It's Been a Minute

The secret pain of your high school bully

Loving your mother is torture. Do it anyways.

When did it become OK to blast TikToks in public?

So you wanna be a critic...

Cultural criticism functions as an act of love and a tool for sustained attention rather than an authoritarian judgment of taste. By treating cultural objects as entry points for broader political inquiry, critics can facilitate deeper societal engagement, particularly for younger audiences. The current shift toward "c...

Bacteria is taking over the food pyramid

The U.S. food safety system suffers from systemic fragmentation and a lack of accountability, leaving consumers vulnerable to preventable outbreaks. Because regulatory authority is split between agencies like the FDA and USDA, enforcement remains inconsistent and reactive rather than proactive. Industrial-scale product...

Help, America is in a sex draught!

Is the internet choosing your food?

Modern food culture has converged on a repetitive, algorithmically optimized aesthetic characterized by "creamy, lemony, jammy" descriptors and globally sourced ingredients like miso and gochujang. Cookbook author Ruby Tandoh argues that this sameness stems from the transition of recipes from static books to an online ...

The power of giving & receiving advice

Carla Hall on cooking, courage, and curiosity

Are you anxiously attached to attachment theory?

Are we in a 'color recession'?

The report that changed public education

The Good, the Baddies, and the Ugly

Your summer (Sponsored by prediction markets)

The rising power of American Muslims

American Muslims and SWANA communities are experiencing a surge in cultural and political visibility, marked by the mainstreaming of their aesthetics and the rise of progressive Muslim political candidates. Cultural anthropologist Dr. Donna Auston and scholar Dr. Tazeen Ali highlight that while this increased legibilit...

The manosphere is coming for R&B

Would you let your kids play football?

Recent research from Mass General Brigham reveals that approximately 25% of former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain condition linked to repeated head impacts. Despite these alarming findings, football remains a dominant force in American media and ...

We've reached peak 'optimization.' What comes next?

Why you shouldn't bring your full self to work

In America, are you what you wear?

Fashion serves as a critical lens for understanding human behavior, social hierarchy, and the labor behind our material world. Rather than a trivial pursuit, dressing is a fundamental negotiation of identity and status that mirrors centuries-old philosophical debates regarding vice, virtue, and economic necessity. Hist...