And Now, This: How John Oliver Is Changing the Television Landscape
An important moment happened on a recent episode of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. Let me back up a bit. The first time I saw John Oliver on television playing an obnoxious, possibly alcoholic professor in Community, I hardly thought that a few years later he would have a weekly late night show featuring […]
#WAKEUPWORLD and Showing Solidarity
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. Early last week, I was lucky enough to witness and participate in #WAKEUPWORLD, a Boston march in solidarity with students of color all over the country protesting institutionalized discrimination within schools and universities. Representatives of 17 schools, including Northeastern, walked through Boston […]
Lifting the Veil on Laïcité: The Rise of Islamophobia in Europe
Islamophobia has been on the upswing throughout Europe recently, with the rise of anti-immigrant political parties and the implementation of discriminatory laws that directly target Muslims. The EU has long struggled with questions of identity that have only become more pronounced in recent years; the question “what defines Europe?” continues to pester EU leadership, its […]
The Sadcom: How a new genre of comedy is teaching people about depression
In a recent segment, John Oliver pointed out something very disturbing about the way our politicians treat mental health: they discuss it for a week or so after a mass shooting in an attempt to prove that America’s lack of gun control isn’t the real problem. They use this deflection to avoid passing sensible legislation, […]
Whitewashed Feminism: The Imaginary Gender Vacuum
Feminism, defined by the Oxford dictionary as “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men,” is becoming a mainstream movement. You may have heard a similar definition spoken by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie over an instrumental interlude in a hugely popular Beyoncé song. Critics and proponents of feminism […]
European (Dis)Union
Lily is currently studying International Affairs and Economics at Sciences Po in Paris, France. Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, about 4 million refugees have fled the region, seeking safety from the violence and destruction left in the wake of ISIS and by the Assad regime’s brutal policies.[1] As people move westward, a […]
Political Correctness: Humor, Language, and Mental Health
“I’m just joking” is a byline in everyday conversation. Stereotypes are fair game, as long as you tack on a “jk” at the end. “I’m not racist/homophobic/sexist, but…” is a red flag unnoticed by most. We are constantly congratulating ourselves on being a society with the absence of widespread prejudice. But this supposed disconnect between […]
War of the Words
Almost thirty years ago to this day, Tipper Gore, wife of then-senator Al Gore, met with three other wives of prominent politicians to discuss a very serious issue: children were in mortal danger from the insidious threat of explicit lyrics. After hearing her daughter listening to Prince’s “Darling Nikki,” which contains references to sex and […]
Counterbalance: When Policies Die and Elections Begin
For some, politics has always been a topic of interest. For others, it wasn’t until Kevin Spacey, Kate Mara (RIP) and Robin Wright took the screen to produce one of the most influential political drama series since the West Wing. House of Cards season 3 aired on Netflix at midnight (PST) on February 27, leaving […]
Counterbalance: the Grudge Goes Global
Following November’s midterm elections, it was quite clear that with a shift in the balance of power, current policies were going to be modified . What may have been less obvious before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s US visit and Senator Tom Cotton’s Iran Letter, is that the new conservative majority would overhaul basic democratic […]