Columns

Columns

Brown and (Usually) Blue: ‘New Kings of the World’

By Ishaan Rajiv Rajabali | February 27

“Every day, 14 to 15 million Indians go to the movies. India produces between 1,500 and 2,000 films a year — more than any country in the world.” The first section of Fatima Bhutto’s book, “New Kings of the World: Dispatches from Bollywood, Dizi, and K-Pop” (2019), dives right into an astute analysis of Bollywood, one of its three subjects. The fact that the Hindi film industry brought in a whopping $1.3 billion in 2023 only affirms the global scope and influence Bhutto examines in her book.  

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Columns

Dorms, Dishes and Delicacies: Tilton Hall

By Katie Hankinson | February 26

After yet another uphill kitchen last week in Houston Hall, I decided it was high time to switch things up and go all the way to the other end of campus to Tilton Hall to cook up one of my favorites: pierogies!

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Columns

Public Cinemy No. 1: Has reality television become more progressive?

By Sacha Waters | February 26

American reality television in the 2000s was infamous. Strange concepts abounded, such as“My Strange Addiction” (2010–15), where subjects would confess to anything from eating half a roll of toilet paper a day to being in love with a car and “Bridalplasty” (2010–11), where brides competed in challenges to win a wedding and desired plastic surgeries. 

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Columns

Extra Innings: Spend more money

By Henry Blickenstaff | February 26

I am well aware that just last month, I went on a tirade claiming that baseball was broken because of the lack of spending limits. But, just because I don’t like the system doesn’t mean certain teams aren’t stupid for not taking advantage of it. Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs — I’m looking at you.

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Columns

Ruminations from Rabat: Urban or rural?

By Chasya Cohen | February 23

As evidenced in my last installment of Ruminations from Rabat, traveling has been a main priority of mine this semester. I have been particularly committed to traveling within Morocco and to experiencing all the rich cultural diversity the country has to offer. I spent the first three weekends traveling to Tangier — a colorful Andalusian wonderland — Essouira — an artsy beach town on the Atlantic coast — and lastly Casablanca, the buzzing heart of Morocco.

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Column

The Casual Death of Education: What is the point of public education?

By Evan Wang | February 23

I started this column to discuss the ongoing collapse of America’s educational system in the face of limited funding, lack of parental involvement and bad policies. But before we get to any of that we must address a very serious question: Why do we have a taxpayer funded mandatory public education system in the first place?

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Columns

GC in DC: Tales From the Swamp: When in Rome … for 3 hours at the Italian embassy

By Guillem Colom | February 23

After getting out of the Uber with four of my closest friends, we slowly struggled down the steep steps leading into the Italian Embassy. It was February 10th, the Saturday before Valentine’s Day, and we were approaching the Embassy’s Valentine’s Day Gala. Waiting outside the entrance were the regulars: military men, congressional staffers and couples in mid-life crises. I’ll get to that last part eventually. But for now, I want to outline the chronicle of how we — a group of 20-year-old know-nothings — bargained and earned our attendance at a formal event like this. Others might call it cheating, but I call it the hustle.

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Columns

For the Culture: Are audiences demanding too much of artists?

By Paul Osmond | February 22

Frank Ocean has not dropped an album in nearly eight years, Kendrick Lamar took five years to release his fifth studio album and A$AP Rocky fans continue waiting for his next project after six years.

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Columns

The Bookmark: ‘Dune’ by Frank Herbert

By Natalie Bricker | February 22

Welcome back to “The Bookmark,” your go-to column for book reviews! Last week, we started off with a review of a relatable coming-of-age novel. This week, we’re shifting to a very different genre: science fiction. We’re talking about “Dune” (1965) by Frank Herbert.

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Columns

Moments ‘til Madness: The history

By Owen Short | February 22

Throughout its history, the Daily has primarily focused on coverage of professional or Tufts basketball. In celebration of Daily Week, I aim to reflect on how the Daily gave me the opportunity to write about a passion of mine, college basketball, and in turn, how my column has contributed to the sports section of the Daily.

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Column

From Classroom to Clinic: End-of-life conversations — there’s empathy in foresight

By Deeksha Bathini | February 21

Palliative care is a unique sector of medicine that treats patients with terminal diseases. Palliative care physicians have conversations with families to identify patient wishes, particularly when they are facing death. These physicians are equipped with training that emphasizes empathy, comfort and patient autonomy. Freedom of choice during the dying process gives patients the power to reclaim their agency amidst a process rife with uncertainty.

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Columns

Cover My Treks: The Viareggio Carnival

By Alice Fang | February 21

It was a carnival, a trance, an extravagant nightmare. Welcome to Viareggio Carnival 2024. 

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Columns

Confessions of a Cooking Fanatic: Pickling party

By Elizabeth Foster | February 21

Anyone who knew me sophomore year is aware of perhaps my greatest moment as a resident assistant: the pickling party. And yes, it was exactly as it sounds. Using my (rather limited) RA budget, I decided that the best use of this was to invite the four Wren Hall suites I was responsible for to a party where we pickled anything they requested.

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Columns

Dream Works: The immigration lawyer

By Halia Frishman | February 20

The tie-wearing, court-going, corporate lawyer career path pictured in TV shows like Suits is one that feels familiar, so I wanted to learn more about the journey to becoming a social justice lawyer, or what Monika Batra Kashyap referred to as a rebellious lawyer. So, in continuing with our venture to find a “dream” career, this week I met with Monika Batra Kashyap, immigration lawyer and visiting clinical professor at Seattle University School of Law, to learn more about her career path. 

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Columns

Tok the Talk: Celebrity press tours

By Annika Pillai | February 20

“They annoy me,” Dakota Johnson recently stated about her co-stars Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O'Connor and Isabela Merced on the press tour for the recent release “Madame Web.” Johnson, perhaps most known for playing Anastasia Steele in the “Fifty Shades of Grey” franchise, has always been known to be something of a loose cannon on press tours.

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Columns

Brown and (Usually) Blue: Sounds for the soul

By Ishaan Rajiv Rajabali | February 20

In honor of Black History Month, I thought I’d dive (or rather, dip my toes) into jazz’s journey to Bombay for this week’s edition.

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Columns

Dorms, Dishes and Delicacies: Houston Hall

By Katie Hankinson | February 20

While walking through the Res Quad during the past few months, you may have noticed the sticky note “H>M” and “M>H” signs displayed in the Houston Hall and Miller Hall windows, respectively. But which one is actually better?

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Columns

Extra Innings: Where the PECOTA projections went wrong

By Henry Blickenstaff | February 20

PECOTA stands for Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm. It’s a fancy way of describing a system used by the organization Baseball Prospectus to predict the MLB standings in a given season, which it does every year. Let’s just say I’m not too crazy about the algorithm — and not just because it doesn’t have the Chicago Cubs winning the National League Central. These are, in my opinion, the five most insane PECOTA projections from this year’s iteration. 

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Columns

Munching with Max: Kindlevan Café

By Max Druckman | February 15

In the words of Eminem, “Guess who’s back, back again?” Spoiler alert, it’s me. I’m back and hungrier than ever. So, this column is back too, allowing me to rant and rave about my eats at Tufts.

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Columns

The Bookmark: ‘Writers and Lovers’ by Lily King

By Natalie Bricker | February 15

Let’s start this column out strong with a recent favorite read: “Writers and Lovers” (2020) by Lily King. This novel is smart, fun, reflective and just an all-around great read. It’s guaranteed to make you feel the full range of emotions, prompting you to laugh one second and cry the next. Narrator and protagonist Casey Peabody is very lovable in her awkwardness and determination to make it as a writer. We see her face the complexities of life: grief, love and, of course, geese. More on the geese thing later…

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