Arts & Culture
Here we cover the latest and most uplifting exhibitions, creative movements, and imaginative design to keep you inspired throughout your day.
'Rizz': unveiling and explaining Oxford University's Word of the Year for 2023
As 2023 bids us farewell, we take a lovely linguistic detour, examining not only what we've talked about, but also how we've expressed it. Enter the Oxford Word of the Year, a fragment of vocabulary that captures our conversation. And what about the prize for 2023? It's "rizz," a noun sparkling Read More...
Move Afrika: elevating African music on a global scale starting with concert in Rwanda
Two decades after Nelson Mandela's legendary 46664 concerts, a new movement, Move Afrika, developed on the African continent. Inspired by Mandela's vision, his grandson Kweku Mandela launched this five-year project to create an annual music tour to promote Africa's artistic environment while Read More...
Sesame Workshop introduces tools to help kids understand addiction in families
Tevis Simon's childhood was fraught with uncertainty. She grew up in West Baltimore in the 1980s, a community that received little attention from the city and government investment, and her existence was overshadowed by her mother's opioid addiction. She never knew which version of her mother she Read More...
How teen playwrights are changing the narrative of gun violence in America
American students, raised in the shadow of repeated school shootings, are not just witnesses to a grim reality but active participants in reshaping the narrative. Following the Parkland school tragedy in 2018, theater aficionado turned activist Michael Cotey developed "Enough! Plays to End Gun Read More...
35 years later: Tracy Chapman is first Black woman to win CMA Song of the Year
Tracy Chapman makes history at the Country Music Awards (CMAs), becoming the first Black woman to win the coveted Song of the Year award with her timeless song, "Fast Car." The unfading allure of "Fast Car" "Fast Car," which was published in 1988, has weathered the test of time, becoming an Read More...
Unlocking the treasure trove: your guide to second-hand furniture shopping online
Venturing into the world of second-hand furniture is not only a treasure hunt but a sustainable way to furnish your space without breaking the bank. Whether you want to give your findings a modern facelift or keep their vintage charm, online thrift shopping is the way to go. Lindi Vanderschaaf, a Read More...
Extra-long films are on the rise: here's why the intermission should be reinstated
As "Barbenheimer" (the fun portmanteau of Barbie and Oppenheimer) took the world by storm earlier this year, it illustrated the growing difficulty of sustaining long movie runs. With Oppenheimer clocking in at a whopping three hours, it became clear that we needed a way to deal with epic-length Read More...
Art preserves endangered flora in Himalayas—where conservation and culture collide
"In 2002, I was returning to Kalimpong in the eastern Himalaya region of India, and I found numerous trees had been cut down for a dam on the Teesta River at Kalijhora," recalls Hemlata Pradhan, an artist who had just completed her Master's in natural history illustration in London. This shocking Read More...
Combatting visual misinformation: an everyday user's guide for times of conflict
In times of war and conflict, the digital landscape becomes flooded with images and stories. However, many of these images are fraudulent or modified, making it difficult to tell fact from fiction. As regular people, we must assume ethical responsibility for the content we consume and distribute as Read More...
Samhain ─ Inside the pagan traditions of Halloween’s ancient precursor
Editors Note: We're dusting off our Halloween history Optimist View to honor the day! “The magic of Samhain is that of endless possibility. Since we return to the beginning, we can begin anew in any way we wish.” ~ Michael Furie BY Marvin Lanes Haunted houses, scary movies, and terrifying Read More...