Emerging Writers
How "Armageddon" Became The Ultimate Disaster Movie (In More Ways Than One)
The logic-defying apocalypse movie — made at a time before we were worried about the actual apocalypse — was panned 20 years ago. Now, it’s a classic.
Sandi Rankaduwa
How XXXTentacion’s Life Reflects Our Culture Of Violence
If we are going to judge the rapper for his violent behavior, we also need to consider where that violent behavior originates.
Adriana Widdoes
How Mister Rogers Taught Us To Take Care Of Ourselves
Even though we’re not kids anymore, we still need to hear — now more than ever — that our lives have value, and that we’re lovable as we are.
Sandi Rankaduwa
The Boy Band Is Back
Refreshingly diverse all-male musical groups like PrettyMuch and Brockhampton are expanding what it means to be an American boy band.
Sandi Rankaduwa
How "Dawson’s Creek" Paved The Way For Teen TV
The drama took teenagers seriously, becoming a safe and beloved stopover on the way to adulthood.
Sandi Rankaduwa
Google, Amazon, And Apple Don’t Want You To Fear AI Anymore
Pop culture has done a great job of making us believe artificial intelligence will kill us. Now Google, Apple, and Amazon are trying to make us stop fearing voice AI.
Min Li Chan
Why Do We Love To Hate Jeff Bezos?
Tech industry elites like Jeff Bezos would rather tackle space than poverty because wealth inequality is a messy, complex problem that tech might never be able to solve.
Min Li Chan
Not All Bad Girls Go To Prison
The juvenile inmates of Girls Incarcerated force us to consider which “bad” girls are granted a chance at public redemption.
Adriana Widdoes
Is Virtual Instagram Star Lil Miquela Magic, Or Just Marketing?
This week we learned that digital influencer @lilmiquela and the pro-Trump troll who hacked her account are creations of the same startup. But is the narrative they’ve constructed anything more than manipulation? Is it “art”?
Adriana Widdoes
Cardi B Is Rap’s Dolly Parton
Both women are talented artists who are savvy about the ways their appearance is constructed and take pride in their oft-maligned subcultures.
Sandi Rankaduwa
My Brown Mom Isn't Like The Ones I See Onscreen
It was disorienting to realize that I had reached adulthood without really getting to know my own mother. But over a year I spent at home after a bad breakup, I began to see her more clearly.
Sandi Rankaduwa
My Abortion Wasn’t Like Ben Folds Said It Would Be
Not all abortions are tragic — sometimes, like periods and the other ways we bleed, they’re just a thing that happens.
Adriana Widdoes
My Mom Had The Cancer Gene. So Do I.
The shaved female head is having a cultural moment. But for me it’s always been associated with the BRCA1 gene and the cancer that killed my mother.
Min Li Chan
Why You Should Put Some Respek On The Breakfast Club's Name
With routinely viral moments and interviews with the likes of Hillary Clinton and Kanye West, The Breakfast Club has become one of the few crossover morning radio shows where black perspectives are prioritized.
Niela Orr
Does Desiring White Guys Make Me A Traitor To My Race?
For years, I'd managed to convince myself that fetishizing whiteness was my form of protest. Now I'm not so sure.
Frederick McKindra
My Mama’s Manicures Taught Me How To Take Care Of Myself
For a long time, I didn’t want to be “my mother’s daughter.” But it turns out that, at least when it comes to getting our nails done, I am.
Nichole Perkins
I Filmed The End Of My Parents' Marriage
Ten years after my parents’ relationship unraveled, I realized I had captured their last moments of happiness on tape.
Jennifer Hope Choi
Have “The Real Housewives” Peaked?
The franchise has remained a cultural force for over a decade by reinventing itself. But what happens when everyone knows the formula?
Alessa Dominguez
"Greenleaf" Makes Space On TV For Queer Black People In Church
Of any show on television, the OWN series lands nearest to an honest representation of my experience as a gay black man still struggling with what the church asked of me.
Frederick McKindra
What "Chewing Gum" And "Jane The Virgin" Teach Us About Virginity
Sexual empowerment doesn't always have to come with the price of promiscuity.
Nichole Perkins
How Richard Simmons Got Trapped In His Own Mythology
Simmons' public image as the fitness industry's Lady of Perpetual Sorrow confused cultural categories, and left everyone demanding answers that might not exist.
Alessa Dominguez
How A 20-Year-Old Exorcism Sent Me In Search Of Korea’s Cult Problem
In 1996, my uncle took part in a prayer ritual that left a woman dead. In the midst of new scandals, I began to wonder if his crime might be connected to the larger phenomenon of Korean religious cults.
Jennifer Hope Choi
Twice As Good: How Black Actresses Get Half The Recognition
For black actresses in Hollywood, the age gap for getting breakout roles means missing out on long careers and lucrative paydays.
Nichole Perkins
Ryan Murphy’s Limited Depictions Of Controversial White Women
While his work is routinely described as feminist, Murphy’s stories have not radically expanded complex representations of women.
Alessa Dominguez
Why The New Calvin Klein Underwear Ads Are Bulging With Meaning
The photos are meant to provoke thirst, but the brand’s campaign also raises bigger questions about the role of race in America’s erotic fantasies.
Alessa Dominguez
My Father And I Both Chose HBCUs, But Not For The Same Reason
I know how complicated the legacy of historically black universities in America is, because my own life has been a reckoning with it.
Frederick McKindra
In “Get Out,” Racism Is The Horror Story Black People Try To Survive
Get Out and the Purge franchise finally make black men the protagonists of horror films and center their real-life terror of living in suburban America.
Frederick McKindra
Britney Spears Deserves Better Than That Lifetime Movie
The Spears TV movie fits a pattern of overlooking women pop stars’ work.
Alessa Dominguez
Vogue's Race Problem Is Bigger Than Karlie Kloss
Even if the model featured in the magazine's latest controversial spread had been Asian, it would still have been offensive.
Jennifer Hope Choi
Why Don't The Women In "John Wick" Talk?
The female characters in the action franchise aren’t given much in the way of speaking roles. (Warning: spoilers ahead.)
Nichole Perkins
