The Independent’s locally themed crossword puzzle: Frankenwords

The Independent’s third locally themed puzzle celebrates the combining of thoughts into a new thing, or even the combining of things into a new thought.

NEWS

Direct election of mayors and rethinking senior parking permit fees get bumped by a week in Cambridge

May 12, 2026

Two legislative replays of sorts got delays Monday in Cambridge and will reappear on next week’s City Council agenda: reviewing ways voters might elect a mayor directly, rather than having...

ARTS

The art of gathering in public spaces

May 12, 2026

Collage, community and a secret door await you at Harvard Art Museums at Night.

NEWS

City councillor wields race to oppose an antisurveillance order about devices that listen for gunfire

May 11, 2026

Harsh remarks toward fellow city councillors sidelined a vote on whether Cambridge keeps the gunfire-detection technology known as ShotSpotter.

NEWS

Police were hunting for shooter when he opened fire with an assault rifle, leaving two with critical injuries

May 11, 2026

A gunman in emotional crisis left two people with life-threatening injuries as he roved Memorial Drive in Cambridge with a rifle.

NEWS

Three victims reported in Memorial Drive shooting

May 11, 2026

Police are massed in Cambridge for a 1:30 p.m. shooting with two victims. Police are diverting traffic but saying there is no ongoing danger to the public.

STAGE

Fringe festival is bigger in its second year, adding drama, dance, magic and music to the clowning and comedy

May 11, 2026

The second annual Fringe runs through Sunday at three venues in Somerville, allowing the festival of unpredictable and often oddball acts to double in size.

DID YOU KNOW

Save Dana Park turns a public space into a game board May 30

May 11, 2026

The game is designed to bring players into the story of Dana Park past and present, stopping a phony deed scam before the villain takes the land away.

TAXONOMY

Tax tip of the week: PBS’ ‘Two Cents’ is the free financial resource you’re overlooking

May 11, 2026

“Two Cents” has hundreds of short, engaging episodes – often just a few minutes long – designed to make money topics easier to understand.

NEWS

Cambridge meetings, May 11-18: Putting mayoral elections in voters’ hands and senior parking permits

May 10, 2026

Take part in meetings on direct election of mayors, a project near Porter Square to add 71 homes and setting the city’s next annual budget.

OPINION

Helping music survive is about more than just Porchfest

May 10, 2026

The band couldn’t afford to play its monthly jam sessions. What? These guys could fill a room on a weeknight, sell alcohol and not break even?

BUSINESS

Next for the site of the demolished Riverview Condominiums: What gets built to replace its homes

May 9, 2026

The empty lot once known as the 66-home Riverview Condominiums is expected to be returned to its owners within two to four weeks.

NEWS

Somerville needs more households to try free curbside food waste collection

May 9, 2026

This past fall, newcomers joined the trash day lineup in East Somerville: Bright green, top-latching bins, perched on curbs next to the trash, recycling and yard waste receptacles. They’re vessels...

FILM

When WBCN rocked the airwaves (and politics too)

May 8, 2026

Filmmaker Bill Lichtenstein talks about “The Airwaves Belonged to the People: WBCN and The American Revolution," screening May 10 at Somerville Theater.

NEWS

‘Lights, Camera, Joe Curtatone!’ stars former Somerville mayor in a true-to-life role: Media champion

May 7, 2026

Former 18-year Somerville mayor Joe Curtatone is set to be honored June 4 with a Public Service Award by the Somerville Media Center.

ASK CHEF JJ

When building a cheese board, start with a river and let it spill

May 6, 2026

There is nothing wrong with eating a couple of perfect cheeses plonked onto a plate, but don’t you think everything tastes best when it is pretty?

MUSIC

A music lover’s music club called Altar may finally have found its home in Cambridge’s Central Square (corrected)

May 6, 2026

Central Square could be within a few weeks of knowing the address of Altar, its next nightclub. But founder John Kearney doesn’t want to get ahead of himself.

MUSIC

Central Square’s nightlife options, from the venerable Middle East to the transforming Smoot

May 6, 2026

Even without the music-focused, minimalist Altar yet on the nightclub scene there are plenty of places to go around Central Square for a drink and dance.

ARTS

Armory board members are named, including leaders at Esh Circus Arts, Arlington International Film Festival

May 6, 2026

Names of board members came in a press release filled with buzzwordy terms (“cultural strategist”) and unexplained references to unknown businesses.

LET’S GET COFFEE

The long red line

May 6, 2026

The two universities that dominate Cambridge seem to foster café sitting. We will follow the rumble of the MBTA red line, felt in three Harvard and MIT coffee seats.

BITE

Lemon blueberry scone at Vinal Bakery

May 6, 2026

American scones can be dry and crumbly, a clumsy exaggeration of the savory British version of this cousin to the biscuit. Vinal dodges the dry.

FASHION

Persian influence on fashion: Clothing as resistance, memory and political language

May 5, 2026

Persian influence in fashion exists across multiple layers, and a scarf, pattern or silhouette holds personal expression and ancestral memory.

OPINION

Fidelity, Vanguard and Schwab block SPLC donations. The Cambridge Community Foundation does not.

May 5, 2026

It’s not only megafinancial institutions that host donor-advised funds. We have an alternative in our own backyard in the Cambridge Community Foundation.

BUSINESS

Electric and cargo bike pioneer Bicycle Belle closes Aug. 1, leaving others to peddle pedals

May 5, 2026

Founder and owner, Carice Reddien Pingenot, announced the closing on Tuesday, saying she needed a break and time to focus on her family.

DEVELOPMENT

Frustration is rising before a multifamily project does at 88 Ellery St.

May 5, 2026

A six-story condo project was continued again by the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Conservation District Commission. It’s been before the NCD since January.

COMMUNITY

Tuesday office hour in Central Square (Toscanini’s, 5:30-6:30 p.m.)

May 5, 2026

Bring story ideas, questions, concerns or complaints to one of our convenient locations – or, even better, come with proposals to become part of a team.

BUSINESS

On the way to a housing goal set for 2030, officials agree to check if Cambridge is on the right path

May 4, 2026

After passing a series of zoning changes to meet Cambridge housing needs projected in 2017, the City Council is asking whether the goals have changed.

BUSINESS

Cambridge Common House opens, a boutique flagship for a Harvard Square stay

May 4, 2026

A 16-room lodging house called Cambridge Common House is opened on Garden Street, updating an 1880 “gathering place for students, artists and intellectuals.”

DID YOU KNOW

Reeling from a president’s assassination, we said political violence was not the answer to the country’s struggles

May 4, 2026

Cantabrigians channeled their anger over Lincoln's killing, many seeing it as a symbol of a larger struggle between the forces of good and evil.

TAXONOMY

Tax tip of the week: Go to the backdoor Roth IRA when there are limits at the front

May 4, 2026

Here’s a way to build tax-free retirement income and reduce future required minimum distribution concerns with create greater financial flexibility.

DEVELOPMENT

Healthpeak gets first approvals for 42 acres, but hears calls to speed up building a bridge to Alewife

May 3, 2026

With 42 acres of a new neighborhood expected to be developed over what may be decades, Planning Board were keen to hear about a bridge over train tracks.

OPINION

Tatte no way

May 3, 2026

Young professionals on this side of the river don’t talk about it, but none of us really go to Tatte. It’s a bit like going to a Hard Rock Cafe in New York.

NEWS

Cambridge meetings, May 4-11: Budget season hearings begin and officials talk AI in schools

May 3, 2026

Take part in meetings on an Ellery Street multifamily plan, artificial intelligence in school, redesigned bus routes and Cambridge‘s next annual budget.

NEWS

Somerville meetings, May 4-11: Building a school and moving council meetings to Tuesdays (in 2028)

May 3, 2026

Take part in meetings on building a replacement school, filling crossing guard shortages, changes to meeting schedules and much more.

OPINION

Where are consuls as immigrants get seized for deportation? Not where they should be.

May 3, 2026

Why so little consular activity reported for thousands of people detained by ICE? It may be that the locations of consulates do not map the needs of the moment.

NEWS

ShotSpotter gunshot-detection technology takes fire as surveillance that may not make Cambridge safer

May 2, 2026

The gunfire-detection technology used by Cambridge police is surveillance that has a high false alarm rate, residents and experts say.

FOOD

Owner plans to close S&S Restaurant in Inman this summer

May 1, 2026

S&S Restaurant owner Gary Mitchell hints at “other things” coming after the deli ends its 107-year run in Inman Square.

DEVELOPMENT

A developer’s ‘monolith’ and giant parking garage concept took an advisory group by surprise

May 1, 2026

“Admittedly, it’s probably too much parking,” a development company representative said. Another company proposed a large grass field instead.

ARTS

Groups align on reclaiming Davis Square as a home for everyday art, starting Friday with a concert series

April 30, 2026

Two efforts to revive the square as a community gathering place are at critical stages, starting with a Down in Davis concert series launching Friday.

EDUCATION

No immediate change in leadership is signaled at Graham & Parks, now the site of a discrimination lawsuit

April 30, 2026

A principal has seen two investigations into workplace toxicity and two discrimination lawsuits between two public school districts.

THEATER

Two theater projects promote transformative climate justice

April 30, 2026

“Now Is Still Here” to be staged outdoors at the Somerville Community Growing Center in late May.

HEAR FIRST

Jonny Tex: ‘Mustard Seeds’

April 30, 2026

Hear First discovers a more 'intentional' sound on the Cambridge musician's latest single.

FOOD

Taste of Cambridge, nearing end of early bird sales, adds six more sources of samples and sips

April 29, 2026

Surfside, Caffe Nero, Boston Burger Co., McCarthy’s and Toad, and Patco Brands join the June 17 endless-samples event.

ASK CHEF JJ

Yay! It’s time for spring produce: Asparagus, sunchokes, fiddleheads, ramps and rhubarb

April 29, 2026

We have only a few months of seriously good growing time here, so we need to come out of the gate running.

LET’S GET COFFEE

Fringe benefits: Coffee with something extra, somewhere else

April 29, 2026

This week, the journey began near Porter Square, thence near Union Square and finally to East Cambridge. Each had something off my radar to recommend it!

FOOD

Prepare for Nostalgia, where coffee and vintage clothing mix, and learn what happened to Nine Winters Bakery

April 29, 2026

Somerville welcomes a hybrid cafe and vintage clothing store called Nostalgia while the taste fades from the celebrated Nine Winters Bakery in Cambridge.

BITE

Shrimp hand pie at Chatty Patty

April 29, 2026

These Caribbean-style patties come out sizzling, with the kind of grease sheen that signals you’re about to enjoy yourself.

MUSIC

What’s up with Down in Davis?

April 29, 2026

A new Friday concert series debuts to give the community a fun, family-friendly place to gather.

MUSIC

The Indie Somerville Porchfest Preview

April 28, 2026

Your guide to all the noise you want and none you don't at the biggest Porchfest around.

BUSINESS

Two-day educator strike begins at Lesley University

April 28, 2026

Demands include livable wages, manageable workloads and a “successorship clause” to keep their contract if the school is sold.

DEVELOPMENT

Alternative Davis Square apartment designs are online from Copper Mill

April 28, 2026

The original design for the 500 units was a 26-story tower that found significant opposition in the community even among housing advocates.

NEWS

Direct election of mayors and rethinking senior parking permit fees get bumped by a week in Cambridge

May 12, 2026

Two legislative replays of sorts got delays Monday in Cambridge and will reappear on next week’s City Council agenda: reviewing ways voters might elect a mayor directly, rather than having...

NEWS

City councillor wields race to oppose an antisurveillance order about devices that listen for gunfire

May 11, 2026

Harsh remarks toward fellow city councillors sidelined a vote on whether Cambridge keeps the gunfire-detection technology known as ShotSpotter.

NEWS

Police were hunting for shooter when he opened fire with an assault rifle, leaving two with critical injuries

May 11, 2026

A gunman in emotional crisis left two people with life-threatening injuries as he roved Memorial Drive in Cambridge with a rifle.

NEWS

Three victims reported in Memorial Drive shooting

May 11, 2026

Police are massed in Cambridge for a 1:30 p.m. shooting with two victims. Police are diverting traffic but saying there is no ongoing danger to the public.

TAXONOMY

Tax tip of the week: PBS’ ‘Two Cents’ is the free financial resource you’re overlooking

May 11, 2026

“Two Cents” has hundreds of short, engaging episodes – often just a few minutes long – designed to make money topics easier to understand.

NEWS

Cambridge meetings, May 11-18: Putting mayoral elections in voters’ hands and senior parking permits

May 10, 2026

Take part in meetings on direct election of mayors, a project near Porter Square to add 71 homes and setting the city’s next annual budget.

BUSINESS

Next for the site of the demolished Riverview Condominiums: What gets built to replace its homes

May 9, 2026

The empty lot once known as the 66-home Riverview Condominiums is expected to be returned to its owners within two to four weeks.

NEWS

Somerville needs more households to try free curbside food waste collection

May 9, 2026

NEWS

‘Lights, Camera, Joe Curtatone!’ stars former Somerville mayor in a true-to-life role: Media champion

May 7, 2026

Former 18-year Somerville mayor Joe Curtatone is set to be honored June 4 with a Public Service Award by the Somerville Media Center.

ASK CHEF JJ

When building a cheese board, start with a river and let it spill

May 6, 2026

There is nothing wrong with eating a couple of perfect cheeses plonked onto a plate, but don’t you think everything tastes best when it is pretty?

LET’S GET COFFEE

The long red line

May 6, 2026

The two universities that dominate Cambridge seem to foster café sitting. We will follow the rumble of the MBTA red line, felt in three Harvard and MIT coffee seats.

BITE

Lemon blueberry scone at Vinal Bakery

May 6, 2026

American scones can be dry and crumbly, a clumsy exaggeration of the savory British version of this cousin to the biscuit. Vinal dodges the dry.

FASHION

Persian influence on fashion: Clothing as resistance, memory and political language

May 5, 2026

Persian influence in fashion exists across multiple layers, and a scarf, pattern or silhouette holds personal expression and ancestral memory.

BUSINESS

Electric and cargo bike pioneer Bicycle Belle closes Aug. 1, leaving others to peddle pedals

May 5, 2026

Founder and owner, Carice Reddien Pingenot, announced the closing on Tuesday, saying she needed a break and time to focus on her family.

DEVELOPMENT

Frustration is rising before a multifamily project does at 88 Ellery St.

May 5, 2026

A six-story condo project was continued again by the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Conservation District Commission. It’s been before the NCD since January.

BUSINESS

On the way to a housing goal set for 2030, officials agree to check if Cambridge is on the right path

May 4, 2026

After passing a series of zoning changes to meet Cambridge housing needs projected in 2017, the City Council is asking whether the goals have changed.

BUSINESS

Cambridge Common House opens, a boutique flagship for a Harvard Square stay

May 4, 2026

A 16-room lodging house called Cambridge Common House is opened on Garden Street, updating an 1880 “gathering place for students, artists and intellectuals.”

TAXONOMY

Tax tip of the week: Go to the backdoor Roth IRA when there are limits at the front

May 4, 2026

Here’s a way to build tax-free retirement income and reduce future required minimum distribution concerns with create greater financial flexibility.

DEVELOPMENT

Healthpeak gets first approvals for 42 acres, but hears calls to speed up building a bridge to Alewife

May 3, 2026

With 42 acres of a new neighborhood expected to be developed over what may be decades, Planning Board were keen to hear about a bridge over train tracks.

NEWS

Cambridge meetings, May 4-11: Budget season hearings begin and officials talk AI in schools

May 3, 2026

Take part in meetings on an Ellery Street multifamily plan, artificial intelligence in school, redesigned bus routes and Cambridge‘s next annual budget.

NEWS

Somerville meetings, May 4-11: Building a school and moving council meetings to Tuesdays (in 2028)

May 3, 2026

Take part in meetings on building a replacement school, filling crossing guard shortages, changes to meeting schedules and much more.

NEWS

ShotSpotter gunshot-detection technology takes fire as surveillance that may not make Cambridge safer

May 2, 2026

The gunfire-detection technology used by Cambridge police is surveillance that has a high false alarm rate, residents and experts say.

FOOD

Owner plans to close S&S Restaurant in Inman this summer

May 1, 2026

S&S Restaurant owner Gary Mitchell hints at “other things” coming after the deli ends its 107-year run in Inman Square.

DEVELOPMENT

A developer’s ‘monolith’ and giant parking garage concept took an advisory group by surprise

May 1, 2026

“Admittedly, it’s probably too much parking,” a development company representative said. Another company proposed a large grass field instead.

EDUCATION

No immediate change in leadership is signaled at Graham & Parks, now the site of a discrimination lawsuit

April 30, 2026

A principal has seen two investigations into workplace toxicity and two discrimination lawsuits between two public school districts.

FOOD

Taste of Cambridge, nearing end of early bird sales, adds six more sources of samples and sips

April 29, 2026

Surfside, Caffe Nero, Boston Burger Co., McCarthy’s and Toad, and Patco Brands join the June 17 endless-samples event.

ASK CHEF JJ

Yay! It’s time for spring produce: Asparagus, sunchokes, fiddleheads, ramps and rhubarb

April 29, 2026

We have only a few months of seriously good growing time here, so we need to come out of the gate running.

LET’S GET COFFEE

Fringe benefits: Coffee with something extra, somewhere else

April 29, 2026

This week, the journey began near Porter Square, thence near Union Square and finally to East Cambridge. Each had something off my radar to recommend it!

FOOD

Prepare for Nostalgia, where coffee and vintage clothing mix, and learn what happened to Nine Winters Bakery

April 29, 2026

Somerville welcomes a hybrid cafe and vintage clothing store called Nostalgia while the taste fades from the celebrated Nine Winters Bakery in Cambridge.

BITE

Shrimp hand pie at Chatty Patty

April 29, 2026

These Caribbean-style patties come out sizzling, with the kind of grease sheen that signals you’re about to enjoy yourself.

BUSINESS

Two-day educator strike begins at Lesley University

April 28, 2026

Demands include livable wages, manageable workloads and a “successorship clause” to keep their contract if the school is sold.

DEVELOPMENT

Alternative Davis Square apartment designs are online from Copper Mill

April 28, 2026

The original design for the 500 units was a 26-story tower that found significant opposition in the community even among housing advocates.

BUSINESS

Cambridge will see a budget bigger than $1B, spending that may land hard on residential taxpayers within two years

April 28, 2026

The next annual budget for the city of Cambridge will surpass $1 billion despite City Hall staff holding year-over-year growth to an austere 4.1 percent.

NEWS

Cambridge’s Garden Street will stay one-way for car traffic

April 28, 2026

Several blocks of Garden Street will stay one-way for car traffic toward Harvard Square, city councillors in Cambridge decided Monday in a 5-4 vote.

DEVELOPMENT

Copper Mill now says its alternative tower designs will be available Tuesday

April 27, 2026

There will be four options for a building at varying heights, reflecting controversy over the original 502-unit, 26-story version in a design many disliked.

NEWS

It’s DeRATification Week in Somerville, because rodents are springing back into action

April 27, 2026

A week of rat fighting began Monday in Somerville with a display of the city’s latest weapon: BurrowRx, which pumps carbon monoxide into burrows.

TAXONOMY

Tax tip of the week: Missing the tax filing deadline isn’t cause for panic

April 27, 2026

To start with, if you’re owed a refund, there’s no penalty for filing late. Even if you owe, missing a deadline shouldn't be fatal.

NEWS

Cambridge meetings, April 27-May 4: Healthpeak shows its giant project in the Highlands

April 26, 2026

Take part in meetings on Healthpeak's plan for a new neighborhood in the Alewife Quadrangle, new homes on Ellery Street and big city projects.

NEWS

Somerville meetings, April 27-May 4: Developers vie for 90 Washington St. project

April 26, 2026

Take part in meetings on remaking 90 Washington St., surveillance technology, a teen center at Cummings School and Davis Square issues.

NEWS

Somerville Housing’s special officers are under the authority of city’s police chief in new home rule petition

April 25, 2026

Special police officers also won’t be excluded from union activities or civil service rules, city councilors were assured.

NEWS

Gilligan-Corsetti organizes a run for Somerville state rep; Azeem breaks for his wedding and a party

April 25, 2026

“I understand the struggles of working class people,” said Olivia Gilligan-Corsetti, eyeing a 27th Middlesex seat. Also: A “big South Asian dance party” calls.

FASHION

The Garment District, where the old becomes new again, hits 40

April 24, 2026

The beloved thrift megastore finds surprising ways to reinvent itself in the age of influencers.

ARTS

The art of gathering in public spaces

May 12, 2026

Collage, community and a secret door await you at Harvard Art Museums at Night.

STAGE

Fringe festival is bigger in its second year, adding drama, dance, magic and music to the clowning and comedy

May 11, 2026

The second annual Fringe runs through Sunday at three venues in Somerville, allowing the festival of unpredictable and often oddball acts to double in size.

DID YOU KNOW

Save Dana Park turns a public space into a game board May 30

May 11, 2026

The game is designed to bring players into the story of Dana Park past and present, stopping a phony deed scam before the villain takes the land away.

OPINION

Helping music survive is about more than just Porchfest

May 10, 2026

The band couldn’t afford to play its monthly jam sessions. What? These guys could fill a room on a weeknight, sell alcohol and not break even?

FILM

When WBCN rocked the airwaves (and politics too)

May 8, 2026

Filmmaker Bill Lichtenstein talks about “The Airwaves Belonged to the People: WBCN and The American Revolution," screening May 10 at Somerville Theater.

MUSIC

A music lover’s music club called Altar may finally have found its home in Cambridge’s Central Square (corrected)

May 6, 2026

Central Square could be within a few weeks of knowing the address of Altar, its next nightclub. But founder John Kearney doesn’t want to get ahead of himself.

MUSIC

Central Square’s nightlife options, from the venerable Middle East to the transforming Smoot

May 6, 2026

Even without the music-focused, minimalist Altar yet on the nightclub scene there are plenty of places to go around Central Square for a drink and dance.

ARTS

Armory board members are named, including leaders at Esh Circus Arts, Arlington International Film Festival

May 6, 2026

Names of board members came in a press release filled with buzzwordy terms (“cultural strategist”) and unexplained references to unknown businesses.

OPINION

Fidelity, Vanguard and Schwab block SPLC donations. The Cambridge Community Foundation does not.

May 5, 2026

It’s not only megafinancial institutions that host donor-advised funds. We have an alternative in our own backyard in the Cambridge Community Foundation.

COMMUNITY

Tuesday office hour in Central Square (Toscanini’s, 5:30-6:30 p.m.)

May 5, 2026

Bring story ideas, questions, concerns or complaints to one of our convenient locations – or, even better, come with proposals to become part of a team.

DID YOU KNOW

Reeling from a president’s assassination, we said political violence was not the answer to the country’s struggles

May 4, 2026

Cantabrigians channeled their anger over Lincoln's killing, many seeing it as a symbol of a larger struggle between the forces of good and evil.

OPINION

Tatte no way

May 3, 2026

Young professionals on this side of the river don’t talk about it, but none of us really go to Tatte. It’s a bit like going to a Hard Rock Cafe in New York.

OPINION

Where are consuls as immigrants get seized for deportation? Not where they should be.

May 3, 2026

Why so little consular activity reported for thousands of people detained by ICE? It may be that the locations of consulates do not map the needs of the moment.

ARTS

Groups align on reclaiming Davis Square as a home for everyday art, starting Friday with a concert series

April 30, 2026

Two efforts to revive the square as a community gathering place are at critical stages, starting with a Down in Davis concert series launching Friday.

THEATER

Two theater projects promote transformative climate justice

April 30, 2026

“Now Is Still Here” to be staged outdoors at the Somerville Community Growing Center in late May.

HEAR FIRST

Jonny Tex: ‘Mustard Seeds’

April 30, 2026

Hear First discovers a more 'intentional' sound on the Cambridge musician's latest single.

MUSIC

What’s up with Down in Davis?

April 29, 2026

A new Friday concert series debuts to give the community a fun, family-friendly place to gather.

MUSIC

The Indie Somerville Porchfest Preview

April 28, 2026

Your guide to all the noise you want and none you don't at the biggest Porchfest around.

HEAR FIRST

MOZZ: ‘Breadt’

April 28, 2026

Hear First spotlights the yin and yang of Mozz's latest EP 'Breadt.'

COMMUNITY

Tuesday office hour in Davis Square (Diesel, 5:30-6:30 p.m.)

April 28, 2026

Bring story ideas, questions, concerns or complaints – or, even better, come with proposals about how you can become part of the team.

MUSIC

‘Taking it easy’ at the Wilbur Theater with a night of song

April 27, 2026

Charismatic Canadian songwriter Alan Doyle brings the NYC-based folk trio Bandits On The Run along for the ride.

DID YOU KNOW

Guess who was left out of the speeches in 1905 celebrating Cambridge’s 275th anniversary

April 27, 2026

“We cannot help but look forward with some anxiety to the future,” the president of Harvard said. “The Puritans no longer control Cambridge.”

OPINION

New data privacy laws will have unintended consequences that hurt mom-and-pops and nonprofits

April 27, 2026

The bills gaining traction on Beacon Hill are well-intentioned but threaten to create unintended consequences for small businesses and nonprofits.

LIT

Author David Szalay in the flesh

April 27, 2026

The 2025 Booker Prize winner talks autonomy, audiobooks and Dua Lipa's book club in Harvard Square.

OPINION

Call it improvements, call it planning, delaying a development is a way to make it not happen

April 26, 2026

It’s doubtful any more meetings, planning, input, commentary, essays or shouting will facilitate a better decision about the Copper Mill project.

OPINION

Something about the design of this food hall was bothering me.

April 26, 2026

CanalSide looks toward a boisterous future of 600 people warming a giant space, forgetting the lessons from ghosted storefronts.

LIT

Indie bookstores have a day

April 24, 2026

Crawl, walk, run to your local bookstore on April 25 for Independent Bookstore Day.

ARTS

Life Drawing Boston draws love from its community along with an entertainment license

April 23, 2026

Life Drawing Boston is drawing life to Somerville’s Inner Belt and plans to add regular entertainment such as performances, dances and variety shows.

THEATER

‘Rhinoceros’ brings Paul Giamatti, Tatiana Maslany and John Turturro to the Harvard Square stage

April 22, 2026

Hollywood comes to Cambridge this summer to star in “Rhinoceros” at the American Repertory Theater. One actor has even played a rhino before.

LECTURE

Making mushrooms magic again

April 22, 2026

Bay Staters celebrate the fifth anniversary of Somerville's decriminalization of psilocybin mushrooms.

MUSIC

Applications open May 4 as Cambridge cautiously expands for its second year of Porchfest

April 22, 2026

Cambridge is preparing to take applications for its second Porchfest, set for July 11-12 primarily in the Cambridgeport, The Port and Riverside neighborhoods.

COMEDY

Who won comedy last night: Addy Goldstein, whose mom died

April 21, 2026

At a College Comedy Showcase at The Comedy Studio, one comic got to the point quickly: “Try to keep it together,” she told the audience. “My mom just died.”

COMMUNITY

Tuesday office hour in Central Square (Toscanini’s, 5:30-6:30 p.m.) (corrected)

April 21, 2026

We have Tuesday office hours to hear story ideas, questions, concerns or complaints, and tonight they’re in Central Square.

DID YOU KNOW

Cambridge’s Humane Society changed its mission, then quit, as Cambridge changed

April 20, 2026

As the demographics of the poor community in Cambridge shifted, so too did the Cambridge Female Humane Society’s approach to meeting their needs.

OPINION

Letter to a traffic engineer

April 19, 2026

Even entities such as the City of Cambridge, which in theory should have been consulted in a Reid Overpass design process, are relegated to the inbox.

OPINION

Counter intuitive

April 19, 2026

There’s a special kind of pain in seeing projects go up thoughtlessly with flaws that will confront people for years or decades.

LECTURE

How to save the planet for the 99%

April 18, 2026

Philosopher Nancy Fraser critiques the capitalist underbelly of environmentalism at Harvard University lecture.

ART AND DESIGN

‘Your Light Is Central’ is an evolving LED art installation that makes a colorful square even more vivid

April 17, 2026

Art is meant to illuminate, and a series of installations called “Your Light Is Central” went live in Cambridge’s Central Square this week to make that literal.

MUSIC

Vinyl Heads, Rejoice

April 16, 2026

A roundup of our favorite records stores to visit on Record Store Day this April 18.

THEATER

The last three A.R.T. plays in Harvard Square share a theme for Trump’s America

April 15, 2026

Eugène Ionesco’s “Rhinoceros,” a rock opera about the abortion network called The Janes and an underground railroad tale called “Mexodus.”

OPINION

MWRA was created to solve a regional problem, and we need to push it to do so now

April 14, 2026

Now is the last time that Cambridge and Somerville are able to use MWRA funding to cover the cost of sewer infrastructure upgrades.

DID YOU KNOW

This spring, History Cambridge takes ‘History Hangs’ on the road

April 14, 2026

Walk, talk and learn more about West Cambridge, first the Brattle Street area and then Lowell Park and Mount Auburn Cemetery.

LIT

Step into the unknown with ‘The Flowers of Evil’

April 14, 2026

A course examining French poet Charles Baudelaire's seminal collection is coming to the Cambridge Community Center.

OPINION

It’s time for police oversight in Somerville

April 12, 2026

It is past time for the City Council to act on its 2020 commitment and create a police commission and a community police review agency.

OPINION

You can live without your creepy doorbell camera

April 12, 2026

By owning one of these doorbell surveillance cameras, you are not making yourself safer. You are making yourself useful.

OPINION

Closure overexposure

April 12, 2026

Psychologically, we warm up to things more when we encounter them a lot – as long as we don’t already dislike them. Like the misuse of words.

MUSIC

Prewn’s Izzy Hagerup delivers serious star power in a visit from Northampton

April 11, 2026

Izzy Hagerup, at the head of a four-musician Prewn, effortlessly commanded the attention of the room at Deep Cuts.

ARTS

Dancing through a cemetery and poems for a Vodou spirit are coming in Mount Auburn residencies

April 9, 2026

Four artists and organizations are named as Mount Auburn Cemetery’s new artists-in-residence for its record-breaking 11th year.

THEATER

‘Breaking the Code’ is not to be missed at Central Square Theater

April 8, 2026

Many of us have heard the name Alan Turing, but few know much more about him than his legacy as the father of computer science.

COMMUNITY

Tuesday office hour in Central Square (Toscanini’s, 5:30-6:30 p.m.)

April 7, 2026

We have Tuesday office hours to hear story ideas, questions, concerns or complaints, and tonight they’re in Central Square.