Cultural Commentary

On a Friday night a few months ago, I was on a FaceTime call with some friends, other seniors in high school. We were hanging out in our rooms, scrolling through Snapchat, when a friend of mine mentioned a girl he knew from one of our sister schools. He wanted …

The far-right political influencer Charlie Kirk, shot dead in an assassination at a university campus event Sept. 10, has proven as polarizing in death as he was in life. On the one hand are the MAGA faithful, mourning their preeminent youth-movement leader as a martyr. On the other are detractors …

When Kaden Lopez, 18, was arrested for throwing a bright green dildo into the crowd at a WNBA game in Phoenix earlier this month, he told officers that he was sorry that the sex toy had struck a man and his nine-year-old niece. “It was just a stupid prank that …

To be Black in Martha’s Vineyard in August is momentous. The first week of the month, folks ferry in for Legacy Week — which honors Historically Black Colleges and Universities — and the African American Film Festival in the historically Black neighborhood of Oak Bluffs. Two blocks away from Inkwell …

In December of 2020, amid as Donald Trump pushed conspiracies that the 2020 election had been fraudulently stolen from him, Josh Hawley became the first Republican senator to declare that they would object to the certification of the Electoral College vote. On the morning of January 6, 2021, Hawley (R-Mo.) …

It began innocently enough. I’ve been a writer for several years, and have been freelancing for the past year and a half. In many ways, it has been freeing, but I missed stability, so I started looking for full-time work. A lot of my days consisted of relentlessly churning out …

Stephen Colbert makes me laugh so hard, sometimes it pisses me off. I loved him on Exit 57 and Strangers With Candy, but it was in 1997 — when I was the co-creator and head writer of The Daily Show — that I saw him do what I love most: …

Each year, the trend of the summer emerges like smoke from the Vatican. Two years ago, it was hot pink, officially heralding Barbiecore summer’s arrival. Then, 12 months later, a new plume was lime green to signify the start of Brat summer. Now, the faithful wait in sweltering temperatures to …

On Feb. 18, two weeks after having her son via C-section, Monique Rodriguez was battling postpartum depression. The Black mother of two, who was born and raised in St. Catherine Parish in Jamaica, had come to the U.S. in 2022 on a six-month visa and settled in Florida with her …

Remember that old fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, “The Princess and the Pea”? Whether you’re watching an animated retelling, reading the backstory of a limited edition Barbie doll, or streaming a bootleg version of the musical that once starred Sarah Jessica Parker, the story remains pretty consistent. To test …