The Dark Past and Uncertain Future of Nuclear Energy in Japan
In October 2020, then-Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide declared that Japan would reach net-zero greenhouse gas emission by 2050, an extremely high hurdle for the country to achieve in just thirty years. Japan is among the world’s largest carbon emitters, with forty percent of its emissions coming from energy production; in 2019, fossil fuels composed 88 […]
The Complexities of Queer, Caribbean Identities, and the Dangers of West-Centric LGBTQ+ Advocacy
Introduction As of 2020, nine Caribbean countries criminalize same-sex relations. Beyond legal discrimination, queer Caribbean people face increased threats of violence, abuse, and oppression. In 2006, Time magazine went as far as insinuating that the Caribbean region is “the most homophobic place on Earth.” But despite this environment, queer Caribbean communities have continued to resist […]
Impacts of Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising on Quality of Care
Advertisements for drugs have long inundated television and other media platforms. They all follow roughly the same formula: miraculous claims, moving images of families, the music swells, and then a long, incomprehensible list of possible side effects written in fine print and recited so quickly that the dangerous ones almost go unnoticed. This style of […]
Move on From Implicit Bias
In the bestseller White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Robin DiAngelo writes, “Prejudice always manifests itself in action because the way I see the world drives my actions in the world. Everyone has prejudice, and everyone discriminates.” She later clarifies that White supremacist messages “circulate 24-7 and have […]
Invisible Man and the Twenty-First Century Black Bildungsroman
Last summer, as I processed the news of the murder of George Floyd, I felt like I could keep it together. I was eighteen; the past decade saw numerous police killings that drew national attention. I had no illusions about any of this. Yet something felt different. It might have been the sheer barbarity, the […]
Petruchio, Peterson, and The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is widely considered a misogynistic play, a relic of a time best forgotten. And while its sexist themes cannot be dismissed, a reimagining is possible and necessary—lest today’s reactionaries get to it first.
Machine Learning Misses the Mark on Equality
Robert Williams had just pulled into his Farmington Hills driveway after another long day’s work, relieved to finally spend time with his wife and two daughters. Nothing seemed obviously amiss. But something was very wrong. A police car waiting down the street inched forward, trapping Williams against his own house. Two officers approached, cuffing him […]
A Positive from 2020: The Overdue Modernization of American Theatre
What comes to mind when you think of going to the theatre? It might be dazzling lights, a show-stopping dance break, or the plush velvet seats of a Broadway house. Maybe it’s a more intimate setting, with a smaller space and cast. Regardless, you probably do not imagine yourself sitting alone on your couch, watching […]
The Ugly Side of Fashion: How the Industry Harms People of Color
Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and former editor-at-large André Leon Talley. In December 2018, luxury fashion brand Prada released a collection of “fantasy charms” that critics say were inspired by blackface. The products, which Prada claimed were “imaginary creatures,” resemble black monkeys with bright red lips—seemingly a callback to nineteenth-century minstrel shows. Following immediate social media […]
Even the Environment is Racist: How Pollution Affects People of Color
After World War II, the United States began conducting nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean. The second test resulted in the radioactive contamination of hundreds of Navy ships. In an attempt to decontaminate these ships, the Navy moved them to a lab in the Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco, where the military would deep […]