One increasingly common phrase today is “I’m just not a political person.” In many ways, it reflects the same cultural instinct behind the popular mantra of “protecting my peace”—a desire to avoid situations that feel too confrontational, uncomfortable, or draining. Of course, setting healthy boundaries is important. No one should feel obligated to be consumed by the 24-hour news cycle or engage in every single political conversation they encounter. However, political participation is a core aspect of a healthy democracy, which often means stepping into uncomfortable situations. The idea of “protecting our peace” has become deeply ingrained in online culture.…

I was doing an assignment for one of my political science classes, and I came across a question regarding the ethical implications of certain experiments. The given example was an experiment investigating the connection between exposure to political advertisements (X) and individual voting outcomes (Y). The experimental design in this hypothetical consisted of researchers buying ad space on Facebook and randomly showing different political advertisements to users. When I was thinking about the potential ethical implications of this scenario, I came up with a few, what I thought were obvious concerns: privacy, informed consent, and the broader effects on a…

Love Island is a reality TV “dating” competition where a group of singles live in a luxury island villa. Contestants must explore their “connections,” “couple up,” do various challenges, and try their best to gain popularity with the audience in order to avoid elimination. At the end, a grand cash prize awaits the most popular couple by vote. In addition to the original contestants, new singles, or “bombshells,” are introduced into the villa to test the existing couples. To make things even messier mid-season, more new singles are introduced when the men and women split up into two different locations:…

It often seems like meaningful conversations are becoming increasingly rare: especially about difficult and uncomfortable topics. That problem isn’t confined to politics. In many ways, today’s dating culture reveals the same patterns that have come to define our political discourse. In today’s dating world, the trend of being “nonchalant” normalizes apathy and emotional distance. Similarly, in our political culture, social media echo-chambers and divisive political campaigning have made people less inclined to engage in meaningful conversations — especially with those who disagree with their views. The popularization, and arguably glorification, of “situationships” and poor communication reflects the same underlying tendency…

If you’ve been on the internet at all over the past two years, you’ve probably heard the word “brainrot.” Colloquially, “brainrot” is a collection of social media slang and content such as “6-7,” “rizz,” “gyatt,” “skibidi,” “fanum tax” etc., even expanding to “Italian Brainrot” which refers to specific characters such as “Ballerina Capuccina,” “Tung Tung Tung Sahur,” etc. This type of content is associated with short-form videos, AI-generated content, and doomscrolling and the harmful psychological effects it has, especially on the younger generation. According to Oxford University Press, “brainrot” is broadly defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental…

We live in the Information Age. Knowledge is more accessible than ever before, but it’s not just search engines that provide this access. Social media platforms have allowed for people across the globe to take a glimpse into each other’s lives. People can know what is taking place in another part of the world just by opening Instagram Reels or TikTok. In this way, social media acts as a vehicle for globalization, increasing visibility, and interconnectedness around the world. Of course, this has its benefits, but is it a good thing to be exposed to so much content constantly? The…

Is your mayor a spy? This sounds like a joke or a conspiracy theory, but this story is very real. Headlines about mayors being agents of the CCP might seem like McCarthy-era accusations or a plot-line from a political drama TV-show like “Homeland” or “House of Cards.” However, Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, California, recently resigned from office on May 11, 2026 after agreeing to plead guilty to charges of acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government. According to federal prosecutors, Wang allegedly used her political position to advance the interests of Chinese officials while concealing those…

Recently, international law, or more specifically, violation of international law, has been at the forefront of the media. For example, the U.S.- Israeli attacks on Iran have been criticized as a breach of UN Charter Article 2(4). The United Nations has “condemned” these actions, but nothing has actually been done. This has called into question the effectiveness of international law: why do these rules matter if countries are not actually obliged to follow them? What’s the point of international law? First, we need to establish there are two kinds of international law: binding and non-binding. So which one is more…