Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
October 13, 2025
October 13, 2025 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

Arts & Entertainment




RON FRAZIER / CC BY 4.0
This article connects the most recent Banksy mural to both the philosophy of Simone Weil and the current events involving Palestine. 

Banksy, Palestine and Simone Weil: What does it mean to look?

From the artist behind the half-shredded “Girl With Balloon” comes a new mural on the walls of the British Royal Courts of Justice. Appearing on Sept. 8, this latest Banksy depicts a judge beating a protestor with a gavel while the protestor defends from the ground, holding a blood-splattered sign.



SYDNOR DUFFY / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR
“The Infamous“ East Coast hip-hop duo Mobb Deep returns with their new album “Infinite“ on Oct 10.

To watch and watch for: Week of Oct. 5

The first breeze of the fall season has hit campus, foxes are prowling the sidewalks and we (at least most of us) are finally through with the menial duties of midterm exams. This week, we have a plentiful batch of arts, including a return from a revered hip-hop duo and an exciting underground music live show running all weekend.


SYDNOR DUFFY / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR
Tune in this week for another list of upcoming releases and events, including a sure-to-succeed collage workshop.

To watch and watch for: Week of Sept. 28

With many of the semester’s firsts in a series of nightmarish midterms in our rearview mirrors, everyone deserves a moment to breathe and unwind with some of these exciting new media releases.


MARTIN SCHUMANN / CC BY-SA 4.0 
Wang connects his experience listening to Big Thief’s Double Infinity to his first weeks at Hopkins.

Big Thief's Double Infinity will make you happy to be sad

Is Double Infinity Big Thief’s magnum opus? No, not by a long shot. If I could, would I make it mandatory listening for all of my friends? Yeah — I wouldn’t even have to think about it. We all deserve to experience humanity, don’t we?


SYDNOR DUFFY / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR
Check out Doja Cat’s new album Vie, out Friday, Sept. 26! 

To watch and watch for: Week of Sept. 21

Welcome back to another week’s To Watch and Watch For. Now, in the midst of exams, here's to hoping that you can weather the storm and squeeze in a free hour here and there to check out the wide array of media releasing in the upcoming days. 



COURTESY OF MITRO HOOD
Virginia Anderson, museum curator at the Baltimore Museum of Art, describes her educational experiences and life path in an interview with The News-Letter.

Virginia Anderson: on museums and academia

Virginia Anderson is an adjunct professor in the Program of Museums and Society at Hopkins and the Baltimore Museum of Art’s (BMA) Curator of American Art and Department Head of American Painting & Sculpture and Decorative Arts. In an interview with The News-Letter, Anderson discussed her academic journey and her current experiences at the BMA. 



SYDNOR DUFFY / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR
Check out Young Thug’s new album “UY Scuti,” out Friday, Sept. 19!

To watch and watch for: Week of Sept. 14

This week’s installment of To Watch and Watch For comes conveniently before the inevitable onslaught of midterm season. One way to soften the unstoppable march of time is to slow down, immerse yourself in the arts and appreciate what the world has to offer at the moment. 




COURTESY OF STEVEN SIMPSON
Margaret (McKenzie Christiansen; left) is about to learn some troubling news from Gregory (Benjamin Roberts; right).

The Witness Theater 2025 Spring Showcase does more than persevere

On April 26 and 27, the Arellano Theater came alive with more than the wafting smells of vegan sesame chicken and taco meat from the neighboring Levering Kitchen. It was the site for the Witness Theater’s 2025 Spring Showcase: a performance of student-written, student-run plays rejuvenating a campus of otherwise finals-weary Blue Jays.





COLIN PATTERSON / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Arts & Entertainment editor Strait understands Adichie’s latest novel Dream Count as a valuable lesson for everyone on how to support victims.

Dream Count is an exercise in how to return dignity

On March 4, more than a decade after her previous novel Americanah, Hopkins alum Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave the people what they wanted: Dream Count. This recent addition to her body of works is a nebulous story following the lives of four African women navigating the U.S., pinned together in the middle with a disconcertingly familiar case of sexual assault perpetrated against one of the women. 


MACCOSTA / CC BY-SA 2.0
Something about the Coachella vibe is more than what meets the eye.

Coachella 2025: A fever dream in the desert

There’s this thing that happens every April. The desert shifts. Time becomes a suggestion. Sequins become currency. And the world turns its eyes toward a stretch of sun-bleached land in Indio, Calif., where suddenly nothing else matters. Yes, I’m talking about the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.


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