popular culture

Could we be living in a simulation created by an advanced civilization? Philosopher Nick Bostrom argues that it’s possible, at least in theory, to create a program in which artificially conscious…

Naz & Maalik is a groundbreaking film. Featuring two black, gay Muslim teenage boys, the film, written and directed by Jack Dockendorf, is based on interviews with youth living at the intersections of…

Like many, I was more than a little excited about the opening of the new Coen Brothers film, Hail, Caesar!, about a day in the life of a 1950s Hollywood studio executive. As the editor of a new book…

Last month, a yoga class at the University of Ottawa that was cancelled amid accusations of cultural appropriation made a quiet return to the class schedule. The controversy initially erupted in…

I don’t like Beyoncé in the way that some people do—I am not a bee in the hive. I do, however, recognize greatness when I see it, and Beyoncé’s “Formation” is just that. Beyonce’s African and “Creole”…

Et tu, Beyoncé? #ReclaimtheBindi wants to challenge cultural appropriation of traditional symbols.

This fall marked the third anniversary of a record-breaking event—and one that serves well as a metaphor for our emerging digital economy. In October 2012, stuntman Felix Baumgartner jumped from a 24…

“Turn on, tune in, drop out.” Timothy Leary’s famous exhortation still influences our view of so-called psychedelic or hallucinogenic substances. We might associate psychedelics with the excesses of…

Masculinity made the news again. We see it in the standoff between a self-described militia and the Federal Government in Rose, Oregon. It is in the raging debate over gun policy and in the candidacy…

Over the weekend, the #realclergybios hashtag spread like Gospel on Twitter, with countless pastors and seminarians shelling out hard truths about everything from doubting one’s vocation to fighting…