’90s Kid Unleashed

Ellen Murray

Ellen Murray is a senior writing about being a millennial. Her column, “’90s Kid Unleashed,” typically ran every other Monday.


Featured columns


’90s Kid Unleashed: It’s the end of the world and we know it: fatalism and humor 
Call it sarcasm, satire, absurdism, irony, gallows humor, black comedy or dark humor: Fatalistic millennial humor is all of this, everything in between and a little extra thrown in like cilantro to delight or disgust you, depending on your taste.


’90s Kid Unleashed: Instagram aestheticizes harmful diet culture
On Instagram, the camera eats first — but should we really be giving an app so much control over our dietary choices?


’90s Kid Unleashed: Understanding who is actually canceled in cancel culture
On Instagram, the camera eats first — but should we really be giving an app so much control over our dietary choices?Anyone who’s regularly on Twitter knows the speed at which cancellations occur, but they also know these controversies are often self-contained within the 280-character limit of the platform.


’90s Kid Unleashed: Celebrity excess clashes with growing sustainability trend
There is a real irony of affordability here because unlike the Kardashians, who could literally fashion their own reusable bottles made out of diamonds, the average consumer cannot afford eco-friendly reusable products.


’90s Kid Unleashed: People should not apply a sports-like culture to politics
On Instagram, the camera eats first — but should we really be giving an app so much control over our dietary choices?The sports culture of American politics presents several dilemmas, but the infancy of this red-blue color scheme offers hope.


’90s Kid Unleashed: Our current environmentalist movement forgets the 3 Rs
Let’s think about that sea turtle choking on your plastic straw from Starbucks that you used despite the strawless lid — yes, I see you.


’90s Kid Unleashed: Reconstructing identities in the age of Instagram
Instagram is not just a representation of our lives but a “re-presentation.”


’90s Kid Unleashed: Stress and sleep deprivation are not personality traits
Worshipping at the shrine of USC’s stress culture leaves students burned out and grasping for meaning.


’90s Kid Unleashed: Millennials share duck-and-cover drills with Baby Boomers
Can the Cold War help us to understand how mass shootings will shape Generation Z as they come of age and come to the polls?


’90s Kid Unleashed: Does this face mask make me look happy?
Millennial skin care culture reveals deeper anxieties and calls to question our understanding of self care.


’90s Kid Unleashed: So you say you’re moving to Canada: a helpful guide
Acknowledge your privilege and confront the power embedded within the rhetoric we engage with every day.