During and following the pandemic, reading has been on the rise. This has been evident among online communities, like and including TikTok’s “BookTok.” There, readers share book reviews, talk about their reading habits and recommend books to other TikTok users.
Donald Trump’s legal woes have become something of a spectacle, with a new case or arraignment seemingly arriving every week. However, it seems that these felonies are having practically no impact on his presidential ambitions.
National and regional elections are taking place in more than 50 countries around the world in 2024, including 7 of the 10 most populous countries. The presidential and legislative elections put to test human rights, economies, international relations, and prospects for peace in at least 64 countries. Among these, the spotlight is placed on five nations standing at critical crossroads: Taiwan, facing an existential threat from Beijing; the United States, navigating a divided nation; Russia, under the unrelenting grip of Putin; and India and Pakistan, enduring democratic hurdles amid regional pressures.
The global political order is seeing an unprecedented level of conflict with the United States being a key actor in most of them. If you think of most prominent conflicts or humanitarian crises going on today, our country, for better or for worse, has played a role. Given the current tumultuous nature of U.S. policy, both foreign and domestic, understanding why and how these policies came about is crucial and a key factor in this year’s upcoming elections.
TikTok, which started as a platform to share dance and lip-sync videos, has now become a hotbed for political and social movements, subcultures and ideologies — one of which is the “tradwife” movement. Tradwife videos often show conventionally attractive white women in picture-perfect homes (or aesthetically “messy” farmhouses) wearing ironed sundresses covered with an apron, tending to their brood of children, making food from scratch and speaking in a feminine lilt.
From animal print to baby tees and low-rise jeans, fashion styles from the early 2000s are trending amongst Gen Z. Many people know this as “Y2K” style, giving new meaning to the shorthand term for “the year 2000” which was used to describe a number of potential programming errors that were anticipated when computer systems switched from the year 1999 to 2000.
Nowadays, it seems like politics is absolutely everywhere (we are in an election year, after all), but one of the most controversial collaborations often comes when our elected leaders leave the swamp and step into the turf; or vice versa, when our favorite athletes exit the court and stand at the pulpit.
I don’t remember the first time I ever watched a sports game. I think it might have been Minor League Baseball when my family trekked to a local stadium when we lived in Pennsylvania. Or, it might have been watching the World Cup with my dad and my sister.
As we scroll through TikTok, our screen is littered with the words “mob wife,” “coquette,” “office siren,” “clean girl,” “quiet luxury,” “rockstar girlfriend” — just to name a few. I think I can ask the question that we are all wondering: What do any of these words even mean? What do they look like? Why can I not escape them?
News has evolved into increasingly shorter formats, shrinking from newspapers to newsletters, and, now, you can pretty much stay updated with just a few quick scrolls through your social media feeds. From the latest OpenAI breakthroughs to the chaos of recent elections, it’s all there.
For me, Barbie was vibrant and fun, while also surprisingly moving. I went to watch it with my mom, expecting a nostalgic movie about a doll I had owned as a child. But, Greta Gerwig tackled strong themes of patriarchy and feminism through Margot Robbie’s Barbie and Ryan Gosling’s Ken.
Following the Queen’s passing in Sept. 2022, the official announcement on the royal family’s Twitter account became the most popular tweet of the week, receiving millions of likes. With over thirteen million Instagram followers, the Royal Family has accumulated a serious social media following.
The "alt-right" or "alternative right" encompasses a collection of far-right ideologies with strong associations to nativism and populism.
Bringing back paper towels cut into the budget allocated to library bathrooms. Citing the planned renovations to Milton S. Eisenhower (MSE) Library, the University informed SGA representatives that funds are drying up. Administration issued an ultimatum, and SGA faced a harrowing decision: the choice to fund either the upkeep of paper towels… or soap.
Last night, an official announcement shared on the most trustworthy campus resource, Sidechat, caused a shockwave through the Hopkins community. The announcement, receiving a record number of upvotes, stated that the Hopkins Seven will henceforth be known as the Hopkins Ten, effective Monday, April 1.
On Monday, April 1, the University announced that the Freshman Quad Annex will be back on campus in Fall 2024 to serve as an additional study space while the Milton S. Eisenhower Library (MSE) is under renovation. The News-Letter previously raised concerns about the lack of study spaces for students, and we are pleased to see the University take such concrete and effective action.
The University announced the creation of the Center for Campus Innovation and Development, which will oversee all of the University’s current and future expansion projects in the Homewood area and beyond. This decision was announced on Monday, April 1 by President Ronald J. Daniels and Constructor-in-Chief Bob D’Bilder, in an email broadcasted to the Hopkins community.
Heat, thunderstorms and sudden rises and drops in temperature were what September brought to Maryland. I had never appreciated Baltimore’s weather as a Maryland native, but the transition from summer to fall seemed particularly bad this year. In a few weeks, I ran out of patience trying to find the right transitional outfits and relied on a pullover sweater to keep myself warm on those chilly days.
I first heard of the idea of romance in platonic relationships at a Barbie movie after-party. We were playing some game — the name of which I can’t remember — that asked questions to help everyone at the party get to know one another better. The game was going well, funny stories and embarrassing moments were being shared when suddenly a question stunned the group.
