Fungicidal activity and common skin infections

In a study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, researchers found that an extract from Cistus salviifolius, a Mediterranean rockrose used traditionally for skin conditions, can kill several types of dermatophytes (the fungi responsible for ringworm and other skin, hair and nail infections). The extract was particularly effective against Trichophyton rubrum, one of the most common causes of fungal skin infections, and Microsporum canis, which spreads from animals to humans. Chemical analysis showed that the extract contains large amounts of polyphenols, including tannins and flavonoids. Interestingly, the effect was not universal: the extract did not show significant activity against the yeast Candida albicans at the concentrations tested, suggesting that its antifungal action may only be effective against certain groups of fungi.

The researchers also examined how the extract damages fungal cells. Electron microscopy showed major structural changes, including disruption of cellular organization, membrane separation and formation of large vacuoles. Even more promising, the extract was tested in a laboratory-grown model of human epidermis. Treatment reduced the amount of fungus invading the tissue, helped preserve the skin barrier and lowered the inflammatory response without significantly harming the skin cells themselves. These findings provide a foundation for developing standardized creams or gels and eventually testing their efficacy in clinical trials.

Cosmic flashes and dead stars

In a recent study, astronomers may have identified a new way to recognize collisions between neutron stars. Traditionally, neutron star mergers are associated with extremely short bursts of gamma rays, often lasting less than two seconds. However, researchers investigated an unusual event called EP250704a/GRB 250704B, detected in July 2025, that produced a roughly half-second gamma-ray burst but continued emitting bright X-rays for almost 10 minutes. This was the longest lasting prompt X-ray emission yet observed from a suspected neutron-star merger.

The researchers believe the collision may have produced a magentar, a rapidly spinning neutron star with an extraordinarily strong magnetic field. A magnetar could continue releasing huge amounts of energy after the original collision, explaining why the X-ray signal lasted much longer than a normal short gamma-ray burst. Importantly, astronomers found no evidence of the bright supernova that would usually accompany the collapse of a massive star, strengthening the argument that two neutron stars merged instead. The discovery suggests that some mysterious, fast X-ray transients previously detected throughout the universe could actually be hidden neutron-star mergers.

Tsunami warnings and Pacific ringing

Researchers studying the magnitude 8.8 Kamchatka earthquake of July 29, 2025 found that the resulting tsunami continued producing measurable oscillations throughout the Pacific Ocean for more than 10 hours. To study the event, scientists compared a computer simulation based only on the earthquake's rupture with measurements from six deep-ocean DART tsunami-monitoring stations. Their model performed remarkably well: predicted arrival times were within about a minute of the actual measurements, while maximum wave heights differed by only about 6 centimeters on average. The results indicate that the earthquake itself was sufficient to explain the observed tsunami without needing to invoke another fault rupture or an underwater landslide. Near the source, the event was still extremely powerful, with water reaching approximately 19 meters above sea level on parts of the Kuril Islands.

The key discovery came after the initial waves passed. The researchers found that tsunami energy remained concentrated in waves with periods of roughly 30-80 minutes for more than 10 hours, meaning the Pacific behaved somewhat like a giant bell that continued vibrating long after being struck. This rhythm could be important for improving tsunami warnings because bays and harbors also have their own natural oscillation periods. If the period of an incoming tsunami matches a harbor's natural period, resonance can cause water levels inside that harbor to become much larger than the waves in the open ocean. Researchers suggest that future warnings could consider not only how high a tsunami is and when it will arrive but also its dominant wave periods to better predict which coastlines and harbors are most vulnerable to dangerous amplification.

Though the exact criteria through which certain victors can be "claimed" may vary, Hopkins itself officially lists 29 affiliated winners as of September 2026. These winners span each category awarded, except for the prize in Literature, which has thus far eluded our community. These include - in decreasing order of the number of prizes linked to Hopkins - Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Economics and Peace. Of the three prizes for scientific fields, which will be the focus of this article, Hopkins claims connection to 24 winners. Notably, all Nobel laureates currently serving as members of the faculty - Peter Agre, Gregg Semenza and Adam Riess - fall under this number.

To sketch a timeline, the Nobel Prize was first awarded in 1901, around 25 years after the University's founding, with the first Hopkins associate receiving the award in 1919 (specifically Woodrow Wilson, winning for peace). James Franck would win the honor in 1925 for his analysis of the electron, and he later became a professor of Physics at Hopkins from 1935-1938.

That said, the earliest winner of a scientific honor to have received a degree from Hopkins was Thomas Hunt Morgan, who completed his doctorate in Zoology at the University in 1890 and was awarded in 1933 for his foundational work with chromosomes. Tallying the count, 11 alumni who completed a degree program at Hopkins have received the recognition for their achievements in science. Of these alumni, 10 received their Ph.D. or M.D. at Hopkins, while two - Francis Peyton Rous (who received both his B.A. and M.D. degrees from Hopkins) and Martin Rodbell - acquired their undergraduate degree at this institution. It is worth noting the University's status as the first research university in the United States, having offered undergraduate programs alongside graduate programs since 1876 despite its initial emphasis on the latter.

At the time of his award in 1933, Morgan was affiliated with the California Institute of Technology. Following that line of thinking, if we were to trace the affiliations of awardees, Hamilton O. Smith and Daniel Nathans in 1978 mark the first winners to have received the award while affiliated with Hopkins at the time, winning in Medicine for the discovery of restriction enzymes and their applications. Of the 24 laureates in science, 8 have won while holding a faculty or adjunct position at Hopkins, with 6 of them being recognized in the 21st century.

Perhaps of greater interest than the affiliation of awardees at the time is what prizes were awarded for scientific research conducted at Hopkins. While delineating the exact boundaries between contributions from specific institutions can be a difficult, if not downright impossible, task, several awards mark notable findings obtained at the University. These include research leading to the discovery of aquaporins and restriction enzymes, key work on cells adapting to oxygen availability and significant innovations in our understanding of the visual system. Previous Nobel laureates have praised Hopkins as an environment in which to conduct prize-winning research, with Semenza explaining in a Hub staff report, "That's why I've stayed here my whole career, because I think this is the greatest place to do research".

These research opportunities have continually attracted talent, as seen with Shimon Sakaguchi, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine last year and conducted postdoctoral studies at Hopkins - although he has not been officially listed as an affiliated awardee by the University. Contributions by Hopkins scientists that were not directly recognized by the Nobel committee, such as several experimental physicists who assisted in work on the Higgs boson, have also been identified. Similar, less evident connections meriting additional notice are seen with other figures such as Hopkins alumni James Muller and James Cobey, whose experiences and education as medical students at the University played a role in their establishments of Nobel Peace Prize-winning organizations.

Regarding current affiliates of the University, several have achieved other awards that are often linked to future Nobel laureates. For example, many winners of the Wolf Prize - such as Solomon Snyder, who conducted extensive research at Hopkins - have gone on to win Nobel Prizes. Graduates and members of the faculty like Bert Vogelstein, a professor of oncology, have also won several awards of note such as the Lasker Award and the Breakthrough Prize.

In extrapolating any further conclusions from the data discussed here, prospective analysts must be wary of certain considerations. The Nobel Prize is an awards system based on annual selection by committee, and it has been accused of carrying its own biases and blind spots as well as being subject to internal politics. Its criteria, including traditional limits on the number of awardees and a refusal to award posthumously, further constrain its scope. Furthermore, the recognition (or lack thereof) of winners as university affiliates can be contested in several cases, as with Sakaguchi.

Interrogations of our history with the award offer specific findings which, when applied with care and judgement, may yield broader insights and raise important questions about the University's engagement with the vast tapestry of the scientific endeavor.

Who needs a remake of Blade ridden with production issues when Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother exists instead? Thanks to the ashes of the scrapped Marvel production, Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali returns to the big screen in this new action thriller, already professionally trained and toned for the lead role. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother follows a devoutly religious hitman who must contend with his faith, work and fatherhood as he makes a perilous adventure through Houston for the sake of his children. The film seems to be a novel action picture concerned with deeper questions about motivation and duty.

In How to Look Away: On American Cruelty and the Refusal to Disappear, award-winning contributor to The Guardian and The New York Times Daniel Peña combines memoir with journalism and cultural criticism to convey an intriguing account of the American identity. From examining conspiracy theories to Cold War paranoia to writing about his experiences in Mexico and the United States, Pẽna examines what it takes to disappear in the American project and offers a clarifying look into the strained politics of America.

Troye Sivan's fourth studio album, She's the Best, is a love letter to the women in the pop artist's life. The lead single of the album shares the same name, and it's a portrait of an unnamed woman who Sivan adores. The single "She's the Best" features a more alternative sound with distortive guitars than the usual dance-pop his songs have. However, She's the Best will certainly be as dance-worthy as the rest of his discography and worth a listen.

At Baltimore's Black Arts and Public Humanities with Mary Rizzo and Rejjia Camphor, Associate Professor Mary Rizzo from the History Department at Rutgers University will be in conversation with Baltimore artist, activist and organizer Rejjia Camphor about Black arts and public history in Baltimore. Specifically, this event will talk about vernacular poetry and the revitalization of a Black grassroots poetry magazine published in Baltimore through a project called the Chicory Revitalization Project. Camphor's new co-authored book studying this project will also be discussed. Don't miss this conversation detailing the history of an undiscussed part of Baltimore's art scene!

If nothing above seemed quite compelling, we have a full list of other options to browse through:

To watch...

• Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, directed by Bassam Tariq - Oct. 9
• The Social Reckoning, directed by Aaron Sorkin - Oct. 9
• Fjord, directed by Cristian Mungiu - Oct. 9
• Other Mommy, directed by Rob Savage - Oct. 9
• The Beast, directed by Renny Harlin - Oct. 9

To read...

• How to Look Away: On American Cruelty and the Refusal to Disappear, written by Daniel Peña - Oct. 6
• The World After Gaza, written by Pankaj Mishra - Oct. 6
• Fight to the Death: The Human Stories Shaping America's MAID Debate, written by Paul Brand - Oct. 6
• The Occidental Book of the Dead, written by T. Geronimo Johnson - Oct. 6
• Partita, written by Barbara Kingsolver - Oct. 6

To listen...

• She's the Best, by Troye Sivan - Oct. 9
• Mud, by Remi Wolf - Oct. 9
• PARTY'S OVER, by Sueco - Oct. 9
• Everything Has Changed, by Danielle Ponder - Oct. 9

Live events...

• Baltimore's Black Arts and Public Humanities with Mary Rizzo and Rejjia Camphor - Oct. 8, 12-1:30 p.m. at Gilman 138D
  • This event is free with registration.
• In the Stacks: Mandy Brown - Oct. 8, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at George Peabody Library
  • This event is free.
• Steve Ziger with Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson: While Away: An Architect's Travel Sketches - Oct. 8, 6 p.m. at The Ivy Bookshop
  • This event is free with registration.
• Artist Talk with Sunaina Bhalla - Oct. 9, 6:30-9 p.m at Station North
  • This event is free.
• Baltimore International Black Film Festival - Oct. 8-12 at Pikes Studio Cinema
  • Ticket prices vary.

The discussion centered on Carpenter's new anthology, The Best Science Stories and How They Work: A Collection with Commentary, published by the University of Chicago Press in July. The collection curated 11 previously published science stories alongside annotations and interviews examining the author's reporting and writing decisions.

Carpenter, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Open Notebook, began the event by explaining how close reading shaped her development as a journalist. While transitioning from a psychology doctoral program into science writing, Carpenter studied published articles to understand how writers gathered information and constructed their own stories. Carpenter explained that close reading allows her to examine layers like story structure and language use, breaking a piece down to understand how these choices contribute to the story as a whole.

The anthology features close readings and annotations done by fellow science journalists. Drawing on relationships she developed through The Open Notebook, Carpenter sought annotators who were both interested in the selected stories and could offer thoughtful insight into how the stories were written.

When asked about her path into journalism, Carpenter recalled her interest in science journalism as a career while reading The New York Times' science section during graduate school. She initially thought that the articles were written by professors in their respective fields. Discovering that the writers made a career of reporting on science motivated her to consider entering the profession.

"It was one of those brainwave moments, where I just knew that if this was a job, that was the job I wanted," Carpenter wrote to The News-Letter.

Later, Jabr, bestselling author of Becoming Earth and New York Times Magazine contributing writer, introduced an excerpt he wrote about Suzana Herculano-Houzel. Herculano-Houzel is a neuroscientist who obtained brains from a variety of animal species for a research expedition in South Africa to take back to her lab in Rio de Janeiro. Carpenter published findings that redefined the widely accepted count of cells in the human brain.

Jabr explained how introducing the story's central character and tension at the start of his piece hooks readers. Herculano-Houzel is a pioneer in discovering that the ratio of neurons to glial cells is closer to one-to-one than the classic theory that there are many more glial cells than neurons.

Regarding how Jabr created his article's structure, he makes a skeletal outline of the major sections and considers how they flow together. He admits that other writers take different approaches including meticulously planning out every detail, or writing without a plan.

Bijal Trivedi, author of Breath from Salt and former senior science editor for National Geographic and The Conversation, annotated Jabr's piece Mind Blender, pointing out Jabr's use of food metaphors and suggesting to include more outside expert opinions.

Jabr explained how different publications have specific rules and constraints, for example, in quote length, the number of references and footnotes. He included as many expert opinions as appropriate for The New York Times Magazine.

When Amoss asked the speakers for advice to give the University's Science Writing students, Jabr emphasized the importance of the profession.

"Scientists and journalists are kind of like the twin enemies of the state because we're the truth seekers and the fact seekers, and a lot of people in power right now don't want people like that out there," Jabr said.

At the end, the program transitioned to its Q&A section. One attendee asked about the role of a science writer in relation to scientists conducting the research. Jabr mentioned the conflict of needing to build up trust with scientists but needing to remain independent.

"They've invited me to see their work or even their homes, and I really like them as people, and I really value their work. At the same time, I have an obligation as a journalist to, you know, report all of the facts and really survey the landscape and the perspectives, and that often means writing about critiques or challenges to that particular person's work," said Jabr.

Carpenter gave tips on close reads to pay attention to characters, anecdotes and quotes in ledes, and she recommended How to do a Close Read as a resource. She also emphasized the importance of persistence when facing rejection in journalism.

"Get used to rejection and don't see that as confirmation that you're an impostor… having story ideas rejected is so, so normal, and I can't tell you how many journalists I've talked to over the years… [their work] was rejected by the first, you know, six places that they pitched it to, or something," Carpenter shared.

Furthermore, Carpenter wrote in an email to The News-Letter highlighting the importance of tenacity for aspiring writers.

"Be persistent! Surround yourself with a community of likeminded people, be hungry for editing, and never doubt that the world needs science journalism," Carpenter wrote.

Saturday

Live Baltimore Trolley Tour: Fall 2026, Baltimore Convention Center, 8 a.m.-1 p.m.

Learn more about buying a home in Baltimore at the Live Baltimore Trolley Tour, a free event designed for homebuyers at every stage of the process. The day includes expert-led workshops, a City Living Fair with local organizations and real estate professionals, and a narrated bus tour highlighting more than 10 Baltimore neighborhoods. Attendees can also become eligible to apply for $5,000 toward the purchase of a home anywhere in Baltimore. Admission is free, and the event takes place at the Baltimore Convention Center.

Vino in Vogue, Harbor East, 12-4 p.m.

Sip and stroll through Harbor East during Vino in Vogue, a Western-inspired afternoon featuring wine tastings, light bites, local vendors, shopping specials and live entertainment. The event will take place along the 800 block of Aliceanna Street, with a romantic Wild West theme blending leather, lace and plenty of Baltimore charm. Tasting packages include five pours for $30, 10 pours for $45 or 15 pours for $55, along with a signature tasting glass and access to exclusive shopping events.

The Curious Life of Edgar Allan Poe Ballet, France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, time varies

Step into the inner world of Edgar Allan Poe during The Curious Life of Edgar Allan Poe, a ballet blending neo-classical movement with African Diaspora dance traditions. Created by Julianna Rubio Slager and Glorielle Niedfeldt, the production explores themes of obsession, grief, love, madness and longing while presenting Poe as a deeply human figure rather than simply a literary icon. Performances will take place at The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, with ticket prices varying by performance.

Sunday

Baltimore Honky Tonk, Port Covington Marina, 4-8 p.m.

Spend Sunday afternoon dancing by the water at Baltimore Honky Tonk, featuring Melissa Wright & The Moth Men and a special solo set from Caleb Stine. The waterfront event will include a free two-step lesson from 4:30-5 p.m., live country music and a covered dance floor overlooking the Baltimore waterfront. No partner or previous experience is required, and admission follows a $15-$25 sliding scale.

Bach in Baltimore Presents: Intimate Baroque Masterworks, Roland Park Presbyterian Church, 4-5:30 p.m.

Hear an afternoon of Baroque music as Bach in Baltimore opens its 39th season with works by Handel and Bach. The program includes Handel's Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 1, his Organ Concerto, Op. 4, No. 1, and several beloved Bach arias performed by bass-baritone Phil Collister. Tickets are $33 in advance and $37 at the door, with student tickets available for $10 and free admission for children.

When asked about the greater purpose of these lunches, professor Jeanne Marie Jackson described, in an email to The News-Letter, how they create an informal space for scholars to engage with authors.

"New Book Lunches give humanists at Hopkins the chance to engage with authors outside the usual 'talk, followed by question-and-answer' format," Jackson wrote. "It's a small, intimate group of colleagues brought together for real conversation, across the bounds of disciplines and Departments."

These lunches are hosted once a semester and spotlight a recent interdisciplinary humanities book, encouraging difficult conversations around it outside of the bounds of a formal discussion. This year's through line between their talks is "Tradition/Continuity/Conservation." According to Jackson, Bejan's First Among Equals connects back to this theme, especially at a time where central ideals like egalitarianism are mostly taken for granted in today's democracy.

Bejan began the event by discussing the catalyst for the book's inception: her struggle with landing in a hierarchical educational landscape. She described the culture shock in moving to Oxford, somewhere where academic titles and hierarchical norms were seen far differently to her experiences in the United States and Canada.

"One thing I really struggled with was just the differences in academic culture from… the U.S. and Canada, and then landing in a place which, on the one hand, was more hierarchical and exclusionary than any other university I'd ever been in," Bejan said.

Bejan had been introducing herself to students with her academic title, but in Oxford's new landscape, this "title-first" structure was seen as gauche. This brought up the central question in her mind: Is the demand for women to be acknowledged by title an egalitarian demand or a hierarchical one? For Bejan, the answer was simple.

"It's a hierarchical demand. I want to be recognized as your superior in this context," Bejan said.

As for her colleagues, this question was more confusing. Bejan was discussing egalitarianism, a political doctrine that forms the basis for political equality in citizens as their universal equality. She believes that this ideal is largely taken for granted, and in that sense, her question was seen as nonsense by those colleagues.

"This book is my response to try to show them that they were the people who were peddling nonsense, and I was doing proper scholarship, but hopefully in an engaged and entertaining way," Bejan said.

Bejan's book, which will be released to the public in late October, reflects on the ideal of egalitarianism in both the general context and the educational one. She hopes to offer tools for other philosophers and theorists to rethink their internal concepts of egalitarianism, instead of deliberately offering her own vision.

"I came into this project and realized that the… egalitarian biases in political philosophy had no way to talk about hierarchies as anything other than aberrant, or anything other than potentially dominating," Bejan says. "It just seemed to me that that's so obviously out of touch with what we're doing everyday in an educational context."

Ruth Braunstein, a professor of Sociology at the SNF Agora Institute, noted the significance of First Among Equals in regards to her own experience working with contemporary American politics.

"Thinking through like the actual texture of the hierarchical and acknowledging relationships people want, I think is actually a really helpful way forward," Braunstein said.

Jackson agreed with this sentiment in an email to The News-Letter discussing the impact of Bejan's book in today's world.

"Bejan's work on the prehistory of ideals that are now mostly taken for granted - in this case, egalitarianism - speaks across political theory, history, and philosophy to address core concerns about what it means to live in a democracy, now," Jackson wrote.

AGHI hosts events throughout the semester, whether book lunches like Bejan's or associate lectures and seminars. Look to the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute events calendar for more information regarding future planned features.

Following a positive recommendation from the Civic Engagement Committee, the senate approved the JHU SGA Freedom of Expression Directive, introduced by Vice President of the Senate Shreemann Patel. The resolution addresses how SGA members can publicly express their opinion without required consultation from administration or the Executive Board. The revised language of the directive clarifies that members are presumed to speak for themselves unless they explicitly state that they are speaking on behalf of SGA. Further, members explained that representing an official SGA position in any medium would require authorization through resolution. The SGA unanimously passed the resolution. Immediate action items regarding the resolution include sending it to The News-Letter, who requested a written directive about future public communication inThe News-Letterregarding members of SGA, and uploading it to the SGA website.

Finance Chair Peter Tarpley introduced the RSO Outreach Call to Action Funding Bill, which distributes $1,000 for outreach in partnership with the student organizations and civic engagement committees. This initiative was proposed with the goal of encouraging students to complete an SGA survey about the University's response to the United States Department of Education's National Call to Action. SGA members discussed providing food at tabling events and bringing Insomnia cookies to student organization meetings to encourage participation and build relationships with club members.

Cabinet members reported a meeting with Public Safety and the Office of International Services. Then, the Senate entered a closed session to discuss departmental information and prepare for future conversations with University offices that The News-Letter was not given access to.

Student Body President Jason Yu voiced concerns that the current outreach list was missing certain cultural and political student groups. Other SGA members discussed allowing students who responded to the survey to indicate what level of feedback they were comfortable with giving to the University. The members discussed an October 9 response deadline and the amended bill passed.

Student Services Chair Veda Kommineni introduced a tabling supplies funding bill that was approved unanimously by the Senate.

During public input, Seán Durkis-Dervogne requested help from SGA members in drafting an initiative to make course syllabi accessible to students before class enrollment. Specifically, he was looking for members with faculty contacts to reach out to professors for help.

Chair of Programming Grace Guan introduced a pink-out, inter-class flag football event scheduled for October 3 from 2-4 PM on the practice field. LEED will also host a talent show on Oct. 17, with auditions due Oct. 4.

Other senator updates included plans for a nutrition-focused tabling event, discussions with the Office of Climate and Sustainability about DSAI and an invasive species poll.

The theme for this year's roundtable consisted of three parts: tradition, conservation and continuity. Jackson introduced the event and asked the panelists, each from a different department, to consider how any of the three concepts might have echoes within their fields. The panelists included Associate Professor Jesse Rosenthal of the English Department, Professor Jennifer Gosetti-Ferencei of the German Modern Languages and Literatures Department and Associate Professor Christopher Lebron of the Philosophy Department. Drawing on Christian theories of hermeneutics, German Idealism and virtue ethics, the discussion spanned from ancient Greek tragedies to 18th and 19th century novels, tracing a continuity across disciplines and throughout time.

The first speaker, Rosenthal drew from his specialization in the Victorian novel and novel form to analyze the etymology of the English word "tradition." Much of his work studies literature of the 18th and 19th centuries, and the publication of his first book Good Form: The Ethical Experience of the Victorian Novel was covered by The News-Letter nearly a decade ago.

Rosenthal began with the multifaceted nature of his topic.

"Tradition," Rosenthal said, "is the water we swim in, the tool we use, and the object we critique."

What's interesting for Rosenthal is how the concept of tradition has passed through all of these different identities throughout time. While the term has its first known use in 1384, but Rosenthal observed that its undergone massive changes in popularity in the time since.

"The very idea of a great tradition - the idea that a tradition, in any sense we understand it, is great at all - is not old-fashioned. It was strikingly new," Rosenthal said. "The elevation - even the use in English - of the term 'tradition' was an innovation of the late nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century."

For proof, Rosenthal compares the few and far between appearances of "tradition" in the works of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and early literary criticism to the overwhelming use of the term in the published work of Professor Jackson, literary critic Frederic Jameson and himself.

What could explain the dark spot in use lying between its original conception in the 14th century and its popularity in contemporary criticism? Rosenthal traces the connection between "tradition" and Catholicism; starting in c. 1425, the word referred to "doctrine... which, though not explicit in the Bible, is believed to derive from the oral teaching of Christ and the Apostles and to be divinely revealed." Tradition, relying on the divinity of priesthood, would've stood opposed to Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation and the belief in sola scriptura.

Perhaps, Rosenthal theorized, there might be a connection between England's Protestantism and the disappearance of the word "tradition" in English novels. He pointed out that when the word was used, it did not usually have the positive definition of a grand passing-on.

"Even George Eliot," Rosenthal said, "through most of her career, used the term simply to refer to the superstitions and folk wisdoms of her rural characters."

Tracing the associations of "tradition" throughout a period of English history, Rosenthal brought to the table varied literary and religious traditions pertaining to tradition.

On the other hand, Professor Gosetti focused her discussion on the other two topics: conservation and continuity. Her work combines literary study, philosophy of the imagination and the environmental humanities with methods of thought from 19th and 20th century Continental Philosophy such as phenomenology and existentialism. The themes of conservation and continuity appear in Gosetti's two book projects at the moment, one of which is on the possibilities of creativity - the nature of imagination - and the other which is focused on critical ecology - the imagination of nature.

For the first book project, the question of continuity is important for the realm of imagination and its products - literature.

"Through imagination," Gosetti said, "the literary work speaks across time, space and differences by evoking worlds that, while diverging in variable degrees from any real world, rely on familiarity with some world or other, and literature remains readable insofar as it still evokes dimensions of a common world."

Thus, imagination is what carries and continues the "common world" into the space of a literary text, yet the creative aspect of imagination allows for a departure and discontinuity from this common world into something wholly new and un-real.

Naturally, conservation takes on a very particular meaning in critical ecology, the subject of Gosetti's second book project. Continuity still plays a part; she analyzes the problem of imagining nature as discontinuous and separate from humans. In the time of the Anthropocene, it is indeed hard to imagine nature without the influence of humans, and a path forward in conservation requires understanding the continuities between the two.

Yet as much as the possibility of "becoming-animal," as French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Guattari would say, sounds somewhat hopeful, Gosetti cautions us against the belief that we can easily and wholly assimilate into nature. While writers and poets like Rainier Maria Rilke have attempted to capture the perspective of animals for our understanding, nature also has the agency to resist our stories about it. The history of humanity's negative impact on the planet stands between an easy understanding of the two as one.

But the stories we tell about nature are nonetheless extremely valuable despite their possible pitfalls.

"Literature can be a resource for an ecological aesthetics responsive to the earth that avoids the hubris of claiming to speak for it," Gosetti concluded.

Literature, it seems, can and must balance on the tightrope between continuity and discontinuity, speaking of without speaking for, while inching toward a deeper understanding of our world and what should be done with it.

Similar to Gosetti, Lebron approaches the themes with a perspective toward action and the future. Working primarily in political philosophy, Lebron specializes in "social theory, the philosophy of race, and democratic ethics." Continuing the connection between shame and racial discrimination from his first book, The Color of Our Shame: Race and Justice in Our Time, Lebron looks back on Greek traditions of morality to help elaborate on the problem of racism in the United States today.

Lebron begins with an evocative formulation from African American writer and essayist James Baldwin's "Down at the Cross/Letter from a Region in my Mind." Baldwin finds something fundamentally wrong, a kind of ignorance, in the ethical disposition of white people; thus "whatever white people do not know about Negroes reveals, precisely and inexorably, what they do not know about themselves."

But what consists of this ignorance? Lebron answers this question using political philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue, which argues that modernity has lost the concept of certain ancient moral values, and that reviving an older vocabulary can help us describe our own ethical situation.

Taking up the tragedy of Oedipus Rex, Lebron argues for the ancient virtue of shame. Oedipus' incestuous sins were not understood to him at the time as sinful and thus draw the shame of not understanding what one is truly responsible for. Yet when all is revealed, Oedipus understands himself to have not met his own standards of morality. Lebron finds a parallel in the contradictory situation of the United States.

"The most profound feature of racial inequality," Lebron remarked, "is its presence in a society whose stated philosophical values explicitly deny the legitimacy of that kind of inequality."

The United States' contradiction in understanding itself to be liberatory yet acting otherwise -this is what Lebron diagnoses as shamelessness.

"Oedipus is in a sense completely free to live shamelessly, yet he is not free to live shamelessly and at the same time to live a good life or claim to have integrity, to be whole," Lebron said.

Shamelessness lies in the hypocrisy to act one way and claim another, but recognizing shame is an important motivator to act.

"The story of Oedipus makes clear that his shame is reflective and not present in his ethical make-up for its own end," said Lebron. "It serves a distinct purpose which indeed turns Oedipus outwards: he is the cause of multiple catastrophes and he must find a way to respond appropriately." The traditional virtue of shame becomes the way for a path forward; Lebron thus argues for freedom through tradition.

The roundtable ended with an engaging Q&A session and open socializing. If you happened to have missed this year's AGHI Roundtable talk, you might find the tradition continued next year.

"Maybe you don't actually want the thing. Maybe you don't want it enough. Maybe you want the identity of the person that does the thing more than you want the work of getting it. Maybe you want it once and you don't anymore and you just haven't realized it yet." - Lindsiann Shi, Youtube Content Creator

This article is a direct and deeply personal reflection from watching the Youtube video by Lindsiann with the same title. It's shocking how among the 8.3 billion people on Earth, someone who lives thousands of miles away from you can describe your life so perfectly with a comment section full of similar people. What syndrome is this? What pandemic is this? Actually, is this even a bad thing?

If you're like me, you probably have five windows and 40 tabs open. You don't want to close them because you could potentially look at the information when you get the chance. You have Notion pages that keep track of your fitness, wish lists, to-dos and to-watches, ideas for the next trip, packing lists, and more. You click through the perfectly curated, color-coded blocks on your calendar, looking for a weekend when you could go somewhere and do something. Boston? London? New York City? Hawaii? Los Angeles? You refresh the flights page in incognito mode, watch the prices go up, regret not booking earlier, give up and repeat the cycle a week or two later.

You start a new hobby. You really enjoy it for the first three weeks. You buy a matcha bowl, a whisk, ceremonial-grade matcha powder and your favorite milk, only to make matcha twice and let the milk expire peacefully in the fridge. You've long wished for a vlogging camera, and you got it. You use it twice and decide that vlogging your life is too tiring, and, even if it's not too tiring, it's too much work to learn how to edit - and even if you can edit you don't have energy to always look presentable enough to film yourself. You start making Instagram Reels or TikToks and realize that you can never be an influencer because there's so many creative ideas and so many things you want to share, but you're afraid of judgment from the people you know and the people who might get to know you in the future.

And so your new hobbies disappear one-by-one, just like this. In the end, you return to your signature low-entropy state: doomscrolling on Instagram or TikTok or binge watching a show until your eyes are too tired to stay open. Another perfect day with perfect possibilities wasted. Another perfect dream that could've come true but didn't even begin.

You live at two extremes. You're either super excited or super exhausted. You're excited by the million things you want to accomplish, by the constant planning of new vacations or adventures or career paths, by the possibility of being a videographer, researcher, trilingualist, perfect child, perfect sibling, barista, athlete, writer - all at once. Then you're exhausted by the reality of passing your classes, by waking up in the same body as yesterday, by not being able to be all of those perfect human beings at the same time. You can't even seem to pursue the ideas one by one. And so you procrastinate, rot, feel guilty, discouraged, beaten. But who is making you feel this way? Sometimes the person making you feel the worst is yourself.

When we are in the middle of a whirlwind and we feel like we're getting sucked deeper and deeper into it, we just need to ask ourselves: do I actually want to do this? Do I want to keep doing it, or was trying it once enough? Do I want the identity of someone who does the thing more than I want the work of doing it?

To everyone who's been stuck in the "thinking but never doing" loop, maybe start by going outside for a bit. Try to be honest with yourself about what you really want and need. It's okay to want it all, and it's okay to want nothing at all. What's important is giving yourself the patience and grace to decide on whether the execution is worth it and whether you'll be happy after accomplishing it all.

Linda Huang is a junior from Rockville, Md. majoring in Biomedical Engineering. Her column celebrates growth and emotions that define young adulthood, inviting readers to live authentically.

There isn't much that typically goes on in Madison, Connecticut. A quaint, seaside vacation spot, Madison is remarkably beautiful, with cozy shops lining a singular, brightly lit thoroughfare in the town square. A quick Google search would inform you that my town is most famous for its "coastal charm," or, in other words, being a place where nothing out of the ordinary happens. I would have agreed with you most nights, but not on November 10, 2022.

At the time of the blue suitcase, I was 15 years old. Having recently discovered my independence, I often walked from my house to restaurants in town, going to dinner before watching a B-movie in an old-timey (yet newly renovated) theater that charges an exorbitant ticketing fee. On November 10, my best friend Joe and I trekked about a mile and a half to the only Chinese restaurant in town to enjoy a Friday night order of chicken fried rice. Having paid the bill with money that was not ours, we vacated the establishment and began the slower walk home for movie night.

As we headed back, a sloppily written sign on the otherwise perfect New England street took us both by surprise. In poorly penned Sharpie, it said:

FREE VINTAGE SUITCASE. NO FEE. TAKE IF INTERESTED.

The glaring redundancy of the first two sentences might have been a cue to keep walking for most people, but to two 15-year-olds in need of a break from the mundane, it was a mystery worth investigating. We calmly approached the suitcase, admiring the antiquity of its vibrant fabric before picking it up. As the cautious (wimpy) person that I am, I stayed a few feet away while Joe picked up the suitcase. Carefully raising it to chest level, he gave the box a few shakes before nodding to me in affirmation that there was something inside. The next step, we both agreed, was to open it. Unfortunately, the suitcase's rusty hinges were unyielding, and we were left to speculate on what could be inside.

"Maybe it's a bomb."

"Could be a million dollars."

​"What if it's another suitcase? Like one of those Russian doll things where they keep going until it's a ton of mini boxes. That would be some weird shit."

​The speculation is reminiscent of Schrödinger's Cat, a thought experiment in which a cat is placed in a box with a radioactive atom, a Geiger counter, a hammer, and a bit of poison. The atom has a 50% chance of decaying, and if it does, the hammer will destroy the flask of poison, ultimately killing the cat. Essentially, the idea is that the cat is in a superposition - existing in multiple states at the same time - while the box is closed and the result unknown, meaning it is both alive and dead. For Schrödinger, superposition demonstrated a core belief about quantum mechanics; for Joe and I, it demonstrated that a blue suitcase on the side of the road could house both a million dollars and a box of cigarettes.

The mystery crescendoed as we arrived back at my house a half hour later, the suitcase safely intact. Immediately receiving a questioning look from my stepmother, Joe and I ran upstairs to show my father. Feeling immensely proud of our conquest, I breathlessly recounted the story: dinner, the box, the potential bomb and the million dollars at stake. Brow furrowed, my dad took a beat before eventually deciding to help us solve the mystery, and the three of us worked to smash the hinges open, taking turns chipping away at the rust with a screwdriver until it eventually gave way. At long last, our labor had borne fruit. We opened the box, revealing…

six measly pinecones.

For a minute, Joe and I stood silent, staring at the box in disgust. By taking it from outside the store and into the house, we had given it life. We had given it a home. And it rewarded us with… disappointment. "They don't even smell good," I mumbled as we ambled downstairs, tossing the suitcase angrily in the garbage.

That night, Joe and I microwaved a trusty box of Orville Redenbacher popcorn before watching a stupid Netflix movie on the couch. We laughed about the foolishness of bringing home a suitcase on the side of the road. In its simplicity, that suitcase allowed us to reach beyond ourselves into a world where something outlandish, even magical, could happen. To experience nature in its truest, realest sense.

Bryce Leiberman is a sophomore from Madison, Conn. studying Political Science and Philosophy. His column explores questions of authenticity, purpose, and the slow work of becoming oneself.

Following these announcements, they continued an ongoing discussion regarding free speech for SGA members. This involves what members of the association are allowed to say in regards to subjects involving the SGA.

The directive wishes to assure that all Homewood students have a right to free speech regarding all matters of the SGA. The free expression initiative affirms that Hopkins students have the right to express their opinions freely and publicly without prior restraint. A discussion clarified the point that senators could always speak freely in their own name, as long as it is not on behalf of the SGA.

The resolution has not yet been passed, but was moved to the Civic Engagement Committee for further review. Additionally, a directive is being written and sent to The News-Letter to affirm the SGA members' ability to write freely.

The second reading, presented by senator Mamadou Thiam with Reagan Sam, Philanthropy Chairman of Phi Delta Theta, addressed issues involving waste that had been raised about the crab fest, which is hosted during Parents Weekend. Sam stated that this year they were anticipating a more accurate count of how many people were going to be attending the event, something they were unable to do the previous year because of issues involving Hopkins Groups and securing the space. With a more accurate estimate of attendance, less waste should be produced. The funding bill was passed.

A fundraising 5K, hosted by Pi Beta Phi, was also passed after discussion regarding funding and advertising for SGA. Students receive tickets for the event at a discounted price, and those who have already gotten tickets will get a partial refund the day of the event.

Lastly, Senator Sophia Baleeiro announced that the Trick or Treat funding bill, regarding an event taking place on Oct. 30, had a positive recommendation from the finance committee. There will also be an option for students to participate in a haunted house, with the first 100 students getting in without charge.

Oscar-winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu's newest film Digger stars Tom Cruise as a wealthy oil tycoon trying to save humanity before an impending disaster he started. Besides sporting movie star Cruise himself as the lead, the satirical black comedy holds a similarly stacked supporting cast with Riz Ahmed, Sandra Huller and Jesse Plemmons in supporting roles. As a satire, Digger seems to be a promising investigation into the perils of climate change and corporate greed simmering in our society. The film releases this Friday, Oct. 2.

1972 saw the airing of John Berger's influential BBC television mini-series, Ways of Seeing, which has since become a staple in many introductions to art history. The English-born artist, critic and essayist lived from 1926 to 2017, amassing a prodigiously varied oeuvre of novels, poetry, art, and literary and cultural criticism. He married four times and traveled the world; in the second half of his life, he self-exiled himself to a village among the southern French peasantry. Tom Overton, who has previously edited Berger's essays for the collections Portraits and Landscapes, takes on the challenge of describing such a life in John Berger: From Life. In capturing the man whose art was in writing about art, Overton, too, must paint a portrait with words. John Berger: From Life publishes on Sept. 29.

Just barely a year after the release of his fourth studio album Vanisher, Horizon Scraper, Quadeca is already returning to release another album, and it's gearing up to yet more proof of his endless creative evolution. While Vanisher saw Quadeca exploring a distinctly orchestral sound, the singles from Life 1 so far seem to indicate an album that will see much more electronic influence. Fans of indietronica and chamber pop will find Quadeca's new album chockfull of the type of joy that makes the mundanity of everyday life feel beautiful.

Too often, we think of the lush world of tapestry largely as a medium meant to blend into our floors, but Erin M. Riley's work has always been meant to provoke. By drawing from a distinctly American nostalgia, reflections on her past relationships and the erotic, Riley puts to fabric intimate views of her lived experiences. If you're searching for inspiration and insight, come watch her in conversation with the public at the JHU-MICA Film Center this Tuesday!

As always, we hope that something else in the full list below might also pique your interest:

To watch...

• Digger, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu - Oct. 2
• Verity, directed by Michael Showalter - Oct. 2
• Beware Boiuna, directed by Mike P. Nelson - Oct. 2
• Rolling Loud, directed by Jeremy Garelick - Oct. 2
• The Scout, directed by Paula González-Nasser - Oct. 2

To read...

• John Berger: From Life, written by Tom Overton - Sept. 29
• The Only Thing There Is to Want: A Memoir of Three Loves, written by Sarah Hepola - Sept. 29
• Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About the End of the World, written by Dorian Lynskey - Sept. 29
• Man in the Mirror: Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City, written by Anand Giridharadas - Sept. 29

To listen...

• Life 1, by Quadeca - Oct. 1
• Frequency of Love, by Victoria Monét - Oct. 2
• hunting what we already killed, by Dev Lemons - Oct. 2
• QRÖMELIFE, by Quavo - Oct. 2
• walt disco, by Walt Disco - Oct. 2

Live events...

• Visiting Artist Talk: Erin M. Riley - Sept. 29, 2-3 p.m. at the Saul Zaentz Screening Room, 2nd floor, JHU-MICA Film Centre
  • This event is free.
• 2026 Latin American Film Festival: "Bacurau" - Sept. 30, 5-7 p.m. in Room 266, Mergenthaler Hall
  • This event is free.
• THE INVISIBLE YEARS Book Launch Event: A Conversation with Translator Lily Meyer - Oct. 1, 5 p.m. at Bird in Hand Cafe
  • This event is free with registration.
• The Marvelous Magic Lantern - Oct. 1, 6-7:30 p.m. at the Homewood Museum
  • Ticket prices vary between $5-10. This event requires registration.
• New/Next Film Fest - Oct. 1-4 at The Charles Theatre
  • Ticket prices vary.

Agre opened his talk by challenging the notion of the Nobel Prize as the achievement of a lone scientist. After sharing a humorous anecdote in which he credited his wife for much of his success, Agre distilled his message into four words: "Nobody does it alone."

Interestingly, one of Agre's most consequential collaborators was not a scientist at all. It was luck itself. The path to unveiling aquaporins arose from an unexpected finding. His laboratory was studying red blood cells when they encountered a mysterious 28-kilodalton protein.

"The discovery of aquaporin[s] was a total serendipitous observation. Anyone who tells you there was genius is really pulling a fast one because it was an example where a scientist ran into a lucky observation that was not anticipated," Agre said.

But chance alone did not elevate the mysterious protein into a scientific breakthrough. Rather than focusing solely on his own role, Agre repeatedly highlighted the mentors, postdoctoral fellows and collaborators whose observations pushed the research in unexpected directions. Notably, when Agre had first identified the mysterious protein, John C. Parker, his clinical mentor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at the time, recognized its prevalence in water-permeable biological systems and was the first to suggest the possibility of water transport across membranes.

"When I explained [to Parker] what this protein was like, and that it existed not only in red blood cells but renal tubules and in the roots of plants, it's like a light bulb went on over his head. [Parker] smiled and said, 'These are interesting because these are water-permeable membranes.' I'd never considered water transport… and so we sought to test this hypothesis."

With a possible function for the mysterious protein finally in mind, Agre turned to the next question: Could they prove that it actually transported water? Just as Parker helped provide the hypothesis, another collaborator would help produce the experimental evidence. Gregory Preston, Agre's first postdoctoral fellow, helped perform the decisive frog oocyte experiment to test whether the mysterious protein could actually transport water, demonstrating a dramatic increase in membrane water permeability associated with expression of the then-mysterious protein.

"That was extraordinary… Greg's enthusiasm and can-do attitude made it happen," Agre emphasized.

Demonstrating that aquaporins could transport water was only the beginning. Agre and his collaborators next sought to understand where these channels were expressed throughout the body and what physiological roles they played. Søren Nielsen, a postdoctoral fellow from Denmark, became instrumental in connecting the newly identified water channel to kidney function.

"Søren was a brilliant scientist. He localized, with great precision, the locations of the aquaporin-1 protein. It's in the proximal nephron of the kidney," Agre recalled.

Nielsen's work helped demonstrate how aquaporin-1 allows water to move across renal epithelial cells, contributing to the kidney's ability to concentrate urine. But Agre and his team soon found that the family of water channels extended far beyond the kidneys. Namely, aquaporins transport water in the eye, brain, sweat glands, skin, adipose tissue and liver, demonstrating connections to cataracts, brain edema, thermoregulation, skin hydration and metabolism.

As the known functions of aquaporins expanded, so did the network of researchers Agre credited with uncovering them. Looking back at a photograph of his laboratory, he pointed to a group of postdoctoral fellows from eight different countries.

"They've all contributed in important ways to the story," Agre said.

Beyond recognizing the researchers who contributed to the aquaporin story, Agre reflected on what emerging and experienced scientists alike could take away from his journey. Since serendipity played a central role in his own career, he emphasized that researchers can put themselves in a position to recognize unexpected findings.

"You can't engineer luck. But to some extent, you can increase your chances by being technically observant... If something unforeseen shows up and you're very careful, it might be important to take another look."

At the same time, Agre cautioned against treating every unexpected result as a breakthrough. He suggested that scientific curiosity must be balanced with the willingness to let go of findings that cannot withstand rigorous testing. Accordingly, he emphasized the value of discussing uncertain findings with other researchers.

"Having colleagues you can talk to and get wisdom from expands the database that you have to draw from."

In many ways, Agre's advice reflected the same lesson as that of his account of the aquaporin discovery: science does not progress in isolation. The importance of collaboration also emerged in the broader celebration of National Postdoctoral Appreciation Week. During the event's opening remarks, Johns Hopkins Postdoctoral Association Co-President Jose Francisco Delgado Jimenez highlighted the role of postdoctoral researchers and their mentors in advancing scientific discovery.

"Every day, postdocs enrich Johns Hopkins with countless ideas. Guided by our mentors, we develop research proposals, produce scientific publications, build collaborations and drive discovery towards a meaningful impact."

Although Agre stood before the audience as the Nobel laureate whose name has become closely associated with the discovery of aquaporins, much of his story centered on the people who helped make that discovery possible. From an unexpected protein to a Nobel Prize, Agre's journey echoed the four words with which he began his talk.

"Nobody does it alone."

The newly announced exhibit, titled "Tove Jansson and her Families," will feature previously unseen drawings and is "the UK's first ever exhibition to focus on Tove Jansson's work as an illustrator," and runs from Nov. 21, 2026, to May 9, 2027. Most famous for her work on the Moomins, hippopotamus-like creatures both endearing and blunt, Jansson illustrated extensively for numerous magazines and wrote novels such as The Summer Book and Fair Play outside her books for children. In the spirit of this retrospective exhibition, I too wanted to reflect on Jansson's work in the quarter-century after her passing in 2001.

Jansson's childhood

Tove Jansson was born to sculptor Viktor Jansson and graphic designer Signe Hammersten-Jansson in a Swedish-speaking minority within Helsinki, Finland. With a father whose sculptural work is still on display in her hometown, and a mother who "designed most of Finland's postage stamps from 1929 until 1962," Jansson was exposed to aesthetic, bohemian influences from an incredibly early age. The Quentin Blake Center's exhibition will include some of Jansson's earliest humorous magazines and booklets which she sold to her classmates starting from the age of seven.

Her tendency towards satire began early too. According to Jansson's biographer Tuula Karjalainen, she was reprimanded at 12 years old "for drawing a caricature of her teacher on the class black-board." At 16, Jansson went on to study art in Stockholm. While her parents' artistic influences followed her her entire life, she was also exposed to a great drive towards Modernism in the art world of the Finnish 1930s.

The Moomins

In addition to exhibiting her early satirical and comic works, the Quentin Blake Center's exhibition features art depicting "the origins of the beloved Moomins." The Moomins' origins appeared in political cartoons which Jansson drew for Finnish anti-fascist left-wing magazine Garm during her teenage years. According to Kathryn Davis' introduction to Jansson's The Summer Book, an even earlier version appeared as an "insulting portrait of Immanuel Kant... on an outhouse wall after she lost a philosophical quarrel with one of her brothers." Jansson would continue to illustrate for Garm until the end of its publication in 1953, contributing "around five hundred drawings... including every single cover from 1944 onwards."

In her illustrations for Garm, a Moomin-like, long-snouted creature would accompany her signatures. They thus represented Jansson herself, but they would also appear in her more grim, private work to represent "ghostlike and scary creatures... released from the shadowy forces of the subconscious." Yet during World War II, she began to reimagine the Moomins in a world of their own, and "through them she escaped" into the idyllic valley of her children's stories.

But the Moomins were not characters typically featured in magically happy children's books. It was important for Jansson to include more strife and more reality, wishing not "to shut out the mystery, tenderness and cruelty that were a part of the child's world." She may have wanted to escape from the war, but she did not want to deceive herself, nor anyone else. Children, like the main character Moomin or the mischievous Little My, are clever and rambunctious. Indeed, the characters of Moominvalley "often [say] rude things and even [swear] at times." They may not be role models, but they are funny and endearing.

Biographical Influences

Moreover, the Moomins and Jansson's other work often reflected the people in her own life. Family is central to the Moomins in particular. The main family consisting of Moomin, also known as Moomintroll, Moominmama and Moominpapa took after Jansson's own family. Jansson saw herself in the precocious Little My as well as in Moomin himself.

Moomin's best friend, the gruff, always-traveling Snufkin, takes after Finnish left-wing intellectual Atos Wirtanen, whom Jansson was in love with and briefly engaged to. Leaving Moomin and Moominvalley every winter to travel south, Snufkin parallels Wirtanen's absenteeism and need to be alone. Thus left behind, Moomin gave voice to his author's love and love troubles:

"Moomintroll, who waited and yearned so terribly. Who sat there at home, waiting and admiring, and who said: Of course you should be free. It's obvious that you need to go away. And I understand that you have to be alone sometimes.

And at the same time Moomintroll's eyes were dark with disappointment and helpless longing."

Jansson's other works, such as The Summer Book and Fair Play, are equally influenced by her family and loved ones. The Summer Book, written one year after the death of Jansson's mother Signe Hammersten-Jansson, is immanent with quiet grief. The story, a series of vignettes, is set on an island on which a grandmother and her six-year-old granddaughter Sophia live after the death of the latter's mother. They go about exploring the island, observing the animals, writing stories and talking to each other. The two discuss death with a funny casualness which only the very young and very old can manage. A daughter figuring out how to live without a mother, Jansson imbues The Summer Book with the striving working through of loss.

Similarly set on an island, Fair Play captures the serene love between two elderly women, the artist Jonna and the writer Mari. The story is inspired by Jansson's own relationship to her life partner and lover Tuulikki Pietilä, one of Finland's most influential graphic artists who taught at the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki. Like Jansson and Pietilä - who "spent every summer for nearly 30 years" on a "tiny barren island no bigger than a football pitch" - Jonna and Mari work on their crafts and their relationship with each other.

Work and Love

Tuula Karjalainen's biography on Jansson is titled Tove Jansson: Work and Love, named after Jansson's motto: Laborare et Amare. Through her career, Jansson shows that love and work are more than two separate practices to alternate between, but rather two things mutually influencing one another. Her work is full of the people whom she loved, and who loved her in return.

Published at a tumultuously political time, the Moomins drew criticism for "portraying an excessively bourgeois view of the family." It's true that Moominpapa, Moominmama, and Moomin live lives befitting traditional familial and gender roles. Yet their inclusion of and community with other characters, as well as Jansson's own nontraditional life, points toward the flourishing of multiple families, families beyond the family, as circles around one, enriching one's own work and love.

From comic books and outdoor movies to handmade crafts, astrology and neighborhood celebrations, this weekend offers a mix of creative and community events across Baltimore. Saturday brings the Baltimore Comic-Con, a screening of Dirty Dancing under the stars and a local makers market, while Sunday features hands-on sewing, an astrology workshop and the Abell Community Street Fair.

Saturday, September 26

Baltimore Comic-Con, Baltimore Convention Center, Sept. 25-27

The Baltimore Comic-Con returns to the Baltimore Convention Center for a weekend celebrating comic books, creators and pop culture. Attendees can meet artists and publishers, browse vendors, and participate in drop-in art workshops. The convention runs Friday through Sunday, with Sunday programming beginning at 10 a.m.

Silent Movie Night: Dirty Dancing, Canton Waterfront Park, 7-10 p.m.

Watch Dirty Dancing under the stars at Canton Waterfront Park during a special Rhythm & Reels Silent Movie Night. Attendees can follow the movie through event-provided headphones while enjoying the waterfront atmosphere. The event will also feature free popcorn with a gourmet toppings bar and a loaded baked potato bar from Raspberry Moments. Admission is $10 per person.

Mini Maker's Market - It's Fall, Y'all!, R. House, 12-6 p.m.

Head to R. House for the Mini Maker's Market - It's Fall, Y'all, a fall-themed afternoon featuring handmade goods, local crafts and food vendors. Shoppers can browse everything from candles and jewelry to ceramics, artwork and crochet pieces while supporting Baltimore-area makers. Admission is free.

Sunday, September 27

Live Patch Sewing Event by The Flying Puffin, The Charmers Club, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Stop by The Charmers Club for a hands-on customization event with The Flying Puffin. Choose a tote bag or clothing piece or bring in an item of your own, and personalize it with your choice of patches. Pricing varies depending on the item and customization.

The Astrological Sun: Getting to Know Your Sun Sign, Manor Mill, 1-3 p.m.

Explore the meaning of the Sun in astrology during this interactive class with ODastrology. The session will examine how the Sun relates to autonomy, creativity, self-expression and life purpose, including how it can manifest across different signs. Tickets are $40, and attendees should bring a pen and paper and provide their birth information when registering.

Abell Community Street Fair: "Over the Moon," Abell Avenue & 32nd Street, 12-5 p.m.

Celebrate the Abell community at its annual street fair, this year inspired by sci-fi and outer space. The event will feature a silent auction, porch concerts, local food and drinks, art, costumes, and neighborhood decorations. Admission is free, and proceeds support the Abell Improvement Association's year-round community projects.