The Boston Globe

Confetti explodes out of the Hatch Shell stage after last year's Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on July Fourth.

Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular: How to watch and everything you need to know

The Color Guard carries the American Flag during the Independence Day Parade, Part of the 250th Fourth of July Celebration on Saturday.

US national flag evokes complicated feelings as Americans celebrate 250th birthday

Alex Konar, 12, and his brother Max, of the William Diamond Junior Fife & Drum Corps arrive at the staging area before marching in the Independence Day Parade, Part of the 250th Fourth of July Celebration on Saturday.

Fourth of July is in full patriotic bloom in Boston. Follow along with live updates.

See photos from July 4th celebrations across the country

After 10 years in Boston that began when he was still a teenager, Jaylen Brown's new NBA home is Philadelphia.

Gary Washburn | Sunday basketball notes

How Jaylen Brown’s contract likely figured into the Celtics’ decision to deal him to the 76ers

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift after the Chiefs' victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship NFL game in Kansas City, Mo., on Jan. 26, 2025.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce marry in front of famous friends at Madison Square Garden

The Patriots' schedule will be much harder than last season, but Drake Maye should benefit from having a full year of working with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels under his belt.

Nicole Yang | Sunday football notes

How will the Patriots follow up an unexpected Super Bowl trip? An answer to that and other too-early predictions.

Their children are too sick to go to school. These parents are fighting for them to get a better education at home.

‘Total opposite of unity’: Trump’s 250th approach diverges from Ford’s in the bicentennial

President Trump wrapped up his speech at the opening of the Great American State Fair in Washington on June 24.

At Mount Rushmore, Trump veers from patriotism to ‘communism’

‘Who should I Vote for?’ Voters turn to AI before casting their ballots.

North Shore communities mourn death of beloved Nigerian priest who was ordered to return home

Wastewater wars: Massachusetts company loses state contract as public health evolves

74-year-old driver arraigned after police pursuit across Bourne Bridge, dragging trooper with his car

Encore Boston Harbor casino

America at 250, betting on the nation

Cambridge man fatally shot Saturday morning, police say

Caleb Durbin (left, with teammate Anthony Seigler) is a true student of the hitting game.

How Caleb Durbin recovered from the ghastly start to his Red Sox career: ‘You gotta do what you gotta do’

The Tasty Tower of Pizza, West Yarmouth, circa 1957.

How to relive a mid-century vacation on Cape Cod

Dexter Sol Ansell, left, and Peter Claffey in a scene from "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms."

‘Widow’s Bay,’ ‘Half Man,’ and more of the best TV of the year so far

Readers shared their picks for the best burgers, ice cream, breweries, bagels, ramen, and more.

We picked the best bagels, Cape Cod restaurants, and more. Here’s what readers say we missed.

BOSTON , MA - 5/30/2022 The USS Constitution fires a 21-gun salute on Memorial Day in honor of those who died while serving aboard "Old Ironsides." The guns were fired once a minute for 21 minutes beginning at noon. Erin Clark/Globe Staff

STANDALONE

22 bucket list activities in Greater Boston, for visitors (and locals, too)

Lily's Florentine Benny from The Friendly Toast

From baklava pancakes to dim sum, these are Boston’s 10 best breakfasts

Best of the Best thumbnail

More from the Boston Globe's Best of the Best

Ideas | Ted Widmer

The Declaration of Independence has a Boston accent

It stings to share the glory with a city that did relatively little to bring on the Revolution.

Read the Declaration of Independence

IDEAS | Andrea Javor

An ode to the humble sticky note

When it comes to bathrooms, Boston is not exactly number one

America’s next revolution is already underway

Steve Grossman and Alan Solomont

We led AIPAC and J Street. Here’s what we agree on about Israel.

This dog that went missing from Everett was later found in Cambridge.

Lost pet scam, dynamite detected, and a rock climber rescued

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in September 2025.

In backing President Trump’s policies, Justice Alito finds his moment

The company now known as Genetix Biotherapeutics is based at 455 Grand Union Boulevard in Somerville, seen here in 2021.

A year after distressed buyout, what’s become of Somerville’s Bluebird Bio?

Iran begins dayslong funeral for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in war

‘A literal life or death challenge’: Boston weighs mandating air conditioning for renters

Hiker dies after suffering medical emergency on Mount Major in Alton, N.H.

Recommended reads

THEN and NOW tease

Then and now: See what Boston looked like in 1776, 2026, and everywhere in between

Boston then and now: Take a scroll through Boston’s streets through archival images and present day scenes, starting at 1776.

Money, Power, Inequality
The Black Economic Council of Mass. has spent a decade building wealth in the community. The change has been striking.
The nonprofit has been relentlessly focused on that goal since, even as current headwinds make the work harder than ever.

ART REVIEW
At the MFA, the past and present converge in a fractious moment
The museum rejected federal support for its new 18th-century American galleries. They tell a story the current administration may not like.

CHRISTOPHER MUTHER
Looking for a lodging adventure? Beat the heat at a floating B&B in Charlestown.
All the amenities of a hotel on the water. Motion sickness, no additional charge.

Culture & Lifestyle

Leslie Odom in "Hamilton," the filmed version of the original Broadway production.

The best movies, TV shows, specials, and more to watch this July Fourth weekend

Confetti explodes out of the Hatch Shell stage after last year's Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on July Fourth.

Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular: How to watch and everything you need to know

By the 1820s, New England choral music was viewed with disdain by music aficionados with strong opinions about the correct, “scientific” way to compose musical progressions and harmony.

Early New England had its own robust musical style. Then a Boston composer helped suppress it.

Dexter Sol Ansell, left, and Peter Claffey in a scene from "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms."

‘Widow’s Bay,’ ‘Half Man,’ and more of the best TV of the year so far

Special Projects

Spotlight share 3:2

Boston Globe Spotlight Team

Nearly 250 patients at top Mass. hospitals say they were abused by a renowned doctor. Why wasn’t he stopped sooner?

A Globe Spotlight investigation found the state’s medical establishment missed key warning signs.

Harvard library. Photo illustration

Why Trump and the MAGA movement turned against Harvard

Over a decade of political and cultural upheaval, America’s most powerful university grew vulnerable to attack. There were warning signs.

Squeezed share image

Why the middle class is disappearing in Massachusetts

The middle class in Massachusetts is being hollowed out. Driving the squeeze is a stratospheric rise in inequality.

all teams on

Eight World Cup teams are coming to Boston. Here’s a look at their playing style and their predicted finish.

Some of the world's best — Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane, and Erling Haaland — will play at Gillette Stadium. Learn about each team's local connections, how they got here, and more.

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Opinion, ideas, and commentary

"It actually was so much more heartening and interesting to be engaged with the country as a living, breathing, physical place inhabited by actual human beings than to sit at home doom-scrolling," Beverly Gage says.

PODCAST | SAY MORE

Liberals have a patriotism problem

A mother stood with her child at a protest in favor of birthright citizenship outside the Supreme Court on May 15, 2025.

KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR

Breaking down that birthright citizenship ruling

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand spoke during a Senate subcommittee meeting on May. 19.

Trump, crypto, and a test of political ethics

The Mughal emperor Shah Alam hands a scroll to Robert Clive, the governor of Bengal (Treaty of Allahabad), which transferred tax collecting rights in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the East India Company, August 1765. Painting by American painter Benjamin West, circa 1818.

IDEAS | Sarah M.S. Pearsall

The Boston Tea Party’s international roots

Megyn Kelly spoke during the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 21, 2025.

SCOTUS, Megyn Kelly, and the howl of racists exhaling

Who's actually running that robot?

IDEAS | Yifan Xu Miller

Who’s actually running that robot?

Metro

Fourth of July is in full patriotic bloom in Boston. Follow along with live updates.

Festivities in Boston are scheduled throughout the day, culminating on the Charles River for a Boston Pops concert followed by what is being billed as the largest fireworks display in city history.

Cambridge man fatally shot Saturday morning, police say

Authorities said Xavier Bautista was shot before 4:30 a.m. near the intersection of Broadway and Norfolk Street.

Courtney Sale Ross, founder and funder of a quirky school, dies at 78

Courtney Sale Ross, whose desire to homeschool her daughter eventually inspired her to spend hundreds of millions of dollars creating an idiosyncratic new school in the Hamptons, died on June 1 at her home in Malibu, California. She was 78.

Artur Dmitriev, two-time Olympic Pairs skating champion, dies at 58

Artur Dmitriev, a two-time Russian Olympic champion in pairs figure skating who combined the build of a linebacker with the elegance of a ballet dancer and was the only man to win gold medals in the sport with different partners, died June 28 in Moscow. He was 58.

Sports

Team Visma's Matteo Jorgenson of the Unites States (center) celebrates with his teammates, including race leader Jonas Vingegaard (in yellow), on the podium after winning the first stage of the Tour de France, a team time-trial over 12.1 miles Saturday in Barcelona, Spain.

Tadej Pogacar starts quest for fifth Tour de France title, but Jonas Vingegaard grabs edge in Barcelona

The Slovenian defending champion got off to a slow start, with chief rival Vingegaard and his Visma-Lease a Bike squad winning Stage 1's team time trial.

Morocco's Azzedine Ounahi is thrown in the air by his teammates after he scored twice in a win over Canada in the World Cup round of 16.

Morocco 3, Canada 0

Azzedine Ounahi scores twice to help Morocco beat Canada in the World Cup round of 16

Morocco advances to face the winner of Saturday’s Paraguay-France match on Thursday in Foxborough.

James Wood (left) is part of the younger Nationals core producing under young manager Blake Butera (center).

Peter Abraham | Sunday baseball notes

The Nationals are full of surprises this season as their rebuild speeds up under new management’s watch

Former Red Sox executive Paul Toboni and Blake Butera, a 33-year-old former BC player, have the Nationals in the playoff mix and making trade-deadline plans.

How Caleb Durbin recovered from the ghastly start to his Red Sox career: ‘You gotta do what you gotta do’

Gary Washburn | Sunday basketball notes

How Jaylen Brown’s contract likely figured into the Celtics’ decision to deal him to the 76ers

Mexico’s secret 12th Man in the World Cup: baby Jesus

Business

‘Almost a legal scam’: Nearly a million investors lost $3.8 billion on Trump crypto coin

A tally of Trump followers turned crypto investors is in. And for them, the overall results are remarkably bad.

Wastewater wars: Massachusetts company loses state contract as public health evolves

Biobot proved waste water surveillance was valuable enough that governments now want to do it themselves.

Ukrainian drones hit St. Petersburg oil terminal in latest long-range attack on Russia

Small businesses say they’re having a good summer as Americans travel closer to home

Readers shared their picks for the best burgers, ice cream, breweries, bagels, ramen, and more.

We picked the best bagels, Cape Cod restaurants, and more. Here’s what readers say we missed.

Each week, the Globe sends a couple, like Molly T. and Jurgen K., on a blind date.

Dinner With Cupid

What we can learn about dating in Boston from reading Dinner With Cupid

Clockwise from top left: A full-moon kayaking experience in North Kingstown, Rhode Island; the Quechee Hot Air Balloon Festival; and a moose safari in Maine.

Here are five summer travel experiences you’ve probably never had before in New England

These stones mark the fallen Clans on Culloden Battlefield in the Scottish Highlands.

I went to Scotland to find family history, Highland culture — and a wee dram of whisky

metro

Asher Fallon received a syringe feed through his feeding tube from his mother, Danielle (right), while his father, Kurtis, sat beside him at their home in Rhode Island on June 18. Asher, who has Down syndrome and other medical conditions, has been out of school while his family seeks educational services they say he is entitled to receive through the public school system.

Their children are too sick to go to school. These parents are fighting for them to get a better education at home.

Cheers, tears, tube tops, and a deep kiss. Brockton Cape Verde fans celebrate and mourn the end of team’s historic World Cup run.

Co-owner of Maine mill injured during large explosion dies

sports

Celtics lead governor Bill Chisholm (right) will be part of Monday's press conference to discuss the Jaylen Brown trade.

Exploring how the picks the Celtics received for Jaylen Brown could shake out, and other thoughts

Artur Dmitriev, two-time Olympic Pairs skating champion, dies at 58

Game 87: Red Sox at Angels lineups and preview

business

Questions about resume gaps are expected. Here’s how job seekers can address them.

A California farmer is giving away tons of nectarines that he’s not allowed to sell

Bank of America CEO on how its FIFA sponsorship is going: ‘We feel good’

politics

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in September 2025.

In backing President Trump’s policies, Justice Alito finds his moment

Trump pardons former Abramoff partner, 9 people convicted of violating vehicle emissions controls

Fireworks, heat and politics: America celebrates its 250th birthday

Nation

Jeremiah Hain in Los Angeles. Hain, a 42-year-old psychotherapist who has used ChatGPT routinely for other small tasks, recently employed it to help him choose candidates in races for mayor and various other offices.

‘Who should I Vote for?’ Voters turn to AI before casting their ballots.

As the nation turns 250, a Texas town grieves instead

See photos from July 4th celebrations across the country

World

A baby Jesus statue, dressed in a Mexico national soccer team jersey, sat before an ornate gold altar at the 450-year-old Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City last month.

Mexico’s secret 12th Man in the World Cup: baby Jesus

Egypt uncovers lost Byzantine-era city in the western desert

Momentary unity at a funeral masks deep divisions among Iran’s leaders

opinion

Gilbert Stuart's unfinished portrait of George Washington from 1796.

Our first president might be ashamed of today’s immigration system

The Declaration of Independence has a Boston accent

A GOP representative, who took a lengthy paid sick leave, has voted against offering the same to his constituents.

lifestyle

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift after the Chiefs' victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship NFL game in Kansas City, Mo., on Jan. 26, 2025.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce marry in front of famous friends at Madison Square Garden

Photos: Swifties gather outside Madison Square Garden as celebrities arrive for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding

The father-daughter wedding dance gets an upgrade

food & dining

A past Boston Jerkfest. The festival will be held this year July 10-12.

These new restaurant openings are as hot as a Boston heat wave

HGTV’s Taniya Nayak talks designing a Bruin’s home and new Boston restaurants

Boston bars, restaurants see biggest spending jump among World Cup host cities

travel

The Tasty Tower of Pizza, West Yarmouth, circa 1957.

How to relive a mid-century vacation on Cape Cod

Want to feel fancy and fabulous? Check out these Maine spas.

Sewer overflows into Merrimack River have ended, officials say. But it’s still not safe to swim at these beaches.

Arts

John Singleton Copley’s “Watson and the Shark” greets visitors at the freshly-redone 18th-century American galleries at the MFA.

At the MFA, the past and present converge in a fractious moment

Boston museum displays an original copy of the Declaration of Independence

At the Griffin: Can crowbars be atmospheric?

Books

Maria Gonzalez, a librarian, reads a book at Carson Beach in Boston on Aug. 3, 2022.

Getting a parenting break? Unwind with one of these great beach reads.

Local bestsellers for the week ended June 28

In his book ‘Summer of ‘71,’ veteran Washington journalist John A. Jenkins says we’ve been here before

Movies

Leslie Odom in "Hamilton," the filmed version of the original Broadway production.

The best movies, TV shows, specials, and more to watch this July Fourth weekend

Jacob’s Pillow is in full swing, and more local arts news

Filtering America’s 250th anniversary through the best picture nominees of its bicentennial year

Television

Massachusetts native and designer Taniya Nayak.

HGTV’s Taniya Nayak talks designing a Bruin’s home and new Boston restaurants

The best movies, TV shows, specials, and more to watch this July Fourth weekend

Before Walter White was a killer, he was just a desperate man with a plan

music

Alex Zsoldos leads Anna Zoretich and her dad Jim in rehearsal of a routine for their father-daughter dance during her upcoming wedding reception, at Alex Zsoldos’s studio in Charlotte, N.C.

The father-daughter wedding dance gets an upgrade

Early New England had its own robust musical style. Then a Boston composer helped suppress it.

On ‘SNL,’ a bumpy Olivia Rodrigo performance was still a bold declaration as an artist

Theater/Dance

Jeb Brown (left) and Isabel Keating in Shakespeare & Company's "Fireflies."

A faint light in Shakespeare & Company’s formulaic ‘Fireflies’

In ‘The American Five,’ teaming up to change history

Family ties strained to the breaking point in Barrington Stage’s ‘The Zionists: A Family Storm’

Health

Sewage water that's now pretty clean heads to a pipe that will take it more than 9 miles out in Massachusetts Bay.

Wastewater wars: Massachusetts company loses state contract as public health evolves

Medicaid drops GLP-1 coverage for tens of thousands in Mass., including children

A year after distressed buyout, what’s become of Somerville’s Bluebird Bio?

Obituaries

Courtney Sale Ross, head of the Ross School, in New York, in 2006.

Courtney Sale Ross, founder and funder of a quirky school, dies at 78

Artur Dmitriev, two-time Olympic Pairs skating champion, dies at 58

Victoria Cruz, veteran of the trans rights movement, dies at 79