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Equal, at last

Six same-sex couples share their newly-legal love
On May 2, Gov. Lincoln Chafee made Rhode Island the tenth state in the United States of America to legalize same-sex marriage. The law doesn't officially go into effect until August 1, which gives us a chance to check in with some of the people whose lives changed that day at the State House.

By: PHILIP EIL | May 14, 2013

What to do with the Superman building?

Some feasible — and fanciful — visions for Rhode Island's architectural icon
Some feasible — and fanciful — visions for Rhode Island's architectural icon

By: PHILIP EIL | May 13, 2013

Slavery unchained

Brown's Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice confronts the university's — and America's — shame
Brown isn't the first university to establish a center examining forms of slavery. But few schools have had a more personal or public tussle with their history than Brown, an Ivy League institution named for a family whose fortune came partially from the traffic and trade of human beings.

By: PHILIP EIL | May 01, 2013

The Phoenix's Best of 2013

The 135 choices YOU made! Plus, pix from The Best Awards Show!
Plus: See what happened at The Best Awards Show on April 24!

By: PHOENIX STAFF | April 30, 2013

The Best 2013: Editors' picks

Local color and local flavor
A few of our favorite things

By: PHOENIX STAFF | April 25, 2013

Local heroes 2013

People helping people
In this 16th annual edition of the Providence Phoenix 's Best issue, we highlight people and organizations who are doing exceptionally good work — local heroes who often labor behind the scenes to change their communities for the better.

By: PHILIP EIL | April 25, 2013

Liberal warrior

Sheldon Whitehouse is attacking the obstructionist GOP head-on. Will it work?
When it comes to his signature issues — climate change, campaign finance reform, tax fairness — Whitehouse makes little secret of his approach: marshal the facts, hammer the Republicans, and embarrass them into action.

By: DAVID SCHARFENBERG | April 10, 2013

Break on through

If Gina Raimondo shatters the glass ceiling in the 2014 governor's race, it may be male voters who get her there
When I spoke with Treasurer Gina Raimondo this week, I opened with the obligatory question about whether she'll run for governor. "I'm seriously considering it," she said. "But I think as you know — we've talked about it before — I have little kids: a six-year-old, an eight-year-old. I'm a mother. It's a big deal."

By: DAVID SCHARFENBERG | March 28, 2013

The Cost of War

When assessing the cost to America of the war in Iraq, a blue-ribbon panel says President Obama is all wet
With the tenth anniversary of the war upon us, a team of economists, lawyers, humanitarian personnel, and political scientists has developed a comprehensive, by-the-numbers look at the human, financial, and social impacts of the Iraq conflict.

By: DAVID SCHARFENBERG | March 20, 2013

'Digging Us a Hole': Student climate activists descend again on TransCanada in Westborough, protesting Keystone XL

By: WEN STEPHENSON | March 13, 2013

Can Providence rise to the greatest civil rights challenge of our times?

School reform
Standardized test scores — cold, flawed, too often depressing — come and go with little notice these days; an ugly drumbeat we'd prefer to ignore.

By: DAVID SCHARFENBERG | March 06, 2013

The Station fire: 10 years after

Four writers on the tragedy that disfigured Rhode Island
It's been 10 years since fire tore through a roadhouse in West Warwick — killing 100, injuring 200 more, and singeing thousands of New Englanders whose mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and friends died inside The Station or never quite figured out how to live outside of it.

By: DAVID SCHARFENBERG | February 13, 2013

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The New Abolitionists: Global warming is the great moral crisis of our time

Why the climate-justice movement must embrace its radicalism to fight it
I want to say a word for radicalism — for the role of the radical in building a movement to confront climate change, the most urgent crisis human beings have ever faced.

By: WEN STEPHENSON | March 12, 2013

Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed controls the final struggle over gay marriage

Tug of war
It was a lopsided vote.

By: DAVID SCHARFENBERG | January 30, 2013

Mike Dechaine shoots for Number One

Great ball of fire
It is December 13, 2012 and York Hall, in the East End of London, is electric. The Mosconi Cup, one of the most prestigious events in pool, is coming to a dramatic close.

By: DAVID SCHARFENBERG | January 16, 2013

WPRI’s ambitious play for the Ocean State’s screens

Turn on, plug in, and go
Everything in Rhode Island is small. Even the Internet.

By: DAVID SCHARFENBERG | January 09, 2013

A crowded field is gearing up to unseat Chafee

The race is (already) on
There will be plenty on the political calendar this coming year to titillate Rhode Island's chattering classes.

By: DAVID SCHARFENBERG | December 27, 2012

This year’s follies highlight the biggest problem in Rhode Island politics: amateurism

State House blunders
About halfway through Democrat Anthony Gemma's ridiculous Congressional campaign, I began to wonder if it was all an elaborate piece of performance art.

By: DAVID SCHARFENBERG | December 19, 2012

Newtown and The Media's Delusional Narrative on Caucasian Mayhem

It wasn't too long into fall semester before white kids from cozy towns resumed brutally slaughtering innocent school children.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | December 19, 2012

'I'd rather fight like hell': Naomi Klein's fierce new resolve to fight for climate justice

Naomi Klein, black-clad and sharp-tongued mistress of the global anti-corporate left, friend to Occupiers and scourge of oil barons, stood outside a dressing room backstage at Boston's Orpheum Theatre one night last month, a clear-eyed baby boy on her hip.

By: WEN STEPHENSON | December 14, 2012