Blog Posts

Before and After Laika: A More Comprehensive History of the Soviet Space Dogs

A lot of people have heard of Laika, the famous Soviet space dog whose death has sparked the telling and retelling of her story as a tragic example of using animals in scientific endeavors. When telling her story, however, there tends to be a lot of other dogs left out of the story, both before and after her mission in Sputnik II. I work at the National Air and Space Museum, and here is my telling of the Soviet space dogs’ stories.

Phoebe Bridgers and Carmen Maria Machado: humble pairings from Punisher and Her Body and Other Parties

Phoebe Bridgers is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter known for her albums Punisher and Stranger in The Alps as well as her collaborations boygenius and Better Oblivion Community Center. Carmen Maria Machado is a writer (and AU Alumna :P) known for her memoir In The Dream House and her anthology of speculative short fiction, Her Body and Other Parties. Bridgers often cites Her Body and Other Parties as a favorite book and inspiration for Punisher. As a fan of both Bridgers and Machado, I felt it was my obligation to do my best to pair stories from Her Body and Other Parties with songs from Punisher.

Mary Blair’s Own Wonderful World of Color

Mary Blair’s Disney Animation concept art coaxes color to the apex of its capabilities. The influence of her paintings sparked to brilliance the classic Disney features we know and love.

JoJo Siwa: A Complete Coming-Out Timeline and Why She Matters

JoJo Siwa came out as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community two months ago, and her sexuality is a great representation for her young audience.

The Bachelor Has Always Had a Race Problem, Long Before this Season

This year, The Bachelor has taken one blow after another in the wake of racist incidents from a contestant, just as the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum this past summer. The show has received a lot of backlash, but this isn’t the first time racist incidents and remarks have happened in The Bachelor franchise. In fact, they’re common, and happen implicitly every season. 

Ginny and Georgia: Love and Lies

Ginny and Georgia is a comedy-drama series that was released by Netflix on Feb. 24. It’s about the life of young free-spirited mother Georgia and her two children Ginny and Austin who move to Wellsbury, Massachusetts, for a fresh start. The ten-episode series is worth the binge-watch because of all the different topic areas explored such as new love, home, friends, and lies. 

BookTok: The Pros and Cons

BookTok has quickly become a phenomenon in the literary world, and while it has created a large community of readers, the recommendations are redundant and restricted to a select few authors and common tropes. 

Taylor Swift: Reclaiming What’s Hers

Taylor Swift’s dispute over the ownership of her first six albums is finally coming to a close, with the announcement of her re-recording of Fearless being released on April 9th. In the meantime, fans are preparing to be hit with the nostalgia that songs like “You Belong with Me” and “The Way I Loved You” brings back. 

Last Minute Gift Tips From Your Holiday Helper!

Your one-stop-shop for those last minute gift ideas!

Fall 2020 Editor's Choice

Accompanying the “Editor’s Choice” labels you will see in our Fall 2020 issue, this blog post contains an explanation from each editor, giving you a glimpse into the reasons behind their choice. 

Best Books to Read Based According to Your Zodiac Sign

With the arrival of winter break and COVID-19 continuing to put a stop to our social lives, now is the perfect time to either dust off the books gathering dust on the shelf or buy yourself one that is stiff and new. The hunt for a good book can sometimes be a challenge with so many amazing options out there (so many books, so little time!), but fear not, for astrology solves all problems. 

Glamorizing or Grasping Innocence and Poverty in The Florida Project

You may have heard of The Florida Project through TikTok. If you did, you probably saw teenage girls pose effortlessly in front of the famous South Floridian purple motel in technicolor edited videos on the app. The popular sound to the videos combines an indie track with the sarcastic free-spirited voice of Halley, the young mother in the film. 

Netflix's Problem with Canceling Sapphic Shows

Good sapphic representation seems few and far between in media. Despite a steady increase in the number of sapphic characters we’ve seen on TV or in movies in recent years, much of the representation that is given is short-lived, just plain bad, or repetitive. Sapphic characters are often heavily sexualized, underdeveloped, or part of a period piece. Some networks have attempted to create characters that actually feel human in recent years and some of those attempts ended in great results. People were seeing themselves in characters perhaps for the first time ever. Take Netflix for example, they’ve created a variety of shows in recent years that feature strong sapphic leads and have made audiences very excited. Here’s the thing though, most of that progress ends up losing meaning. Because although Netflix can produce a show with good sapphic representation, they can’t seem to renew any of them. Most of the shows that Netflix has created in recent years that feature sapphic characters have been canceled. Netflix draws in queer audiences with the promise of representation, then betrays them. It’s time we talk about that.

All of the Important Rankin-Bass Stop Motion Holiday Specials, Rated

Thanksgiving is over so that means the Christmas season has officially begun. And now, finally, we can once again binge watch the Rankin-Bass Holiday specials on Freeform. What are the Rankin-Bass Holidays specials, you ask? I think you know. They’re the incredibly weird, claymation movies that come around every holiday season only to be hidden away the minute your last Christmas present has been unwrapped. Some of my favorites include: Santa Claus is Coming to Town, A Year Without a Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and much more. So here’s a list of all of those incredibly odd Christmas specials (only the important ones, of course) rated. 

Forgotten Art in Patapsco

Sometimes art can be forgotten and left to fall into ruin over time without the admiration of onlookers. I love to find that forgotten art. I am interested in urban exploration, which is the act of exploring manmade structures such as abandoned buildings. Most of these places are illegal to explore because they’re either property of the government or they’re privately owned. Urban exploration is very popular in photography and film and I have seen these types of places used as settings especially in the horror genre. From an artist’s perspective, I love to see how creative people have made their mark in these places. Sometimes artists leave their names or pictures on the crumbling stones but whatever they put there has a story to it. 

Art as a Powerful Force for Social Change

The first time I walked down the ambiguously hidden staircase of Dupont Underground (DU) I discovered a creative world safely tucked away in Dupont Circle’s abandoned trolley station tunnels. Walking down the staircase I did not imagine such a beautiful space to lie right beneath D.C’s iconic Dupont circle. But I guess that’s why it’s iconic. Dupont underground is a representation for D.C. as a whole. Underneath all the political drama, busy people, and suits, lies a world of creatives reflecting and expressing their emotions through beautiful photographs, paintings and designs.

Harry Styles: Attacking Masculinity, or Showing Us What a Man Can Be?

Take a Lesson From Thoreau

March 13, 2020. My last day of in person learning as a high-school student. After this date much of the world retreated into homes, into puzzles, into the spaces of the web where trends reside, into the dark corners of isolation. In searching for silver linings to the seemingly relentless onslaught of bad news I discovered how ideal, if ever a statement could be made, the timing was for a pandemic. The snow had begun to melt away and reveal a vibrant spring that shouted at those glued to Netflix that there was an alternative, a safe way to feel human. I believe we all found solace in the brief moments outside catching our breath and being reminded that there is normalcy, for the birds are still singing and the sun is still setting ever so peacefully over the Earth. 

Eggshells & Red Pills: The Matrix as a Trans Allegory

After a high-paced chase scene, the Wachowskis’ introduce us to their protagonist Neo found sleeping by a computer. Suddenly, the screen starts flashing messages, one of the most iconic being “Follow the White Rabbit,” after which Neo hears a knock on the door.

I Spy With My Little Eye: Hidden Treasures in Famous Artworks

I love art history. But in my freshman year art history class, in a basement classroom that was always dark and a little too warm, I constantly found myself drifting off as my professor showed us painting after painting and droned on in her quiet, soothing voice. I would always snap to attention when she urged us to look a little closer, and pointed out hidden symbols and messages that I never would have noticed at first glance. Throughout history, art is full of these little quirks if you can just look closely. Take a look at the paintings below and see if you can find them for yourself!