Culture

KYLIE’S ROOM | Atlanta Monster, A Podcast In A League Of Its Own

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Too often, true crime podcasts fetishize or take light of heinous human actions. I’ll admit, I’ve listened to  many – and have even written about them. However, my interest has waned because of the disappointing quality of production and crude jokes made making light of some really serious stuff. Luckily, documentary filmmaker-turned-podcaster Payne Lindsey and partner Donald Albrights’ Atlanta Monster is different. In the ranks of podcasts such as S-Town and Serial, its production value and content are exemplary and comment on the political and social context of the time that in some instances mirrors our current society today.

Politics

CULTURALLY SHOOK | I Don’t Feel White

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I glare at myself in the mirror. Maybe if I stare at my reflection long enough, critically enough, I’ll finally see myself the way the U.S. government sees me: white. After all, when has the U.S. government ever been wrong? I’m Arab-American. My family is from Syria, but I was born in the United States.

Campus

SAVING FACE | Enough Is Enough: On Racism at Cornell

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It’s a tumultuous time to be Cornell student. A University first founded on the principle of “any person, any study” has proven time and time again that the students themselves do not live up to these words. For the uninformed or for those who simply haven’t cared enough to inform themselves, Cornell has recently been rocked by multiple acts of overt racism towards fellow students. Last month, a fraternity member of Zeta Psi was heard chanting “let’s build a wall around the [Latino Living Community]”. Despite raised racial tension and cautionary words from the administration, that still was not enough to prevent a Cornell student from beating a fellow student and calling him the N word a week later.

Life

SAVING FACE | The Asian American Response to Charlottesville

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This piece was written at the time of—and in direct response to—the “Unite the Right” rally and ensuing violence that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, August 12th. Before you read this article, I suggest that you watch this video from Vice News first. It is an eyewitness account of what happened in Charlottesville. While watching this is not easy, I think it is absolutely essential: https://news.vice.com/story/vice-news-tonight-full-episode-charlottesville-race-and-terror
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What happened last Saturday was appalling. I had been told that we live in a post-racial society, but events like this show that we are clearly not.

Entertainment

KYLIE’S ROOM | Paradise Lost: How the Bachelor Went from Fairytale to Nightmare

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I am not ashamed to admit it, but I am an avid Bachelor/Bachelorette/Bachelor in Paradise watcher, debriefer, and obsessor. For the last six months or so, my Monday and Tuesday nights have been dedicated to watching who gets the first impression rose, the ever-coveted one-on-one date, and finally the Neil Lane ring.  The franchise’s premise is a bit unorthodox; one person dates 25 people over the course of about 12 weeks in the hopes of getting engaged, then weeks later the Bachelor/Bachelorette rejects get shipped off to Mexico to find love in Paradise. It seems weird, but somehow it works. The Bachelor franchise offers viewers the fairytale experience without having to leave their couches. The show transports viewers to a mansion filled with beautiful women dressed in evening gowns, or handsome men in tuxedos.

Life

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM | Weighing in on Interminority Prejudice

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Over the summer, I managed to save up for a trip to California, one of the places in America celebrated for its liberalism and openness. Ignoring the sinking feeling that few other tourists would look like me, I set about to explore the Bay Area. An exciting aspect of traveling being souvenir shopping, I googled the best place to buy souvenirs, which took me to San Francisco’s Chinatown. Hopping from shop to shop deciding on what keepsakes to buy for myself and my family, I noticed a trend – each store I went into, a shop attendant would be close behind, watching my every move. When discussing race relations in America, whether it’s in a seminar or on social media, racial prejudice is often framed as only a “white problem.” Indeed, having lived as a minority in America for only two years, the first image that comes to mind when I think of racism in America is of torch-yielding white supremacists akin to those who were protesting in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Culture

THE E’ER INSCRUTABLE | Tyr’s Wager, Part II

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“πάθει μάθος.” -Derived from Aeschylus’ Agamemnon. Refers to learning gained through adversary. -To the memory of the German martyrs-

Orthodoxy, ὀρθός, “correct, upright, decent,” + δόξᾰ, “opinion.” The opinion which an upright person holds. One may be forgiven for chafing under the presupposed weight of an “orthodox” opinion; after all, in some quarters, it is held to be an act of the highest arrogance to dub one opinion more correct than another. I am not of that persuasion.

Entertainment

AKABAS | A Way Too In-Depth Analysis of the Fast And Furious 8 Trailer

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Sometimes when people mention the Seven Wonders of the World, for a few seconds I think they’re talking about the Fast and Furious movies. The Fast and Furious franchise has gone from low-budget street racing movies to big-budget street racing movies to big-budget action movies to even bigger-budget action movies. It is a franchise running out of combinations of “and”s, “the”s and words starting with “F” to use for movie titles. It is a franchise that went from Vin Diesel playing a street-racing criminal to Vin Diesel playing an indestructible superhero. It is a franchise so far removed from logic that its chronological order is 1-2-4-5-6-3-7-8.