]( The New York Times. "For the youngest people with cancer, achieving remission is a major milestone to be celebrated, but it isn’t the end of their health problems; it’s often the beginning of a new journey." "[Kids with cancer deserve more than a cure]( STAT. "With 2024 groping closer and Republican hopefuls shaping their preliminary campaigns in Trump’s image, the time to try to stop family separation from happening again may soon run out." "[Congress Can’t Even Do This One Thing]( The Atlantic. "The rock gods care about attitude, not perfection." — Joanna Weiss, [‘Five moms gone electric’: The Lazy Susans will rock you]( ICYMI [It's election season. The newspaper endorsement should endure]( Yes, it's risky for newspapers to take a stand, writes Renee Loth. But newspapers must be more than traffic cops, waving around opinions regardless of their relevance or truth. [Read more.]( [It's election season. The newspaper endorsement should endure]( Yes, it's risky for newspapers to take a stand, writes Renee Loth. But newspapers must be more than traffic cops, waving around opinions regardless of their relevance or truth. [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.