MF Doom sparked change in hip-hop


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For a while, I never truly ventured into the underground area of hip-hop, choosing to stick to better-known artists. However, I still knew of an underground artist here and there, but nothing substantial like an entire album. Considering I have specific taste in just about everything, you would probably think that the underground and I […]

Before the Flood fails to address specifics


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Leonardo DiCaprio’s venture around the world in an effort to expose the disastrous effects of climate change in the National Geographic documentary, is commendable. In the documentary, Before The Flood, DiCaprio spoke with locals, professionals and powerful leaders such as Barack Obama and Pope Francis. Throughout his trip, DiCaprio witnessed firsthand the industrial pollution in […]

Vegan trips in the Southwest


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Last Monday, as I headed to the PETA Bob Barker Building in Echo Park to pick up literature for an on-campus event, I received a promising opportunity for salvation from Los Angeles. Caroline Gardner, the Youth Outreach Coordinator at peta2 and my tour administrator on the Vans Warped Tour, asked me if I would like […]

Paris also exists in places like LA


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This weekend, I revisited one of my favorite movies, Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. For a large part of this stressful midterm season, my happy place has been sitting in front of a Netflix show with a tub of ice cream, free of responsibility. But after watching the film again, I have traded that vision […]

Blue Train was worth getting teased for


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My friends like to tease me by calling me a hipster. At first, it irritated me. The stereotypical hipster was something that angered me in high school, and to be associated with something like that was like a nightmare that came to life. However, after being called a hipster constantly through the years, I’ve learned […]

Ethical Halloween costume ideas


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Around this time last year, after laying around in my pajamas all day struggling to conceptualize a creative Halloween costume, the idea suddenly came to me. Inspired by the grunge scene of veganism, I decided to take an ethical stand for the environment and animals by dressing up as a goth vegan. The construction of […]

Moonlight tackles diversity in media


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Asking the Hollywood powers for diverse representation in film is like your mom asking you to clean up your room when you’re a child. You know you should do it, but you don’t. When you finally clean up, it’s only until the last minute, like when your mom is throwing a dinner party and expecting […]

Israel is a vegan’s safe haven


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Savory herb-infused deep-fried falafels, aromatic arrays of spices and colorful assortments of dried fruits and nuts — images like these of the Israeli marketplaces I visited this past summer infiltrate my mind as I dissociate from the stresses of school. Struck by an unhealthy dose of wanderlust after my surreal travels in the Middle East, […]