Our nation’s history is replete with inspiring and poignant examples of self-sacrifice on behalf of the commonweal. Soldiers have marched off to both popular and unpopular wars. Civil rights activists have stood in the face of massive injustice. Countless volunteers rallied following Hurricane Katrina and 9/11. And, today, we are surrounded by legions of health care professionals and other […]
This I Believe
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This I Believe New England – Hope for 2021
For many of us, our recent transition to a new year was filled with a complicated mix of relief, sorrow, gratitude, and hopefulness about what lies ahead. For that we can thank COVID-19. Underneath it all, don’t all of us yearn to be hopeful? The poet Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote “Hope smiles from the threshold of the […]
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This I Believe New England – Moments of Regret
Do any of our lives unfold without moments of regret? Dashed dreams. Intimate relationships that detoured unexpectedly. All manner of missed opportunities. For many, the aftermath is filled with deep remorse and, maybe, feelings of guilt. For some, these moments lead to a deep yearning for absolution, as we hear from Kevin Blanchard. Kevin Blanchard comes to us […]
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This I Believe New England – Quarantine
Let’s start with the obvious: The coronavirus has changed all of our lives in so many profound and unbidden ways. Don’t all of us have a new-found appreciation of life’s fragility and tenuousness? And, yet, amidst this pervasive challenge many of us have managed to find precious, if all too rare, moments of beauty. Let’s […]
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This I Believe New England – Artists During Covid-19
Along with so many parts of our lives, the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated theater and arts venues that are at the heart of our community. Museum doors are shuttered. Concert stages are silent. Theaters are dark. Artists, musicians, and actors are thinking outside the box to bring their paintings, sculptures, voices, and theatrical talents to us on our computer […]
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This I Believe New England – To Have A Home
The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us so many lessons about what matters most in life. Don’t we have a richer, deeper appreciation of the importance of human connection, good health, and basic safety and security? How many of us have reflected on the fact that we have the means to shelter in place? This week […]
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This I Believe New England – Journalism in Transition
Here’s the headline: Journalism in the United States is at a crossroads, and that’s not hyperbole. It’s no secret that today the journalism profession itself is often part of the lead story. What counts as legitimate news? Are our Twitter feeds and Facebook posts filled with fake news? How can we separate the journalistic wheat from the chaff? Today we […]
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This I Believe New England – Missed Gatherings
Who hasn’t noticed that life sometimes brings us its share of uninvited disappointments – some trivial, some truly profound? And haven’t all of us learned that in abundance this year as the coronavirus pandemic has dashed so many of our dreams? Julia Richardson thinks so, and she shares the lessons she has learned along the way. Julia […]
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This I Believe New England – A Virtual Classroom
It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has rewritten the rules governing our daily lives. Movie theaters? What are those? Hugs? Say what? Handshakes? You’ve got to be kidding. Among the most daunting challenges brought about by coronavirus is how to teach and learn remotely, where the richness of face-to-face encounters in the classroom have […]
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This I Believe New England – A Family History
As we march through our lives, it seems inevitable that we’ll look in the rearview mirror and reflect on our complex journeys. For some of us the reflections are filled with heartwarming nostalgia and wide smiles; for others, the backward look is saturated with unspeakable pain and gnawing grief. For most of us, perhaps, there’s […]
