"We all have to do this work"

Also: I’m a Russian in the diaspora. None of us can be complacent [View in browser](    [❤️]( February 26, 2023 Dear Cog reader, I can so clearly recall this week last year. To me, it felt like the whole world was coming undone. First, Dr. Paul Farmer died, unexpectedly, in Rwanda. Then, a few days later, Russia invaded Ukraine, starting a brutal war that has since killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and disrupted the world order. This week, we revisit both stories. Anastasya Partan was born in Russia. She lived with her family in Moscow as a child. Now, as an adult, she is “turbulently furious” with the country of her birth for “destroying the country of her ancestors.” Asya’s great-grandmother was born on a Ukrainian estate seized by the Bolsheviks. The [piece]( through a narrow aperture — a trip to a local Russian grocery store gone horribly wrong — before widening into a reflection on what it means to be Russian, fatalism and the responsibility we all share to keep paying attention. Many of you may be familiar with Dr. Paul Farmer. The primary of subject of Tracy Kidder's "Mountains Beyond Mountains," he was a co-founder of the Boston-based nonprofit Partners In Health (PIH) and a medical anthropologist affiliated with Harvard for nearly 40 years. When Farmer died last year, Cog produced a [piece memorializing his life]( in the words of his colleagues and friends. To mark the first anniversary of his death, [I talked with 10 of Farmer’s friends and colleagues](. I wanted to understand how they’d moved on after losing someone so important. Their answers were honest about how difficult it’s been, but also hopeful. Ophelia Dahl, one of his oldest friends, told me that she thought Paul knew he wouldn’t have a long life, but that he was “full of beans” about the future. When working on a project like this, there’s inevitably a massive amount of material I can’t include in the final version. Here’s one anecdote that didn’t make it from Ishaan Desai, Farmer’s research assistant for seven years. He told me how Paul spent the final weeks of his life caring for patients and teaching students in Rwanda. He was, by his own account, the happiest he’d been in a long time. They’d begin at Butaro District Hospital, a short drive across the valley from the University of Global Health Equity (a PIH initiative), where they were spending most of their time. Ishaan explained that even though Paul had a lot going on — many sick patients to care for, ongoing commitments at Harvard, a grueling schedule — on those car rides to and fro, Paul almost always put Nina Simone on the radio and sang along. She was one of his favorite artists. It’s an extraordinary image, and one that showcases his ability to find moments of joy even amidst the most dispiriting of circumstances. As the universe would have it, Nina Simone would’ve been 90 this year on Feb. 21, the anniversary of his death. Listen for her at the end of the radio version of the piece. Until soon, P.S.— WBUR has a new and improved app! It’s got our livestream and podcasts all in one place. iPhone and iPad users: You can update your existing WBUR App or download the new version [here](. Android users, go [here](. Cloe Axelson Senior Editor, Cognoscenti [Follow]( Support the news   Must Reads [‘We all have to do this work’: Paul Farmer’s greatest legacy is the people he left behind]( Dr. Paul Farmer, a co-founder of Partners In Health and a medical anthropologist affiliated with Harvard University, died, unexpectedly, on February 21, 2022. A year after his death, 10 of his colleagues and friends share what they miss and what lessons they hope to carry forward. [Read more.]( [‘We all have to do this work’: Paul Farmer’s greatest legacy is the people he left behind]( Dr. Paul Farmer, a co-founder of Partners In Health and a medical anthropologist affiliated with Harvard University, died, unexpectedly, on February 21, 2022. A year after his death, 10 of his colleagues and friends share what they miss and what lessons they hope to carry forward. [Read more.]( [I’m a Russian in the diaspora. None of us can be complacent]( I am a Russian-born person “turbulently infuriated” with my birth country, writes Anastasya Partan. A recent experience at a local Russian food store only exacerbated her sense of shame for Russia, especially since the war in Ukraine began. [Read more.]( [I’m a Russian in the diaspora. None of us can be complacent]( I am a Russian-born person “turbulently infuriated” with my birth country, writes Anastasya Partan. A recent experience at a local Russian food store only exacerbated her sense of shame for Russia, especially since the war in Ukraine began. [Read more.]( [Words matter. Choose carefully]( Words carry a lot of power, writes Layla Schlack. We should treat them with nuance and critical thought. [Read more.]( [Words matter. Choose carefully]( Words carry a lot of power, writes Layla Schlack. We should treat them with nuance and critical thought. [Read more.]( [Raquel Welch and me]( Raquel Welch didn't fully embrace her Bolivian heritage until the early 2000s, some 40 years into her career. But in the end, Raquel and I found our roots, and would never forget them, writes Judy Bolton-Fasman. [Read more.]( [Raquel Welch and me]( Raquel Welch didn't fully embrace her Bolivian heritage until the early 2000s, some 40 years into her career. But in the end, Raquel and I found our roots, and would never forget them, writes Judy Bolton-Fasman. [Read more.]( [Lincoln struggled with depression. What we can learn from it today]( This Presidents Day arrives amid a pandemic of deteriorating mental health among young people, writes Rich Barlow. Lincoln’s coping strategies offer a light in the dark of fear and sorrow. [Read more.]( [Lincoln struggled with depression. What we can learn from it today]( This Presidents Day arrives amid a pandemic of deteriorating mental health among young people, writes Rich Barlow. Lincoln’s coping strategies offer a light in the dark of fear and sorrow. [Read more.]( What We're Reading "The gulf between how old we are and how old we believe ourselves to be can often be measured in light-years — or at least a goodly number of old-fashioned Earth ones." [The Puzzling Gap Between How Old You Are and How Old You Think You Are]( The Atlantic. "For years I was convinced that love and force of will would bring Shea back to us. As an endurance runner, I was used to pushing through pain. The more torrential storms, blizzards, and bitter temps, the better. But those lessons were useless, irrelevant." "[Running With Hank]( Runner's World. "In the age of swiping and tapping your way to a bespoke pizza order in seconds, you want me to call a phone number and tell some complete stranger who I am, where I live, and what I want to eat?" "[The illusion of a frictionless existence]( The Boston Globe. "[Paul] was funny and he'd get irritated and he would let us be those things. It means that there is not this perfect person out there that has to do this work; we all have to do this work." — Monika Kalra Varma, "[‘We all have to do this work’: Paul Farmer’s greatest legacy is the people he left behind]( ICYMI [I've outlived four dogs. But I can't imagine life without them]( Dogs show us what it means to be fully present, writes Anita Diamant. Walking with Toby, I noticed birdsong, and took deeper breaths. [Read more.]( [I've outlived four dogs. But I can't imagine life without them]( Dogs show us what it means to be fully present, writes Anita Diamant. Walking with Toby, I noticed birdsong, and took deeper breaths. [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. 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