Columns

Columns

Public Cinemy No. 1: The rise of the biopic and the death of the A-lister

By Sacha Waters | April 2

“Bohemian Rhapsody.” “Blonde.” “Oppenheimer.” “The Iron Claw.” “Rocketman.” “Maestro.” “Elvis.” “Priscilla.” “Napoleon.” “Ferrari.” “Nyad.” All are films that came out in the last six years, and all are films that denote Hollywood’s staggering obsession with biopics. Biopics have always been a staple in American cinema, but their explosion in recent years is a Band-Aid over the fatal wounds dealt to Hollywood by streaming.

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Columns

Moments ‘til Madness: A national champion is near

By Owen Short | April 2

This tournament has flown by. Just two weeks ago, we had 68 teams in the field, ready to battle it out for the most important trophy in college basketball. Now, only four remain, with three very compelling games left to be played in Arizona. As always, the tournament has been almost unpredictable, but here are my picks for each game and the new (or not so new) National Champion.

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Column

The Casual Death of Education: As students vanish, so does the future

By Evan Wang | March 29

When I was in middle school, I became seriously sick due to an asthma attack. While I recovered relatively well, I continued to use my sickness to persuade my parents to let me stay home which resulted in me missing weeks of school. While I felt great about not having to listen to my teachers or learn algebra, the results were predictable: I failed most of my classes during the last quarter of seventh grade. The ramifications of my actions continue to this day, as I struggle deeply with math because I skipped so many days of class back in seventh grade. My experience is not unique; chronic absenteeism, as this phenomenon is called, is a persistent problem for millions of American students.

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Columns

Ruminations from Rabat: The month of caring and sharing

By Chasya Cohen | March 29

Last Monday night Moroccan officials caught the first glimpse of the crescent moon, marking the beginning of Ramadan: the holy month of Islam in which Muslims abstain from eating and drinking until sunset. The beginning of Ramadan coincided with my spring break, meaning I was not able to experience the first few days of Ramadan in Morocco. But between watching the city frantically prepare for the holiday and returning to a new environment, completely immersed in the Ramadan spirit, I can now say that I’ve experienced the unique ethos of Ramadan in Morocco.

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Columns

Confessions of a Cooking Fanatic: Freezing your toes (and your tofu) in Iceland

By Elizabeth Foster | March 28

The stereotypical college spring break involves jet setting to the sunniest of beaches in countries with a lower drinking age. And yet, my spring break group was not yet sick of the cold. We traveled to Iceland last week and found ourselves in a remote fishing village in the Westfjords during their worst snowstorm this season.

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Columns

GC in DC: Tales From the Swamp: Confessions of a museum junkie

By Guillem Colom | March 28

As one of the main cultural hubs on the eastern seaboard, Washington, D.C. fosters a strong intellectual culture of discovery through its museums. As Tufts students, we’re spoiled with fairly easy access to incredible museums in Somerville, Cambridge, Boston and the outskirts of Massachusetts through the T.

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Ukraine at War: Remembering Ukrainian students killed by Russian aggression

By Mariia Kudina | March 28

The “Unissued Diplomas” exhibition is a collection of short stories about Ukrainian students who were killed in Russia’s war against Ukraine. To honor their memory, a series of digital postcards was created, detailing their majors, interests and the tragic stories of their deaths.

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Columns

The Round-off Roundup: Athletes deserve functionality in their attire.

By Sarah Firth | March 28

The NCAA gymnastics national championships are coming up in April, and there’s one thing we’re certain to see — leotards with completely open backs. These sorts of leotards have become standard issue in college gymnastics. On the one hand, an open back makes it possible to see the athletes’ muscles and appreciate how strong they are, especially on bars. However, there is one major issue with this design choice: the vast majority of backless leotards make it impossible to wear a sports bra.

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Columns

For the Culture: The ‘Big 3’ battle for the crown of hip-hop

By Paul Osmond | March 28

After 10 years of silence, Kendrick Lamar has finally dissed Drake and J. Cole. Following the release of his verse on “Control” (2013) by Big Sean, wherein Lamar threatened several major hip-hop artists of the time, both Drake and Cole have released subliminal and conspicuous disses directed towards the rapper.

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Columns

Moments ‘til Madness: Thrilling tournament tales

By Owen Short | March 27

Finally, we’ve made it to March. And it’s been a great tournament so far. Somehow, each and every year, this playoff brings enthralling narratives that take over the sports world. Whether it's a Cinderella story, a dominant team or a new star of the sport, March Madness never fails to entertain. It’d be hard to capture everything that happened in the 40 games that have been played, so let’s take a look at the best storylines from the first two rounds.

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Columns

Dream Works: The journalist

By Halia Frishman | March 26

Hi fellow dreamers! Today, I would like to share a story that is very fitting for the Daily: a story about a journalist. David Armstrong is currently a reporter for ProPublica, an independent nonprofit investigative journal. He graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and went on to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2002.

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Columns

Dorms, Dishes and Delicacies: Spring break edition

By Katie Hankinson | March 26

The spring break that we all know and love can be traced back to the 1930s when the Colgate University swim team popularized the idea of going to a sunny and warm destination at the midpoint of the semester. From there, the concept took off, and spring break now serves as a perfect window of time for college students across the country to travel with their friends, relax and make poor decisions. For me though, spring break brought something else: an opportunity to cook some scrumptious food in a non-dorm kitchen for the first time in seven weeks. So, while visiting a friend in Brooklyn, we whipped up a delicious meal of goat cheese and squash pasta, pesto tomato crostini and banana bread. Therefore, I present to you Dorms, Dishes and Delicacies: spring break edition.

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Columns

Tok the Talk: The case of Kate Middleton

By Annika Pillai | March 26

Kate Middleton, also known as Princess Catherine of Wales, is dead, and Kensington Palace is trying to cover it up. At least, that’s what several royal conspiracy theorists proposed in the weeks after her public “disappearance.” When a photo released by Kensington Palace of the princess with her three children showed signs of being touched up, the public was sent into a frenzy. Either she was missing, dying or already dead. One X user wrote, “KATE MIDDLETON IS PROBABLY DEAD,” and followed it up with skull face emojis and crying faces. Aptly put by The Atlantic’s Helen Lewis, “The situation quickly turned into a ‘QAnon for wine moms.’”

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Columns

Extra Innings: 2024 preseason power rankings

By Henry Blickenstaff | March 26

Here are my predictions for the 2024 season, with each team’s 2023 record in parentheses. 10. Tampa Bay Rays (99—63)The Rays are tough to place.  They’re coming off a fantastic regular season but will likely be missing their two best players — shortstop Wander Franco for legal issues and pitcher Shane McClanahan for Tommy John surgery — in 2024.

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Columns

Extra Innings: Top 10 players for 2024

By Henry Blickenstaff | March 14

Honorable Mentions:Austin Riley, 3B, Braves; Francisco Lindor, SS, Mets; Julio Rodríguez, CF, Mariners10. Matt Olson, 1B, Atlanta BravesOlson has been one of the game’s best sluggers for the past several seasons. Since 2021, he has 127 homers and 353 RBIs with a .902 OPS, and he’s missed only six games in that span.

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Columns

Munching with Max: Menagerie of munching

By Max Druckman | March 14

Typically, I structure my munching around a specific theme or location. However, for this edition, I’m relaying a valuable life lesson — your plan may not always pan out the way you expect, kids. In the iconic words of Forrest Gump, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” And so, due to my meal planning failures, I present a menagerie of munching.

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Columns

For the Culture: ​​Hip-hop has no more superstars

By Paul Osmond | March 14

So, maybe hip-hop is dying? Currently, out of the four major streaming platforms, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube Music, Apple Music is the only platform with hip-hop/rap as the top genre. On the remaining three platforms, coinciding with the leading global music genres, pop music is the No. 1 genre. 

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Ukraine at War: Oscar-winning film shines a light on the darkest parts of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine

By Mariia Kudina | March 14

On March 7, the International Relations Program at Tufts hosted an intimate screening of the Oscar-winning documentary “20 Days in Mariupol.” The film reveals a unique first-person perspective of the siege of a Ukrainian port city of almost 500,000 residents by the Russian army in the spring of 2022. Director Mstyslav Chernov, photographer Evgeniy Maloletka and producer Vasilisa Stepanenko were the last remaining journalists who stayed in the area during the initial stages of the full-scale invasion and were thus able to capture the war crimes committed by the Russians in Ukraine.

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Columns

The Bookmark: ‘Family of Liars’ by E. Lockhart

By Natalie Bricker | March 14

E. Lockhart’s “We Were Liars” holds a special place in my heart. I’m in awe of the way Lockhart pushes the bounds of typical fiction writing. She mixes in unique line breaks so that her book sometimes reads like a poem. She also creates incredible metaphors, like the witch in the first novel, that are so vivid, they have stuck with me to this day. I haven’t reread the book in over two years and I still think about it all the time.

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Columns

In the Crease: Hart Memorial Trophy predictions

By Zachary Gerson | March 14

This week’s focus is on the Hart Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the league’s most valuable player. The MVP is the player who is determined to be the most important to their team’s success through outstanding on-ice performance.

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