Hanna Ali

With so many events centered on colonial history happening across the Massachusetts, we were wondering what people might've eaten at a summer gathering in 1776. The short answer? Not burgers and hot dogs.

Line dancing has become something of a sleeper hit in Boston over the last five years, according to Line Dancing Queens, Molly Albert and Vicky Falso. I chatted with them to learn more about the allure of the stepping style and how it’s grown a community in Boston.

Massachusetts has been testing residents' wastewater for COVID-19 for years. But starting on June 1, the state's wastewater will be tested for seven additional viruses, including influenza and RSV. The updated surveillance comes as Massachusetts prepares for a summer surge of World Cup and America 250 tourists.

Queer History Boston has been documenting LGBTQ+ history in the state since 1980 — from photos to ephemera to digital records. To kick off Pride Month, Joan Ilacqua, executive director of Queer History Boston, walked us through some landmark dates in Massachusetts' LGBTQ+ history.

In the wake of last year’s tragic Boston school bus crash, WBUR and ProPublica began taking a closer look at Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s database and found that its process is faulty.

Here are five places within an hour of Boston where you can pick your own strawberries — and what to know before you go:

A lot happens in Boston every day. To help you keep up, WBUR, Boston's NPR News station, pulled these stories together just for you.

You don’t need to know a sailor or own a sailboat to go sailing in Boston. (You will have to take a few classes, though.) And once you’ve gotten started, it’s a skill you can hone over time and enjoy for summers to come, according to local sailing instructors.

From classics like paddling in a canoe or kayak to thrillers like windsurfing or driving an electric boat, we’ve collected some ways to make the most of the summer and splash around on the water in Greater Boston, for a range of budgets.

Brimfield — a western Massachusetts town of less than 4,000 — has hosted New England's largest outdoor antiques market for more than 60 years. And the upcoming July 14-19 run marks the second of the market's three yearly runs. The event boasts “thousands” of vendors and attracts more shoppers than organizers can even count, according to Lori Faxon, owner of the Brimfield Antiques Center.