Behold, the performative wokeness of Black History Month is upon us
Though there are silver linings to the cloud that 2020’s trash fire left us with, last year took a toll on many of us. One of the bigger issues that came to light was institutionalized racism. And while the devaluing of Black lives is a 24-hour-day,…
By Joseph Lamour

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Vaccine nationalism is as sinister as it sounds
By Tracey Anne Duncan
If the COVID-19 pandemic should have taught us anything, it’s that we are globally interdependent. What happens in, say, the U.K., does not stay in the U.K. Our globalized economy means that people and things, including coronavirus, cross national…
The emotional toll of playing therapist to your friends
By Melissa Pandika
I tend to assume the role of “The Listener” with my friends and loved ones. It’s not always easy. Don’t get me wrong — I want to help them through a tough time. But sometimes, I’ll scroll through walls of text or sit through long phone calls with…
The Buss It Challenge is a testament to young Black resilience
By Joseph Lamour
This entire week, I’ve been repeatedly rapping the phrase “throw it like a stripper, yuh” — to no one in particular — from Erica Banks’ “Buss It.” Though this behavior is concerning to all of the people I live with, the 2020 single and its catchy…
Andrew Yang's former campaign staffers allege a toxic "bro culture"
By Rafi Schwartz
Tech entrepreneur-turned-universal-basic-income-adherent Andrew Yang was never going to win the 2020 presidential election. But Yang's quixotic run for the Democratic nomination managed to vault the political newbie into prime position to become the…
Evan Rachel Wood alleges Marilyn Manson "brainwashed" and "horrifically abused" her for years
By Kara Weisenstein
In the last few years, Evan Rachel Wood has become a trailblazing domestic violence activist. In 2019, she spearheaded legislation to extend California’s statute of limitations for how long victims have to press charges against an abuser. Gov. Gavin…
Of course the GameStop movie is already happening
By Shawn Cooke
It was never a question of if, but Hollywood has still moved at startling velocity to get the Reddit Wall Street debacle adapted for the big screen. Just one week after millions of investors teamed up through r/WallStreetBets to drive up the price…
Andrew Cuomo's coronavirus philosophy is giving me big Trump energy
By Rafi Schwartz
It looks like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's much-memed coronavirus management has led to a mass exodus among his state's top health officials. According to a new report from the New York Times, at least nine high ranking health officials have…
Here's what the secretary of state, a.k.a. America's top diplomat, really does
By Vanessa Taylor
With a new president comes a new administration. There have been rumors about who President Biden might choose for his Cabinet picks for months, but he's finally been able to start bringing people in in his first week-plus in office. Last week,…
As a queer Black person, I demand a do-over for my adolescence
By George M. Johnson
When I think about my childhood, I often wonder about the teenage experience I see in movies and TV: self-conscious yet carefree 16-year-olds pondering their budding identities and exploring relationships. It seems carefree, fun, and sometimes…
Still taking Ubers and Lyfts? Here's how to avoid coronavirus in a car
By Varghese Mathai
Editor’s note: Varghese Mathai is a physicist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who studies the flow of fluids and gases. He conducted a study using computational fluid dynamics simulations to understand how air flows inside a car and its…
9 songs helping us dream up a less hellish 2021
By Shawn Cooke
Okay, I’m not going to predict in a public forum that this year will be any better than the one that came before it. In just one long month, we’ve had numerous indications of the crass stupidity and brutality continuing unabated. But there are also…
What the hell is Andrew Cuomo doing?
By Rafi Schwartz
You've really gotta hand it to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for the sheer, uncut, rocket-grade hubris it takes to publish a book touting his "leadership lessons" from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, even as each successive episode in New York…
The Weeknd dropped $7 million of his own money to make the Super Bowl “cinematic”
By Kara Weisenstein
Last year, 102 million viewers tuned in to watch J.Lo and Shakira headline the Super Bowl halftime show. This year’s star, pop singer and body-mod enthusiast the Weeknd, is intent on making sure all those millions of stuck-at-home Americans get a…
Philly's coronavirus-fighting wunderkind stole vaccine doses and gave them to his friends
By Rafi Schwartz
Just two weeks ago, 22-year-old Andrei Doroshin, a Drexel University grad student and entrepreneur, was being touted in the national media for the work Philly Fighting COVID — his for-profit organization — had done to "[create] a system that will…
“This is bullshit”: Jon Stewart joined Twitter to rail against greedy hedge funds
By Shawn Cooke
Everyone has some troubling impetus that gets them to join Twitter for the first time — I think mine was a failed concert ticket giveaway. For Jon Stewart, who had steered clear of the platform for more than a decade, it was the GameStop-Reddit…
AOC talking GameStop stonks on Twitch is peak 2021
By Kara Weisenstein
Here’s a word salad that’d never make sense outside of 2021: AOC did a Twitch stream about GameStop stonks on Thursday night. The beginning of the livestream was plagued with technical issues ("This is an ASMR channel now," the Congresswoman joked,…
Marjorie Taylor Greene tried to warn us about the Jewish space lasers
By Rafi Schwartz
I can't believe I have to write these words but: No, one of the oldest banking institutions on Earth does not control an orbital death ray, and no, they did not use it to ignite California's deadly Camp Fire in 2018. I have to write these…
Here’s how Johnson & Johnson' one-shot vaccine stacks up against the competition
By Joseph Lamour
While much of the world is still a frightening virus-infested place, there is evidently a light at the end of the tunnel. Several lights, actually, in the form of vaccines that companies are racing to produce. Today, there are ubiquitous headlines…
Behold, the performative wokeness of Black History Month is upon us
By Joseph Lamour
Though there are silver linings to the cloud that 2020’s trash fire left us with, last year took a toll on many of us. One of the bigger issues that came to light was institutionalized racism. And while the devaluing of Black lives is a 24-hour-day,…
Robinhood cut off traders because the game is rigged for the rich
By AJ Dellinger
For the last couple of weeks, a collection of Redditors organizing themselves in the r/WallStreetBets community have been squeezing hedge funds for all they’re worth by using the tools of the stock market against them. The effort has sent…
Inauguration eyebrow maven Ella Emhoff is now a model
By Kara Weisenstein
Was it the eyebrow waggle at Mike Pence that did it? Quite possibly! After stealing the show with her playful expression and bejeweled Miu Miu coat at the presidential inauguration, Ella Emhoff, the 21-year-old stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala…
Cardi B is right about pricey COVID-19 tests — she's just the wrong messenger
By Shawn Cooke
Despite every effort to divorce celebrities from the pandemic zeitgeist, they’ve been right there through it all. Tom Hanks Night will live in infamy as the moment when the coronavirus' severity set in for much of the country, and the “Imagine”…
Carey Mulligan being hot enough for ‘Promising Young Woman’ misses the entire point
By Kara Weisenstein
Imagine being actress Carey Mulligan and having some man opine that while you’re talented, he’d rather watch Margot Robbie seduce and shame would-be rapists in your latest film. The darkly comedic revenge movie Promising Young Woman stars Mulligan…