Archive
We Live in a Democracy, Not a Theocracy
It wasn't so long ago when one of the most powerful justifications wielded in support of segregation was religious belief. Throughout the American South, state-sanctioned Jim Crow laws legally separated blacks from whites. Schools were segregated. Restaurants were...
The Good Food Movement Needs Science, Too
Perhaps you've heard some organic food advocates say, "We should just roll back the clock and farm the way we used to" — before modern science gave us factory farms and genetically modified ingredients. Others disagree, saying that we'd all starve if we didn't use...
Crime Can Pay if It’s Big Enough
Wow, $5 billion. That's the stunning amount Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay to settle federal criminal charges over its shameful financial scams, which helped wreck America's economy in 2008. That's a lot of gold, even for Goldman. Yet the Wall Street powerhouse says...
Tone Deaf on Trade
In OtherWords: We’ve got some news
Whether you’re new to OtherWords or have been with us for many years, thanks for your support. I’ve got some news to share with you. First, we’re celebrating. Khalil Bendib won the 2015 Grambs Aronson Cartooning with a Conscience Award for his hard-hitting and...
The Death Gap
Rich people live longer than poor people. No big news there — we’ve known that health tracks wealth for quite some time now. But here’s what we haven’t known: The life-expectancy gap between rich and poor in the United States is actually accelerating. Since 2001,...
Trump’s Bad Ideas Aren’t Un-American After All
Readers of The Boston Globe were recently treated to an unusual spectacle — a parody front page and insert filled with mock stories of how a Donald Trump presidency might play out. "Deportations to Begin… Riots Continue," read one headline, riffing on the candidate's...
This Industry is Literally Making a Killing
The 2016 presidential elections are proving historic, and not just because of the surprising success of self-proclaimed socialist Bernie Sanders, the lively debate among feminists over whether to support Hillary Clinton, or Donald Trump’s unorthodox candidacy. The...
Getting to the Point
Food writer Michael Pollan once jammed the essence of his work into seven words: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” His brevity inspired me as the managing editor of OtherWords, a non-profit editorial service that distributes opinion pieces and editorial...
That ‘Natural’ Label Doesn’t Mean Much
Scenario: You're at the store, trying to make healthy yet frugal choices. You see several products labeled "organic" and others labeled "natural." You're trying to buy good food and household products for less, and those organic items seem to cost a bit more. Maybe...
