Category Archive

Pop Culture

We nominate Hannah Gadsby to host an awards show

Hannah Gadsby should totally host an awards show

Have you seen comedian Hannah Gadsby’s standup special, Nanette, on Netflix yet? No? Hold that thought and give it a watch. I’ll wait. If you have seen it, you’ll know it’s GOOD. And Gadsby’s presenting gig at this week’s Emmy’s proved her cred yet again.

Here’s why this woman deserves to host an awards show…

Pumpkin Spice Latte date 2018: The Pumpkin Spice Latte is back today: love it or hate it?

The Pumpkin Spice Latte is back today: love it or hate it?

In its earliest premiere ever, Starbucks is releasing the 2018 Pumpkin Spice Latte today, August 28, unofficially heralding the coming of fall. As someone who’s motto is usually, “let people enjoy things,” I don’t get mad about it. It’s a tasty drink and gets people excited for a popular season. How bad could it be? But you know how it is, especially on the internet…

Diversity is SO IN: this video perfectly captures why we can’t view diversity as a “trend”

It’s so true that diversity and inclusion are big ol’ buzzwords in media lately. Recently, between movies like Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians, we’re seeing teeny tiny snippets of slightly more inclusive media. I mean, it’s always been a thing: add in a token person of color or woman to your news anchor team, superhero squad, voting ballots, or 20-something sitcom friends. But now audiences are asking for more — more inclusion, more marginalized groups represented in politics and communities, and more realistic portrayals of race, gender, sexual orientation, body size, etc.

When it comes to harassment and abuse, are internal investigations enough?

In the cases of Catfish’s Nev Schulman and AMC’s Chris Hardwick, each men got “justice” via internal investigations from their respective large media companies. It seems that this is enough for a lot of people to accept their innocence after being accused of sexual harassment. But is justice from a self-serving legal team in a huge company REALLY justice?

A fat suit, really? Netflix's new show Insatiable is not what we need right now

A fat suit, really? Netflix’s new show Insatiable is not what we need right now

I was introduced to a new Netflix series “Insatiable,” which presents a fat teen bullied by her high school classmates who gets clocked in the face and loses a bunch of weight due to her jaw being wired shut over the summer. She comes back after losing a lot of weight, now perceived as “hot,” and exacts revenge on her bullying classmates.

How do I balance social justice with my favorite shows and pop culture?

How do I address problematic issues within my favorite shows and pop culture?

One of my friends will find a way in which they feel a show is bigoted (e.g. “Steven Universe is racist”) and suddenly it’s the only thing they can talk about re: that show. They’ll interrupt any conversation about it with “but you shouldn’t like that, it’s bigoted.”

I understand the importance of keeping social justice topics in mind while consuming media, and obviously I can’t tell them to stop because this is important to them, but sometimes I just want to gush about my favorite lesbian aliens. Help?

From Mr. Rogers to Afropolitans in space: What we’re watching, reading, and listening to right now

We haven’t been talking a lot about what we’ve been consuming media-wise lately. And that’s no good since I know we’re all watching, listening, and reading things that aren’t just terrible news media. You’ve got to spend some time in other worlds sometimes, be they fictional fantasies, crime dramas very much not set in reality, and enjoying whatever it is we love most.

Bad-ass woman warrior costumes and armor for LARP, Ren faires, cosplay, or Halloween

I was thinking about the upcoming summer festival season, convention season, Renaissance faires, and of course, it’s never to early to plan your Halloween costume. And it dawned on me: this past year has been ALL about the woman warrior. From the Dora Milaje in Black Panther to Wonder Woman to Captain Phasma to Tessa Thompson’s epic Valkyrie, bad-ass women in armor are where it’s at.

So I went a-hunting for some not-too-revealing, super kick-ass woman warrior costumes and armor for all your LARPing, convention, Ren faire, cosplay, or sexy role play needs. Here are some of the best I found…