Arts

Arts

Amanda Gorman shines light on America’s future with 'The Hill We Climb'

By Sadie Leite | April 16

Gorman’s poem is now published in a book with a forward written by Oprah Winfrey. It was released on Mar. 30. The book is blanketed in a yellow cover, harkening back to Gorman’s emphatic, yellow coat worn at the inauguration. Between the covers, her poem reads with enormous power. The poem identifies the historical problems of America and hopes for a better future. 

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Music

In ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version),’ Swift redefines her true 'Love Story'

By Jessica Blough | April 16

“Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” (2021) is an appropriate starting point for Swift’s journey to re-record her first six albums. She’s jumping “head first, fearless” into a creative project that she’s been hinting at for years, since she failed to secure ownership of her master recordings in 2018. There’s an unmistakable parallel between the breakups Swift mourned in 2008 and her breakup with her first record label, Big Machine Records.

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Column

Soundtrack to the End of the World: The best storytellers in hip-hop

By Jessica Blough and Alex Viveros | April 16

When Jess asked me to write for this column this week, I realized something that I hadn’t before; a large number of my friends, even those I’ve been tight with for a lot of my college life, don’t know what my music taste is. The truth is, I usually keep my favorite songs private because I think they’re best appreciated in moments alone. I like to reserve my music for late-night walks back home from the Daily office, or long nighttime drives in California.

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Arts

Weekender: Xinjiang cotton forces fashion to choose its focus — East or West?

By Phoebe Wong | April 15

Many Chinese citizens boycotted retailers that accused China of sourcing cotton through forced Uyghur labor, and called on others to do the same through blogging and social media sites like Weibo. For products of brands like Nike or H&M that they owned, Chinese consumers covered their logos with masking tape or even threw them away entirely. Chinese influencers, who had previously partnered with Western brands and who are integral to their appeal to Chinese consumers, similarly denounced the brands.

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Column

A Fantastic Voyage: 'The Future Foundation'

By Drew Weisberg | April 15

The story opens with Reed Richards speaking at a “TED Talk” analog at “Singularity 2010,” which seems to be going well until Reed seems to go off-script. He begins to berate his fellow scientists, proclaiming, “You fear tomorrow.” As such, Reed decides to form the eponymous “Future Foundation”: a collection of young and brilliant minds from around the Marvel universe to solve the problems of the "tomorrow" that his colleagues supposedly fear.

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Arts

'Shiva Baby' gives its take on Jewish humor in stress-inducing film

By Miranda Feinberg | April 14

The film works as an experiment to discover just how anxious a filmmaker can make their audience; there’s good reason for why the film has earned the comparison to another recent anxiety-inducing film with Jewish characters, the Safdie brothers' "Uncut Gems" (2019). One Twitter user’s comparison has been used as a trailer epigraph, describing the film as “'Uncut Gems' for hot jewish sluts.”

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Arts

Examining the career of legendary, controversial Frank Miller

By Drew Weisberg | April 14

Miller’s run on the titular character was nothing short of revolutionary, so much so that in his first issue as the book’s auteur, he created Daredevil’s recurring love interest (and now a hugely popular character in her own right), the deadly assassin, Elektra. One issue that sticks out is #191, “Roulette."

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Cartoon

Comfort Cartoons: Secretive and supernatural 'Gravity Falls'

By Christopher Panella | April 14

The detailed storytelling and funny characters of “Gravity Falls” are perfect for audience investment, and the show’s been graced with a dedicated fan base whose members have studied the episodes’ countless clues and teasers. My earliest experience as a fan of “Gravity Falls” came when watching the episode “Summerween.”

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Arts

Andrew Rea brings food philosophy, fantastical recipes to Tufts

By Jessica Blough | April 12

In an event organized by Tufts University Social Collective, Rea chatted with Tufts graduate Noah Brown (LA'20) while simultaneously grating, chopping, boiling, stirring and (finally) eating his one-pot mac and cheese. Since 2016, Rea has amassed more than 8.7 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, where he posts regular episodes of "Binging with Babish" (a cooking show), "Basics with Babish" (another cooking show) and "Being with Babish" (a lifestyle show that also includes some cooking).

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Columns

Hot Take: 'Community' is a masterclass in character writing

By Derin Savasan | April 12

After being pressured to watch it for years, I finally caved in and started “Community” (2009–15). I must say: I now get why people like it so much. I mean, how could you not? You have these seven characters who couldn’t be more different from one another, trying to push their way through community college as a group. It’s basically an invitation for mayhem.

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Music

Demi Lovato breathes life into 'Dancing with the Devil...The Art of Starting Over'

By Jack Clohisy | April 9

Less than three years after her hospitalization for a drug overdose in 2018, Demi Lovato has returned to the studio stronger than ever with her April 2 release, "Dancing with the Devil … The Art of Starting Over" (2021). An album filled with empowering highs and heartbreaking lows, Lovato paints the trauma and recovery she’s endured since her hospitalization as a reawakening. She stakes a claim in her story, negating the tabloids and lies circulating in the media as a result of her hospitalization.

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Columns

Soundtrack to the end of the world: Bringing the nightclub to my bedroom

By Christopher Panella and Jessica Blough | April 9

There’s something euphoric about dance music’s pounding beats and explosive drops. It’s a sort of catharsis, an exchange of energy — I think that’s especially true when we dance with others. Dancing alone this past year hasn’t felt the same. But post-pandemic, I’m excited for the empathy, love, excitement and power that comes from anyone and everyone’s enjoying dance music. With each song, we’ll be celebrating.

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Arts

Weekender: Melt discusses lives as student-musicians and new 'West Side Highway' EP

By Maeve Hagerty | April 8

Gabriel explained how he and Stewart-Frommer “piecemealed the band together” during their senior year of high school, bringing in their friend Shankweiler and some of the musicians she knew to perform the first song that Stewart-Frommer and Gabriel had ever written together — “Sour Candy.” Hearing them laugh about the original idea for the band’s name, “Toast,” made it clear that the foundation for Melt is the friendship which started the band and holds it together still.

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Column

Beyond the Underneath: Vinyl survival, Part 1

By Ramona Meng Xi | April 8

Despite a vinyl revival in recent years, classic vinyl records are still deemed obsolete in the mainstream, as modern technologies and the digital world sift them out. But they are still there, lining up quietly and unyieldingly, in boxes organized by genre, protected and loved by a small population of firm supporters. 

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Arts

‘Renegades: Born in the USA’ balances tough conversation with undeniable chemistry

By Kate Seklir | April 7

In their latest pandemic ventures, former President Barack Obama and rock star Bruce Springsteen commandeered the podcast space, sitting down for “Renegades: Born in the USA” to unpack their shared understanding of family, work, race and America itself. Their chemistry is palpable throughout each episode, giving readers an exclusive look into their off-camera personas. The duo provides insight into the present condition of the country, assessing how it came to be so divided.

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Arts

Why streaming services need to evolve

By Drew Weisberg | April 7

The key lies in the main appeal of a streaming service: convenience. This explains the proliferation of streaming services, as more and more media conglomerates see the success of Netflix (with its more than 73 million users in the United States alone) and decide they can cut out the middleman and release their content on their own services.

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Columns

Comfort Cartoons: Mature and electrifying 'Static Shock'

By Christopher Panella | April 7

This week, we’re looking at “Static Shock” (2000–04), an influential animated series following Virgil Hawkins, a 14-year-old boy who fights crime as “Static,” a superhero with electromagnetic powers. The show is another installment in the DC Animated Universe, premiering before the culminations of the DCAU, “Justice League” (2001–04) and “Justice League Unlimited” (2004–06).

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Arts

Mugler Spring RTW literally dazzles the runway

By Phoebe Wong | April 6

The star-studded runway of Mugler’s latest show thus comes as no surprise, but it also is notable for its relative diversity in both body type and race. Mugler specifically released the video on March 31 as well, which is International Transgender Day of Visibility. Schafer and Jackson, who are both transgender women, wore many of the standout looks. 

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Column

A Fantastic Voyage: ‘Fantastic Four’ #575–578 or 'The City Saga'

By Drew Weisberg | April 6

"The City Saga" really is a breath of fresh air for a superhero comic, allowing for moments of calm reflection and study. The climate feels less like our heroes are spoiling for a fight; rather they’re acting as anthropologists attempting to understand a unique pocket of their strange and wondrous world.

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Arts

Michael Blanding discusses Shakespeare, the world’s most prominent (presumed?) plagiarist

By Ellie Lester | April 5

Blanding’s book challenges the integrity of Shakespeare’s work, tackling the question: Where exactly did Shakespeare get his stories? The author chalked his research up to the words of author Bill Bryson, who remarked that “Shakespeare was a wonderful teller of stories so long as someone else has told them first.”

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