BY: JESSICA BEUKER South of Mexico City, between the canals of Xochimilco, you will find La Isla de las Munecas—otherwise known as the Island of the Dolls. While thousands of people live in the area, the island itself is home…
Expression & Culture
This sculptor proves there is a beautiful harmony between science and art
BY: CAROLINE ROLF Nathalie Miebach transforms weather patterns and climate change data into extraordinary pieces of art. First, she creates a vibrant sculpture based on the statistics and then translates it into musical score. The sculptures are the basis for her partnership with…
In a country that values boys, one village honours girls and the environment in a unique way
BY: CAROLINE ROLF Every culture holds its own unique celebration when a child is born. In a society where the birth of a girl is far less celebrated than the birth of a boy, one village in India shows their…
Welcome to Poison Garden, where literally everything can kill you
BY: JESSICA BEUKER The Alnwick Garden, which sits adjacent to Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England has become a must-see tourist attraction. The stunning complex of gardens encompasses 14 acres of lush greenery and colourful flowers, manicured topiaries, beautiful water fountains,…
The story of Agafia Lykova is one of survival, raw courage and the search for freedom
By: JACK M. This is a story of perseverance, survival and of the immeasurable capacity of the human spirit. Agafia Lykova was born in Siberia, and for all of her 72 years she has lived in isolation, away from…
These bloggers are paid to test sex toys, but it’s not as easy as it looks
BY: KATE SLOAN Featured image by: Cara Sutra My dad started to get suspicious when I got three boxes of dildos in the mail in one week. He didn’t know they were dildos. But it didn’t matter. It seemed strange.…
How binge-watching is ruining television and making you depressed
BY: JESSICA BEUKER Ten years ago, Netflix streaming didn’t exist. If you wanted to watch a television show, you had to tune in on a specific time of the week, where you would watch one episode of the show and…
This slam poet delivers a powerful message to rape survivors
BY: JESSICA BEUKER In 1998, Bitch Media published an article titled, “The Collapsible Woman: Cultural Response to Rape and Sexual Abuse.” The article detailed the ways in which the media is quick to label survivors as being debilitatingly sensitive and…
And the (Ig)Nobel Prize in wacky science goes to…
By: JACK M. We’ve all heard of the Nobel Prize, that prestigious annual award given to those individuals or teams who have made a significant contribution to the fields of physics, chemistry, literature, medicine, peace and economics (although the…
This Toronto bar lets you play with Legos while you drink
BY TREVOR HEWITT I’m hunched over in a corner of the Gladstone Hotel’s Melody Bar taking deep sips out of my copper beverage. I’m desperately pulling a thin piece of Lego from a thicker brick, but they’re not separating. “You…
This tattoo trend will literally leave a deceased loved one under your skin
BY: CAROLINE ROLF After the loss of a loved one, it’s common to keep a belonging of theirs to cherish the departed forever. Some choose to express their sympathy with a memorial tattoo. Dedicating a piece of ink to the…
Why melancholy is needed to embrace the full spectrum of human experience
BY: ADRIAN SMITH I realize now, after reading excerpts from Eric G. Wilson’s Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy that melancholy has an active quality to it. In his book Wilson argues we as a society have developed a strong…
This designer will show you how incredible Indigenous fashion is without cultural appropriation
BY: CAROLINE ROLF Bethany Yellowtail uses elk teeth to line the gown sleeves and adds intricate floral beading that has been in her family for generations. Her work is an elegant fusion of classic style and the fundamentals of her…
JK Rowling is about to drop some knowledge on you about the value of failure (Video)
BY: EDITORS Bereavement, loneliness, lofty social expectation, and bullying; through my own fractured childhood, I became aware that the fabric of life is riddled with moth holes. JK Rowling taught me that not only is inadequacy nothing to be ashamed…
A collection of postcards from famous writers including Jack Kerouac and Kurt Vonnegut
BY: JESSICA BEUKER Truman Capote to English professor Boris Groudinko (1960s) Dear Boris – Have settled on this beautiful island for the summer. Wish you could spend your holiday with me. So glad you got the dictionaries. Will write you…
Is McDonald’s new design fighting gentrification in London or offending its citizens?
BY: CAROLINE ROLF If the mass-produced toxic food wasn’t bad enough, fast food giant, McDonald’s, may have another reason to apologize. In a poorly thought out marketing attempt aimed towards the inner city life troubled by tagging in Brixton, south…
Employees spill the 10 easiest ways to score upgrades and free stuff from your hotel
BY: ROB HOFFMAN There’s something oddly alluring about hotels. Maybe it’s all the marble or the thick mahogany pillars that decorate a foyer at Caesar’s palace, or our associating hotels and the type of person that can afford to stay…
Turkish artist captures a surreal bird’s-eye view of Istanbul through the use of a drone
BY: LAUREN ALI In his photo series called ‘Flatland,’ Aydin Büyüktas photographs the scenic overview of the city of Istanbul through the use of a drone. The dizzying, distorted angles and beautifully warped buildings create intriguing images that monopolize your…
Why you can’t let the end of your formal education limit your passion for learning
BY: CAROLINE ROLF Our attitudes toward education have been doomed since pre-school. When we finally mastered tying our shoelaces, we got a gold star. If we grasped finger-painting, we got to march across a stage in June, signifying the…
How Instagram’s Aesthetic Culture Changes Who You Are
Sometimes, on a good day, our lives cross paths with a compilation of visuals so satisfying—complex in allowing desire to wrap around the fading ordinary—that we cannot help but feel some sort of way at the sight of calculation: the…