Profiles

City Life

Danny Ainge Goes Back to the Drawing Board

Pierce? Gone. Garnett? Adios. Doc Rivers? See ya. Danny Ainge spent the summer blowing up his team, and now it’s up to the cocksure Celtics boss to figure out how to return the franchise to glory. With a new season starting and everything uncertain, at least one thing is clear: We’re about to find out if Ainge is as smart as he thinks he is.

Arts & Entertainment

Baser Natures: Andre Dubus III Profile

In his new book, Dirty Love, Andre Dubus III conjures up characters who struggle through a lurid wilderness of sex. For the writer, that’s the path not taken: “We tend to write about what haunts us.”

City Life

A Mayor in Full

It once seemed like Tom Menino would be mayor for life. But earlier this year, after two decades running the city, he surprised everyone by announcing he wouldn’t seek another term. When he steps down in January, he’ll leave a monumental legacy. This month, we explore the mayor’s time in office, from his stalwart support of LGBT rights to the developers who struck it rich on the waterfront. There isn’t one single story of Menino’s Boston, there are hundreds—each bearing his unmistakable thumbprint.

City Life

America’s Most Wanted?

In the aftermath of the marathon bombings, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis became a national media celebrity. Some reports even had him being considered for secretary of homeland security. Where did these rumors come from, and what do they tell us about Davis himself?

City Life

Clean Sweep: Doug Rubin

Can Doug Rubin—known for his willingness to do the unglamorous work that’s required to win—build the state’s next great Democratic dynasty?

City Life

City Limits: Meet Boston’s 2013 Mayoral Candidates

As candidates scramble for votes in the first wide-open mayoral election in decades, a transformed Boston begins to emerge.

City Life

Black & Blue: Damien Echols

Convicted of murdering three young boys, Damien Echols spent 18 years on death row until a series of documentaries and articles destroyed the case against him. He’s free now, but as he attempts to rebuild his life in Salem, will a city best known for its witch hunts ever let him?

City Life

Carol Johnson’s Boston Public

As Carol Johnson prepares to step down after six tumultuous years as Boston’s superintendent of schools, her job performance has become a central issue in the city’s first competitive mayoral race in a generation. Critics portray her as an ineffective steward, while her admirers say she’s been a compassionate leader. So how’d she do, really?

City Life

Naked Joe

One hundred years ago, Joe Knowles stripped down to his jockstrap, said goodbye to civilization, and marched off into the woods to prove his survival skills. He returned home to a hero’s welcome. That’s when things got interesting.

City Life

Scott Lively: The Crusader

After an incendiary 2009 visit to Uganda during which he urged leaders to fight the “gay agenda,” Scott Lively is now being sued for persecution—a crime against humanity. So what’s next for the Springfield pastor? He’s exploring a run for governor, of course.

Leandro Barbosa
City Life

Goooaaaal!—Leandro Barbosa and the Global Future of Basketball

International players like Leandro Barbosa represent the future of basketball, which the NBA hopes soon to transform into a global game that will rival soccer in popularity—and profit.

Tom Ashbrook: Point Man

Twelve years ago, WBUR’s Tom Ashbrook had never worked in radio. Today, from his small Boston studio, he hosts one of the most popular and influential shows on public radio, heard each week on 240 stations nationwide. And he’s only just getting started.

Restaurants

Chef Tony Maws: The Outlaw

Confit and roasted milk-fed pig’s head. Swordfish wrapped in guanciale. Hourly menu changes and no time off. Welcome to the no-limits world of the mercurial chef Tony Maws.

George Howell
City Life

George Howell Coffee: Back to the Grind

Nearly two decades after selling his iconic Coffee Connection chain to Starbucks, can George Howell retake the coffee world?

Fashion Designer Jackie Fraser-Swan

Jackie Fraser-Swan: The Girl with the Chanel Tattoo

Is East Bridgewater mom Jackie Fraser-Swan the fashion world’s next big thing?