Failure can be a wonderful teacher

Also: I didn’t want my son to have a motorcycle, but it wasn’t my choice [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  June 23, 2024 Dear Cog reader, We usually focus on just one essay in this note. But every so often, I like to step back and look at the breadth of all we get to publish here at Cog. This is one of those weeks. - Of course, we [celebrated the Boston Celtics]( who won a NBA-record 18th championship this week. Khari Thompson, who’s a producer for Radio Boston (and previously worked as a sports reporter at WEEI), shared a compelling argument about failure that even late-to-the-bandwagon Celtics fans will appreciate. - In this most sweltering of weeks, Ian Karby wrote for us about a 10-day series of public health and wellness events that brought people to the [Boston waterfront](. Spoiler alert: When it’s 99 degrees outside, the waterfront is a good place to be. - Jason Sokol, a historian at the University of New Hampshire, contributed to WBUR’s series on the 50th anniversary of the federal ruling that [mandated busing to desegregate Boston schools](. He looks at the years before the ruling — to all the [advocacy by Black parents and activists]( that preceded this pivotal decision. - Novelist Lisa Borders takes us back — way back, to 1985 — when she was a young reporter, covering local zoning board meetings for a small newspaper in New Jersey. The essay is pegged to “Brats,” the new documentary about [the Brat Pack]( actors, but like all good essays, it’s actually about something much bigger: A mingling of nostalgia, grief and hope. - And finally, Erica Youngren returns to Cog with a piece about her teenage son, who spent the whole of his senior year [lobbying his parents for a motorcycle](. I worked with Erica on this, and it was impossible not to think about my own kids (who are blessedly way too young to drive any motorized vehicle). The week we put the finishing touches on her essay, my 10-year-old twins biked the three miles to and from school on their own for the first time. It’s a small thing maybe, but it felt bittersweet: one of many milestones ahead on their road to independence. I love so many lines in Erica’s essay, but here’s a favorite: “We’re dancing. The boy who used to stand on our feet and follow our steps is trying to lead.” If that doesn’t encapsulate parenthood, I don’t know what does. P.S.— Cog is working on a piece in advance of the debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on June 27 (this Thursday). We'd love to hear from you! We're looking for short reflections answering this prompt: "What will you be paying attention to during the debate? What are you hoping to hear from the candidates?" Reply back or email your response to opinion@wbur.org with "DEBATE" in the subject line by end of day tomorrow, and you could be featured on WBUR. Thank you for reading, Cloe Axelson Senior Editor, Cognoscenti Support the news  Must Reads [I didn't want my 18-year-old to get a motorcycle. But he wasn't asking for my permission]( During the fall of his senior year in high school, Erica Youngren's son declared his intention to get a motorcycle. The boy who used to stand on our feet and follow our steps is trying to lead, she writes. [Read more.]( [I didn't want my 18-year-old to get a motorcycle. But he wasn't asking for my permission]( During the fall of his senior year in high school, Erica Youngren's son declared his intention to get a motorcycle. The boy who used to stand on our feet and follow our steps is trying to lead, she writes. [Read more.]( [The Boston Celtics are NBA champions. Failure was their greatest teacher]( The Boston Celtics crushed the league from start to finish on the way to the franchise’s long-awaited 2024 title. But as WBUR's Khari Thompson writes in this commentary, if you really want to understand this championship team, you need to first tell the story of their failures. [Read more.]( [The Boston Celtics are NBA champions. Failure was their greatest teacher]( The Boston Celtics crushed the league from start to finish on the way to the franchise’s long-awaited 2024 title. But as WBUR's Khari Thompson writes in this commentary, if you really want to understand this championship team, you need to first tell the story of their failures. [Read more.]( [I saw 'St. Elmo's Fire' with my best friend when I was 22. ‘Brats’ took me right back]( Watching the “Brat Pack” actors as their younger selves swept me up in a wave of nostalgia, writes Lisa Borders. And since nostalgia and grief are cousins, that led me right back to my friend, Barbara. [Read more.]( [I saw 'St. Elmo's Fire' with my best friend when I was 22. ‘Brats’ took me right back]( Watching the “Brat Pack” actors as their younger selves swept me up in a wave of nostalgia, writes Lisa Borders. And since nostalgia and grief are cousins, that led me right back to my friend, Barbara. [Read more.]( [The desegregation of Boston’s schools was a long time coming]( Most observers have viewed U.S. District Judge Arthur Garrity’s order as one that was foisted upon the city from on high, as though no Bostonians wanted the desegregation that he initiated, writes historian Jason Sokol. This view erases years of struggle waged by Black parents and activists. [Read more.]( [The desegregation of Boston’s schools was a long time coming]( Most observers have viewed U.S. District Judge Arthur Garrity’s order as one that was foisted upon the city from on high, as though no Bostonians wanted the desegregation that he initiated, writes historian Jason Sokol. This view erases years of struggle waged by Black parents and activists. [Read more.]( [The waterfront belongs to all of us]( Bringing people to the waterfront shouldn’t be limited to one beautiful (if sweltering) week in June, writes Ian Karby. It has to be a year-round endeavor. [Read more.]( [The waterfront belongs to all of us]( Bringing people to the waterfront shouldn’t be limited to one beautiful (if sweltering) week in June, writes Ian Karby. It has to be a year-round endeavor. [Read more.]( What We're Reading “Based on my many years of researching Black people, food, and enslavement, eating and celebrating was not necessarily the first thing people thought about when they heard the news. Or at least eating in the ways we think about and do today.” “[After the Day After]( Oxford American. “A proper tribute would be comprehensive, and as big as he was. Statues are nice, but they are static and conventional. “[Boston Should Rename Its Airport for Bill Russell]( The Atlantic. “Yet there is more to global leadership than backing friends and beating back foes. Leaders, in the full sense, don’t just remain on top; they solve problems and inspire confidence.” “[America Isn’t Leading the World Anymore]( The New York Times. "We can evolve. We can change our stories. We can learn. And failure, as much as we hate to admit it, can be a wonderful teacher." — Khari Thompson, "[The Boston Celtics are NBA champions. Failure was their greatest teacher]( ICYMI [Me, my daughter and ‘a place that is ours’]( When my wife and I bought a local bookstore and bar in Providence, we worried their 5-year-old daughter would feel left out, writes Lucas Mann. But she’s the one who showed it belongs to all of us. [Read more.]( [Me, my daughter and ‘a place that is ours’]( When my wife and I bought a local bookstore and bar in Providence, we worried their 5-year-old daughter would feel left out, writes Lucas Mann. But she’s the one who showed it belongs to all of us. [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. 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