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Letters from our readers

Acupuncture, climate change, renaming

Two hanging bird feeders plus a hanging nesting basket dangle from a tree branch.

Spruce up your own outdoor spaces

Turning your al fresco space into a springtime oasis

by Kara Baskin

In a still from "The Painter and the Thief," the male thief watches the female artist at work.

Recommended 2020 films to see online

A short list of fine documentaries and feature films 

by Nell Porter-Brown

Photograph of a stout middle-aged woman seated at her desk, writing

Elizabeth Bangs Bryant

Brief life of an underappreciated arachnologist

by Reed Gochberg

Photograph of Patrick Chung

The Xfund’s liberal-arts entrepreneurs

The Xfund helps young entrepreneurs launch companies and careers.

by Jonathan Shaw

A close-up photograph of Jupiter, including its Great Red Spot

Clues to the persistence of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

The gas giant’s storms could be driven by processes thousands of kilometers below the surface.

by Veronique Greenwood

Photograph of architect H.H. Richardson’s house

The College Pump

Classy masks, dapper archaeologist, saving H.H. Richardson’s house

by Primus VI

An illustration showing a human head in profile, suggesting the elements of distinctive Western psychology

Excerpt from “The WEIRDEST People in the World,” by Joseph Henrich

Reinterpreting the distinctive psychology of the human West

A man runs around the perimeter of Harvard Stadium

Harvard’s popular runners’s loop

A legendary route’s disputed distance

by Jacob Sweet

Photograph of Nancy Coleman, dean of continuing education

Online education at Harvard—a status report

Pandemic-driven virtual learning booms—and perhaps promises improved residential education, too.

by John S. Rosenberg

Photo of the exterior of Coolidge Corner Theater, with its vertical red neon sign.

Greater Boston’s art-house cinemas: a status report

Greater Boston’s small cinemas strive to engage film-goers during the pandemic.

by Nell Porter-Brown

Photo of a cheerleader group composed of elderly women, all in red tops and white skirts, with pompoms

“Some Kind of Heaven,” a documentary by Lance Oppenheim

Documentarian Lance Oppenheim explores life in The Villages.

by Alex Huls