💃🤪 In da clerb (City Hall), we all fam

It’s Tuesday, Boston.

🎓 Since higher ed and the economy have been a little *chaotic* … Have you changed how you’re paying for college? Considered switching to a higher-earning major? Started working a second job? The Globe wants to hear from you! Drop your thoughts in this survey, or email [email protected].

👀 What’s on tap today:

• 90-degree temps, incoming!

• Self-checkout at the BPL

• A “Crash Course” on life

Up first…

JUNE FREEBIES

The best things in June are free

Lock in, B-Siders. Because summer = some of the best freebies of the year. 

Here’s what’s happening this month that won’t cost you a dime:

📚 Schlep your books with summer’s hottest (and free) tote! The BPL’s Summer Reading Program is back, so hit up your local branch for a book bingo card and free tote bag while supplies last. It’s basically the pizza you’d get from Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT! Program for grownups. 

🎨 Practice your “I like it Picasso” impression. ‘Cause you’ll walk away an artist after taking Ashley Eisenman’s free watercolor painting classes on Wednesdays at Lyrik Back Bay (the first one starts tomorrow!). Need convincing? Her matchbook paintings are BEYOND.

🙅 Just say “NO!” to your gym membership. And say “HELL YA” to another round of free summer outdoor workouts. Suffolk Downs is launching its Blue Line Flex series this weekend where you can try everything from yoga to boxing to total-body bootcamp. Not a Blue Line girly? Hop on the Green Line and head to The Pru for its Fit on the Garden series starting TODAY.

🏖️ Hit the beach with your new besties. Spending $50 on gas to the Cape? Nah. Spending nothing to hang with other 20- and 30-somethings on Carson Beach? Priceless (technically free). The Making Friends After College FB group strikes with another group beach day on June 7, where sunbathing, swimming, and beach volleyball are on the agenda. 

✊🏿 Celebrate Juneteenth three ways … 

1. 🖼️ Spend a day at the museum. Friendly reminder: The MFA, ICA, and Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum are all offering free admission on June 19. Just check their sites to confirm how to get tickets!

2. 🥳 Block party it up. FREE food, live music, a mechanical bull, AND a waterslide? We’ll have two tickets to this Freedom Frontier Block Party, please and thanks. 

3. 🛶 Celebrate Black joy … in a kayak? Yep! The Juneteenth Joy Celebration in Hyde Park will be home to Black-owned vendors, live readings, dancing, and free kayaking from Paddle Boston. 

💃 In da clerb (city streets), we all fam. You have not one, but TWO free outdoor dance parties to pick from. First, the City of Cambridge dance party is bigger AND running later thanks to popular demand (look how sick this looks). Then, there’s the Donna Summer disco party at City Hall Plaza, equipped with bubbles, glow sticks, and rollerskating. Both are June 27 <3.

QUICK QUESTION!

📅 Something BIG is coming Aug. 2, and we need your help planning it! If B-Side were to host a big, summertime festival, what would make it the best day ever? 

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🥵 It’s about to get HOT in here. If last weekend’s weather was giving fall, then this week is giving Florida, because Boston is forecast to see temps close to 90 degrees. As of Monday evening, temps are expected to rise steadily every day from the mid 70s to mid 80s before peaking at a whopping 88 degrees on Thursday — all with sunny skies. But in classic Boston fashion, come Friday, the heat looks like it’ll start dropping off as rain moves in. Oy. Keep up with the latest here.

📉 This new poll is bad news for Gov. Maura Healey. According to a survey from UNH, only 49% of Mass. residents approve of Healey’s job performance, and just 37% believe she deserves to be re-elected. Local Republicans were quick to tout the results as proof Healey is “beatable” in 2026 (including her challengers, who didn’t waste time flexing). That said, other polls this year have found Healey’s approval ratings in the high 50s, and unseating an incumbent Democrat in Mass. will likely be an uphill battle.

📚 Lost your library card? You won’t need it at the BPL. Introducing: These all-new, fancy looking self-checkout machines that make it easier for folks to borrow books, pay fees, and access library services. As long as you have the BPL To Go app on your phone, they technically eliminate the need for physical library cards (though you can still use them, ofc). Plus, they can even recommend books based on your check-out habits. The new kiosks are up and running at the Central branch, and should be in other branches by the end of the week. Here’s a peek. 

🦞 Friends don’t let friends drop $40 on a mid lobster roll. That’s why our pals at Boston.com asked a bunch of local foodie experts where they go for a great one. And they came THROUGH. Local selections included Puritan Oyster Bar in Cambridge, Belle Isle Seafood in Winthrop, Neptune Oyster in the North End, Saltie Girl in Back Bay, and Alive & Kicking Lobsters in Cambridge (which technically serves lobster sandwiches). And unsurprisingly, most of them dropped a few Maine recs, too. Here’s the full list.

ONE LAST THING

A “Crash Course” on life

If you thought Jennifer Coolidge was the final boss of local commencement speakers … You wouldn’t be wrong, but IMO, Hank Green as MIT’s speaker could give Coolidge a run for her money. 

The “Crash Course” founder/author/TikTok star/general do-gooder’s speech incorporated survey responses from the grads to questions like “what’s the most MIT thing you’ve done?”. And while a lot of students said simply “hack” (lol), many talked about things they’d built: Robots, websites, literal bridges.

So, Green gave the class some building advice: “When I asked you what you did at MIT, you said you built, but when I asked you what was giving you hope, you did not say ‘buildings,’ you said ‘people,’” he said. “People are so complex and messy. Some of you may be tempted to build around them and not for them, but remember to ask yourself where value and meaning come from.”

You can watch his full address here.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🎓 Thanks for reading! Long live our collective emotional support substitute teacher. 

🩰 The results are in: 46% of readers say they go to fine/performing arts events in Boston once or twice a year. One reader said: “When $50 is my ticket budget, the options are slim.” Fair!

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].