Columns
The K-Indie Scene
Some people are still arguing over whether “indie” constitutes a real genre on its own, but for the sake of clarity, K-indie can be understood as an umbrella term for certain subculture music genres of South Korea—whether hip-hop, R&B, alternative rock, or another genre in nature. K-indie music is produced by artists who work independent of the major producers and entertainment corporations on the scene in Seoul, such as the “Big 3” companies: SM, YG, and JYP Entertainment.
A Penny, For Your Thoughts
Pennies may be worthless on their own, especially in the machine of the economy. Alone they are no more special than something as coarse and quotidian as tears. We give things value by wedding them to our experience: with our words, our sighs, our stories. The French philosopher Alain Badiou explains (recently, in a fun video series!) that money has personal value only in the implied access it gives us to our various desires. He says that the limits of these desires are in turn related to the limits of our language.
On Logan Leslie (Again)
I’m not attempting to endorse Leslie here. Rather, I aim to disendorse the way the bulk of Harvardians responded to his candidacy.
Wage Against the Machine
Two summers ago, I landed in Lyons, France with six euros in my wallet, only enough for a meal at the local McDonald’s. I was afraid that I could not name anything on the menu besides “royale with cheese,” but instead of being greeted by a French-speaking cashier, I stood in front of a kiosk that displayed food items in photos and multiple languages. It was effortless to order what I wanted despite the language barrier, and I got my food almost immediately after paying at the same kiosk.
More Than a Job
A person can’t do everything at once, but Ernest L. Greer ’88 gets close. He is the chair-elect of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
Lamonsters and Little Einsteins
I double-dog-dare you to go to Lamont tonight, or any night, after about 10 p.m. Go there not to study your books, but the people sitting all around you. It’s going to be hair-raising, eye-opening, trust me.
This Column is Experimenting
The truth is, hooking up is good or bad depending on who you are and where you’ve been (that’s as literal as you want it to be).
The Gangs of YouTube
On YouTube, anyone can find a home. There are the amateur twerkers, the singers trying to go viral with their renditions of “Wrecking Ball,” the comedians, the rappers, the cats, the news reporters’ bloopers, and the politicians’ filibusters. I am happy all of these different types of videos have found a haven on YouTube and personally spend many hours watching marriage proposal fails. But lately, it seems more and more that YouTube’s welcoming nature towards content is also dangerous. It has become an outlet for crime, criminals, and violence. Everything from videos of beheadings to gang initiations, YouTube too often gives violence a popular forum where an audience can watch and learn.
Sexing Discourse
The question of sex positivity has a fraught history within feminist and queer movements.
Reign On Her Parade
The CW’s new series, “Reign,” is one of many series that attempts to inject sex into history. The teen drama about Mary, Queen of Scots, is not the first—nor will it be the last—television show to force historic figures into every sex position and pairing possible and lead to wonderfully misinformed high school history papers. Recently, however, “Reign” has caught the attention of critics because of the CW’s decision to cut a masturbation scene from the pilot episode, highlighting network television’s aversion to self-pleasure.
Charmingly Ghetto
“Peace man. It’s CG. I believe we can blur the lines of academia and hip-hop in a very subtle way. Get the ball rolling with new leaders of industry at esteemed Ivy institutions, etc. All through what we converse about, you know? Peace.” This is the first text message I receive from Charmingly Ghetto, the Boston rapper I’ve chosen to profile next for this column.
It’s Only Awkward if you make it Awkward
Which is why every time I knock on a door with my cleaning supplies bucket and mop pole in hand, I pray that nobody answers. I bet that on a list of the most awkward situations in which Harvard students frequently find themselves, being in the room while a Dorm Crew worker cleans one’s bathroom is at the top.
OUT OF LEFT FELD: Changing of the Guard in Ivy League Football
The final notes were the same, but the songs were completely different.
AROUND THE IVIES: Football Faces First True Ivy Test
A new application season starts Saturday. When the Princeton football team gets off the bus at Harvard Stadium, the Ivy League will officially begin taking applications for its next gridiron champion.
Fewer Existential Crises, More Babies
Secular liberals, male and female, I urge you: fewer existential crises, more babies.
Don’t Teach For America
But it has become increasingly clear to anyone who thinks critically about teaching that there’s something off with TFA’s model.
Disjecta Membra
He’s off on another brisk morning jog by the Charles. When he pauses to lie down in the grass, twigs and critters catch in his hair. He has a full set of straight teeth, absenting those ultimate molars. How fine to be young—virile, puerile, here for a while. Everything is exactly right for a second-year Harvard student with a heart full of love, healthy and clear-headed, stretching his legs on a Sunday antemeridian to feed Pringles to the geese. So why the funk? Do you still want to be a pre-med? He don’t like these questions—so he runs. Ah: runs. Riverrun past Leverett and Mather and Updike’s environs.
Men in K-Pop: From “Flower Boys” to “Beast-dols”
The confusing and at times contradictory portrayals of males in K-pop are all part of a greater multi-layered, culturally mixed, and strategically manufactured marketing ploy, but also extremely fitting to the greater social changes witnessed in the nation of South Korea.
Citizen Keynes
The life-as-morality-play narrative remains the dividing line between conservative and liberal economists, but has more concrete impact than an inconsequential academic debate.
What Color Is Your Column?
Sitting around worrying about what to study won’t get me anywhere—studying something will.