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The Sociology of Disaster

I've spent the last several days talking with some of Rhode Island's brightest minds on where we are 10 years after 9/11. It was quite an undertaking - and...
By David Scharfenberg | September 07, 2011

Child Welfare Benefit Concert

Nicholas Alahverdian, who endured an awful run in the state's child welfare system, is hosting a benefit concert tonight to raise money for his push...
By David Scharfenberg | April 27, 2011

In This Week's Phoenix: City Year and the Evolution of Service

My cover story in this week's Phoenix on City Year, the urban peace corps, was an unusually personal project. I was a City Year corps member...
By David Scharfenberg | February 03, 2011

Pro-Life Blogosphere Aflutter on Rodriguez

With Rhode Island still in the depths of an economic crisis, social issues got little attention during the gubernatorial contest. But the pro-life blogosphere is...
By David Scharfenberg | November 11, 2010

Talking Points Memo on Rhode Island Name Change

Turns out Josh Marshall of the high-profile lefty political blog Talking Points Memo used to be a historian-in-training at Brown University, specializing in 17th Century...
By David Scharfenberg | November 02, 2010

On the Same-Sex Marriage Poll

Rhode Island is often labeled a socially conservative state. But it's becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the claim. The state is solidly pro-choice and a...
By David Scharfenberg | August 19, 2010

Theology class

My religion teaches me that I have a responsibility to work to create a better world for humanity and for all living beings in the world that God created.
Letters to the Phoenix editor, July 2, 2010
By PHOENIX LETTERS | July 02, 2010

Deval Patrick and the mosque

I was extremely disappointed to read your close-minded, ignorant, and bigoted position on Governor Deval Patrick’s meeting with Muslims at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury.
Letters to the Boston editor, July 2, 2010
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | July 02, 2010

Homophobe to headline Boston's GospelFest

Donnie McClurkin is one of gospel music's biggest stars. But McClurkin has also drawn fire for his homophobic sermons. Which makes him a curious choice to headline a City of Boston–produced event here later this summer, the annual GospelFest on City Hall
Gay Old Time Dept.
By NOAH SCHAFFER | June 25, 2010

Holy war

And so it came to pass, Roman Catholics, Mormons, and evangelical Protestants have banded together to battle, well, the rest of us — the heathens, the godless liberals, the Hitchens-reading progressives.
How an unholy alliance of Catholics, Mormons, and evangelicals seeks to control our lives
By JEFF INGLIS | June 25, 2010

Pulling political churches' non-profit exemptions

By JEFF INGLIS | June 19, 2010

The keys to Heaven can make for good fundraising

By JEFF INGLIS | June 19, 2010

Review: Fresh

As a latecomer to the growing crop of food-industry exposés, Ana Sofia Joanes's even-handed documentary on the evils of factory farming doesn't live up to its title. Yet despite tilling familiar ground, its argument for sustainable alternatives intrigues
Really grows on you
By ALICIA POTTER | June 18, 2010

Review: Stonewall Uprising

Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, the talented indie documentarians who made last year's Waiting for Armageddon , seem confined by the strictures of PBS's long-running American Experience series in their straitlaced ode to gay liberation.
Well-meaning but sedate look at the '60s gay-rights movement
By GERALD PEARY | June 18, 2010

Spookin' the horses

Move over, Freddy Krueger. Here come the real scary monsters: Libby Mitchell and Paul LePage.
Scary trumps stupid every time
By AL DIAMON | June 18, 2010

Mickey Mouse Multiculturalism

Massachusetts treasurer and independent candidate for governor Tim Cahill was off base when he accused incumbent governor Deval Patrick of "playing politics with terrorism" in the wake of Patrick's visit to the controversial Roxbury mosque maintained by
Governor Patrick's problematic Mosque visit. Plus, Bush — and the GOP — vote yes for torture
By EDITORIAL | June 11, 2010

In 'The Tradition'

In 1978, Rhode Island College presented “Four from Providence.” The exhibit was a call to revitalize the reputations of four Providence artists of color who had often been overlooked since their peaks in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Bannister’s ‘Five From Providence’ honors its namesake
By GREG COOK | June 11, 2010

Fighting back

Thanks to a federal law that codifies discrimination against same-sex couples, more than 15,000 legally married couples (and an untold number of children) are being denied basic benefits, such as the right to file their taxes jointly, or Social Security
Two cases in federal court here in Massachusetts could help turn the national tide against DOMA
By DEIRDRE FULTON | June 04, 2010

That's not my name!

The transition process for transgender people, particularly transsexuals, might involve an expensive combination of surgeries, hormone-replacement therapy, and lesser tasks like perfecting one’s vocal tone or handwriting style.
Think changing genders is tricky? Try changing your name
By MADDY MYERS | June 04, 2010

Marriage and the Supremes

By JEFF INGLIS | May 29, 2010

Open service

By KEGAN ZEMA | May 29, 2010

Heck of a Guy

Scott Brown’s stunning victory in January’s special US Senate election continues to reverberate through Massachusetts politics.
Despite a history of illiberal views and a boorish reputation, Guy Glodis enters the Democratic state convention unscathed
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 28, 2010

Death penalty possible for Watland

Gary Watland, the brilliant and mentally ill convicted murderer whose 2006 scheme to have his wife smuggle a loaded handgun into the Maine State Prison in Warren was foiled when another prisoner tipped off officials, faces a possible death penalty if co
Prison Murder
By LANCE TAPLEY | May 28, 2010

Review: Harlan — In The Shadow Of 'Jud Süß'

The story of Veit Harlan, the director of the Third Reich’s most notorious anti-Semitic film, still provokes and fascinates.
How film became a murder weapon under the Third Reich
By PETER KEOUGH | May 28, 2010

Cowardly new world

I know that the ancient Mayan calendar indicated the world may end in 2012, but I doubt it. Instead, let me illustrate how bad it might get, starting in that year.
Diverse-City
By SHAY STEWART-BOULEY | May 28, 2010

Can the Netroots triumph in Rhode island?

Stories of State Representative David Segal’s nascent, underdog run for Congress invariably make a nod to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. And rightly so.
On the Hustings
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | May 21, 2010

Freedom Watch: Speak no evil

It wasn’t the first time members of the Congressional Black Caucus had heard – and done nothing about – Sudan’s dirty secret. Even before a recent House international-relations subcommittee hearing on human-rights violations in Sudan, they knew that kid
Why are African-American leaders silent about slavery in Sudan?
By TIM SANDLER | May 21, 2010

Considering Kagan

Elena Kagan, onetime dean of Harvard Law School and current US solicitor general, is a less than perfect candidate to sit on the Supreme Court.
She’s weak on free speech, but doesn’t deserve her ‘Seinfeld moment’
By EDITORIAL | May 14, 2010

How Rhode Island can eliminate homelessness

Making it a reality is a matter of political will.
The concept is as simple as it is radical: give the homeless a place to live, with no strings attached
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | May 14, 2010

Review: The Good Heart

Lucas (Paul Dano), an angel-faced homeless man who sings a lullaby to a stray kitten, might be too kind-hearted to live. Jacques (Brian Cox), an apoplectic prick who owns a Bowery bar, is too mean to die.
Misanthropy and meticulous espresso brewing
By PETER KEOUGH | May 14, 2010

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