If you’ve ever felt sad or lonely, wished you could just be anyone but yourself, and been so down in the dumps that you didn't know what to do next, then Bo Burnham has the perfect remedy for you: kill yourself. Via an up-tempo piano ballad in his most recent Netflix special Make Happy (2016), Burnham wistfully, yet ruthlessly, indicts both the pop music stars who commodify … [Read more...] about Stand Up or Kill Yourself: The Moral Balancing Act of Suicide-Related Comedy -Michael Savio
Creative
New Millennium Business: The Music Streaming Generation
In 2003, Apple largely changed the music industry with its introduction of iTunes, a digital marketplace for music. By this point technology was shifting to become smaller and handheld, and the world was simultaneously beginning to combine phones with music listening devices. iTunes was revolutionary in terms of both content and accessibility for users, and was generally … [Read more...] about New Millennium Business: The Music Streaming Generation
I Want to Break Free: Confinement and Liberation in Plath’s Colossus Poems
In Sylvia Plath’s The Colossus and Other Poems, one of the most prevalent motifs is the speaker’s feeling of confinement or suffocation. The majority of poems in this collection depict the speaker resigning and accepting their state of imprisonment. Many scholars, such as Maher A. Mahdi, find that Plath’s poetry reflects “a suppressed state that inspires a fervent … [Read more...] about I Want to Break Free: Confinement and Liberation in Plath’s Colossus Poems
The Keeper of Half Missing Men
Nate Gualtieri is a writer and filmmaker originally from Boston, Massachusetts. His television pilot script, Badwater, recently placed in the Second Round at the Austin Film Festival. In his spare time, he enjoys backpacking, long-distance running, and baking. It is morning again, a quiet one, and I slip … [Read more...] about The Keeper of Half Missing Men
The Things We Did in Texas
Nina Varela is a junior Writing for Screen & Television major at USC's School of Cinematic Arts. Her short stories and poetry have received national awards and literary publication since she was 14. At SCA, her screenwriting has been produced on a professional level after winning the prestigious 480 Contest. When she's not writing, Nina enjoys curling up with some … [Read more...] about The Things We Did in Texas