Ian Prasad Philbrick

You bet! 🫡

Thanks so much, Ilya!

After an eventful year @bostonglobe.com, I’m heading back to @slate.com to be a senior politics writer covering *gestures at all this.* I’m psyched to get started, so drop me a line at ian.philbrick@slate.com

Key line from @assoumou.bsky.social “If you don’t come into my ICU because you were vaccinated, that’s a win.”

Fewer people in Massachusetts are getting flu shots. It might be another legacy of COVID — or RFK Jr. - The Boston Globe Despite a bad flu season, the share of residents choosing to get vaccinated against the virus has fallen. Here are 4 possible reasons why.

During Covid, more Mass. residents got flu shots. But fewer are now choosing to get them even as a bad flu batters the state. For today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point, @billhanage.bsky.social and @assoumou.bsky.social helped me think through why that might be www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/21/n...

‘I’m afraid, too’: Why two Maine mayors decided to warn residents about ICE coming to their cities - The Boston Globe Immigrant communities in Portland and Lewiston are bracing for federal agents to descend on the city as soon as this week.

The mayors of Lewiston and Portland, Maine are warning that immigration agents may soon descend on their cities. For today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point, I asked them about the intel behind their warnings, how residents are reacting, and what may come next www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/20/n...

After the killing of John Axelrod, what do we know about the links between mental health and crime? - The Boston Globe Most struggling people aren’t violent. Research suggests that severe mental illness can increase the risk — but also suggests ways to reduce it.

The killing of Boston philanthropist John Axelrod and his dog, allegedly by a man struggling with mental illness, seems likely to renew hard discussions about the link between mental illness and crime. Today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point lays out what we know www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/08/n...

7 stories Globe journalists obsessed over in 2025 — and are following into 2026 - The Boston Globe From women’s sports to a long-awaited star turn for Boston’s best restaurants, pay attention to these storylines as the old year gives way to the new.

New year…old stories? I asked my @bostonglobe.com colleagues about the New England storylines they closely followed in 2025 and plan to keep covering this year. See their answers in today’s Starting Point: www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/07/n...

Trump’s campaign to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 attack has largely succeeded. Here’s why. - The Boston Globe Five years after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol to try to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss, Americans lack a shared understanding of what happened that day.

The public reaction to Jan. 6 began as something close to collective horror. Five years later, Trump’s historical revisionism has destroyed any shared national understanding of what happened that day, today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point explains www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/06/n...

What’s next for Venezuela? Trump’s shifting explanations make it hard to say. - The Boston Globe The South American country wasn’t a big focus of the 2024 campaign, so it’s difficult to assess Trump’s goals in ousting President Nicolás Maduro

Venezuela wasn’t a major focus of the 2024 campaign, and the explanations for the US campaign that culminated in Nicolás Maduro's ouster keep shifting. That makes it even harder than usual to guess what comes next, today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point explains www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/05/n...

New England helped make short stories an art form. A new anthology reflects those regional roots. - The Boston Globe This year’s “Best American Short Stories” collection features New England-based editors, authors, literary journals, and stories.

I’ve been reading The Best American Short Stories for years and was intrigued to find this year's collection full of stories and authors with New England ties. I called series editor @nicolealamy.bsky.social to discuss for today's @bostonglobe.com Starting Point www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/31/n...

‘Could this happen again?’ Providence confronts hard questions after the Brown University shooting. - The Boston Globe Nervous looks, flowers left in tribute, and other scenes from a still-edgey community just starting to process the violence that shattered it.

I’ve been curious about how Providence is coping — and the questions residents are asking themselves — since the Brown University shooter was found. So I asked @bostonglobe.com reporter @alexagagosz.bsky.social, who’s based there, for today’s Starting Point: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/30/n...

Why the war in Ukraine has been so hard to end - The Boston Globe Russia’s invasion is more than just an attempt to conquer territory. It’s a fight to erase Ukrainian culture and national identity.

Russia’s war in Ukraine isn’t just about land; it’s also an effort to erase Ukrainian culture and national identity. That’s one reason why a deal to end the fighting remains elusive, as today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point explains: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/29/n...

Trump, famous for firing people, has parted with few top aides this term. Why? - The Boston Globe Staff turnover and chaos dominated the headlines during Trump’s first presidency. This time he has an administration full of MAGA loyalists.

At this point in President Trump’s first term, scandal and backbiting had cost many top administration officials their jobs. Today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point explains why internal chaos (Signalgate, Wiles in VF, etc.) hasn’t had the same effect this time www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/18/n...

What is Trump really trying to accomplish in Venezuela? Here are a few possibilities. - The Boston Globe His pressure campaign has included a buildup of forces and strikes on alleged drug boats. Regime change, oil, and countering China are among the mentioned motives.

In a recent poll, 76 percent of Americans said they didn’t think Trump had explained the goals behind his pressure campaign against Venezuela. Today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point explores his possible motives, ranging from regime change to oil: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/15/n...

I've said it before: Talking out ideas with my colleagues and sharing them with Starting Point readers is among the most rewarding and fun parts of this job. If you're looking to understand how the Pats turned things around this year, @christopherprice.bsky.social has you covered.

Boston luminaries founded a magazine dedicated to American ideals 168 years ago. Last week, it came home. - The Boston Globe "If you stray too far from your DNA, you run the risk of losing yourself," said Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg as the magazine kicked off a nationwide event series in Boston.

For today’s Starting Point, @theatlantic.com is in the @bostonglobe.com! The magazine founded in 1857 by a group of Boston literary luminaries is going on tour, and I chatted with @jeffreygoldberg.bsky.social about coming back to the town where it all began www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/10/n...

High above the Boston traffic, a Globe photographer captured the choreography of modern travel - The Boston Globe Stan Grossfeld went to take photos of the moon. He ended up beholding something less natural but still pretty majestic.

Something different for today’s Starting Point: a lesson in (literally) rising above Boston’s infamously bad traffic from the legendary @bostonglobe.com photographer Stan Grossfeld www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/09/n...

From Roman emperors to tinpot dictators, strongmen have long named things after themselves. Now Trump has, too. - The Boston Globe Trump and his allies’ efforts to name things in the president’s honor are a break from American history and a sign of Trump’s governing style.

If Trump and his allies prevail, you’ll soon see his name on the Kennedy Center, a football stadium, and an airport. As today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point explains, Trump’s branding efforts put him in the company of history's strongmen, not past US presidents www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/08/n...

Thoughtful leaders, strong values, and ‘meaningful perks’: These qualities make for a good workplace - The Boston Globe A Globe reporter discusses the companies that made our list of the top places to work in Massachusetts this year.

What makes a workplace good? As @bostonglobe.com rolls out its annual list of Massachusetts’ top places to work, I put that question to resident expert @ktkjohnston.bsky.social for today’s Starting Point: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/03/n...

As Massachusetts knows, going easy on criminals can sink politicians. Will Trump’s controversial pardons do the same? - The Boston Globe Presidential aspirant Michael Dukakis learned that lesson the hard way in 1988. But partisanship may shield the White House’s current occupant from similar consequences.

An emboldened Trump is stretching the pardon power in new ways: nakedly helping allies, accusing the previous administration of selective prosecutions, and placing a loyalist in charge. Today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point explains: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/02/n...

Did Brian Walshe kill his wife? What does the evidence suggest? Here’s what to know as his trial begins. - The Boston Globe The murder case, which starts with opening statements in Suffolk Superior Court today, has drawn significant public attention.

Brian Walshe’s murder trial is underway in Norfolk Superior Court. If you’re just catching up with the case, today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point explains what you need to know: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/01/n...

Turkey, stuffing, and … vermicelli pudding? Some of these Thanksgiving delicacies past are downright bizarre. - The Boston Globe To mark the holiday, we’re serving up a slice of unusual New England culinary history.

Eel broth, salmon fishballs, and vermicelli “pudding”: To whet your appetite, today’s Starting Point catalogues the many strange ways New Englanders’ Thanksgiving menus have changed over the decades using recipes shared by @bostonglobe.com readers past www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/26/n...

From bomb scares to swatting, the threat of political violence seems to be getting worse - The Boston Globe Democrats and Republicans alike who defy Trump are getting death threats, and new divisions in his coalition could intensify the problem.

Democrats and Republicans who have defied Trump have gotten bomb scares, death threats, and been swatted in recent days. And as today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point explains, a crackup in the Trump coalition could intensify America's political violence problem www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/25/n...

‘The scale of weather is widening’: A Globe meteorologist on how climate change makes his job harder - The Boston Globe Ken Mahan explains the “tug of war” that will determine our winter weather, when to know what you’re in for this Thanksgiving, and how he tracks changing conditions.

Very grateful to @weatherken.bsky.social for chatting with me about the outlook for New England this winter (spoiler: it’s looking snowier and colder than recent years) and how he does his job for today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/24/n...

The penny may be history, but it’s leaving a mark on American culture, economics, and morality - The Boston Globe The US has stopped minting pennies after 232 years, turning the copper-plated coin into a relic — and a window into a vanished world.

As the penny vanishes into history, it has become a window into a vanished America. For today’s Starting Point, I dove into the @bostonglobe.com archives and found the humble coin embedded throughout our national story: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/20/n...

In the Epstein emails, a parable of intellectual clubbiness, proximity to power, and money - The Boston Globe Why did Larry Summers and Elisa New keep in touch with Jeffrey Epstein long after he pleaded guilty to sex crimes?

Former Treasury secretary Larry Summers and Elisa New, the poetry expert he’s married to, were paid to be discerning. So why did they keep in touch with Jeffrey Epstein for so long? Today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point explores a few possibilities: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/19/n...

Sudan’s civil war is arguably the world’s worst conflict. But few Americans know about it. - The Boston Globe Sudan’s long-running civil war, overshadowed by Ukraine and Gaza, is a victim of global inattention and changing US priorities.

The war in Sudan has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, yet compared to Ukraine and Gaza it’s gotten a fraction of the public’s attention. As today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point explains, the Sudanese community in Massachusetts hopes to change that www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/18/n...

Is Harvard to blame for the public’s turn against universities? Inside Trump’s war on the school. - The Boston Globe “The Harvard Plan” host Ilya Marritz discusses Claudine Gay vs. Alan Garber and how the administration is disrupting a decades-old consensus on higher education.

Season 2 of “The Harvard Plan,” a @bostonglobe.com and @wnyc.org podcast about Trump’s war on Harvard, has wrapped. I called up host @ilyamarritz.bsky.social to discuss Harvard-educated conservatives and how the school is responding to public backlash www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/17/n...

Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein are under new scrutiny. Here’s what to know — and what’s next. - The Boston Globe Newly released emails are renewing scrutiny on Trump’s ties to the late sex offender, and a newly sworn-in congresswoman could soon force a House vote on the issue.

Newly released emails suggest that Trump knew more about Jeffrey Epstein’s behavior than he has let on. Today’s @bostonglobe.com Starting Point explains what might happen next www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/13/n...