Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Culture’s Role on Latino Mental Health Patients
BOSTON, Mass.—When it comes to treating Latino patients with chronic mental health illnesses, social and cultural activities such as cooking and playing board games can be an important part of their recovery. The Connexions Day Treatment Program at the North Suffolk Mental Health Association is a short-term day and evening program offered in English, Spanish,…
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Cambridge Weekend Backpack Program Tackles Problem of Childhood Hunger
CAMBRIDGE, Mass—Alanna Mallon spends her Friday mornings sorting food into neat piles and packaging it up. She’s part of the Cambridge Weekend Backpack Program (CWBP) — a volunteer-run food distribution program that provides food backpacks for food-insecure children to take home over weekends and school holidays. Volunteers at each school package the food under the…
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“American Idiot,” One Decade Later
by Jason D. Greenough If you were to say, in September of 2004, that Green Day’s follow up to the less-than-exciting Warning would create a firestorm of epic proportions, a lot of people would have scoffed. But times were turbulent and called for a revolution. What better way to reach the masses than through the…
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A Pissing Contest
In the May 2 issue of Spare Change News carried a cover story called “Infrastructure Inequality” by Alex Ramirez about the Long Island Bridge, which connects Boston’s homeless to the city’s Long Island Shelter via a bus route through Quincy. The bridge is old and rickety and has been in decay for years. It is…
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The Boston Zine Fest Brings Safe Spaces and Weird Art to Somerville
By Catherine Martin On Saturday, Oct. 11 and Sunday, Oct. 12 in the Washington Street Art Center and Aeronaut Brewing Company, the Boston Zine Fest took over a little slice of Somerville. The Zine Fest kicked off its first annual event this year with discussion panels, printmaking workshops and a day-long tabling event. Boston’s zine…
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Divest! Harvard Students Challenge Their University’s Fossil-Fuel Investments
By Brian Hoefling Harvard students spent the last week hungry. From Oct. 20-24, a group called Divest Harvard sponsored a fast aimed at persuading the school to sell off its shares in fossil fuel companies. According to Sidni Frederick, a Harvard sophomore and one of the fast’s co-coordinators, over two hundred students participated. Many others…
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Baker and Coakley Face Off in WGBH Gubernatorial Debate
BRIGHTON, Mass.—“Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep.” That was former Harvard Pilgrim CEO and current Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker’s answer to the televised debate’s last question, “Who would play you and Martha Coakley in the film version of this campaign?” Baker’s response elicited a chuckle from the roughly 100 audience members at the WGBH Studios…
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Oh Crap, Is That Today?! Our Last-Minute Guide to the 2014 Midterms
Valerie Adamski BOSTON, Mass.—On Nov. 4, people across the Commonwealth will head to the polls to choose a new governor, attorney general and other elected officials in a little-known ritual called “midterm elections.” Don’t worry — we forgot, too. But we’ve got you covered with this handy guide to where the statewide candidates stand on…
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