Growing up, I’d wake up at five o’clock in the morning to sneak into the guest room and watch reruns of Full House on a tiny TV. I envied how alive the fictional home was, filled with people, conversation, and antics. When I was six, my family moved a few hours away from our big fat Greek family, and it was the five of us on our own until my two siblings and I went off to college. Then the pandemic forced my siblings and me to move back home. …

Lately, my days revolve around writing — finding time to write, stressing over what I’ve yet to write, staring at a wall until inspiration knocks on my window, etc. — to the point where I’ve forgotten why I loved the activity in the first place. I took a creative writing class my freshman year of high school, and I could not get enough of my teacher’s writing prompts. They offered simple guidance and allowed me to explore both my thoughts and untapped potential.

I hadn’t written a poem in almost a year until last night. Laying in bed, I turned…

The Bachelor franchise doesn’t lead the conversation, it responds to it — whether that’s bullying, racism, or sexism on their shows and in their fandom. More often than not, the ABC franchise fails to take accountability for their “missteps,” like when they repeatedly cast contestants with racist pasts on their shows. Even worse, the show cast such contestants on the first seasons featuring Black leads: for Rachel Lindsay’s season in 2017, and now Matt James’ in 2021. (Tayshia Adams was also a season’s Black lead, but the show cast contestants for the season’s initial Bachelorette, Clare Crawley.)

At the beginning…

Justin Timberlake took to Instagram on Friday to apologize to both Britney Spears and Janet Jackson more than 15 years after he derailed their careers. He wrote this apology in response to public backlash to his negative portrayal in the new FX documentary, Framing Britney Spears. The docuseries episode inspired many to re-evaluate his role in both Jackson and Spears’ career demise. And just as Timberlake took to his Notes app to issue a mea culpa, I am taking to the internet to write him an open letter:

Dear Justin,

When I was 6, I saw you accidentally reveal Janet…

I received an email the other day from my former documentary professor. She reached out after discovering her friend produced the FX documentary “Framing Britney Spears.” The documentary revisits everything that led to the pop star’s conservatorship and examines how we failed her as a society. “Of course I thought of you!” my former professor kindly added.

For my senior thesis, I directed and produced the documentary Leave Britney Alone: A Woman “Created” for Our Consumption. I came up with the idea after reading about Spears’ conservatorship during the fall of 2017. According to Dictionary.com, a conservatorship is “an agreement…

Ever since the rapper Gunna called the pandemic a “panoramic” last October, people on the internet have been substituting the term pandemic with absurd words that start with “pan” or any word starting with the letter P.

It’s become Gen Z’s way of coping with the endless trauma we’ve endured. By referring to the pandemic as a “panini,” people can make the circumstance sound even more ridiculous than it already is.

To freshen your vocabulary, I thought I’d contribute 50 words you can use instead of “pandemic.” Have fun, and remember to wear your mask in this parallelogram:

Pandemonium

…

Chloe x Halle’s slow and steady rise to stardom has been a blessing to witness. Since releasing their second studio album Ungodly Hour last June, the Beyoncé mentees cultivated a greater fanbase by performing new live arrangements and choreography for their latest bops every month for the greater part of a year. Their performances were almost always paired with chic, lavish costuming and entrancing production designs.

Now audiences feast on every scrap of meat the Bailey sisters provide, from stunning selfies to enthralling videos of them dancing. They not only provide content, they out-sing, out-style, and out-perform every single pop…

Hair can be a constant. Hair can be comfort and warmth. It can be an identifier. It’s certainly a financial investment in your appearance and well-being. For the last few months, I’ve thrown my hair up into a ponytail when I went to work as a nanny to three children. Throughout the pandemic, I rarely “did” my hair—meaning I rarely put product in and styled my curly locks. I wouldn’t say I’m vain, but my appearance generally impacts my mood. So, when I styled my hair for the first time in months and did my makeup, I felt powerful—I felt…