WHEN Franklin Delano Roosevelt ran for president in 1932, it was from a wheelchair. He was a paraplegic who had lost the ability to walk after contracting polio, and some of his advisers worried that opponents might use his handicap against him, exploiting public ignorance for political gain.

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BOSTON WAS ONCE a hub of superb libertarian/conservative talk radio. For years, listeners could tune in daily to erudite, engaging, edifying conversations with on-air hosts who leaned right but who attracted an audience that comprised moderates and liberals as well as conservatives. Avi Nelson, Gene Burns, Jerry Williams — theirs were some of the best-known voices during Boston's golden age of talk radio. But the best known talkmaster of all was David Brudnoy, whose weekday radio program — first on WHDH, then WRKO, then WBZ — consistently drew the largest audience and highest ratings in Boston and New England.

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ON TUESDAY, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released its annual report on hate crimes in the United States. The total number of such crimes tabulated by the bureau in 2018 was down from the year before — it dropped from 7,175 to 7,120 — so you might have thought the report would be covered as a good-news story. But hate crime statistics are invariably spun as evidence that things are getting worse, and the headlines fit the usual pattern:

New York Times: "Hate-crime violence hits 16-year high, FBI reports"

Los Angeles Times: "Latinos and transgender people see big increases in hate crimes, FBI reports"

CNN: "Hate crimes remain at heightened levels, FBI report finds"

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COSMETOLOGISTS AND emergency medical technicians don't have much in common.

Cosmetologists treat skin, style hair, and paint nails. EMTs respond to 911 calls, administer urgent medical care, and rush patients by ambulance to hospitals.

Cosmetologists are beauty-industry professionals who help people feel good about their appearance. EMTs are first responders who help people survive violent traumas and heart attacks.

Cosmetologists rarely face a life-threatening crisis on the job. EMTs make life-or-death decisions every day.

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Saturday was the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the last few days have seen a flood of commentary about the end of the Cold War and the changes it wrought in Europe and the world.

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