I thought re-learning the flute would be fun

Also: What Norman Lear got right — and wrong [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  December 10, 2023 Dear Cog reader, When I emailed Theresa Okokon in September to see if she’d be willing to write about her adventure in re-learning to play the flute, I just thought it would make for a fun piece. I’d been following her journey on Instagram. We’re about the same age, and her amateur flute renditions of ‘90s classics (think “No Rain,” “[Smells Like Teen Spirit]( and “Under the Bridge”) made me giggle. I admired her for being so vulnerable with her art; it reminded that some things are worth doing for the sole purpose of being fun. When she replied to say she was game, I was so happy. But between the time she agreed to write [the essay]( – and actually wrote the piece – Hamas attacked Israel, and set off a war. Theresa was well on her way to learning“Tomorrow” from “Annie,” an Okokon family favorite, on Oct. 7. But then, what began as a fun, carefree and sort of hilarious exercise, turned into something much more serious. The flute and Gaza became inextricably linked in her mind. Like many other Americans, Theresa felt compelled to learn more about Hamas’ terrorism and Israel’s policies towards the Palestinian territories. She wrestled with her own ignorance about the Middle East (and the U.S. government's policies in the region). She felt the pressure to say something publicly, but didn't trust that she could accurately translate what she felt in her heart to an Instagram post. She saw parallels between her own lived experience as a Black American and the war. "I was paralyzed," she writes. "Worried about lacking nuance, and genuinely fearful that I might say something offensive." I love [this piece]( because of how relatable her complicated and messy her emotions feel. The situation in Gaza has been dominating headlines for two months. But the vast majority of us are watching from afar, attempting to metabolize the horrors of war as conveyed in news reports and Instagram missives, as we go about our daily lives. It’s a modern conundrum – vast access to information, in combination with the social pressure to broadcast our opinions. Theresa’s sensation of bewilderment about the war, and the flute, and hope and her own activism, feels like it might be true for many people. I’ll be celebrating Christmas later this month, but Thursday marked the first night of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. As my WBUR colleague [Simón Rios]( [reported]( earlier this week, the holiday arrives at a fraught time, amid war and rising antisemitism. It’s got me thinking about lyrics from Leonard Cohen's song, “Anthem”: “Ring the bells that still can ring / Forget your perfect offering / There is a crack, a crack in everything / That's how the light gets in.” Wishing you peace and light this weekend, Cloe Axelson Senior Editor, Cognoscenti [Follow]( Support the news   Must Reads [I thought re-learning the flute would be fun. It turned out to be much more]( Theresa Okokon first learned to play the flute in 7th grade. When she picked it back up this year, she was just having fun — sending videos to family, posting on social media. Then the war between Israel and Hamas began, and playing new songs took on a deeper meaning. [Read more.]( [I thought re-learning the flute would be fun. It turned out to be much more]( Theresa Okokon first learned to play the flute in 7th grade. When she picked it back up this year, she was just having fun — sending videos to family, posting on social media. Then the war between Israel and Hamas began, and playing new songs took on a deeper meaning. [Read more.]( [Norman Lear made people talk]( Legendary television writer and producer Norman Lear died this week, at 101. What makes his legacy so extraordinary, writes Alastair Moock, is the complexity and nuance of what he created, in a medium that, until he came along, demonstrated precious little of either. [Read more.]( [Norman Lear made people talk]( Legendary television writer and producer Norman Lear died this week, at 101. What makes his legacy so extraordinary, writes Alastair Moock, is the complexity and nuance of what he created, in a medium that, until he came along, demonstrated precious little of either. [Read more.]( ['The climate crisis is an issue of the soul']( This year for the first time, there is a Faith Pavilion at the U.N. Climate Change Conference known as COP. It’s a long-overdue recognition that faith communities represent a powerful constituency that can help confront the climate crisis, writes Rabbi Laura Bellows. [Read more.]( ['The climate crisis is an issue of the soul']( This year for the first time, there is a Faith Pavilion at the U.N. Climate Change Conference known as COP. It’s a long-overdue recognition that faith communities represent a powerful constituency that can help confront the climate crisis, writes Rabbi Laura Bellows. [Read more.]( [OpenAI is a threat to labor, but its employees staged one of the most successful collective actions in tech]( The company’s employees demanded that the board reinstate Sam Altman as CEO and won, writes Ethan Marcotte. Whatever reservations you might have about artificial intelligence, it’s still okay to applaud this display of tech worker power. [Read more.]( [OpenAI is a threat to labor, but its employees staged one of the most successful collective actions in tech]( The company’s employees demanded that the board reinstate Sam Altman as CEO and won, writes Ethan Marcotte. Whatever reservations you might have about artificial intelligence, it’s still okay to applaud this display of tech worker power. [Read more.]( [Electric vehicles are caught up in the culture wars, but the climate doesn’t care how you vote]( Electric vehicles have become a significant marker of political identity, and Donald Trump’s narrative aims to exploit the pronounced red-blue divide in attitudes toward EVs, writes Frederick Hewett. But the shift to electric vehicles is inevitable — and important. [Read more.]( [Electric vehicles are caught up in the culture wars, but the climate doesn’t care how you vote]( Electric vehicles have become a significant marker of political identity, and Donald Trump’s narrative aims to exploit the pronounced red-blue divide in attitudes toward EVs, writes Frederick Hewett. But the shift to electric vehicles is inevitable — and important. [Read more.]( What We're Reading "We’ll celebrate as a necessity and as a foil against isolationism. We’ll gather as conflicted souls and also as a force countering hatred." "[This Hanukkah, Light the Candles]( The New York Times. "Trump’s dictatorial tendencies and open disdain for the Constitution can become his greatest vulnerabilities — they might be his only vulnerabilities — if sufficiently highlighted for the American voter, and he and his advisers likely know it." "[The Trump dictatorship: How to stop it]( The Washington Post. "Today, the fate of most every plant and animal on Earth is in our hands. The Endangered Species Act has never been more valuable." [On the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, a threat looms]( The Guardian. "Climate change is a bipartisan crisis, indifferent to all political colors." — Frederick Hewett, "[Electric vehicles are caught up in the culture wars, but the climate doesn’t care how you vote]( ICYMI [Rosalynn Carter helped me, and thousands of other Cambodian refugees, survive]( Soreath Hok was born in a Cambodian refugee camp after her family, like thousands of others, fled the fall of the Khmer Rouge. They survived because of the groundwork laid by former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who raised money for food, shelter and medicine for the refugees, Hok writes. [Read more.]( [Rosalynn Carter helped me, and thousands of other Cambodian refugees, survive]( Soreath Hok was born in a Cambodian refugee camp after her family, like thousands of others, fled the fall of the Khmer Rouge. They survived because of the groundwork laid by former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who raised money for food, shelter and medicine for the refugees, Hok writes. [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](. 🔎 Explore [WBUR's Field Guide]( stories, events and more. 📣 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 © 2023 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved.