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Lea Epstein


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Arts

The return of the girl-group

For the first time in nearly a decade, girl groups are returning to the Western mainstream with a velocity that feels long overdue. Watching FLO revive R&B’s legacy of stacked harmonies and technical vocal runs feels strangely comforting, almost like witnessing a tradition being carried forward rather than revived. Katseye’s rapid rise, along with two Grammy nominations, suggests that genuine pop excitement still exists outside the churn of algorithmic hype. From a distance, it looks like a Renaissance. Up close, it feels like something deeper — a cultural correction that many of us have been waiting for without realizing it.

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Arts

Rethinking Mother's Day

An amusing, largely unsupported statistic circulates every year around May: Crime rates, supposedly, drop on Mother’s Day. Quite obviously, mothers are too busy with flowers and gifts to embark on their usual spree of robbery and arson. Alternatively, some suggest it’s because everyone — mothers, children and even hardened criminals — collectively decides to behave for 24 hours out of reverence. Whatever the reason for the widespread circulation of this myth, it’s telling of how we’ve learned to compartmentalize affection into a singular commercialized holiday — and how the performance of love has replaced its practice.

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Arts

What creatives can learn from kintsugi

In our dining halls, plates are merely vessels of utility. Students stack them high with Dewick-MacPhie Dining Center fries or Fresh at Carmichael Dining Center pancakes, slam them down on plastic trays beside their friends, and later let them rattle down a conveyor belt to be stripped of ketchup stains and congealed maple syrup residue by custodial staff. For those living off campus, Amazon boxes or Target bags deliver inexpensive, replaceable dishware, valued for durability. Beauty here is an afterthought, or not a thought at all — a convenience that disappears into the dishwasher before a 9 a.m. class.

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