The War On Christmas and the Conservative COVID Calamity
It’s that time of the year again, folks! Get your keyboards ready for outraged op-eds, caroling controversies, and coffee cup complaints! As the days grow short, the trees go bare, and snow coats the land, we must now engage in the time-honored, perennial tradition that so perfectly encapsulates the twenty-first-century American winter. Come all ye […]
Aliens on Venus or Human Foolhardiness?
Healthy skepticism is important, whether about our world or alien ones. No one predicted 2020 would unfold the way it did. The discovery of a novel coronavirus—and the world’s response to its spread—America’s racial reckoning, and the death of Supreme Court legend Ruth Bader Ginsburg are only a few of the life-changing events that have […]
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 […]
The Politicization of Science is Going to Kill Us
The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the deadliest outbreaks in the last century, killing over one million people since early January. Nearly fifty million people have contracted the virus globally, and case counts are rising. Over 230,000 people have died in the United States alone. The US is home to less than five percent of […]
Ideological Influencers and the Right-Wing Domination of Young Minds
Young adults in America are often referenced as a monolithic body—praised for their “generational awareness and generational solidarity,” “passion for making positive change,” and “revolutionizing activism.” Sometimes the profiles present a less insurgent picture; Newsweek depicted Gen Z as a breed of cautious pessimists, shaped by their parents’ cynicism and volatile socioeconomic conditions. Other portrayals […]
No Justice for Black Women: The Memeification of Breonna Taylor
No justice, no peace. All too often, Black women are excluded from the narrative of police brutality and systemic racism. All too often, the names of Black women are excluded from the fight for justice—a reality that is highlighted on social media. Social media’s powers in mobilizing change are innumerable. Information can spread instantly, allowing […]
Why Colleges Staying Open is Still the Right Move
Extensive research demonstrates that COVID-19 does not pose a serious risk to most students. Responding to recent upticks in COVID-19 cases among young adults, colleges nationwide have renounced their intentions to house students for the fall semester. Of colleges that re-opened, many have reverted to online learning following campus outbreaks. These decisions, while seemingly understandable, […]
Good versus Equal: An Analysis of the Globalization Paradox
Success in the era of globalization is often presented as requiring total economic liberalization, or the lessening of government regulations to promote private entities. Dr. Thomas Friedman argues that for countries to develop rapidly, governments must adopt the “golden straitjacket,” where states make free-market reforms to join the broader economic system. Countries are at the […]
Bust or Bust: The Future of Boston’s Christopher Columbus Statue
Who deserves to be a statue? Recently, activists around the world have answered this question with “not a murderer”—a statue of slave owner Edward Colston was thrown into a river in Bristol, UK; a confederate statue was hung in Raleigh, North Carolina; and Boston’s very own Christopher Columbus statue was beheaded. Columbus’s statue was until […]
America’s Lose–Lose Withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council
On June 18, 2018, US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley stood beside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department to announce the US’ withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). Haley spoke of the hypocrisy of countries with abhorrent human rights records sitting on the Council and criticized its “chronic […]