Wellbeing

People are cutting themselves on TikTok. What are we going to do about it?
Trigger Warning: This piece contains descriptions and true accounts of self-harm. “This is for all my real friends out there,” said a girl with pastel pink hair on TikTok. She was sitting on the side of her neon flower print covered bed with a razor…
By Tracey Anne Duncan
The Weldon Project is working to legalize cannabis federally, with help from Drake and Meek Mill
By Melissa Pandika
The legal cannabis industry is booming in the U.S., with sales exceeding $17.5 billion last year, according to cannabis market research firm BDSA. But there’s a glaring disparity in who gets to reap the rewards: As mostly white entrepreneurs profit…
How Arm the Girls is empowering BIPOC queer and trans femmes to fight back
By Melissa Pandika
Trigger warning: This story contains mentions of violence against trans people. Narratives about queer and trans people — Black and brown trans women in particular — follow a familiar pattern. When they make headlines, it's often because they've…
Why I broke up with queer astrology
By Ty Baniewicz
The first date I went on after moving to San Francisco in my 20s was with a woman I’d met my first night in town. She sat with me in the corner of a gay bar and swiftly guessed I was a Virgo. I didn’t know much about myself or how to be a successful…
37 genius products that solve your gross hot weather problems
By Julie Peck
Piping hot is great when it comes to your morning cup of coffee, but soaring temps are a little less desirable when it comes to the weather. Luckily, there are a good number of genius products for hot weather on Amazon that'll make the remainder of…
Can this TikTok trend really banish acne and body odor?
By Melissa Pandika
If you’ve spent any time on wellness TikTok, you’ve probably noticed a number of videos of people swearing by a supplement known as liquid chlorophyll, claiming that it cleared up their skin and/or their stank. They typically squeeze a few drops of…
The fast food industry's predatory marketing blatantly targets Black and Latinx youth
By Taneasha White
There’s some jarring new research out about how far fast food companies will go in order to reach their target audiences. Data from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut just revealed how racist there's brands'…
COVID-19 antiviral pills could be our reality by the end of this year
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the biggest challenges is getting vulnerable infected from testing to treatment fast enough to save their lives, but we just don’t have any quick and easy treatments designed to treat the virus just yet. A…
AI created the "ideal" non-dairy milk and the ingredients are pretty bizarre
By Tracey Anne Duncan
The future is officially here. While my robot vacuum cleans my house, I can safely visit my favorite coffee shop — without an N95 mask — and order a vegan latte with my choice of non-dairy milks. I never care which vegan milk is offered because,…
Separation anxiety is real for couples who quarantined together. Here's how to handle it
By Tracey Anne Duncan
As a person who lives alone and was single for most of the pandemic, I was often envious of my cohabitating friends. They looked so safe and nested in their pandemic pillow forts. But now the pandemic is, for all intents and purposes, over for the…
What happens if platonic best friends decide to get married?
By Nausica Palazzo
When a couple decides to tie the knot, they’ll often say they’re marrying their best friend. But what if two actual best friends — no sex or even romantic feelings involved — just decided to get married? Friends, The New York Times recently…
How I finally paid off my $10K credit card bill
By Marianne Eloise
Name: Jeremy Age: 27 City/state: Spring Lake, NJ Amount of debt: $10,000 Type of debt: credit card How long it took to pay off: 5 years Jobs held while paying the debt: Communications professional Salary: Around $60k My parents, especially my…
A suicide safety plan saved my life. Here's what it looks like, and why it worked
By Kimberly Zapata
Trigger warning: This piece contains descriptions and true accounts of suicidal ideation. August 5 of last year started just like any other day. I woke up before dawn to change, feed, and soothe my toddler back to sleep. After that, I slipped into…
"Forever chemicals" can lurk in your makeup, shampoo, and even your water. Should they be banned?
By Melissa Pandika
As a makeup enthusiast, I try my best to support sustainable brands, but otherwise, I rarely consider what's in the products I use. As long as they make my features pop and don’t irritate my skin, we’re good. But new research suggests they might…
They weren’t allowed to fly a Pride flag, so this couple turned their house into a rainbow
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Displaying the rainbow flag has always been great way to tell people you’re gay without telling them you’re gay. Unlike my personal practice of sharpie-ing “QUEER AF” across my abdomen and never wearing a whole shirt, it’s modest and tasteful.…
"Makeup for men" wants to defy the gender binary — but does it really?
By Melissa Pandika
More than ever, people are giving the gender binary the middle finger. As millennials and Gen Z increasingly embrace a fluid understanding of gender, brands are taking notes, including those in an industry that’s been traditionally, and heavily,…
This really cute habit means a cat is into you
By Julia Albright
Do you ever see your cat shifting his front paws back and forth just before settling down for a nap? Have you heard some cat lovers talk about their feline friends “making biscuits” or “kneading dough”? Scientists who study cat behavior call this…
These adorable COVID-sniffing dogs are pandemic heroes — but there’s a catch
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Cute animal stories helped me survive the pandemic. Not only were people rescuing animals in droves, but it turned out that coronavirus-sniffing dogs emerged as heroes. But even though there’s now more than ample research that these Very Good Boys…
Beyond the rainbow: An abridged history of Pride flags
By Vanessa Taylor
This month, rainbows are everywhere in celebration of Pride, as the rainbow flag has become ubiquitous with the LGBTQ community. But if you've ever been to a Pride event then you know that the rainbow flag is never the only one to make an…
People are cutting themselves on TikTok. What are we going to do about it?
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Trigger Warning: This piece contains descriptions and true accounts of self-harm. “This is for all my real friends out there,” said a girl with pastel pink hair on TikTok. She was sitting on the side of her neon flower print covered bed with a razor…
A blood test could reveal which type of exercise is most effective for you
By Joseph Lamour
For many of us, the past year has included a new and challenging fitness journey. Weight machines were installed in basements around the country, people ran around their own neighborhoods for the first time ever, or fancy Peloton bikes were…