Arts Columns
Virtually Famous: Music Journalism in A Social Media World
With social media playing a larger role in determining the music we listen to — and music streaming platforms increasingly resembling social media with features such as followers and likes — artists have claimed greater control over how their music and narratives are communicated to the public
It is All Half Lights* / Before Memorial Day
The androgynous mind sleeps, it is halting/halted, faulting/faulted —
‘There Is No Right Routine’: Zoulfa Katouh on Inspiration, Deadlines, and Navigating Growth
Writing a story changes for everybody. Routines differ by how writers set deadlines and goals, and how they structure their pieces — whether they outline or not. For Katouh, understanding what works best for her work was a large part of her journey as an author.
Weaver’s Way / In Blue
And the ceilings are high, voices echo from two rooms over among arches and paneling. Dark water. A river, green and lapping in a distant country in which I’ve never stepped foot —
Close-Listening: Diving Deep into a Song’s Lyrics
Misheard lyrics can be a golden moment of serendipity. Despite their falsehood, these alternative listenings of a song can open up compelling new interpretations and personal connections to the music.
The Seven Sisters Cliffs and Coastguard Cottages from “Atonement”
England, the site of numerous popular film locations, holds one of the most striking settings in cinema: the Seven Sisters, a stretch of sprawling cliffs in East Sussex.
The Record Review Logs On: YouTubers as Music Critics
Content creators embrace the subjectivity of the genre by sharing the stage equally with the music and putting their passion and appreciation on full display.
In Which I Have a Brief Chat With the Political Consultant Who Stands Outside My Window Every Night, Trying To Tempt Me Just Like Satan to Eve in the Garden of Eden
I close my third-floor Winthrop House window so that I can no longer hear the POLITICAL CONSULTANT. Time for bed.
Pitchfork’s Recipe for the Record Review
In this first installment, I start by assessing Pitchfork’s distinctive brand of album reviews — the bread and butter of music criticism — as the standard for what is both valuable and frustrating about the genre.
A Graveyard, Democratizing Decoration, and Art Beyond Repair: Joyce Kozloff’s ‘New England Decorative Arts’ at Harvard Station
A colorful, eight by 83-foot-long ceramic tile mural against a gently curved wall, Joyce Kozloff's "New England Decorative Arts" has enlivened the Harvard bus terminal’s double-ramp walkway since its installation.
Joanne Chang ’91: Happy Baking
When I walked into Flour Bakery for our interview, Chang stood by the take-out counter, casually helping out with orders. Astute and attentive, she sat across from me at the bar counter, positioning herself in a way so she could keep an eye on the bakery in action.
Inherited / Northeast Regional
Inherited For somewhere, there’s a house that’s burning. An old man rambles how after a hard day of work the first thing
Absence / Siren
Dylan R. Ragas ’26’s column, “Yard Sale Organs,” is a collection of poems that attempt to make sense of a past — real, imagined, but mostly somewhere in between.
‘Good Omens’ the Series: Is it Better than the Book?
“Good Omens” stands on its own as a work of art with intense emotional and artistic appeal. Yet the central question of any adaptation looms above the series: Is it better than the book?
Harvard Station’s ‘Blue Sky on the Red Line,’ and A Case for the Art We Speed Past
I spent an hour and a half in the Harvard Square bus terminal. It wasn’t long enough.
Blood Gone Red / Blood Song
Dylan R. Ragas ’26’s column, “Yard Sale Organs,” is a collection of poems that attempt to make sense of a past — real, imagined, but mostly somewhere in between.
Master of Two Worlds
When Nicholas C. Ige ’25 and Kevin Fischetto ’26 first approached me in the fall, I was immediately drawn to their project for this reason. They offered a solution to my dark days and responses to my endless volley of questions.
Death and Rebirth
“I didn’t feel like I was in my body,” Nicholas C. Ige ’25 recalled from the summit push.
The Road Back
As we splashed about, serenaded by the bleats of mountain goats and kissed by the high-altitude breeze, I could not have felt a purer bliss in the entire world.
Verona / Manhunt
Been thinking a lot about orange and blue. Sun on brick and cerulean skies. How you’d see it and from what vantage point. It’s feeling like
‘Moonlight’ Review: Good, But Not Quite Great
It is not easy to forget the “Best Picture” blunder of the 2016 Oscars, and it was here that I first heard about “Moonlight.”
Crossing the Threshold
Wednesday nights at the Bondi Beach Backpackers hostel in Sydney, Australia, tend to be a little slow. Nicholas C. Ige ’25 and I opted to spend the warm evening outside, lounging in the courtyard alongside other guests similarly worn out from a full day of surfing.