The Chinese have an expression that I’ve always liked: “No coincidence, no story.” A story should contain some kind of strange or unexpected twist; if it doesn’t, it’s not much of a story. Here’s mine. A month ago, I surprised my friend Pete at the hospital where he was getting his last set of infusions […]
Ben Bragdon
Staff Writer
Ben Bragdon is managing editor of the Sun Journal. Prior to that, he was deputy managing editor for news at the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. Ben was previously editorial page editor for those newspapers and Central Maine Sunday for more than 10 years. Before that, he was managing editor for weekly newspapers at Current Publishing in Westbrook. He began his career as a reporter at the Piscataquis Observer in Dover-Foxcroft and editor at the Moosehead Messenger in Greenville. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from Boston University.
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
Editorial: Should we name heat waves? It’s worth a try to save lives
Not a lot of people know about one of California’s worst disasters in the last few decades, one that overwhelmed hospitals, sent bodies piling up in coroner’s offices and was deadlier than the 1994 Northridge earthquake or the 2018 Camp fire. That’s what happened when a severe heat wave smothered California in July 2006, killing […]
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Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Martin Schram: Truth shatters a Big Lie
For more than two years, Donald Trump’s most patriotic MAGA true-believers have been accepting with unshakable trust what they were sure was rock-solid evidence that their leader really won reelection. They genuinely believe they’ve seen all the proof they need that the 2020 election was stolen from them. They have seen the videos on the […]
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
Our View: Next Farm Bill should bolster local food systems
At a hearing last week in Freeport, Maine farmers said they need support dealing with a number of crises.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Why do I hoard more books than I could possibly read? An investigation
Publisher’s Weekly recently reported that book sales for the first half of the year are down once again, continuing a trend that has accelerated since the pandemic. As usual, I seem to be out of step. After a few years of joining the Kindle cult, I am back to my old bibliophile ways of buying […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Young people deserve a seat at the table
CBS News recently proclaimed that “kids in the U.S. and around the world are in crisis.” Self-harm among youth is on the rise, and enduring problems like bullying and sexual assault continue to wreak havoc. Young people feel the impending doom of climate change and await the day when their school is assaulted by an […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Why older adults are so vulnerable to extreme heat from climate change
Scorching temperatures have put millions of Americans in danger this summer, with heat extremes stretching across the Southern U.S. Phoenix hit 110 degrees or higher every day for three weeks in July. Other major cities, from Las Vegas to Miami, experienced relentless high temperatures, which residents described as “hell on earth.” While we see photos […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Carl P. Leubsdorf: Political border battle rages on
In the past two months, President Joe Biden’s revised procedures for stemming the influx of asylum seekers across the Southern border have seemed to be working, substantially slowing the flow. But the difficulty in dealing administratively with the immigration situation was underscored when a federal judge in California ruled the procedures violate a federal law […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Yes, the Supreme Court has taken away rights and resources. But it’s so much worse
Just a year after the U.S. Supreme Court terminated women’s constitutional right to an abortion, it dealt a triple blow to our collective social fabric in one broad sweep with rulings that undid affirmative action in college admissions, weakened LGBTQ+ Americans’ protections against discrimination and struck down the Biden administration’s college debt forgiveness. Considered together, […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Tragedy of capsized migrants barely noticed amid loss of Titan and its billionaire passengers
I know what it’s like to wait for someone lost at sea. When I was 20 years old, working at a music cafe in Charleston, South Carolina, I got the call that my mother’s boat was lost in a massive storm during a sailing race to Bermuda. I was assured that the powers that be […]