We are at a critical juncture. Basic freedoms and our safety—rights enshrined in the Constitution are under assault. We are becoming a nation ruled by Fascists, criminals and grifters. In the face of this danger, why are people [...]
Pat Taub
I had hoped that Troy Jackson, with a long history in labor—logger, union leader—and in local government, and who began his campaign speaking for Mainers would bring progressive changes. Yet his campaign to unseat the aging and devious Susan Collins—look at her vote for Brett Kavanaugh—now moves towards “inside the Beltway.” [...]
Pat Taub
In these perilous time, l often feel like I’m inhabiting the song, “Stop the World I Want to Get Off,” reeling from Iran’s debacle, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the deepening climate crisis, ICE’s sway and more. To soothe my spirits, a common practice I follow is to retrieve a Mary Olive poetry book from my library. Her poems [...]
Pat Taub
I’ve been thinking about kindness, and how dangerous its disappearance has become at this particular moment in American life. Kindness is usually considered a private virtue—a quality we teach our children and practice with our friends. Kindness is also political. Kindness is essential to bridging differences and creating an equitable [...]
Pat Taub
We have never had more ways to communicate, yet I wonder if we have forgotten how to have a conversation. I have spent much of my life talking. As a journalist, radio host, teacher, and activist, I’m familiar with the power of words. I’ve learned how to ask questions, challenge authority, make an argument and, when necessary, raise my [...]
Pat Taub
Sometimes the most unsettling aspect of a political policy is the language we use to describe it: “a cut,” “a reform”, “a change in eligibility” or, “a new vaccine schedule.” Behind every one of those words is a child. Consider the migrant child sitting in an immigration courtroom without [...]
Pat Taub
One of the things I like about getting older is discovering I am still capable of surprising myself. I am not the woman I was at thirty, or fifty, or even seventy. I have different strengths now. I have accumulated experience, perspective, mistakes, friendships, memories—and, thankfully, wisdom. What I don’t want to accumulate is the [...]
Pat Taub
There are too many mornings when I wake up with a heaviness. Sometimes it’s the weight of the world. Sometimes it’s the accumulation of years, recognizing there is less time ahead of me than behind me. I have been an activist for much of my life. I have marched, protested, written, spoken out and stood with people who were fighting for [...]
Pat Taub
GUEST POST by BARBARA BENGELS When a good friend announced she was expecting her first great-grandchild, I immediately responded with the age-old question: “Is it a boy or girl?” Much has changed in my lifetime; the role of gender is among those. Recently a young friend went to the DMV to have their name and preferred gender [...]
Pat Taub
Lately I have been thinking about the meaning of home. Not the wonderful Victorian space I have lived in for almost 14 years; my neighborhood of tree-lined streets; the welcoming market; the Maine coastline that still takes my breath away. These places remain. What has changed is the country I thought I knew. I no longer feel at home here. [...]
Pat Taub
Barbara Rainville died last week; we’d known each other for 50 years. What I will miss most is not just Barbara’s steady friendship but sharing life’s big moments: the birth of our youngest child; dinner parties filled with laughter in one another’s homes; family picnics; our growing children; the excitement of new, meaningful jobs; [...]
Pat Taub