'The Queen’s Gambit' depicts a masculinity-driven chess girl fantasy
By now, Netflix has proven that it is more than happy to produce female and queer-lead shows to raise its profile. How much it follows through with its excitement is another story. Think Glow, The Society, or I’m Not Ok With This, all cancelled…
By Lisa Wehrstedt

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How to keep your Thanksgiving from becoming a superspreader event
By Melissa Hawkins
Like many people in this unusual year, I am adjusting my family’s holiday plans so that we can all be safe during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. I am an epidemiologist and mother of four with a large extended family. Given the serious nationwide…
Trump has lost but I still cannot chill
By Melissa Pandika
Biden might not have been the candidate of my dreams, but as I scrolled through videos of people celebrating his victory on Saturday, the spring that had remained tightly coiled in my stomach for the past four years nonetheless began to unwind. That…
After this trash fire of a year, is it time to cut off that toxic family member?
By Tracey Anne Duncan
We are living in divisive times. This is both a cliche and massive understatement. Most people have family members who that they disagree with about politics, social justice, or coronavirus safety, and the pressure cooker of the pandemic has really…
'The Queen’s Gambit' depicts a masculinity-driven chess girl fantasy
By Lisa Wehrstedt
By now, Netflix has proven that it is more than happy to produce female and queer-lead shows to raise its profile. How much it follows through with its excitement is another story. Think Glow, The Society, or I’m Not Ok With This, all cancelled…
Sia came under fire for the portrayal of autism in a video, then made things worse by tweeting
By Kara Weisenstein
You might recognize Maddy Zeigler, the star of Sia’s forthcoming (and now controversial) new film Music, from the enigmatic Swedish pop singer’s music videos. She’s the young dancer clad in a nude bodysuit and platinum wig in “Chandelier” and “Cheap…
The best albums of the week, from Megan Thee Stallion, Kali Uchis, and more
By Shawn Cooke
While I’ve always found the news roundup trope of “here are some good stories to happen this year” to be grating, Megan Thee Stallion’s earned the right to give it a spin. Every week seems to bring some lingering reminder of the violent assault she…
Joe Biden is crowdfunding his own presidential transition
By Rafi Schwartz
It's been more than two weeks since election day, and President Donald Trump still refuses to concede to Joe Biden, or even publicly acknowledge the loss. Alarming as that is, equally distressing is the fact that there are plenty of people within…
The Trump campaign allegedly mixed up Michigan and Minnesota in its election lawsuit
By Rafi Schwartz
President Donald Trump's various efforts to overturn, or at the very least disrupt, election results in key states and counties across the country have largely been a massive flop. In courtroom after courtroom, attorneys representing the president's…
CBD isn't the magic bullet you think it is
By Hilary A. Marusak
Many people have turned to cannabis and its derivatives as they search for pandemic relief, and one of the most widely available ones is CBD. It is also legal. You can buy oils, tinctures, capsules, gummies, cosmetics and even toilet paper said to…
Fiona Apple's third grade teacher helped her reconnect with Shameika
By Kara Weisenstein
Fiona Apple didn’t think she’d see Shameika again when she penned the track named after her grade school classmate for her widely-acclaimed most-recent album, Fetch The Bolt Cutters. “Shameika” was a musical prayer to the heavens, a long-belated…
Trevor Noah ripped right into Rudy Giuliani's "crying" hair dye
By Shawn Cooke
WIth his legal strategy collapsing in almost every court left to pursue, Donald Trump’s floundering power grab has now shifted its gaze to state legislatures. The thinking goes: if enough states can decertify the vote to force more Trump-friendly…
A trusted prayer app for Muslims was indirectly giving user data to the U.S. military
By Vanessa Taylor
If you're Muslim, you know Muslim Pro, a popular Quran and prayer app. When I converted to Islam, it was one of the first apps people suggested I get, and that's no surprise. According to its website, Muslim Pro has been downloaded over 95 million…
Lawyers say ICE is trying to deport women who alleged abuse by a facility doctor
By Vanessa Taylor
Immigration and Customs Enforcement repeatedly makes headlines for abuses or other mistreatment of detained immigrants. But in September, especially disturbing allegations arose, with claims that immigrant women received nonconsensual or medically…
Coronavirus continues to cause chaos for conservatives
By Rafi Schwartz
With much of the country is watching President Trump's bungled, but nevertheless catastrophically destructive, ongoing attempted coup, coronavirus continues to rage across the nation, breaking daily records in multiple states and setting the stage…
My pet keeps keeps self-harming. What do I do?
By Melissa Pandika
It’s more than safe to say that we’re overwhelmed right now — and by “we,” I mean not only us two-legged humans, but our four-legged friends, too. M. Leanne Lilly, an assistant professor at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine,…
Rudy Giuliani followed up Four Seasons Total Landscaping with a real face-melter
By Rafi Schwartz
At a certain point you sort of have to wonder if Rudy Giuliani has a humiliation fetish. I don't say this to kink-shame, but given the past few days for the onetime mayor turned $20,000-a-day national punchline, it's hard to imagine he doesn't get…
This megachurch won't stop hosting potential super-spreader events
By Erica Euse
As churches around the country are asked to limit in-person gatherings in an effort to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus, an Oklahoma-based megachurch thought it would be a great time to host an indoor concert with thousands of attendees.…
The legendary Arecibo Observatory, which searched for alien life, is being demolished
By AJ Dellinger
The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico is one of the most recognizable and important tools in humanity's search for other intelligent life in our galaxy. On Thursday, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that it will decommission and…
It looks like the second coronavirus relief package may never come
By Ray Levy-Uyeda
If you're a public official and your salary is paid with taxpayer money, your job description is simple: to serve the people. It's not to serve only the people who voted for you, or only those who belong to your political party. It's to serve every…
Stop scrubbing everything and just stay away from people
By Tracey Anne Duncan
In the U.S., we have been trying to learn about the novel coronavirus at warp speed. But because scientific understanding takes both time and also trial and error, over the course of the pandemic we’ve gotten advice from scientists and public health…
Dinosaurs were living their best lives before the asteroid hit, new study says
By Tebany Yune
Dinosaurs met their untimely end about 66 million years ago when an enormous asteroid struck the Earth. It hit at a perfect angle, sending sulfur and gases into the atmosphere that altered the environment and lowered global temperatures, creating a…
Trump appears to be going full coup in Michigan
By Rafi Schwartz
At this point in our devolving spiral toward irreversible political chaos, it seems beyond dispute that Donald Trump is not simply throwing a temper tantrum to ease his addled mind into the inevitability of a Joe Biden presidency, but is in fact…
This crowdsourced 'Ratatouille' musical is the sweetest, weirdest thing to emerge from the pandemic
By Shawn Cooke
In the midst of all this unending national trauma, there’s been a tendency to lean on comforting, soothing entertainment. Pixar’s Ratatouille, one of the studio’s best-ever efforts, was among the top aids in my household. It took on a life of its…