2019: More of the Same? The brisk spring/summer market cooled a bit in the fall, with some prices softening and days on market increasing, as is typical. Given recent stock market volatility, higher interest rates, and a little more new inventory in the pipeline, some observers speculate the market may stabilize or soften a bit. Anecdotally, I can say that the only softening I have seen locally is minor and is mainly on properties under $700K. The higher end of the market seems quite active. Given the number of new buyers I encountered viewing properties this fall with the goal of buying in the spring, I think the spring market will be strong again this year, although we may see some flattening out of prices. ~Thalia
Best Real Estate Agency
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New Listings
6 Spring Road, Arlington
494 Medford Street, Somerville
Lovely Arlington Heights bungalow, perched on a hill with views, with 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, large front porch, front/back/side yard, and parking in front on recently paved private way. Walk to the Minute Man bike path, Trader Joe’s, and shops along Massachusetts Avenue.
Well-appointed two-family on a corner lot in Magoun Square. Unit 1 has 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom on 2 levels; Unit 2 has 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom. 2-car driveway. Great, walkable location near restaurants and 2 Red Line subways now—as well as 2 new GLX stops in the near future.
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Attached 2-level single family with 2+ bedrooms, 2 full baths, and 2 parking spaces steps to Union Square. The house offers handicapped accessible baths updated in 2015. Ideal condo alternative.
$849,000
221 Highland Avenue, Unit 2, Somerville Between Davis and Porter Squares, this updated, 2-level Spring Hill condo has 3-bedrooms, 1 1/2 bath, in-unit laundry, private back deck, and two parking spaces. Near the Arts at the Armory (home of the Winter Farmer’s Market), Dulock butcher, Highland Kitchen, 7 Ate 9, and more.
Coming Soon
Thalia Tringo
President, Realtor ® 617.513.1967 cell/text Thalia@ThaliaTringoRealEstate.com
11 Bailey Street, Somerville West Somerville attached single family on 2 levels with 2+ bedrooms, 1 bathroom, study, enclosed porch, back deck, and fenced yard.
Jennifer Rose
Residential Sales Specialist, Realtor ® 617.943.9581 cell/text Jennifer@ThaliaTringoRealEstate.com
Lynn C. Graham
95 Orchard Street Unit 2, Somerville On one of Davis Square’s most beloved streets, this charming second floor condo has 3 bedrooms, study, tile full bathroom, and 2 parking spaces. High ceilings, wood floors, large, shared fenced backyard.
Free Classes First Time Home Buyers:
Residential Sales Specialist, Realtor ® 617.216.5244 cell/text Lynn@ThaliaTringoRealEstate.com
Brendon Edwards
Residential Sales Specialist, Realtor ® 617.895.6267 cell/text Brendon@ThaliaTringoRealEstate.com
an overview of the buying process Wednesday, January 23RD OR Tuesday, February 12TH 6:30 – 7:45 pm If you’re considering buying your first home and want to understand what’s in store, this is a quick and helpful overview. Led by our agents and a loan officer from a local bank, it includes a 45-min presentation and 1/2 hour Q&A session. Handouts and refreshments provided.
How to Buy and Sell at the Same Time:
Seth Kangley
Residential Sales Specialist, Realtor ® 315.382.2507 cell/text Seth@ThaliaTringoRealEstate.com
for homeowners contemplating a move
Wednesday, January 30TH OR Thursday, February 21ST 6:30 – 7:45 pm If trying to figure out the logistics of selling your home and buying a new one makes your head spin, this workshop will help make the process & your choices understandable. This workshop, led by our agents and a loan officer from a local bank, includes a 45-min presentation and 1/2 hour Q&A session. Handouts and refreshments provided.
Sarasvati Lynn
Residential Sales Specialist, Realtor ® 617.949.6942 cell/text Sarasvati@ThaliaTringoRealEstate.com
Basic Home Maintenance:
preparing your home for winter Tuesday, January 15TH 6:30 – 7:45 pm Do you worry about pipes bursting? Ice dams? Clogged gutters? Broken downspouts? Heat loss? Damage from broken tree limbs? Heating system failure? Routine maintenance is the best way to prevent damage to your most important investment: your home. Come to this class to get a checklist and explanation of the things you need to do to maintain your home—and sanity.
How Individuals Can Buy Property Together as a Group Tuesday, February 5TH 6:30 – 8:30 pm When two or more people, whether or not they are related, buy property together, what are their options for taking title? How do you determine each one’s financial contributions, percentage legal interest in the property, and expense allocation? What kind of arrangements can be made in the event one or more parties want to move on but others want to keep the property? What type of financing is available? We will address these and other questions, followed by a Q&A session. Lead by our team and a local real estate attorney. If you are a first time homebuyer, please attend the First Time Home Buyers Workshop (January 23RD) or make an appointment with one of our agents so you’ll have your prerequisites for this class. To reserve space in any class, please email Adaria@ThaliaTringoRealEstate.com. Admission is free, but we appreciate donations of canned goods for the Somerville Homeless Coalition.
Adaria Brooks
Executive Assistant to the President, Realtor ® 617.308.0064 cell/text Adaria@ThaliaTringoRealEstate.com
About our company... We are dedicated to representing our buyer and seller clients with integrity and professionalism. We are also commi ed to giving back to our community. Our agents donate $250 to a non-profit in honor of each transaction and Thalia Tringo & Associates Real Estate Inc. also gives $250 to a pre-selected group of local charities for each transaction. Visit our office, 128 Willow Avenue, on the bike path in Davis Square, Somerville.
JANUARY 14, 2019 - MARCH 10, 2019 ::: VOLUME 36 ::: SCOUTCAMBRIDGE.COM
contents 6 // EDITOR’S NOTE 8 // WINNERS & LOSERS On the one hand, Cambridge has been named a LEED Certified City for its environmental practices. On the other hand, trouble is brewing in Harvard Yard … again.
24 FREE TIME FERVOR 14 // WINTER BUCKET LIST You can’t fight the cold, but you can embrace it with these ideas for local winter fun. 15 // BOOK PREVIEW: “SEA PEOPLE: THE PUZZLE OF POLYNESIA” Part-memoir, part-investigation, part-history book, “Sea People” is an adventure in itself. 16 // THE COMMUNITY THAT GOES WITH THE FLOW Local flow artists spin fire, juggling pins, and more.
20 // ‘MAPPING OUT UTOPIA’: HOW OUR LEGACY OF COUNTERCULTURE LIVES ON Artist and librarian Tim Devin chronicles our rich history of counterculture. 22 // THE RED LINE SECEDES–AND THAT’S JUST THE BEGINNING These first-time podcasters will derail your morning commute. 24 // SHAKESPEARE, SEX, AND SEAFOOD: A NIGHT OUT AT A.R.T. The American Repertory Theater’s 2019 lineup is as colorful as ever—here are five upcoming shows you won’t want to miss.
Photo, top: An image from “Dragon Lady.” Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva. Photo, bottom: Cheese from Formaggio Kitchen. Photo by Joyelle West. On the cover: A Flow artist. Photo by Adrianne Mathiowetz.
10 // WHAT’S NEW? Harvard Square’s beloved Crema Cafe has closed, the city’s launched a new recycling pilot for small businesses, and kids decorated a snow plow that’ll be clearing streets this winter.
>> LOOKING FOR
26 // SCOUT OUT: STEP INTO THE LILYPAD MURAL Artist Dan Masi spent six months living nocturnally, painting all night to create the venue’s dreamworld mural. 28 // CALENDAR 30 // DO-GOODERS, KEY PLAYERS, AND GAME CHANGERS: CAMBRIDGE DIGS DEEP The city has partnered with the Disruptive Equity Education Project (DEEP), which dismantles racial inequity through education and collaboration. 31 // MEET THE SCOUT TEAM: NICOLLE RENICK, ART DIRECTOR
A FUN, WARM NIGHT IN? Take a Cheese 101 class at Formaggio Kitchen, then try your hand at making a cheese plate at home.
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EDITOR’S NOTE
T
he people of Cambridge are doing amazing things in their work lives, but we think that what you do outside of work is important enough to merit its own issue. After all, what’s a better indicator of what people care about than how they choose to spend their free time? People here push hard for the causes they care about, and it turns out that’s not new: we dove into the city’s rich history of activism and how that legacy continues on today (p.20). To unplug and destress, we found that people are seeing what they can toss in the air (p.16). For the creatives, we looked into a homegrown audio drama (p.22) and the American Repertory Theater’s spring Photo by Adrianne Mathiowetz. lineup (p.24). Looking for something new in this city of endless activities? We put together a winter bucket list, full of ideas for what you can dive into even as the temperatures drop (p.14), and checked out an upcoming book you can cozy up with from a local author (p.15). Whether you see your passions highlighted here or find something new you want to get involved in, we appreciate you taking some of your free time to be here with us. Best,
Reena Karasin Reena Karasin, Editor-in-Chief rkarasin@scoutmagazines.com
PUBLISHER Holli Banks Allien hbanks@scoutmagazines.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Reena Karasin rkarasin@scoutmagazines.com ART DIRECTOR Nicolle Renick design@scoutmagazines.com renickdesign.com CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Jerry Allien jallien@scoutmagazines.com SCOUT FELLOW Alyssa Vaughn avaugh@scoutmagazines.com STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Adrianne Mathiowetz EDITORIAL INTERN Lilly Milman CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Catherine Seraphin, Jillian Kravatz CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Sasha Pedro CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR Stefan Mallette COPY EDITOR Joe Palandrani BANKS PUBLICATIONS 519 Somerville Ave, #314 Somerville, MA 02143 FIND US ONLINE scoutcambridge.com scoutcambridge
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“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.” An excerpt from E.F. Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered
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W&L
WINNERS
LOSERS
AYANNA PRESSLEY While Ayanna Pressley may be making national headlines and Instagramming photos of herself and Congress’ new coolgirl “squad,” the newly elected representative has remained as connected as ever to the local community. Earlier this winter, Pressley—along with several other rising stars of the left— stepped out of an orientation for new members of Congress at Harvard’s Kennedy School to offer messages of hope to demonstrators in the freezing outdoors, according to the Boston Globe. “The people that elected me are looking for progress,” she said to the crowd, which was demonstrating in support of universal health care and climate change legislation.
HAPPY LAMB HOT POT Tensions are coming to a boil behind the scenes of one popular Central Square eatery. Nine current and former employees of Happy Lamb Hot Pot have accused management of pocketing tips, failing to pay overtime, and refusing to allow workers to use their sick days, Eater Boston reports. In a complaint filed with the United States District Court of Massachusetts, the employees sound off on everything from lazy managers who took tips without working to skin damage caused by the intense bleach the restaurant used to wash their linens. The employees, represented by Boston Legal Services, are seeking $806,000 in back wages and damages, Eater reports.
ENVIRONMENTALISTS Cambridge has joined the ranks of about 50 cities across the globe— including Washington D.C., Songodo, South Korea, and Savona, Italy—as a LEED Certified City, according to a statement from the Cambridge Community Development Department. The city was honored for its commitment to “clean energy practices, sustainable transportation options, access to resources for residents of diverse cultures and backgrounds, local retail support, and many other programs.” The LEED for Cities program offers leaders increased resources for sustainability assessment, performance tracking, and education. FIFTY-SIX LOCAL NONPROFITS This fall, the Cambridge Community Foundation (CCF) sent $367,000 in grants to nonprofits all over the city. The foundation, which describes itself as “the city’s local giving platform,” selected a wide array of nonprofits that address issues including mental health, senior services, economic security, STEAM education, and immigration reform. “This year we can clearly see that the need in the nonprofit community far outweighs our resources, but we’re doing what we can and we’re so thankful to all the donors who are stepping up to help bridge the gap as well,” CCF President Geeta Pradhan said in a statement.
HARVARD Trouble is brewing in Harvard Yard … again. This time, a group of fraternities, sororities, and students is suing the university, saying the new sanctions against single-gender social groups are discriminatory. The sanctions, which took effect with the class of 2021, ban members of final clubs and single-gender Greek organizations from holding other campus leadership positions, becoming varsity team captains, and receiving university endorsements for prestigious postgraduate fellowships, according to the Harvard Crimson. Dissenters say these policies are “anti-men,” because they rely on the notion of all-male spaces fostering sexual violence, and unfair toward women, who will no longer be able to turn to the safe spaces provided by all-female groups without severe consequences. MOOD LIGHTING There’s nothing more romantic than a candlelit dinner—except when your candlelit dinner is interrupted by fire enforcement officials. The owners of UpperWest, a basement wine and charcuterie spot, faced a three-day liquor license suspension this fall after a License Commission hearing, the Cambridge Day reports. The charge? “Egregious” threatening of fire enforcement officials who came to extinguish the restaurant’s tabletop tea lights. The owners insist they had never seen rules regulating candles, after which the Fire Department posted a new one-sentence statute on their website: “The Cambridge Fire Department does not allow the use of candles unless approved by the Fire Prevention Bureau.” Questions still remain, including who exactly this policy applies to, but it seems safe to say that this flare-up has been more difficult to douse than anyone anticipated.
NEWS FROM THE NORTH Here’s just some of what you’ll find in the Free Time Fervor Issue of our sibling publication, Scout Somerville.
HOW TO KEEP YOUR VOICE STRONG WHEN YOU’RE VOICING DISSENT WholeTone Music Academy’s Protest Choir sings with purpose.
GOING CARDBOARD IN THE DIGITAL AGE In tech-savvy Greater Boston, a whole culture has developed around board gaming.
THE FEAST OF FRIENDSHIP These local women meet monthly to try recipes and build community.
Someone rustle your jimmies or tickle your fancy?
Let us know at scoutcambridge.com/contact-us, and we just might crown them a winner or loser.
8 Free Time Fervor | scoutcambridge.com
—BY ALYSSA VAUGHN
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WHAT’S NEW
BY ALYSSA VAUGHN
BRAND NEW BITES (AND BIDDING GOODBYE) KENDALL SQUARE
CAVA
K
endall Square’s COMING MOVED SOON fast-casual scene is
getting even more stacked. Mediterranean chain CAVA’s first Cambridge location is now open for business, Eater Boston reports. The restaurant’s menu rotates throughout the year, offering seasonal ingredients in pita wraps, salads, and grain bowls. If you’re the indecisive type, though, you had best nail down your order before you head to the counter—CAVA estimates there are 58 million different ways that you could combine their ingredients.
RIVERSIDE
SAKANA SUSHI BAR
Sakana Sushi Bar opened earlier this winter just a four-minute walk down MassCOMING Ave. SOON fromMOVED longtime favorite Cafe Sushi, according to Eater Boston. In addition to sushi rolls, nigiri, and makimono, Sakana serves some non-seafood options, including rice bowls, katsu, and teriyaki. First reviewers have noted that Sakana’s namesake roll and matcha flan are
menu standouts, and that the restaurant’s fare comes at a more affordable price point than that of its down-the-street neighbor. HARVARD SQUARE
CREMA CAFE
For 10 years, Crema Cafe was Harvard Square’s place for studying, meeting up with COMING friends, or just grabbing a cup SOON of really good coffee. However, after the building that houses the cafe was sold last year, the skyrocketing rent forced Crema to close at the end of 2018. Steve
Postal, one of the owners of the cafe, gave the details of the building’s $108 million sale to a company in North Carolina in a column he wrote for Eater Boston, and he minced no words. “They are here to make mad cash,” Postal wrote. “No independent could float the numbers they were asking in rent ... The only ones that can MOVED pay it? Chains.” Taking Crema’s place in the Square is Bluestone Lane, a New York-based coffee chain, Eater reports.
HARVARD SQUARE
TEALUXE
And then there was Starbucks. Tealuxe, another local Harvard COMING Square mainstay, also closed SOON earlier this winter after 22 years in business, the Harvard Crimson reports. The Harvard Square store offered an extensive tea menu, including a wide variety of loose leaf teas, as well as brewing paraphernalia. Harvard was Tealuxe’s first location, but it still has an outpost open in Providence, R.I.
SNOW SEASON HELPING HANDS PLOW TAKES TO THE STREETS
On Halloween, the kids of Cambridge were invited to Sennott Park to handprint one of the city’s bright orange snow plows. A project dreamed up by the Department of Public Works, the Cambridge Arts Council, and local student artists, the “helping hands plow” will make the rounds this winter alongside its less-colorful brethren, according 10 Free Time Fervor | scoutcambridge.com
to a city press release. “The Helping Hands theme reminds us all that if we work together, we can get through the winter season safely,” Cambridge Public Works Commissioner Owen O’Riordan said in a statement. ASSEMBLY SQUARE
PARTNERS HEALTHCARE GETS A POWER BOOST
Partners HealthCare (based in Assembly Row) is getting
more winter-ready than ever by enlisting Bloom Energy to boost storm readliness, the Boston Business Journal reports. Bloom will provide the Partners headquarters, along with a few other locations, with fuel cellbased energy systems, which will provide cheaper electricity, reduce CO2 emissions, and most importantly, continue to provide power even in the face of a blizzard.
Photo, top left, courtesy of CAVA. Photo, bottom left, courtesy of the City of Cambridge. Photo, top right, courtesy of Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.
MOVED
SCIENCE
HARVARD SQUARE
A COLD CASE COMES TO A CLOSE
On a January night in 1969, 23-year-old Harvard anthropology student Jane Britton was raped and murdered in her apartment, a high-profile case that would go unsolved for years. However, thanks to recent advancements in forensic technology—and some help from ancestry.com—the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office announced that they have finally identified the killer as serial rapist and murderer Michael Sumpter, Boston.com reports. While Sumpter died in 2001, police were able to match DNA samples taken from the scene of the crime with samples from his still-living brother. “This is the oldest case that the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office has been able to bring to a resolution,” Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan reportedly said at a press conference.
HARVARD UNVEILS HOUSEZERO
Quaint vintage abode on the outside, ultra-efficient energy positive prototype on the inside. The Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities (CGBC) has completed its new headquarters, a retrofitted 1940s home called HouseZero, the Boston Business Journal reports. The building’s name comes from the fact that it’s designed to use zero energy for climate control, zero electric lighting during daylight hours,
and produce zero carbon emissions. It also operates with 100 percent natural ventilation. The CGBC will both work in and study HouseZero, leveraging the data from the hundreds of sensors embedded in the building to understand “complex building behavior” like never before. EAST CAMBRIDGE
EDITAS ON THE CUTTING EDGE
Local startup Editas Medicine will be one of the first U.S. companies to test CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology, the Boston Business Journal reports. Editas will test the technology in its early-stage trials for a drug that could treat the most common cause of childhood blindness. While a date for the study has not been announced, the FDA’s approval of the trial reportedly prompted a $25 million payment from Editas Medicine’s partner, Allergan. EAST CAMBRIDGE
FOUNDATION MEDICINE OUTSMARTS CANCER
Cambridge biotech company Foundation Medicine played a large role in a medical miracle detailed in the Boston Globe earlier this winter. North Attleborough resident John White had an aggressive form of prostate cancer that wasn’t responding to chemotherapy or hormone therapy, and he was given only a year to live. However, when scientists at Foundation ran a new test on the DNA of the cancer cells in White’s prostate, it showed that he could potentially respond to three new immunotherapy drugs, the Globe reports. He began taking one. Two years later, there is no evidence of the disease. His oncologist wrote in a medical journal that White wouldn’t have survived if Foundation’s test hadn’t suggested the drug so quickly.
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WHAT’S NEW
CITY BEAT NORTH CAMBRIDGE
A PLAYGROUND FOR ALL
Earlier this winter, the City Council apportioned $500,000 to design a new “universal playground” at Danehy Park, the Cambridge Day reports. The playground, due to open in the summer of 2020, will be designed with children who have mobility, sensory, cognitive, and behavioral disabilities in mind. “Investing $2.5 million in a playground that’s going to be 100 percent accessible for children with special needs, the third of its kind in the state, is definitely something we should be proud of,” Mayor Marc McGovern said at a City Council meeting, according to the Day.
A WIN FOR STREET PERFORMERS
Strapped for cash? Maybe you should pick up a guitar. Performers can now put on a show in the streets without having to pay a fee, the Cambridge Day reports. While performers will still need a permit, city councilors removed the fee requirement in an effort to demonstrate support for these artists. The new rule came packaged with a slew of other reforms, including expanding the definition of “street performer” to include poetry reading and painting. There’s also a new rule in place banning the use of fire in street performances—so if you do decide to make a couple of bucks on the street corner, leave your pyrotechnics at home.
SMALL BUSINESSES TEST OUT RECYCLING PROGRAM
I
n an effort to reduce the cost of recycling for small businesses, the city has launched a Small Business Recycling Pilot, the Cambridge Chronicle reports. All businesses with fewer than 50 full-time employees were eligible to apply for the program, and those selected for the pilot will receive twice-weekly recycling collection for the next year. The Department of Public Works plans to work closely with these businesses to ensure they are fully educated on what waste goes in the trash and what can be recycled.
12 Free Time Fervor | scoutcambridge.com
CENTRAL SQUARE
THE MIDDLE EAST BOYCOTT PERSISTS
Joseph Sater, one of the owners of the Middle East, stepped down last fall after allegations against him of sexual harassment and assault surfaced. Now, months later, artists still haven’t forgotten, and some continue to boycott the Central Square spot. The difficulties of avoiding such a popular watering hole and performance venue were detailed in a WBUR report earlier this winter. “It felt important enough
to us that it wasn’t drama, it was politics, and it was something that we were really firm about,” Hannah Liuzzo, member of local pop band Lilith, told WBUR. “We wanted to live our politics, so we just kind of had to weigh the pros and cons.” HARVARD SQUARE
HARVARD SKEWERED BY CAMPUS LABOR UNION
Harvard’s largest labor union alleges that the university skirted around campus labor regulations and failed to compensate parttime workers who put in extra hours, the Harvard Crimson reported this winter. The Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) discovered that Harvard paid 291 people as temporary or half-time workers in 2018, even though these people were working “excessive hours,” according to the Crimson. In response to this discovery, the HUCTW sat down with school officials to reform the part-time worker policies. Their negotiated reforms—which include stricter limitations on part-time worker hours and more transparency about how much time part-time workers are putting in—will go into effect in March. HARVARD SQUARE
HARVARD CRIMSON ELECTS ITS FIRST BLACK FEMALE PRESIDENT
It only took 145 years. Kristine E. Guillaume, a junior majoring in literature, history, and AfricanAmerican studies, will lead the famous campus newspaper, the New York Times reports. Guillaume has been a part of the Crimson’s “news board” for the past three years, writing about immigration and the school administration, and her vision for the Crimson involves a more digital-forward model and greater diversity on the staff. “If my being elected to the Crimson presidency as the first black woman affirms anyone’s sense of belonging at Harvard, then that will continue to affirm the work that I’m doing,” Guillaume told the Times.
Photo, top left, courtesy of the City of Cambridge. Photo, top right, by Bob O’Connor. Photo, bottom right, courtesy of Superpedestrian.
HARVARD SQUARE
HARVARD LAW GROWS
After 12 months of construction, Harvard Law School’s newest facility is open for business, Harvard Law Today reports. The building, located at 1607 Mass Ave., will house the school’s Center for Health Law and
Policy Innovation, the Criminal Justice Institute, the Islamic Legal Studies Program, the Animal Law & Policy Program, and more. “This space will promote collaboration and enhance the ability of staff and students and faculty to interact and think across boundaries,” Vice Dean for Experiential and Clinical Education Daniel L. Nagin told the publication. The space will also promote the consumption of mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and tomato sauce—Kendall Square’s popular pizza restaurant Area Four will open a new location in the building’s first floor.
BIKING BUZZ
SUPERPEDESTRIAN SHIFTS GEARS
MIT startup Superpedestrian initially became famous for its Copenhagen wheel, a motorized bike wheel that gives riders an extra boost of power. Now the bicycle company’s making headlines again for its latest innovation: electric scooters that can repair themselves. Superpedestrian told the Washington Post that the scooter will be “capable of operating on a single charge for several days, self-diagnosing mechanical problems, and removing itself from circulation.” Assaf Biderman, Superpedestrian’s CEO, told the Post that we can
expect to see the super-smart scooters rolling out during the first half of 2019.
PROTECTED BIKE LANES
You can breathe a little easier as you’re biking down Mass Ave. Late last year, the half-mile stretch between Memorial Drive and Sidney Street was revamped to improve bike safety, the Boston Globe reports. The new bike lanes are separated from traffic by both parked cars and flex posts. “It’s a heavy bike route,” Joseph Barr, Cambridge’s director of traffic, parking, and transportation, told the Globe. “We felt like it was an important next corridor to look at, in terms of improving safety.”
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SAY CHEESE Hosting friends during the cold winter months is a great way to socialize without leaving the house, but you’ll need to reward your travelers with libations and a legendary cheese plate. For the latter, head to Formaggio Kitchen for classes on the delightful dairy. The shop’s Cheese 101 class discusses the history of cheesemaking, tasting basics, and how to build your own cheese plate. Participants even get to sample some beer and wine, and check out their cheese caves. (Note: Caves unavailable for hibernation.)
BODY BROIL
If you think hot tubs are only for nice hotels and pool clubs, think again. Inman Oasis offers 30-, 45-, or 60-minute sessions in their private hot tubs, which can fit two to four people. If you’re flying solo, Inman Oasis offers a community hot tub—a Japanese teakwood tub that fits up to seven people. Looking for more than just a soak? Guests who book a massage at Inman Oasis can add on 30 minutes in the community tub for just $10. Let the ultimate defrost commence.
GO TO COLLEGE After several years of construction, Harvard University’s Smith Campus
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Center recently reopened—and it’s not just students that can benefit. The first floor is open to the public and features both new and familiar local vendors, including Blackbird Doughnuts, Bon Me, Saloniki Greek, and other quick bites. And don’t forget to breathe in the clean air: The Center’s green walls host over 12,000 plants to absorb carbon dioxide and release more oxygen. Sure beats that fluridden, recycled office air.
SOUP FOR THE SOUL
In the dead of winter, it’s hard to beat the comfort of a hot bowl of soup. But at Porter Square’s Yume Wo Katare, diners get more than just a serving of ramen. Meaning “talk about your dreams” in Japanese, Yume Wo Katare is a small, cozy space with a big concept: If you can finish a bowl of ramen, you can achieve your goals. At least, that’s the theory from chef/ owner Tsuyoshi Nishioka. When a guest finishes their bowl, Nishioka announces, “They did a good job!” to the entire restaurant. At this shop, that warm, fuzzy feeling inside isn’t just the hot ramen.
ROSES ARE RED
Every Wednesday night, the Boston Poetry Slam hosts its flagship event in the Cantab basement. The event starts at 8 p.m. with a poetry-only open mic session where poets and nonpoets alike can read their own work, followed by the evening’s featured speaker or event. After the open mic concludes, the bartender even provides writing prompts to help polish your poetry skills. The $3 to $5 cover charge is well worth the winter escape, so cozy up to hear some fresh verse, or take the stage to read your angry diatribe to the winter weather gods.
EAT AND SHOP LOCAL
Farmers markets are often reserved for the warmer days of spring, summer, and fall. But for Cambridge residents, they’re a year-round affair. The Cambridge Winter Farmers Market is held on Saturdays through April 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Cambridge Community Center. Find everything you need to stock up on: produce, dairy, meat, fish, and even some body care products. Plus, the market features local musicians and activities for all
ages, including knife sharpening, book sales, and craft tables. Take cover from the cold weather and knock out this week’s to-do list, all without leaving the building.
LADIES ONLY
Winter is the perfect time for curling up at home with a good book. But if conversations on feminism fire you up, then the Feminist Book Club at the Cambridge Women’s Center might be just what you need. Held the first Monday of every month, the meetings discuss the assigned book through the lens of feminism, opening the conversation for femaleidentifying participants to share their own perspectives and experiences. Books the group has read in the past include “Bossypants” by Tina Fey and “Educated” by Tara Westover.
Inman Oasis photo by Jo K Gray. Formaggio Kitchen photo by Joyelle West. Feminist Book Group photo courtesy of the Cambridge Women’s Center.
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Book Preview: ‘Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia’ by Christina Thompson COMING MARCH 12 (HARPERCOLLINS)
BY JILLIAN KRAVATZ
I
f our Bostonian winter has you dreaming of faraway lands, you’re in luck: Local author Christina Thompson’s new book can whisk you away to the most remote islands of the Pacific Ocean. In a thorough and pageturning investigation, Harvard Review editor Thompson revisits the 18th century’s fascination and curiosity about Polynesia after Europe’s arrival there. Just how did anyone end up on those remote islands? Beginning with Captain James R. Cook’s landing on the Hawaiian archipelago in January of 1778, Thompson dives into what she describes as the “cryptic” history of the Polynesian peoples. This journey, we learn, has personal stakes for her family: Thompson’s husband, Seven, is Māori, the Polynesian people who settled in New Zealand. As Thompson and her family Photo courtesy of HarperCollins.
travel throughout what is known as the “Polynesian Triangle” (the 10-millionsquare-mile area of the Pacific Ocean in between Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island) she realizes firsthand how astounding it is that one group of voyagers managed to settle such a vast part of the world. Apart from the stunning isolation of the people living on these islands, Thompson is fascinated—perhaps more than anything else—with how we’ve come to know what we’ve come to know about Polynesian history. Her book is as much about trying to piece together a picture of how ancient Polynesians lived, voyaged, and managed to spread as widely as they did as it is about how historians have managed to piece together that piecing together. She breaks it down into four useful categories of evidence: eyewitness accounts by 16th, 17th, and 18th century European explorers, oral traditions from Polynesians themselves, scientific findings using radiocarbon dating and simulation, and what’s called “experimental voyaging.” Part-memoir, partinvestigation, part-history book, “Sea People” is an adventure in itself: A fascinating collection of the stories Polynesians have been telling about themselves, the stories Europeans have been spinning since arriving on the islands, and the stories about how it all happened that are still being shaped. It’s a compelling read, and one that movingly reminds us that the world is much older and much bigger than we imagine.
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16 Free Time Fervor | scoutcambridge.com
THE COMMUNITY THAT
LOCAL FLOW ARTISTS SPIN FIRE, JUGGLING PINS, AND MORE BY JILLIAN KRAVATZ PHOTOS BY ADRIANNE MATHIOWETZ
H
anging out with flow artists for an evening, you’ll find yourself asking a lot of questions. What, exactly, is poi? (Short ropes with balls on the end.) Is spinning fire scary? (Yes.) Is it dangerous? (Not as dangerous as you might think.) How many hours do you have to practice to get that trick? (A lot.) There are also some inside jokes that you only get if you spin. How much hair you’ve managed to singe off, for example, is almost a badge of honor. “I’ve burned off so many chunks of hair,” says Lux Luminous, a Somerville resident who co-hosts and organizes a weekly Boston Spin Jam at MIT. “It smells really bad,” spinner Courtney Kottman chimes in. “I’ve burned off my eyelashes before,” Luminous adds. “And also my nostrils. It was kind of windy one day, and I was levi wanding and it got kind of close to my face, I inhaled, and woop!, it happened.” The practice of flow arts, a subset of circus arts, has spread worldwide—aided mostly by the internet—in the past 10 to 15 years. “Flow arts puts everything together from hula hooping, juggling, martial arts, dance,”
Luminous says. “If you are manipulating an object and you are dancing with it, that’s flow arts. I’ve even seen people manipulate slinkies.”
O
n a rainy Monday night in late November, the tall, long windows of MIT’s Walker Memorial Hall are illuminated. Through one window, a bright orange juggling pin flies into view, then falls back down. In another pane, a set of ropes dashes through the air. Forms spin and step, heads bob into and out of view. Inside, nearly 20 people are gathered for the weekly Boston Spin Jam, a dedicated time to mingle and practice various forms of flow arts. Most people’s flow arts stories begin in the same way: someone they knew had a prop lying around—a hula hoop or a juggling pin—they picked it up, met a few people, and before long got plugged into the local “spinning” community, as it’s called among insiders. That’s how Luminous got started, who began practicing flow arts around 2009 when an ex-boyfriend started glow sticking and encouraged her to do something, too. “I thought it was the lamest thing ever,” she says. “But I
picked up a hula hoop, and when I wasn’t really all that interested in it, I found this prop here,” gesturing to the silver wand she’s holding in her lap. “This is a levi wand. Its technical term is a levitation stick. When I found this, I was hooked.” Luminous demonstrates her levi wand work: By holding onto a short string attached to a balance point on the wand, she can manipulate the stick to appear to float around her body like magic. She sways back and forth, spinning the wand around her body. Its silver coating catches the light as it dips and swoons. Kottman, another spinner who regularly attends the Boston Spin Jam, started a few years ago because her roommate was a hula hoop dance instructor. “There were hula hoops all over the apartment, so one day I just picked one up, and then about a year later I went to a flow festival where I picked up another prop, and the rest is history,” she says. Festivals are another major aspect of the flow arts scene. You could go from one end of the country to the other and back if you were to follow all the flow arts events held each weekend, Luminous says. While certain music festivals and
other gatherings like Burning Man or Electric Forest will include spinners, or “burners” (people who spin, swallow, and dance with fire), other festivals are devoted specifically to the advancement and practice of flow arts. These festivals range in size, but are organized in roughly the same pattern— spinning workshops and tutorials throughout the day, choreographed performances in the evening, and a big burn with fire spinning at the end of the night.
L
uminous, a Minnesota native, first came to Somerville because of a spin festival at Tufts called WOMBAT (Winter Object Manipulation Bootcamp At Tufts). The three-day event was full of burns, around 32 workshops, performances, improvisation games, and prop swapping. Though most spin arts began to spread out of California in the early 2000s, Greater Boston has one of the largest spinning communities in the country outside of California, according to Luminous. “I came out here, and I fell in love,” she says. “The Boston community is amazing. scoutcambridge.com | Free Time Fervor
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Everybody is so eager to learn and is super passionate about it.” Now, helping to organize local spin arts events is her full-time job. Outside of festivals, spinners meet during weekly, casual-butorganized spin jams. A “jam” is simply a time to gather and practice, often outside or in a space with tall enough ceilings to accommodate juggling. There are a number of weekly jams in the Boston area: the Boston Spin Jam on Mondays, the Tufts Jumbo Jugglers on Wednesdays, the Medford Spin Jam, several jams in JP, and one in Salem that meets occasionally. Each group has its own vibe. At Boston Spin Jam, most people bring their own props, but there are also a handful of props available for newcomers, thanks to a partnership with the MIT Spinning Arts club, which provides spare props. Unique to the Jumbo Jugglers at Tufts is a permit allowing anyone to spin fire as long as they are over 21 and complete the proper training.
T
he scene in Walker Memorial Hall is peaceful. Some EDM dance music emanates from speakers set up at the far end of the large hall. Between tall doric columns, 18 Free Time Fervor | scoutcambridge.com
people cluster in a corner, wearing colorful socks and chatting with one another, holding juggling pins at their sides. Others keep to themselves, small earbuds subtly plugged in as they practice their tricks. One woman waves a large staff in circular motions back and forth along one side of the hall. She appears to be slicing the air, her staff like a giant propeller. A man with silvery blue hair moves in an otherworldly way, as if the rules of gravity are somehow altered in a bubble around his gliding form. He holds two batons in each hand and balances two more on the ends of those, floating the sticks while he steps and glides in his own little circle. Occasionally, he tosses the batons into the air and catches them seamlessly with the other sticks. If he drops one, his foot deftly kicks it up again. He looks like a chef, flipping invisible omelettes with his wands. “I think the reason that people like doing it is because it’s problem solving,” Luminous says. “There is something really satisfying about laying out a trick, drilling a trick, getting the trick, and then actually nailing
it. When you’re drilling over and over again, you get into this state of mind where everything is just flowing … that’s the sweet spot, that’s the flow state.” Kottman is trying to reach that state. She practices shapes with a new prop: triads. Triads are simple, metal forms with three spokes. They took off a few years ago after several YouTube videos about them launched. Every once in a while, this happens with props, Kottman explains: Someone invents or discovers a prop, a few people figure out how to do cool things with it, videos are posted online, and poof!— across the country hundreds of spinners are trying it. “YouTube was like the dawn of flow arts,” Luminous says. “Now they have all these Facebook groups for specific props,” Kottman adds. “Dragon staff, levi wand, triads, poi. Every prop, pretty much.” The internet’s role in flow
arts doesn’t stop there. There’s a large Etsy market for flow arts props, in addition to many other prop websites that sell mass-manufactured props, from LED-equipped levi sticks to lighter practice props to more performance-worthy, fireequipped apparatuses. As the internet has helped flame the flow arts fire, it has also given birth to communities that bond around spinning. Luminous says everyone at the weekly jam has each other’s back; if someone has a question about a trick or needs help with their prop, they can ask anyone. Zachary Kaplan, a senior at Tufts who runs the Jumbo Jugglers club, says spinning has been one of the closest communities he’s found in his college career. “You go up to people to ask them how to do a trick, and relationships just grow out of that for free,” he says.
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scoutcambridge.com | Free Time Fervor 19
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‘MAPPING OUT UTOPIA’: How Our Legacy of Counterculture Lives On BY REENA KARASIN | IMAGES COURTESY OF TIM DEVIN
I
t’s not surprising to hear that Cambridge has a rich history of counterculture—it is, after all, one of the most progressive cities in the country. But when you dive into it, the extent of Cambridge’s role in the movements of the ’60s and ’70s can be astonishing. That’s what librarian and artist Tim Devin found when he started researching Cambridge’s role in the counterculture movement. According to his findings, roughly one third of Greater Boston’s counterculture organizations called Cambridge home. He put together a trio of zines—a nod to the subversive format that was popular among his subjects—called “Mapping Out Utopia: 1970s Boston-Area Counterculture.” The zines detail his findings, displaying the legacies of local spaces, and he gives tours of the spots. The Committee for Legal Research on the Draft met at Harvard. A Quaker anti-war journal ran out of 48 Inman St. The Bread and Roses Restaurant—a co-op run by the feminist group of the same name— served only women at 134 Hampshire St. While many of the groups have disappeared, others still call Cambridge home, like the Women’s Center, which has stood at 46 Pleasant St. since 1971 and serves all people who identify as women and their children. We sat down with Devin to discuss Cambridge’s role in the counterculture movement, and how that legacy continues today.
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Did you always have an interest in history, or in counterculture? I just think that community groups are very interesting, because most people have day jobs, and so they’re willing to commit some of their precious free time to a cause. There’s this whole wealth of information out there, about the ’60s and ’70s, a lot of the stuff was here in the Boston area, which kind of floored me. Inman Square was this hotbed of progressive, left-wing, countercultural groups. Union Square was too, to a lesser extent, but Inman Square was one of the focal points, and so it’s just kind of interesting to think about, these neighborhoods
that I see on a daily basis were completely different. It changes your perception of your neighborhood, and also makes it more tangible, I think, that this stuff actually happened in physical spaces that I see. Were there certain issues that the area was really organizing around? Feminism; collective, cooperative workplaces; food; infrastructure. In terms of American counterculture, Boston was known for those things. There was this organization called Bread and Roses, which was this feminist supergroup. It was this loose-knit group of women in the late ’60s who went to this
conference and then decided, “What are we going to do next?,” basically. So from that discussion group came the Women’s Center in Central Square—a women-only space that has classes and safe space for people to crash if they’re in an abusive relationship, things like that—which is still around, and all these other groups. These folks were exploring different ways of living and fighting the patriarchy, taking control of their own health, taking control of their own businesses. There were all these experiments. A lot of that stuff was in Inman Square. So 186 Hampshire St., the guy who owns that now inherited it from his parents, who in the ’60s made the decision to provide progressive groups, mostly feminist groups, with space to do their thing at drastically belowmarket-value cost. A lot of the feminist groups were based in that building over the years. Boston was also known for groups that organize their structure in a non-hierarchical fashion, so everybody was a worker, everybody was a co-owner, everybody made decisions, maybe rotated jobs, maybe you had the same job but you had a more of a say in the direction of your organization. A lot of those were anti-profit-driven, so if you made money then you would lower prices, to keep your services affordable to people. There’s a lot of overlap between these groups. They were experimenting with their daily lives as a way to change society. They had their outward issues, but they were trying to change their own lives, too, because they thought part of the problem with society was just how people interacted with each other. What primed this area for this kind of counterculture explosion? It was a lot cheaper back then. One of the things that I’ve been thinking a lot about is that now the whole area is so expensive. So what are we losing? Because these folks could rent stores, they could work part-time and then dedicate their off-hours to the community groups. Another thing was the high student population. It’s always been a college town. There were
was the communal bonds. Do you think there are any other factors at play there? A lot of people got burned out. A lot of the collectives didn’t want to share the jobs anymore, they wanted to make better wages. A lot of the stuff was low-paying, which makes sense when you first get involved in it, but maybe not when you have a kid, or whatever.
“There’s a lot of overlap between these groups. They were experimenting with their daily lives as a way to change society.”
a lot of groups centered at MIT and Harvard. But that’s not to say that the school itself was supportive of it. One thing that was actually a huge part of the counterculture, which I didn’t know about and I found out about by doing this stuff, is Quakers. The model of Quaker meeting—nonhierarchical, everyone gets a say. The Quakers were hugely involved in a lot of these organizations. They hosted space, or they were Quaker offshoot groups. Quakers are anti-war, a lot of Quaker values were really appealing to the counterculture, and there’s a lot of Quakers around here.
One thing that I thought about a lot was where did all of this stuff go? They changed society in some ways, but the other cool things they were doing in terms of interpersonal relations kind of died out. Like with food co-ops, Harvest [Co-op] was a food co-op, and originally it was just you’d go to someone’s house and you’d pick up your Brussels sprouts, or whatever … then that became so popular that they had to rent a storefront for people to do drop-offs, and then they felt it was unfair to be private, so they made it open to everybody, so it became a store. But in the process, the thing that got lost
Cambridge and Somerville are some of the most liberal places in the country, so I feel like some of this is still here. We talked some about the ways in which it’s died out, but in what ways has it continued? This stuff is part of our local history, part of our culture, for sure. A lot of the organizations are still around. Like Resist, which started [near Union Square], which funds left-wing groups—they funded the Black Panthers, back in the day—they’re still around, they’re in JP. Recently, the Somerville Yogurt Co-op, that’s the same model, that’s the same goal of building community while also having healthier food. For sure, that’s still part of our culture, and that’s why Cambridge and Somerville are so desirable to live in: There is this emphasis on community, there are so many progressive groups around. There’s a lot of fight back against the EPA right now, and maybe we can seek inspiration from these community groups that were part of the original green movement. When I give the walking tours, my shpiel is that I was always taught that ’60s were where the ideas happened and the magic happened, and the ’70s was when it fizzled out. But I think that is kind of an ignorant view. I think the ’70s was when everything was tested out and used, implemented, and then it changed society. To get a Mapping Out Utopia zine, visit timdevin.com or Practice Space at 1307 Cambridge St. Editor’s note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and conciseness. scoutcambridge.com | Free Time Fervor 21
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THESE FIRST-TIME PODCASTERS WILL DERAIL YOUR MORNING COMMUTE BY ALYSSA VAUGHN ILLUSTRATION BY STEFAN MALLETTE
“I
The Red Line Secedes— And That’s Just the Beginning 22 Free Time Fervor | scoutcambridge.com
t’s two kidnappers, their victim, and a ghost,” Alexander Danner explains, his crisp, narratorial voice cutting through the evening din of Diesel Cafe. He takes a sip of his coffee, then finishes his sentence: “They’re arguing over how to pluralize ‘hippopotamus.’” So goes the plot of one of Danner’s all-time favorite scenes in “Greater Boston,” the podcast he writes and produces with his friend, former classmate, and fellow Cambridge resident Jeff VanDreason. The podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more, recently broke 425,000 downloads. It is also a finalist in several categories—longform writing, audio engineering, acting, and overall comedic production— of the Audio Verse Awards, an award program celebrating free dramatic podcasts. It’s abundantly clear just from Danner’s one-sentence scene description that “Greater Boston” is not the morning-commute stuff of NPR or Slate. It’s an audio drama, or a serialized, performative narrative. A form that was abundantly popular on radio from the 1920s to 1940s, the recent rise of podcasting has allowed the audio drama to reemerge. Danner and VanDreason’s show is set in a fictionalized version of the Boston area. There are frequent references to actual local places (the Kendall Landmark Theater, the
Longfellow Bridge, the Cambridge Marriott), and there are even interviews with real Bostonians interspersed throughout the narrative. But there’s a critical difference that sets this version of Boston apart: The MBTA’s Red Line secedes from the rest of the city—platforms, cars, and all. It becomes an independent city, complete with its own mayor. The episodes are riddled with bizarre elements that will remind former English majors of magical realism and slipstream fiction. Episode 21, which contains the aforementioned hippopotamus debate, also includes candlepin bowling, a kidnapping, “cheese robots,” and a secret elevator. The episode, it should be noted, is only 32 minutes long. From its novelistic, multinarrative structure to its intimate monologues, “Greater Boston” could only have been dreamed up by serious literature nerds. Danner and VanDreason both originally planned to be professional writers, and they were pursuing MFAs at Emerson College when they met in a playwriting class in 2003. They supported each other as their plays were chosen for production. “Mine was a postapocalyptic office comedy,” says Danner. “And mine was about private investigators who also served as random love connectors,” VanDreason chimes in. “Like, they spy on people to connect— well, it’s hard to explain without it sounding really creepy.” VanDreason and Danner became fast friends. While a brief post-graduate stint with a theater company fell through and put their playwriting aspirations on hold, the two continued to share their writing with each other long after they graduated. Both felt that they had entered a lull, however. Danner worked on indie comics and textbooks, and VanDreason wrote a full novel, but neither was getting published as much as they had hoped. Nearly eight years passed before Danner sent VanDreason a story about the Stamatis siblings, the family that would later become the core of “Greater Boston.” Danner planned
to send it out for potential publication, but also hoped to record an audio version. When he initially asked VanDreason if he wanted to partner with him on the project, VanDreason turned him down. “I wasn’t quite sure where it was going,” VanDreason says. But, as Danner began the revision process, VanDreason “just started getting really interested in the story and the potential it had.” Danner and VanDreason began meeting regularly at Diesel Cafe to discuss the show. Finally, after about a year and a half, they had written the first season of “Greater Boston”—roughly a novel’s worth of content.
P
odcasts are famously accessible to create. Anyone with a microphone, computer, and internet connection can produce one, host it on a popular “podcatcher” like Stitcher or Apple Podcasts, and wait hopefully for listeners to roll in. About 17 percent of Americans—an estimated 48 million people— listen to at least one podcast weekly, according to a recent study by Edison Research, and with over half a million podcasts available on the Apple Podcasts app, they certainly have no shortage of listening material. Like many first-time podcasters, Danner and VanDreason had no experience in audio production before launching their show. They educated themselves with tutorials on YouTube and lynda. com, recorded many of their first episodes on a Zoom microphone (a simple, affordable sound recorder available on Amazon), and set up a makeshift recording studio in Danner’s basement, where they still record some of the show today. “We hung up some moving blankets to try to muffle the sound … It looks like a fabric shower stall, right next to the laundry machines,” Danner says. “The traffic’s right outside. There’s lots of stopping and starting again.” As the show has developed, Danner and VanDreason’s audio skills have also evolved. While the first season of “Greater Boston” is primarily built around
long monologues—the simplest to record and edit—the following two seasons include more conversations between characters and more original foley (recorded sound effects). Much of Danner and VanDreason’s growth came out of listener feedback on their first episodes. “We had some kind people who reached out and said, for the early episodes, ‘Your levels are too high here,’ or ‘You should cut the music; it’s too loud,’” VanDreason says. “There’s a great community,” Danner adds. “Community” is a word that Danner and VanDreason use often. When they talk about how they amassed a following for “Greater Boston,” for example, they point to the other podcasters who shouted them out on social media. “Another audio drama creator … started an ‘audio drama Sunday’ hashtag,” says VanDreason. “He recommended a lot of other shows that he liked, and one of them was us. We were associated with this little community, and people found out about us through other creators.” Danner and VanDreason also attempt to build community in their cast. While many podcasts include voices recorded by actors who are located in different cities, Danner and VanDreason try to bring as much of their cast into the same room as they can when recording. “Performances are better if they’re there playing off each other,” VanDreason says. “But scheduling is one of the most difficult things we do.” Most importantly, though, Danner and VanDreason identify the mission of “Greater Boston” as community building. The show, they admit, has become increasingly political over its three seasons, tackling topics like gentrification and racial discrimination. They have intentionally written a diverse cast of characters, and they have spoken with their friends and voice actors to be sure their representations were accurate. “When we’re getting into subjects that are out of our lane, we talk to the actors who will be
playing those characters and get their input,” Danner says. “If we’re writing a character who is talking about race, I try not to funnel it from my own perspective. I try to think about, ‘OK, what am I hearing people say who have lived this, and how do I put that into this character … to amplify what they’re saying?’” By starting these conversations and trying to understand worldviews and life experiences different from their own, Danner and VanDreason are engaging in a practice they hope their readers are inspired to engage in as well: authentic
“[I think about] how people are on the Red Line and don’t say a word to each other ... But people have a lot more in common than we often stop and talk about and recognize.” – Jeff VanDreason community participation. In one of the first episodes of the series, a character is riding the Red Line. “Charlotte knows the rules of mass transit—speak to no one, touch no one, acknowledge the existence of no one,” the Narrator, played by Danner, says. “She violates the rules. She says ‘hello’ to each passenger as they enter. Nothing more.” It’s absurd to visualize this scene unfolding on the Red Line— in real life, there are no Charlottes. But the point of “Greater Boston” is that there should be. “I think about the Red Line all the time, and how people are on the Red Line and don’t say a word to each other—you just kind of scrunch into your seat as much as possible,” VanDreason says. “But people have a lot more in common than we often stop and talk about and recognize. I hope that this show kind of pushes people to talk to their neighbors more.” scoutcambridge.com | Free Time Fervor 23
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Shakespeare, Sex, and Seafood: A NIGHT OUT AT A.R.T. The American Repertory Theater’s 2019 lineup is as colorful as ever—here are five upcoming shows you won’t want to miss. BY ALYSSA VAUGHN
Endlings
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I know you don’t want to give too much away, but could you tell me a bit about the general action of the play? It’s about three old women waiting to die, and one young woman trying to live. I think that’s a good summary for it. “Endlings” is also about my immigration and what it’s like to be an immigrant. The young woman character is named after my Korean name. How does “Endlings” represent the next step in your journey as a playwright?
O
ne of the standout productions in this season’s A.R.T. lineup is the world premiere of Celine Song’s “Endlings,” a play that was deemed “unproducible” by the playwright herself. The play, set on the Korean island of Man-Jae, follows the story of three elderly women who live out their final days diving into the ocean to harvest seafood. We talked to Song about how “Endlings” came to be, and what audiences can expect to see onstage this winter.
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I wrote this play thinking it was going to be the last play I’d write. I was going to quit being a playwright. Why was that? I was in a place where I was feeling like “I don’t know if this is the life for me.” Not because my life was going badly, because by playwriting standards I really wasn’t doing badly, but it was one of those things where I was like, “I can’t possibly do this anymore.” Theater had broken my heart so many times. And—“Endlings” is kind of about this—theater is increasingly ruled by real estate and money, even though it asks the artists it employs to not care about real estate and money, which feels corrupt. Many theaters pay you nothing to do your work, and then they treat you like crap,
while not taking any risks. There are, of course, amazing advocates for your work at these off-Broadway or off-offBroadway institutions who have read all of your work and come to all the readings, but they are almost always the ones without the power to program your plays. So when Diane Borger [A.R.T.’s executive producer] told me that she would like to take a risk on this play, I think that really brought back whatever faith I had in theater. Did the fact that “Endlings” was supposed to be your last play change the way you wrote it? Before, I wrote plays hoping that somebody would really do the play. “Endlings” is the first play where I was like “Oh, well, there’s no way anyone would ever do this play because it’s so hard and there are so many reasons why this is “unproducible.” So I was thinking that I was writing an unproducible play, and I was going to write whatever I wanted, because I knew that it was the last play that I would write. Tell me more about the elements that make this play “unproducible.” It is set in an ocean. It’s not one setting. And my cast is three elderly Asian women, which is a population that every casting department would be like, “That’s so hard to cast.”
What makes A.R.T. a good fit for you and this work? That people are willing to do it here! And the people there are really willing to not just do it casually, but really do it with me. I think that’s what’s so amazing about my experience so far with A.R.T. They’re not just programming it begrudgingly, they’re really passionate about it. They’re passionate like me. [“Endlings”] sort of has been the reason for so much of what has happened in my last year and a half of my career. I’m in a very, very different place than I was a year and a half ago, and that’s in part due to A.R.T. A.R.T. is this big, magnificent theater that does huge shows, and the last play that I had done was something that I had self-produced. It was a 50-person house, in a DIY-space in Brooklyn called JACK. So it’s an entirely different experience. This was just going to be a play in my head. Anything that’s physically happening, I’m just so excited about. Out of curiosity, how are you going to put an ocean onstage? I think there’s going to be a body of water onstage. And that’s all I will say. Editor’s note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and conciseness.
Othello
JAN. 13 - FEB. 9, LOEB DRAMA CENTER. TICKETS START AT $35. While A.R.T. is known for pushing the theater envelope, they still sprinkle their seasons with classical works. This year, it’s the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s rendition of “Othello,” the Shakespearean tragedy infamous for its themes of xenophobia and racism (which seem to speak directly to American audiences). This version is set contemporarily, with a diverse cast that complicates the play’s racial and cultural expressions. Bringing “Othello” to the Loeb is also particularly significant for director Bill Rauch—he went to Harvard as an undergrad, and directed some of his first plays on the Loeb Drama Center’s mainstage.
Dragon Cycle
MAR. 20 - APR. 6, OBERON. TICKETS START AT $35. After a well-received run at OBERON last spring, storyteller Sara Porkalob is back in Cambridge. She’ll be reprising last year’s show—“Dragon Lady,” the story of her “Filipino gangster” grandmother— and adding a new chapter in the form of “Dragon Mama,” a narrative that tells her mother’s story of “queer love in a barren land.” Both parts of the “Dragon Cycle” are solo musicals, sung and acted entirely by Porkalob herself—“Dragon Lady” alone demands that she assume 30 different roles.
Miss You Like Hell JAN. 11 - 27, OBERON. TICKETS START AT $25.
Imagine Kerouac, Steinbeck, Faulkner, or whoever’s “road journey” narrative you read in school—but recast it with mother-daughter protagonists in a pickup truck. “Miss You Like Hell,” a new musical written by Quiara Alegría Hudes and Erin McKeown, follows the story of 16-year-old Olivia and her estranged mother Beatriz, who suddenly re-enters her daughter’s life to bring her on a road trip. Their destination? Beatriz’s immigration hearing, where her daughter’s testimony could help make the case for her to stay in the United States. The show’s run at OBERON marks its New England premiere. Endlings photo courtesy of Celine Song. Miss You Like Hell photo by Liv Slaughter. Othello photo by Jenny Graham. Unf*ckable photo courtesy of Desiree Burch. Dragon Cycle photo by Robert Wade.
Unf*ckable
FEB. 21, OBERON. TICKETS START AT $25. Comedian and storyteller Desiree Burch can summarize her new one-hour solo show very neatly—“The show takes on sex, work, sex work, and how to keep sex from becoming work,” she told The List—but “Unf*ckable” is much more than raunch. Through colorful stories of Burch’s sexual partners and past as a “virgin professional dominatrix,” Burch discusses body image, race, and self-worth, attacking and dismantling stereotypes of black womanhood. OBERON is located at 16 Arrow St. Loeb Drama Center is located at 64 Brattle St. scoutcambridge.com | Free Time Fervor 25
SCOUT OUT!
Step Into the World of the
LILYPAD MURAL BY LILLY MILMAN | PHOTO BY SASHA PEDRO
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an Masi spent six months of 2017 living nocturnally, sleeping during the day and painting all night, while creating the threepanel mural at the Lilypad in Inman Square. “It pretty much turned my entire body clock around, so that I was just used to being up at three in the morning, four in the morning,” the Somerville-based artist says. “Being here for shows
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is amusing, but hanging out here all night, playing my own music, with absolutely nobody around, and watching the sun come up on my way home is my most fond memory of this place.” Masi (pronounced May-zee) has been a friend to the artist-run venue since its inception in 2005, whether he was dropping by just to hang out or picking up a few shifts as a stand-in bartender. Run by a rotating cast of seven
team members, the Lilypad operates based on just a few pillars: individuality, community, and creativity. The venue hosts shows on an almost nightly basis, and holds various children’s music classes, piano lessons, and other events during the day. In a bleak landscape of shuttering independent venues, music corporation horror stories, and a struggling-yet-surviving local music scene, the Lilypad
provides a sort of light—an escape into a candy-colored dreamworld where the phrase “art for art’s sake” still means something. At least, that’s the feeling evoked by Masi’s epic mural, an awe-inspiring homage to the Spanish Romantic painter Francisco de Goya—considered one of his country’s most important painters and known for his portraits—that spans three of the walls in the venue and the
“
Mystery is what I’d like to inspire in people ... It creates an air that I think makes them a little more vulnerable to the music.”
inside of the bathroom. The largest panel shows a small crowd being led down a hillside path by a harlequin and golden piper. Under the hill—which is also the title of the work—“there’s this whole Elysian world,” Masi says. The scene calls up the primary questions that Masi is asking with his work: “Is he leading them to a paradise of sorts from a world that they’re trying to escape? Is he not? Is it a good thing, is it a bad thing? That’s where I leave it up to interpretation,” he says. Another panel features Masi’s updated version of Goya’s “El Pelele” (translation: the puppet), a work he saw at the Museum of Fine Arts that gave him “near-Stendhal syndrome” when he first viewed it. “I was quite taken by it. It stands out, it’s unusual theme-
wise. So, I think I understood what he was going for, and I wanted to revive that,” says Masi. “Mystery is what I’d like to inspire in people when they’re in the room looking at shows. So, I’m not totally distracting them with a theme, with a concept, or telling them what to think. It’s just a lot of stuff that can go in any direction. I think it puts them in a good place for the performance. It confuses people. It creates an air that I think makes them a little more vulnerable to the music that’s being played at them.” “[The mural] came together really quick,” he says. “We decided it was time to get rid of the old one. I sort of had some ideas [of] what I wanted to do, but nothing was really concrete. That’s sort of my process— especially with something so big,
I knew one thing I wanted to do on this side was a version of the ‘El Pelele.’ I saw that and said, ‘I like that, I want to make one.’” Masi’s interpretation of the work is much brighter than the original, with a more Mannerist approach and a highly saturated color scheme—a move that was not entirely intentional, since Masi did most of the painting with a different lighting set-up. Masi also purposefully diversified the women pictured, as all of Goya’s subjects were of a similarly pale complexion. “It’s a trip to see it,” he says. “I think I actually meant it to look a little darker. It came out a little more vibrant—not that I mind the vibrancy.” The neutral tones of the third panel are the most jarring visually, compared to the vibrancy of the rest of the piece, but the figure of the donkey prompts another strong evocation of Goya. “I was in a Goya place when I was putting this together, and I wanted to do something of my own that Goya might like,” Masi says. “Were he to manifest here and see
what I’ve done with his work, I think he’d be fairly pleased.” In order to create “Under the Hill,” Masi covered up another one of his works. Anyone who looks closely enough can still see and feel the original brushstrokes under the new painting. Perhaps this is what is most representative of the spirit of the Lilypad—that it is able to change and adapt, while also somehow staying the same. “Ultimately, this is a house in a neighborhood. It’s been here a while and the neighborhood is changing a lot, but I don’t see us going anywhere anytime soon,” Masi says. “So, there’s that comfort level. I know that I can spend 260 hours over six months working on this, and it’s not going to turn into a Starbucks next week.” While the community continues to support the venue, rising rents in the area have placed a burden on the Lilypad team. Masi is candid about the realities of operating an independent art venue in a gentrified city, but he is also hopeful and optimistic about the Lilypad team’s ability to navigate around it. “I’ve watched every year, more and more [people] get pushed away, and it sucks. Luckily, we’re able to hold on,” he says. “When one soldier has to go out a little bit, the other one stands up and tries to pick up the slack around here.” This perseverant, “do-itourselves” attitude exists at the core of the Lilypad itself. Although the image on the wall will eventually change, what will last is this notion of local art and artists being integral to the venue in this most tangible way. While painting “Under the Hill,” Masi kept an online visual diary of his progress, which is still available for viewing 2017lilypadmural.tumblr.com. scoutcambridge.com | Free Time Fervor 27
CALENDAR
JAN. 17 | FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT
Photo courtesy of the Rockwell.
FEB. 1 | THEATER
SMOKE & SHADOWS: SUPPER CLUB 7 p.m., $85 Saloon—255 Elm St., Somerville Anything that’s a joint venture between Saloon and the Rockwell is sure to be a treat. Top Shelf Burlesque dancers will perform in tandem with a three-course dinner (and a cocktail paired with each course). The dinner and entertainment combine into a “journey from preprohibition vaudeville through the glamorous sounds and styles of the 20th century,” according to the Rockwell.
SUITCASE STORIES 8 p.m., $27 The Somerville Theatre— 55 Davis Square, Somerville The Boston Globe has assembled a night of live storytelling that “exposes the complexity of immigrant experiences through personal narratives.” Fittingly, some of the proceeds will go toward services for local immigrants and refugees.
FEB. 2 | FOOD
JAN. 19 | NATURE
WINTER BIRD WALKS 8 to 9:30 a.m., $12 for non-members Mount Auburn Cemetery— 580 Mount Auburn St., Cambridge An upside to winter: spotting local birds is easier without leaves on trees or “the distractions of the migrating birds,” the Friends of Mount Auburn point out. They recommend bringing binoculars and wearing warm clothing for this event.
Photo courtesy of the Harvard Square Business Association.
FEB. 8-9 | DANCE
JAN. 25-27 | FOOD
Photo by Bill Manley.
TASTE OF CHOCOLATE WEEKEND Free Harvard Square Restaurants and retailers will have chocolate on the brain for Harvard Square’s annual chocolate festival. Last year’s event offered chocolate appetizers, chocolate cocktails, and chocolate entrees, plus a free chocolate tasting on Brattle Plaza.
Photo courtesy of Aeronaut.
Photo courtesy of The Dance Complex.
NACHMO! BOSTON 8 p.m., $12 online, $15 at the door The Dance Complex— 536 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge January is National Choreography Month (NACHMO), which means February’s the time to reap the rewards of the flurry of creativity. The pieces featured at this show will be wide ranging in terms of style and format, but they’ll all be choreographed by local artists.
FEB. 16 | FOOD
O.N.C.E IN VALHALLA 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., $100 O.N.C.E. Somerville— 156 Highland Ave., Somerville Ten courses of delicious food. Viking lore. Mead and ale. “Song, story, and feats of strength and daring.” This annual event from O.N.C.E. Somerville is sure to delight the foodie and the mythology nerd alike.
WINTER BBQ CLASS WITH ANDY HUSBANDS 12 to 3 p.m., $100 The Smoke Shop BBQ— 325 Assembly Row, Somerville Like wings? Learn to make them from the master. Test out signature rubs—Dalmatian Rub, Zesty Rosemary Rub, and Competition Style Rub—plus try your hand at making your own. Bonus: taste a winter whiskey cocktail.
FEB. 1 | MUSIC & DANCE
FEB. 16 | MUSIC & DANCE
JAN. 26 | FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT
Photo courtesy of O.N.C.E. Somerville.
“SOME LIKE IT HOT” CHILI COOK-OFF 1 to 2:30 p.m., Free Harvard Square It may be cold outside, but Harvard Square thinks some chili could warm you up. This free, annual event will have a wide range of chilis, including “super spicy” and vegan varieties.
FIRST FRIDAY FLAMENCO 8:30 to 11:30 p.m., Free Aeronaut Brewing Company— 14 Tyler St., Somerville Flamenco Boston will bring traditional flamenco dance and music to Aeronaut. Can’t make it on Feb. 1? You’re in luck— Flamenco Boston comes to the brewery every first Friday.
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BALKAN BEAT PARTY 7 to 10:30 p.m., $20 Arts at the Armory— 191 Highland Ave., Somerville This “celebration of the music and dance of the Balkan peoples” will feature artists Sarma and Gogofski. Take a dance lesson from 7 to 8 p.m., then party for the rest of the night.
Please consider shopping with these and other Scout sponsors.
HEALTH & WELLNESS DIRECTORY
RESTAURANT DIRECTORY
REAL ESTATE DIRECTORY TEAM JEN & LYNN
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Thalia Tringo & Associates Real Estate Lynn 617-216-5244, Jen 617-943-9581
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180 Highland Ave., Somerville 617-864-6111 Dr. Talmo provides a personalize approach to dental care. Come enjoy a comfortable dental experience in her newly renovated office space.
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Bringing our expertise and good humor to help you find a perfect home or say good-bye to your old one.
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1020 Broadway, Somerville 617-628-2160 somervillefamilypractice.net Now accepting new patients.
SHOPPING DIRECTORY PORTER SQUARE BOOKS
25 White St., Cambridge 617-491-2220, portersquarebooks.com Porter Square Books is your fiercely independent source for great books, magazines, fun gifts and more.
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scoutcambridge.com | Free Time Fervor 29
DO-GOODERS, KEY PLAYERS & GAME CHANGERS
DARNISA AMANTE — CAMBRIDGE DIGS DEEP BY LILLY MILMAN
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arnisa Amante first set foot in Cambridge when she was an undergrad at Brandeis and took a shuttle bus every weekend to Harvard Square. She fell in love with the city instantly, moved here for five years, and has now returned to help improve the social climate. Amante is an educational and racial equity strategist, and received her doctorate in educational leadership from Harvard University. She is the CEO of the Disruptive Equity Education Project (DEEP), a professional development and strategy organization devoted to dismantling racial inequity through education and collaboration. In a new initiative called Cambridge Digs DEEP, Amante is teaming up with the city to facilitate change. The strategy is to develop city-specific community forums and workshops that cultivate cultural competency. “What Cambridge is struggling with is not an anomaly to Cambridge,” Amante says. “Cambridge is a microcosm to a larger system of inequity. I deeply believe that you cannot ask people to change if you come in with a blame mindset. You have to really build connections to humanity. People have to build empathy with each other, and they have to learn to actively listen to people.” “These conversations will require us as a community to step out of our comfort zone, to honestly grapple with our biases and approach challenging topics with a willingness to listen to and learn from each other,” Mayor Marc McGovern said in a statement. Community members were invited to a town hall-style event in late November to kick off the initiative, where they shared their experiences with local racial inequity. “In our first session, we really
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thought of it as both learning about key concepts and gathering data,” says Amante. “We asked citizens questions like, ‘When have you felt welcomed? When have you not felt welcomed? When have you been racially uncomfortable? What are topics and ideas that feel most important to you?’” According to Amante, the responses were broad and ranged from statements like, “I’ve never felt comfortable here, and I was born here,” to “Do people actually feel racially uncomfortable here?” For every person who said they were never aware of inequality in the area, there was another who could not understand how that lack of awareness was possible, she says. “Cambridge Digs DEEP represents a citywide commitment to the difficult and ongoing work of social justice,” McGovern said in a statement. “From the viral video depicting a negative interaction between a Harvard employee and a young mother living in affordable housing to concerns raised by the Black Students Union at CRLS, we know that despite our reputation as a progressive city, Cambridge is not immune to issues of race and class.” Cambridge Digs DEEP isn’t Amante’s first time working with the city. She was invited to come into the Kennedy-Longfellow and Cambridge Street Upper schools in the 2017-2018 year, and now continues to work with the superintendent. DEEP aimed to name the inequities seen in schools as a first step in developing strategies to change them. A key component is redefining what equity means, which allows educators to better understand their strengths and weaknesses, Amante says. Reflecting on her own
DARNISA AMANTE experiences living in Cambridge while attending Harvard, Amante says that people routinely questioned her belonging in the city. “I lived in Central Square, Harvard Square, and Alewife right by the reservoir,” she says. “I had the chance to be in three really different places in Cambridge, but my experience there was that people did not think I lived in Cambridge. People questioned how I, as a woman of color, could afford to live in Cambridge. When I told people that what brought me to Cambridge was being in a doctoral program at Harvard, they were left in disbelief.” The next four meetings facilitated by DEEP will be based on the recommendations of the November gathering, she says. Amante sees her role as someone who can help guide the city rather than change it. “I really think of it as I am nothing more than the humble guardrails,” she says. “I am not
the path. I am here to help people hear each other across the lines of difference.” One of Amante’s biggest influences is renowned writer James Baldwin, who wrote, “I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” “I think about that for Cambridge,” Amante says of Baldwin’s words. “I love Cambridge very much. I love it enough to offer it feedback with love to grow. I think there’s a way to be an advocate for change without belittling all of the powerful things that are already happening in the community.” The next four Cambridge Digs DEEP events are scheduled for: Jan. 26 at 12 p.m., Feb. 7 at 6 p.m., March 21 at 6 p.m., and April 27 at 12 p.m. Visit digdeepforequity. org and cambridgema.org for the event locations and more information. Photo courtesy of DEEP.
MEET THE SCOUT TEAM
MEET THE SCOUT TEAM
NICOLLE RENICK ART DIRECTOR
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icolle’s the one who makes the magazine you hold in your hands. Our editor-in-chief sends her articles, our photographers send her photos, our publisher sends her ads, and she puts it all together with her keen eye for design. Nicolle’s from Iowa, and always loved taking art classes. She says the “creative freedom” is a big part of what she likes about designing Scout. She met our publisher, Holli Banks, through a women’s tackle football league, and they still play in a flag football league together each fall. Nicolle also loves running—she’s part of the Sole Sisters Running Club and has run five Boston Marathons, each as part of the Alzheimer’s Association’s charity team. When she’s not designing Scout, Nicolle teaches graphic design classes as an adjunct faculty member at Suffolk University, coaches cross country and track at Austin Preparatory School, and takes on other design projects. Nicolle and her wife, Janice, have a cat named Sandy and two miniature dachshunds, Samira and Scarlett, who were born in April.
Top: Scarlett and Samira. Bottom left: Nicolle playing flag football. Bottom right: Nicolle and her wife, Janice Cutler (on right), about to cross the finish line at the 2018 Boston Marathon.
VOLUNTEER & INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES For Youth and Adults in Cambridge and the Greater Boston Area Our world is becoming a more complex place, and, in order to meet the many challenges that lie ahead, the youth of the United States and other developed countries must assume the role of global citizens and leaders, engaging the world around them with responsibility and courage. In an increasingly competitive environment, they also need a platform from which to demonstrate initiative and leadership and to ensure their future success. Distressed Children International is a Cambridge-based non-profit organization committed to protecting the rights of children, stopping child labor and helping families lift themselves out of poverty through education, healthcare, vision care, and income-generating opportunities. DCI strives to achieve this mission by involving and empowering local youth. DCI’s motto is “Children Helping Children.” By participating in DCI’s mission, young people learn the critical challenges faced by underprivileged children throughout the world and are called to service on their behalf. The experience with DCI provides a wonderful learning opportunity and helps young citizens develop compassion for others, leadership skills, increased knowledge of global affairs and an appreciation for the abundance in their own lives. DCI’s Youth Leadership Program is a unique opportunity for motivated and committed local youth to work toward a bright future for themselves while at the same time making a positive impact on the lives of children in need.
50 Church St., 5th Fl, Harvard Square, Cambridge 857-292-9186 • dci@distressedchildren.org
www.distressedchildren.org
scoutcambridge.com | Scout’s Honored 2018
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