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cagraber.bsky.social
Co-host of Gastropod (entertaining podcast about food science/history). Instructor at MIT grad program in science writing. Lover of brassicas. Somervillain for life.
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My friend Claire wrote this beautiful piece about death and hope and love and rebuilding after loss from terrorism. www.jta.org/2025/05/27/i...

Loved this profile of MBTA-wrangler extraordinaire Phil Eng - so nice to read a positive story about someone great at his job who's working hard and making things better www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/28/m...

And in unrelated news on (attempts at) native gardening, it appears that there has been some whistlepig (groundhog) procreation in my neighborhood. I had hoped that perhaps Walter would live out his 2-3yr lifespan and then retire from this world, leaving no progeny behind.

I know I was a little flippant with my re-skeet about the news of the COVID booster being limited to those over 65 or otherwise at risk of serious disease, but truly I am fucking furious. This is a lifesaving/long-term-disease preventing vaccine. All of us should have access to boosters.

I suspect that many of us who are not yet 65 will find that we're at very high risk for...something...that our doctor agrees that we're at high risk for

We are attempting to create a native plant (small urban) habitat, we've bought a bunch shrubs and also grasses and flowers. Trying oh so hard to keep rabbits from eating everything (trying to focus on plants they won't eat). But now we're also in a war with one huge local groundhog.

I'm in MexCity for work, it's intense & stressful, work travel is so not like fun vacation - it's full on exhausting. BUT I ate at Rosetta tonight. So for a brief moment in this overwhelming week, amidst all the shit at home I'm still extraordinarily alarmed/upset about: a little bubble of bliss.

I have a close friend who works at a local university. (Am keeping this purposefully vague, there are a lot of unis here.) He runs a program that a lot of foreign students participate in. One of them, European, a few years ago got stopped by the cops for attempting to swim in some nearby water. 1/

We interviewed Kevin Hall for our recent ep on nutrition science history, he was brilliant. His research is fascinating, his approach open/curious, his work meticulously designed. He's open to being wrong, explains limitations. We finished the call wishing he ran HHS. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/w...

I've been posting about all the horrors, but last night I saw this phenomenon right at home in Somerville: a full rainbow, a double full-rainbow, and literally the most brilliant rainbow (you could see the difference between blue, violet, and indigo!)

I DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS. IT WOULD BE SIMPLE TO BRING HIM BACK. (I mean, I understand. We have no checks and balances. He won't ever admit to being wrong. He won't follow the courts. Why is the answer another court response?)

Maybe it's me this morning, but this made me tear up. (Nearly everything does these days.) The fact that Palestinian protesters are being targeted and disappeared and are preparing for it is such a horror. Again and again and again, not in my name. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/15/m...

What if - hear me out - all the partners of all the law firms whose executive committees made the decision to kowtow, if they all quit, en masse, & form new companies that *don't* kowtow? As many people have been saying, if you've ever asked, "What would I have done..." now's the time. It's now.

And in this one. Every day, I'm not surprised, but I'm still shocked to a painful depth.

No lawmaker in Congress should be able to own, buy, and sell individual stocks. We need to ban congressional stock trading—and I've got a bill for that.

🙌🏼 I’m not sure who had the amazing idea to invite this constitutional lawyer to a senate hearing that intended to prove Biden colluded with Meta to censor conservatives, but she took the opportunity to speak truth to power ✊🏼 on the hypocrite 👑 KING OF FREE SPEECH, Donald Trump, himself. 👏🏼 Brava!!

Boston showed up today to send a clear message: We will not sit by while Donald Trump and his billionaire friends dismantle the protections that our families count on. Hands off Boston.

I don't know what numbers they're going to give but the Boston protest felt bonkers huge. (Posting after getting back, because for my mental health/sleep I took bsky off my phone)

🚨🚨Calling all North Carolina voters!! Here is a list of every voter that Jefferson Griffin is trying to disenfranchise, please if you are a NC voter check to see if your name is on here, you have 15 days to cure your ballot to make sure your vote counts. thegriffinlist.com/assets/griff...

I keep singing their praises bc they've never on say a JamesBeard list, but we went to Spoke (as usual) for T's birthday, and it's always such a delight. Such creative, unusual, delicious food, such fantastic cocktails and wine, and such great, warm, friendly service. 10/10 will always recommend.

In non-politics news, I'm going to Carousel tomorrow night (where it was first a success 80 yrs ago!) and can't stop singing the songs (my 3rd performance, 1st full length musical, in the 80s!), and it makes me think of the Goldbergs from MoCoMD who were in it with me. 1/