The Rogovoy Report 7.7.25

From around the corner to around the globe...

Jul 06, 2025

How OCD Came to Haunt American Life

(Harper’s) - Afflicting at least three million U.S. adults, OCD is the fifth most common mental disorder reported by Gen Z-ers. In a country that’s already seen a breathtaking 36.5 percent rise in suicide since the turn of the millennium — a country killing itself, quite literally and not merely through endless partisan hatred — it occupies a special place, making people up to ten times likelier to take their own lives. Perhaps OCD has always been with us.

Rethinking adult ADHD (Aeon)

Are young people having enough sex? by Jia Tolentino (New Yorker)

The artificial intelligence industry depends on plagiarism, mimicry, and exploited labor, not intelligence (NYRB)

The terrifying truth about why Tesla’s cars keep crashing (The Guardian)

FASCISM WATCH:

Welcome to the Mafia presidency (The Atlantic)

Trump’s immigrant prisons are Nazi-like concentration camps (Timothy Snyder/Substack)

ICE thugs — beyond the reach of the law — are America’s new Gestapo (Lucian Truscott/Substack)

Trump administration is building a national citizenship data system (NPR)

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Rebecca Martin’s New Album ‘She’ Is Remarkably Intimate and Vulnerable

(Chronogram) by Seth Rogovoy, HUDSON VALLEY, N.Y. - The headline of a New York Times review of a 2011 Rebecca Martin club gig reads: “Spare Vocals Illuminate Emotions Underneath.” That’s still an apt-and-accurate description of Martin’s aesthetic, especially as it’s heard on She, the first full album of original songs she’s released in a dozen years. Martin’s purity of approach is remarkably intimate and vulnerable. In the kickoff track, “Play for Me,” Martin sings, “Music is for anyone who’s open to hear / There’s nothing between us but notes in the air.” The beauty of She is found in that air.

Jacob’s Pillow set to unveil a bold new chapter for the Doris Duke Theatre (Berkshire Eagle)

Images Cinema in Williamstown shines as a community hub as it nears its fundraising goal to add a second screen (Berkshire Eagle)

REVIEW: ‘Camelot’ at Barrington Stage anchored by top-notch performances (ATU)

REVIEW: More than one shining moment in Barrington Stage’s ‘Camelot’ (Boston Globe)

PREVIEW: In Anne Undeland’s ‘Madame Mozart’ at Great Barrington Public Theater, one widow fights the patriarchy (Berkshire Edge)

PREVIEW: Louisiana soul singer Marc Broussard to share new music and old favorites at the Mahaiwe (B Eagle)

REVIEW: In her Pastoral, choreographer Pam Tanowitz samples Beethoven at Bard (NYT)

Great Barrington’s Berkshire Busk street music festival returns for fifth year (B Edge)

Strand takes over Upper West Side Shakespeare & Co. outlet (West Side Rag)

NEWS FROM THE BERKSHIRES

Shaker Mill Books Is a Haven for Bibliophiles

(Berkshire Edge) WEST STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. - Eric Wilska’s book-selling story begins in 1974 with the opening of The Bookloft in Great Barrington —- which, decades later, is still operating under new ownership and in a different location. Wilska was 24 years old when he launched that business. Today, Shaker Mill Books in this town is the culmination of decades of bookselling and boasts an eclectic collection of over 30,000 books — ”used, rare, antiquarian, out-of-print and some new.” The titles are all individually priced, a task Wilska describes as a constant work in progress. While there are books for every interest (including a large children’s section), the shop’s selections of photography and art books, as well as local history titles, are particularly noteworthy.

READ MORE:
Simon’s Rock alumni have a vision for the campus (Berkshire Eagle)

As plan for new Monument Mountain school goes before state funding authority, Berkshire Hills communities will consider their $89 million local share (WAMC)

Dottie’s Coffee Lounge in Pittsfield is up for sale and closing on Sunday (Berkshire Eagle) Read also, Dottie’s Coffee closes Sunday; owner Jessica Rufo says it was time (iBerkshires)

Pittsfield Licensing Board OKs East Side Cafe outdoor dining (iBerkshires)

Pittsfield leaders remove criminalization component and made other amendments to a proposed camping ban -- targeted at unhoused people downtown -- put forth by the mayor. But the debate continues. (WAMC)

Pittsfield store owners, housing advocates want a future where no one is homeless. But they disagree on what it will take to make that a reality (Berkshire Eagle)

Resident-led urban design group to examine fatal crash site in Pittsfield (WAMC)

Pittsfield looks to codify municipal flag displays (iBerkshires)

Town of Lee still searching for answers to possible relationship between PCB exposure and cancer incidents in residents living along Housatonic River (Berkshire Edge)

Lee Select Board, Tri-Town Boards of Health grapple with lack of regional emergency preparedness (B Edge)

Lee’s proposed West Center/Canal streets mixed-use project passes muster with town’s Planning Board (B Edge)

Former Stevens School of the Bible dean and Bible Speaks leader indicted on two counts of sexual abuse the Berkshire DA says stem from crimes that occurred in 1980 (B Eagle)

President Maud Mandel: Williams will stay mission-focused as DEI, research and visa policies shift (B Eagle)

Federal grant pause raises ‘deep concern,’ confusion among Williams faculty (B Eagle)

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

Abandoned for 50 Years, Hudson Pocketbook Factory to Reopen as Five-Star Hotel

(Rural Intelligence) HUDSON, N.Y. - Hudson’s city-block-sized Pocketbook Factory stood abandoned in an otherwise residential neighborhood for half a century—a monolithic reminder of the collapse of local industry generations ago. This October, the massive brick facility, built in 1883, reopens as the five-star Pocketbook Hudson boutique hotel and baths. The $42 million resurrection is now a symbol of the city’s 21st -century economic revival. With 46 guest rooms, a spa, night club, restaurant, and retail and gallery space, the enterprise is a capstone on Hudson’s contemporary 20-year transformation from counterculture, artsy outpost to a premiere Hudson Valley tourist destination.

READ MORE:
Hudson sued for allegedly bypassing state law in selling land to developer (ATU)

Hudson Industrial Development Agency may reconsider tax breaks for Galvan housing development that lacks promised affordable units (GoR); Read also, Hudson IDA members question tax break for Galvan housing project (HV360)

Hudson dalmatian Molly beats out A-list celebs in magazine contest (HV360)

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