Club Penguin , during the golden age of the kid web, holds the record for the most popular child-oriented MMO game in history, with over 200 million registered users by 2013. (Credit: Club Penguin Legacy ) The year is 2008. You have just arrived home after a long day of elementary school. You enter your home, drop your backpack to the ground, and rush over to the family computer (located, of course, in the family computer room). There, you log on to your favorite website, whe

Social Isolation is known to have many adverse mental, physical, and emotional effects The 18th-century French poet Joseph Roux  once said that “Solitude vivifies. Isolation kills.” There has been much debate  about the distinction between the states of solitude vs isolation  – if you can even consider them states of being, rather than places, conditions, mindsets, or afflictions. As supported by Roux’s quote, solitude doesn’t necessarily bear the negative connotations that i

St. Bonaventure Catholic Church- Decades of scandal, secularization, and cultural shifts have seen organized religion relegated to the rear of culture, leading to a poorer civil society and a more polarized populace. (Image courtesy of Abandoned America and Matthew Christopher) As American life has continued to change and evolve, one of the most dramatic, if underreported, shifts in its culture has been the decline of both religious belief as a whole and organized religion in

Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, circa 1980s- Although the parade still occurs every year, the unique culture of artists that birthed it is now with the undead. (Image courtesy of Curbed and Scott Laperruque) “For masterpieces,” Virginia Woolf said , “are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common.” In the modern era, our culture has been driven by artists and the communities they build together; innovators set the tone, and th

Derek “More Plates More Dates” Monroe and Joe Rogan are just two of the many influencers spreading the gospel of testosterone to young men online  (Credit: Instagram @MorePlatesMoreDates) "It's real simple,” declares Joe Rogan , the most-listened-to podcaster in the world. “If you're fine with not feeling as good—good! But if you're not fine with it... hormone replacement therapy exists for a reason, and that reason is it makes you feel way better.” Over on YouTube, Derek of

Sometimes things just aren't that complicated (Kasia Babis, The Nib) “I can’t follow politics these days, the political scene is so crazy. There are just so many nasty comments on both sides.” This sentiment is one I have heard from many people both online and in person over the past decade, and it drives me up a wall. It seems that we live in a time where staying in the politically inoffensive middle ground on the basis of intellectualism and rationality is prioritized over

Popular love confession scene from season 3 episode 7 of ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty,’ featuring male lead Conrad Fisher Somewhere on TikTok, a man is staring out a rain-soaked window. “He yearns,” the caption reads, as a Phoebe Bridgers song swells in the background. In the comments, hundreds of people lose their minds over the emotional depth of a guy who has not, by any means, said a single word. Welcome to today’s cultural moment, where longing — gentle, aesthetic, prefer

Cover of Final Fantasy XV: Comrades The act of gathering in a shared space is the foundation of a community’s thriving health, but with...

Thrifting is more popular than ever among college students Although this sentiment has recently been called into question , Gen Z is...

“Listen, it might not be an Oscar winner, but it’s one of those movies that you can enjoy if you just turn your brain off!” This refrain...

In his darkest hour, George Bailey finds solace in the friends he made along the way Four years ago, I watched It’s A Wonderful Life  for...

A dystopian Washington D.C. in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale , Season 3 Episode 6.    Vote, they tell us. Fulfill your civic duty. Let your...

Student section at a University of Maryland vs. University of Southern California football game When surrounded by hundreds of other...

One of the few surviving images from Coyote vs. Acme  (Eric Bauza) With Will Forte as the lead role and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Samy...

“ I’m Sorry, I Can’t Always Know the Answer .”  The debate over the value of standardized testing, specifically in regards to college...

An example  of how, in meme culture, “little treats” are used to deflect against difficult times.  Do you ever feel the need to soothe...

The cast of the original Star Trek series . There she was, going boldly where no man had gone before. Or should I say, no woman. In Star...

Outside the walls of Kærshovedgård, where fortified points of entry are visible, marked by fences and biometric gates. The contributor is...

“Mineral-rich central Africa becomes a focal point in US-China tug of war.” The Congressional hearing on China and the Democratic...

Digital Art of Five Pregnant Women Holding Their Bellies Starting the next generation of thinkers, creators, and change-makers takes a...