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September 11, 2025 September 11, 2025 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

Arts & Entertainment

Shakira and Jennifer Lopez claimed the spotlight at the Super Bowl

By JAE CHOI and KATY OH | February 6, 2020

The Super Bowl is a prominent feature of American culture. Every year, millions of people tune in to watch the highly-anticipated big game in the company of their friends and family.  This year was no exception: Variety estimated that around 102 million people tuned in to the 2020 Super Bowl. However, what is striking about the Super Bowl as an event is that there are so many other aspects to it besides the actual football game that draw in viewers. One of these is the halftime show. 

HARALD KRICHEL/CC BY-SA 4.0 Dua Lipa released a new single for her album Future Nostalgia this week.

Dua Lipa’s new single and music video fall flat

By YOOSOO YEO | February 6, 2020

You’ve probably heard of Dua Lipa, whether you’ve danced to her music or glossed over her name on Spotify’s top pop songs list. An English singer, Lipa has not only become a pop sensation at home but has also broken into American charts in recent years. 

DisneyPlus releases new Pixar animation series

By SEAN GLAISTER | February 6, 2020

For years, Disney’s animated shorts have always come to the rescue on free nights when I had nothing much to do. Unfortunately there are only so many times that I can rewatch Disney’s collection of animated shorts on Netflix and still tear up to The Little Match Girl or have my heart ache during Paperman (although I still do).

COURTESY OF KATY OH Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, performed at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall downtown.

Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs with the BSO

By KATY OH | February 6, 2020

After Spotify’s end-of-the-year wrap-up informed me that I had the tendency of listening to the same songs on repeat, I decided what my grand — for an introvert, at least — 2020 New Year’s resolution would be: to listen to a greater variety of music in settings where I could not be simply wired to a device. 

Courtesy of Kanak Gupta The first performance followed the story of siblings writing a “collab story.”

String Theory Theater tugs at your heartstrings

By KANAK GUPTA | January 30, 2020

After having only ever seen puppet shows in movies and on TV all my life, I, at the age of 21, finally saw one in person, and it was an utter joy. The show was put on by Baltimore-based troupe String Theory Theater (STT) and guest puppeteer Schroeder Cherry at The Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center on Saturday, Jan. 26.

Martin Kraft / CC BY-SA 3.0 Greta Gerwig directed the seventh film adaptation of the novel Little Women

New adaptation of Little Women has progressive take

By SEAN GLAISTER | January 30, 2020

Louisa May Alcott’s story, Little Women, whose volumes were published in 1868 and 1869, remains a truly timeless piece, as seen in the recent release of its seventh film adaptation by director and screenwriter Greta Gerwig this past Christmas. Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women brilliantly showcased the story and has received six Oscar nominations including: Best Picture, Best Actress (Saoirse Ronan), Best Supporting Actress (Florence Pugh), Best Original Score (Alexander Desplat), Best Adapted Screenplay (Greta Gerwig), and Best Costume Design (Jacqueline Durran).

1917 is a fresh, poignant addition to war cinema

By BINYAMIN NOVETSKY | January 30, 2020

There were a few things about my own personal experience watching 1917 — a movie nominated for 10 Academy Awards this year — that were particularly frustrating. The group of 12-year-old boys in the back of the theater talking and laughing at pretty much full volume throughout the movie was one. The fact that my viewing experience was also interrupted midway by an entirely unnecessary and poorly placed intermission was another.

courtesy of eunice park Writer and activist Chana Porter reads from the beginning of her new novel.

Activist Chana Porter introduces new novel

By EUNICE PARK | January 30, 2020

Let’s be honest: Writing a novel is an intense and mentally draining process. To write an ironically utopian novel is, in itself, a difficult task, but to also perform a public book reading less than a month after it’s been published is no small feat. However, on Jan. 23, Chana Porter did just this as she seamlessly read through the beginning of her novel, The Seep, and subsequently held a live Q&A session with audience members at Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse. 

Courtesy of Tineer Ahmed Brockhampton interspersed their energetic set list with mellow songs.

Heaven Belongs to You Tour marks a new era of BROCKHAMPTON

By VICTORIA STEPANYANTS | December 5, 2019

This Thanksgiving break, my stuck-on-campus self and a friend who lives half an hour away hopped on the MARC train at our respective stops to reunite in D.C. for an evening we had planned in August — a concert part of BROCKHAMPTON’s Heaven Belongs to You Tour, which was happening on Monday, Nov. 25. 

COURTESY OF NICK BOSWELL Dylan Kwang is a junior studying biomedical engineering and visual arts.

Artist Spotlight: Dylan Kwang, an artistic satirist

By JAE CHOI | December 5, 2019

From a young age, Hopkins junior, Dylan Kwang has immersed himself in the arts. Having taken painting and illustration classes all throughout elementary, middle and high school, art is something that has always been an influence in his life. 

For a history on etching, visit the Met in New York

By BINYAMIN NOVETSKY | December 5, 2019

Over Thanksgiving break, I had the privilege of visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Unfortunately, their collection of European painting from the years 1200-1800 are mostly not on display due to ongoing renovations. There was, however, a new and different exhibit I had the opportunity to see, and it was absolutely fascinating. 

Freer Gallery honors Hokusai’s enduring artistry

By KAYLEE ZOU | December 5, 2019

Located in the heart of the National Mall is the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the two galleries are adjacent and attached to one another, forming a joint museum that focuses on Asian art. Currently on display at the Freer Gallery for the next year is the exhibit “Hokusai: Mad about Painting,” which I went to view over this Thanksgiving break. 

Manfred Werner/CC By-S.A 3.0 Shirin Neshat is an artist who explores themes relating to womanhood.

The Broad revisits the work of Shirin Neshat

By ELIZA ZIMMERMAN | December 5, 2019

I first became familiar with Shirin Neshat during my senior year of high school. Her piece “Rebellious Silence,” a black and white photograph of a woman’s face bisected by a gun barrel and written over with Farsi poetry from her “Women of Allah” series, was a standout work in the Global Contemporary section of the AP Art History exam’s 250 works. 

Frank Schwichtenberg/CC BY-S.A 4.0 Coldplay’s decision to not promote their new album on tour was a surprise.

Coldplay’s new album takes a political stance

By SEAN GLAISTER | December 5, 2019

We’ve all grown up with Coldplay. From their saddest songs like “The Scientist” or “Yellow,” to their jubilant hit, “Hymn For the Weekend,” their artistic and instrumental style of music has an almost universal appeal. Not to mention that from their seven studio albums released between 2000 and 2017, they’ve managed to rack up 29 Grammy nominations and six wins.

Gage Skidmore/CC By-S.A-2.0 Jamie Lee Curtis plays successful businesswoman who protects her family.

Knives Out is a fresh and riveting murder mystery

By COLE DOUGLASS | December 5, 2019

I’ll just start off this review by saying that there was very little possibility that I was not going to enjoy Knives Out. I’ve been in love with the murder mysteries ever since I stayed up all night reading Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None in sixth grade, so a film based around the key motifs of her style — an eccentric detective, an ornate mansion, a web of lies and an overly-complicated murder plot — was almost certainly going to be a hit in my eyes.

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