Ross et al.
The fathers of The Strand
Features
Simulacra and stimulation
It’s a two syllable word that is everywhere and nowhere at once. Taboo—easy to miss, yet glaringly obvious. But what does it mean today with the commodification of art? In 2024, A24 released the movie Babygirl, which is about a powerful CEO who engages in a BDSM relationship with her much younger male intern. In
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Phil Ochs: The forgotten voice of protest folk
I can’t stop thinking about the 60s. Today’s world events seem like a strange, disjointed sequel to the events of that time – of protest movements and backlash, of crimes against humanity and their sponsors, of political repression and blacklisting. One voice from that time keeps coming back to me: Phil Ochs, a largely forgotten
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Wake up sheeple?
Conspiracies and pseudoscience: how “crunchy” ideals can go hand-in-hand with right-wing politics The term ‘sheeple’ has become popular within many communities to denote groups who are seemingly “brainwashed” by any large institution. But who really are the “sheeple”? And what are they expected to believe when they “wake up”? According to psychoanalyst Manfred Kets de
“Gin will make you blind!”
“Old wives’ tales,” dementia, and piecing together the metaphysical enigma that is my grandmother’s life “Y’know, my mother always told me that gin would make you blind, and that’s also what Äiti (Äiti means “mother” in Finnish, but has become synonymous in our family with my great great grandmother’s name) said to her, so I’ve
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Why we love the rats in our walls
The strange paradox of student apartments If you’ve ever lived in a student apartment, you already know the script: the shower that you can never quite get clean, the landlord who ghosts you once rent is paid, the mysterious smell that no amount of Febreze can fix. My place, the bottom half of a creaky
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Is the new superman movie really pro-Palestine?
The illusion of subversion: how Hollywood packages “progressive” stories Recently, the new Superman film sparked significant discussion online about supposedly being an allegory for the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Or maybe it was about Ukraine. Or Kashmir. Truthfully, it was hard to discern the film’s political messaging. Superman depicts a generic oppressed nation, without giving
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Don’t fear the mess
The dangers of relying on ‘AI Therapists’ “Imagine a world in which the answer to ‘Am I the asshole?’ is always a firm, reassuring no.” In a The New Yorker article published last month, Paul Bloom, a moral psychology researcher at UofT, explores the risks of AI’s sycophantic behavior—the models’ tendency to prioritize flattery over
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Shock, awe, and Trump’s first month back in office
An account of the state of American politics Only a month into the second Trump presidency, it feels like it has been 30 months. While the early days of his first term were mired in disorganisation and uncertainty, he has not made the same mistakes. Instead, the administration has moved at an unprecedented speed in
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Date The Strand
Everyone’s favourite dating game a. Pooja Position: The court jester (social media manager) Worst advice someone has given you about dating: people say you should never ask a woman her age… but how else am I gonna get her time of birth for cafe astrology?? What is your go-to pick-up line? Are you hot or