KYLIE’S ROOM | What Are We Celebrating on Valentine’s Day?

I painted my nails red for Valentine’s Day. Very cliché, I know. This is shocking and out of character for me for two reasons: 1) I painted my nails — which I almost never do, and 2) I have spent the last 21.5 years (yes, even as a small infant) vehemently opposed to Valentine’s Day. When I was in elementary school, I would symbolically wear black (or whatever black clothing my mother let my nine-year-old self-wear — I definitely didn’t buy my own clothes) to make a statement. My mother would give me “love gifts” the day AFTER Valentine’s Day to respect my cause, and I even wrote a poem entitled “I Hated Valentine’s Day” in fifth grade and got in trouble with a teacher.

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

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.

KYLIE’S ROOM | Strange Fruit: The Media’s Double Standard When It Comes to Black Women

As I get older and wiser (all 21 years and six months), I’ve come to realize that although I am an American, America (or my country) was not made for me. This land of the free was made on the backs of my ancestors who did not enjoy such freedoms. Having grown up in mostly white environments and choosing to attend a predominantly white university, I’ve become accustomed to being the only black girl in the room. My norm is either being singled out as the point person to explain race or feeling that people don’t want to speak about race around me. My norm is being put in awkward or uncomfortable situations where people might comment on my complexion, make intrusive inquiries about how I choose to wear my hair, or objectify the bodies of those who look like me.  Even more so, I’ve become painfully aware of how society arbitrarily picks and chooses when to uplift black women, put them down, profit off of them, then push them aside.

KYLIE’S ROOM | 3 Podcasts by Women and/or People of Color You Should Listen To

Although there has been significant progress in recent years, there is still a lack of substantial representation of women and people of color in the entertainment industry. With that being said, podcasts are a cheap, readily disseminated way to share stories and cultural experiences. In addition, they are a medium that offers an opportunity to those who do not have a voice in the traditional media industry, a platform for their thoughts and experiences to be heard. Below are three podcasts hosted by women and/or people of color that bring a voice to those who are underrepresented in the media industry. These podcasters offer their unique perspectives not only to experiences that women and people of color might face, but also to young Americans in our ever-changing and polarizing political climate today.

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

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.

KYLIE’S ROOM | Why Oh Why Do We Overshare?

Our culture is sharing. Not sharing, with respect to giving to others, but sharing online. We tweet about how our days are going and subtweet about things, or people, that bother us. We post pictures showing the major events of our lives on Facebook, and we snapchat the mundane or mildly entertaining aspects of our lives. Different platforms of sharing technology allow me to feel like I am up-to-date not only on the lives of my closest friends but those of my faintest acquaintances.

KYLIE’S ROOM | Proleptic Decay and Decrepitude: Why Listen to the S-Town Podcast

If you’re looking for something to binge on, listen to the new podcast S-Town. S-Town, narrated by reporter Brian Reed, is a collaboration between the creators of Serial and This American Life. Much like how Netflix releases new seasons of their original series, S-Town was released in its entirety on March 28th and, as a result, I have subsequently spent the last 24 hours engrossed in the lives of Woodstock, Alabama’s residents. The podcast originates purely from rumor. Reporter Brian Reed is drawn into the world of Woodstock by an email from a man named John B. McLemore who wants Reed to investigate a potential police cover up that involves the son of a wealthy family.

KYLIE’S ROOM | How to be a Detective, as a Chicken

I’ve always been a bit of a chicken. I’m easily startled and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m afraid of the dark. The amount of things that I’m afraid of is endless. I’ve always been so afraid of heights that even when going up an escalator, I refuse to look down, or I shut my eyes. But despite my fear for heights, and despite my being afraid of the dark, I have always been interested in crime.

KYLIE’S ROOM | A PRACTICAL PODCAST

As a college student, sometimes I feel like I am in a bubble, or have blinders on. Here at Cornell, and probably at many other schools, you can go through your daily life focusing on nothing but school, those around you and whatever is happening on campus. With this, you can find yourself being unaware of what is going on outside of the boundaries of the campus, or the community where your college is located. With the incredible amount of work that undergraduates have and the vast amount of material you are supposed to learn and retain in order to succeed in your coursework, it is easy to let watching the news or reading the paper slide. But it can become a habit, and once it becomes habitual, it becomes a new norm.