Dr. Nof Atamna-Ismaeel, founder of the 'A-Sham' food festival Breaking Bread, Beth Elise Hawk’s directorial debut, is a stunning documentary on Israeli and Arab chefs working together for a food festival that gives us a rare portrait of friendship and togetherness in the Middle East. The hour and a half long film, which was selected to premiere at over 65 film festivals, is out in theaters on February 4, 2022. Israel has been a hotbed of war and violence for decades. Since the British declared it a “Jewish state” in… Read more

Lunar New Year, celebrated by many East Asian countries, is an occasion honoring a fresh start based on the moon cycle. Here, an expert walks us through her rituals and traditions—from haircuts to dumplings—along with ways everyone can help ring in the holiday with a powerful roar. By Jennifer Chen Lunar New Year is a special holiday that I look forward to every year. And I love sharing what my traditions mean with non-Asian folks to both demystify this amazing annual festival and help them understand what it really… Read more

When it comes to comfort— there is no accessory more comfortable than a pair of slippers. A fuzzy, and totally cozy alternative to those 'real shoes,’ that also pairs great with your current 3-day-a-week sweatpants routine. And with these cold winter days, slippers definitely become a necessity for a complete comfort fit. So whether you are working from home, or your partner complains too much about your cold feet (me), there is a whole world of fuzzy and fleecy slippers for you to obsess over. Wild Thing Sure, the… Read more

In an early scene of Thank You For Supporting The Arts, an intimate documentary on Portland’s beloved stripper Viva Las Vegas, Viva takes the stage at her local spot, Mary’s Club. The space is cozy and dimly lit. The camera zooms in on Viva as she slips out of a red silk robe. The strum of a guitar picks up in the background as Viva playfully takes off her black and pink lace lingerie set and we watch as she moves her naked body – confident, unrestricted, carefree. Directors Carolann Stoney and W. Alexander Jones are… Read more

PEN15, the Hulu comedy series about two best friends navigating the ups and downs of middle school, will not be returning for a third season. Creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, who are both in their early thirties, play 13-year-old fictionalized versions of themselves. Witnessing and (often reliving) the trials and tribulations of 7th grade through the eyes of two adults was hilarious, heartbreaking, and ultimately cathartic. When I found out PEN15’s second season was its last, I felt like I arrived at school after… Read more

Unsplash/Jonathan Borba Have you ever gone to see your male physician for an issue, or ailment, and felt your concerns were not taken seriously? You are not alone. JAMA Surgery recently published a revealing study surrounding gender biases and post-operative outcomes. The study, which originated from a control group in Ontario, defined these outcomes basesd on complications, readmissions, and death during the first 30-days. Additionally, a subgroup of this study was also evaluated for characteristics found in managed… Read more

The smash pop hit “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes was released in August of 1963, the same year and month as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The streets of America were electric with strife and passion, with Blacks and other minorities yearning to demolish the dream of some nebulous, far away Shangri-La, demanding its creation at home, straight away. With a glamourous, dreamy aesthetic and bold, harmonious sound, a trio of nightingales from Spanish Harlem—sisters Ronnie and Estelle, along with their cousin… Read more

Whether you want a clear head at your holiday fête or are making resolutions for a dry January, there are plenty of reasons to skip the tippling this season. But really, you don’t need to justify not drinking to anyone. Thankfully, the growing interest in booze-free imbibing means there’s a new crop of spiritless spirits delivering complex flavors and inspired mixers for sipping and celebrating while still promising hangover-free mornings. Here’s the lowdown on a few women-owned favorites. – STEPHANIE GANZ GHIA ($33… Read more

In the break room at work, my friend Wesley and I sit across from each other on our phones. I’m texting Max, a guy I met on Hinge (a dating app that directs you to “like” things on peoples’ profiles to show interest, rather than swiping right or left) and have been out on a few dates with. Wesley is texting Aubrey, someone he just matched with yesterday on Tinder. “How am I supposed to respond to this?” Wesley asks, handing me his phone. The last message received is just one word: “Absolutely.” “You don’t,” I say,… Read more

Stand up comedian Bridget Everett might not be the first person you’d think to cast as the lead in a low-key, emotionally charged dramedy, but it’s clear the writers (Hannah Bos of HBO’s High Maintenance and Paul Thureen of Driveways) could have had no one else in mind when they created Somebody Somewhere. The 7-episode HBO series debuts this Sunday, January 16th. Everett—best known for her bawdy stand-up performances featuring numbers like “Pull them Up (Tittles)” and “What I Gotta Do (To Get That Dick in My… Read more

Six months ago, my friend Kate texted me a photo of her local community center’s class schedule featuring the days and times for “Adult Tap.” (She also sent a gif of Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber tap dancing like a total goob in a bright orange tux.) I knew it was half dare/half invitation, and a few weeks later, we were shuffle-ball-changing our hearts out with a welcoming group of mostly older women on the stage of a suburban rec center. Did I have visions of making Ryan Gosling fall in love with me á la Michelle… Read more

Fashion’s hottest 2022 trends are strutting in, and they are revolutionizing the modern wardrobe. More than a fleeting style rush, these trends not only look good — they do good. Sustainable fashion is the movement for environmental integrity within the fashion footprint. It is the progressive, yet stylish protection of our planet that addresses and reacts to issues such as CO2 emissions, pollution, and overproduction. Fast fashion has a major impact on the environment. It is responsible for about one-third of all… Read more

This Boy We Made: A Memoir of Motherhood, Genetics, and Facing the Unknown By Taylor Harris (Catapult) In her moving memoir, author Taylor Harris traces her son Tophs’ journey as he struggles with difficult, hard-to-categorize hypoglycemia and developmental delays. Whether she’s describing working on independent education plans in the Virginia public school system or rushing her kid to the ER, Harris grounds and guides readers through bigger questions surrounding personhood, intelligence, empathy, and expression. This… Read more

When Joan Didion died on December 23, 2021, there was an outpouring of national grief. Didion was a pioneer of ‘new journalism’ – long form reporting marked by the writer’s point of view. She was honored with The National Medal of Arts from Obama and a PEN USA lifetime achievement award in 2013. She left us with sixteen books, seven films, a play, and at least two generations of writers influenced by her unique style and calculated craft. As a female writer and a California native myself, obsessing over Didion is… Read more

In the aftermath of America’s reckoning over police brutality, TV cops aren’t quite the uncomplicated heroes they used to be. There is one fictional officer, however, who remains unscathed: Elliot Stabler, the gruff-but-lovable NYPD detective originated by Christopher Meloni on NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Meloni, 60, famously left SVU in 2011 after 12 seasons. But in 2021, he dusted off his badge and revived the role for Law & Order: Organized Crime, a spinoff now in its second season centered around… Read more

Julia Cameron is known around the world for helping her readers tap into their creativity. She is the best-selling author of more than 40 books, most notably The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity (which has sold over five million copies since 1992) and her newest title, Seeking Wisdom: A Spiritual Path to Creative Connection, which came out January 5. In Seeking Wisdom, Cameron explains how cultivating a personal prayer practice can sustain creative growth in artists of all beliefs and backgrounds.… Read more

FIVE TUESDAYS IN WINTER: STORIES By Lily King (Grove Press) On the surface, the 10 tales in novelist Lily King’s debut short-story collection don’t have much in common. There’s “The Man at the Door,” in which a struggling writer meets a mysterious man who’s somehow read her private novel; “Waiting for Charlie,” about a grandfather visiting his unconscious granddaughter in the hospital; and several mediations on grief and love. But at the heart of every story is someone changed by an unexpected relationship or… Read more

Benedetta Co-written and directed by Paul Verhoeven Out December 3 Over the course of his career, Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven has transitioned from sneered-at trash master to auteur, with “guilty pleasure” films like RoboCop, Total Recall, Showgirls, and even Starship Troopers garnering him reconsideration by cinephiles as a visionary of subversion. In 2008, he published a theological text, Jesus of Nazareth. So, it seems inevitable that he would eventually make a movie about horny nuns. Inspired by Judith C.… Read more

For many of us, especially in marginalized communities, functioning in a state of chronic stress feels like the norm. Fortunately, there’s a powerful, calming tool within our bodies, one that we often take for granted: breath. Breathwork—an active meditation practice—refers to intentional, deep-breathing techniques that deactivate the body’s fight-or-flight response to stress while stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system, which is associated with the body’s calm “rest-and-digest” response. According to Jasmine… Read more

Aaaaaaaannnndd in the blink of an eye, 2021 is over. Thank god. Last year was a bit of a rollercoaster, to say the least. If your resolution from this past year never came to fruition, you're not to blame. Still, when considering potential methods of self-improvement to tackle in 2022, it’s crucial to be kind to yourself. A New Year’s resolution is supposed to be a goal that can be worked towards throughout the incoming year for the sake of putting yourself on a more fulfilling, happier path in life. While losing… Read more

As 2021 comes to a close, I'm sure I speak for plenty of us when I say, music was a big driving factor of keeping me calm and optimistic in the midst of *gestures vaguely." Madonna said it best, "Music, makes the people come together. Yeah!" Here's our list of some of the best releases this year. Aimee Mann Queens of the Summer Hotel In 2018, Aimee Mann set out to write the music for a theatrical adaptation of Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen’s bestselling memoir about her time in a psychiatric hospital. While the… Read more

Passport: A Graphic Memoir By Sophia Glock (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) Cartoonist Sophia Glock spent her youth in the 1990s growing up in gated and heavily guarded residences in Latin America, while attending a series of private schools. In young Sophia’s family, certain topics, especially those concerning her parents’ jobs, were fundamentally never discussed. Though she didn’t completely understand why, she learned from an early age not to ask questions. Until she eventually stumbled across a shocking… Read more

As a seasoned performer, Diana Ross definitely knows her strengths, and Thank You, her 25th studio album (her first since 2006), reflects this throughout its 13 tracks. Classic R&B spreads positivity on the title song, “In Your Heart,” and “All Is Well,” while softer ballads like “Just In Case,” and “Count On Me” soothe and reassure with twinkling piano. It’s the upbeat dance numbers, though—“If The World Just Danced,” “Let’s Do It,” and “Tomorrow”—that are just waiting for clubs to reopen worldwide. Miss Ross is… Read more

With New Year’s Eve approaching, you can be sure of one thing: the equally notorious and lazy January 1st is coming. In case you were looking for movies to binge-watch all day long to get over the craziness (or loneliness—hi Omicron!) of the previous night, we have gathered a list of 2021’s must-watch films about, starring, or created by women. Titane by Julia Ducournau Photo by Carole Bethuel, Courtesy of Neon Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2021, Titane is a disturbing move intersecting between family drama,… Read more

Keep it cute and comfy this winter with one of these floral, feminine, and highly-chic winter coats and jackets. RICK OWENS COAT; GOYA SANDALS; KULE HAT, SWEATER, AND SOCKS. MELITTA BAUMEISTER JACKET AND SKIRT; ZANKOV SWEATER; RAINBOW UNICORN BIRTHDAY SURPRISE EARRINGS. ISABEL MARANT ETOILE COAT; HEAVEN BY MARC JACOBS SHIRT AND PANTS; KULE SOCKS; GOYA SANDALS. BALENCIAGA COAT; STINE GOYA VEST; NORMA KAMALI TURTLENECK; RAINBOW UNICORN BIRTHDAY SURPRISE EARRINGS. BALENCIAGA PUFFER JACKET; ZANKOV SWEATER; TIGHTS:… Read more

Tori Amos is a virtuoso musician whose searingly honest, wildly creative, piano-forward pop music changed the entire recording industry forever. She had her breakthrough moment in 1992 with the release of her iconic solo debut, Little Earthquakes—a record named by Rolling Stone as one of the greatest albums of all time. And she’s spent the almost 30 years since then perpetually experimenting, innovating, and expanding the boundaries of what popular music can be. Now, she’s back with her 16th studio album, Ocean to… Read more

Are you trying to cozy up with some good books as the weather gets cooler and we welcome in 2022? Are you looking for some compelling new reads with strong female protagonists and thought-provoking themes over the holiday season? Look no further. Here’s a round-up of BUST’s best 2021 page-turners. We’ve got everything from memoirs on grief to graphic novels to queer love stories. Check them out! Memoir Crying in H Mart Grammy nominated musician, Michelle Zauner, also known by her stage name, Japanese Breakfast,… Read more

A Minnesota-based member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa (Ojibwe), Louise Erdrich is a master of multiple genres who won a Pulitzer in Fiction this year for The Night Watchman. On November 9, she released her latest novel, The Sentence (Harper), and here, she shares the habits that keep her humming. –Emily Rems The Sentence is a ghost story set in Minneapolis between November 2019 and November 2020 and it incorporates both the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd. Did you feel an urgency to finish while… Read more

This is a PSA for all of the Christmas ornament hoarders and ladies who need festive decorations that are as extra as they are (me). This silly, chic, and adorably-odd list of our unique ornaments will glow up any tree. No need to get rid of your traditional, glass ornaments, just spice things up by adding in some of these quirky Christmas goodies. Not to mention these make a great last minute gift for a white elephant or just for a gal-pal who needs a good LOL moment this holiday season. Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Etsy With… Read more

AIMEE MANN Queens of the Summer Hotel (SuperEgo Records) In 2018, Aimee Mann set out to write the music for a theatrical adaptation of Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen’s bestselling memoir about her time in a psychiatric hospital. While the pandemic put plans for the musical on hold, many of those songs landed on Queens of the Summer Hotel, sung from the perspectives of different characters. Mann paints these portraits with her signature wry wit and reflective wisdom, touching on such serious topics as suicide… Read more

"Fairies Offering Flowers to Iris," 1920, modeled by Elsie Wright and taken by Frances Griffiths. Credit: The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London Once upon a time, two girls played a prank that got way out of hand. A century ago, long before Photoshop, the pair fooled the world with photographs of what they claimed—and what eminent men believed—were fairies. "The fairies are on the plate—they are on the plate!” That, reported Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was a young girl’s excited reaction as she watched a… Read more

For many expectant mothers, pregnancy can be a stressful experience. From lists of baby names to birthing plans to stacks of pregnancy handbooks, there is a lot to plan for, both during and after pregnancy. But for Black women, there is far more at stake. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Black women are three to four times more likely to experience a pregnancy-related death than white women.” Pregnancy-related illnesses or emergencies that have become increasingly treatable, such as… Read more

The season three finale of HBO’s Emmy-winning series Succession boasted the series highest viewership yet, with 1.7 million viewers on the day-of-air. The highly anticipated season finale ‘All The Bells Say’ was a masterful conclusion that shocked viewers. If you’ve missed the show, here’s a quick recap. For three seasons, we have watched Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong), Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin), and Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) ruthlessly duke it out to become the next CEO of their father Logan’s (Brian Cox) fictional Fox… Read more

I have to say, when I first got the word of Harlem, a new ten-episode Prime Video series about a group of four Black gal-pals in Harlem, starring Megan Good I wasn’t exactly blown away by the premise. I lived in New York, on and off for about three years from 2009-2013. Since then, the city has gentrified rapidly. In Harlem alone, the number of Black residents in the neighborhood once known as an epicenter of Black-American culture, has seen a steadily declining population of Black residents over the years. The 2020 US… Read more

On December 15th the author bell hooks passed away in her Berea, Kentucky home, surrounded by beloved friends and family according to a press release from hooks’ niece, Ebony Motley. hooks— born Gloria Jean Watkins— published her first book, Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism in 1981, under her adopted pen name “bell hooks.” A name that proudly honors her great-grandmother’s name, Bell Blair Hooks; and is attached to many of her other published works within her successful literary career. hooks has written more… Read more

For those who, insiatiably, watched British TV show Sex Education, it is difficult to forget Sami Outalbali’s touching and romantic character Rahim. His recognizable French accent, and profound personality put him at the forefront of the British scene. But at the beginning of September it’s in the French movie A Tale Of Love And Desire that he went back to his roots. Directed by Tunisian-French directress, Leyla Bouzid, the movie illustrates a love story between two young students, Ahmed (Sami Outalbali), born and… Read more

Emily Ratajkowski is famous. Like, really famous. Like, 28-million-Instagram-followers famous. The supermodel is so famous that street sightings of her dog Colombo, a husky/German shepherd mix, get shared on celebrity gossip feeds like Deuxmoi, even if she’s not the one walking him. One day, she was doing catalogue work and posing free for indie magazines just for the exposure; the next, she was the strikingly sultry girl in Robin Thicke’s viral “Blurred Lines” video that everyone was talking about, dancing goofily,… Read more

Our columnist, Sarah Potter, provides this season's tarot readings for the signs. Sagittarius: Temperance (NOV. 22 TO DEC. 21) Get comfortable in the space in-between, Sagittarius. Now is not the time to dip into extremes just to create an adventure to entertain yourself with somenonsense drama. Unfortunately, nothing you can do will speed things up right now (even though you really want to!) so sit back, relax, and practicepatience as everything unfolds at its natural pace. Capricorn: Six of Wands (DEC. 22 TO JAN. 19)… Read more

The holiday season has descended upon us, and you know what that means– food, food, and more food! My electric mixer has not seen this much activity in months, and it’s only getting started. Holiday parties and family gatherings mean lots of cooking (and baking!), so here are a collection of Bust-approved recipes that will make you the supreme Christmas host: 1. Old School Bourbon Eggnog Nothing screams Christmas more than a glass of old-fashioned eggnog. Flash forward to adulthood, and now any childhood drink can… Read more

Many of us would agree that going to the gyno is probably one of the more uncomfortable doctor’s visits we have to make. From awkward conversations about going on the pill, to rapidly stripping down to a paper gown, to cold metal contraptions going up our you-know-whats, the gynecologist’s office tends to be an intimidating space (and it honestly doesn’t seem to get any easier with age). In a now-viral tweet from this past Sunday, Indianapolis-based urogynecologist Ryan Stewart took to the Twitter-sphere to get… Read more

HBO’s charming series, Love Life, first premiered in May 2020 as a scripted anthology series, following one character’s quest for love in New York City. The show came at a perfect time during the quarantine, offering much needed levity. Season two shakes up the classic rom-com roles and may just be changing the entire genre. Season one followed the romantic entanglements of Anna Kendrick’s Darby. I enjoyed following Darby through her chaotic nights in New York City, awkward first dates, and messy debriefs with her… Read more

Melissa Etheridge is an unparalleled singer-songwriter, guitarist, author, and activist who has been making irresistible blues-rock albums for over 30 years. She was a bit of an underground sensation when she first got started in the late ‘80s, but in 1993, everything changed when she released her breakthrough fourth album, Yes I Am. It spent 138 weeks on the Billboard charts thanks to the monster hits “I’m The Only One,” and “Come To My Window,” it went platinum, and then it went on to sell more than six million… Read more

Like many Black girls who grew up in the 1990s, Quinta Brunson’s first introduction to sketch comedy was via the groundbreaking TV series, In Living Color. “When I was younger, In Living Color was very big in my household,” she says. “I think before I knew I was in love with that format and style of comedy, it was just a huge inspiration for how I saw comedy and how I saw it moving forward and being a big part of what I enjoy.” A social media success story, the 31-year-old Philadelphia native first started gaining… Read more

Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell’s classic 1949 novel about a future totalitarian surveillance state, will soon be revisited with fresh eyes. The British author’s estate has approved a retelling of the original work, titled Julia, to be written by Sandra Newman, author of the feminist dystopia novels The Heavens and The Country of Ice Cream Star. With Julia, Newman will retrace 1984’s plot through the eyes of its romantic interest, Julia, and examine Orwell’s dystopian vision through a critical, feminist lens. As… Read more

When Alice Sebold, the award-winning author of the book The Lovely Bones, was a student at Syracuse University in 1981, she was the victim of sexual assault. After a few months, she encountered Anthony Broadwater, a Black man, and was convinced that she recognized him as being her rapist. In 1982, Broadwater was found guilty based on Sebold’s testimony and hair analysis that tied him to the crime. Broadwater never pled guilty and was denied parole several times. In 1999, Sebold published Lucky, in which she graphically… Read more

Over 250 tons of textile waste have been diverted from landfills thanks to Los Angeles’ small-but-mighty Suay Sew Shop where thousands of pounds of fabric are donated by L.A. county residents every single week. Since 2017, founders Lindsay Rose Medoff and Tina Dosewell, along with production manager Silvia Acevedo, have been building Suay as more than a brand—they’ve created a movement that puts remade textiles and garment workers’ rights front and center. Medoff and Dosewell met through L.A.’s sewing community, and… Read more

When you think of seminal all-female rock and roll bands, the chances of The Go-Go’s being the first group to come to mind are high. Their 1981 album Beauty and the Beat, featuring iconic tracks “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat”, spent six weeks at the top of the Billboard charts and resides comfortably on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Drummer Gina Schock left Baltimore for LA to make it big, joining The Go-Go’s in 1979. Almost forty years later she has opened the vault with her new… Read more

Tired of the store-bought status quo? Unleash your inner artist this holiday season with these easy and affordable DIY gifts for everyone on your list. 1. Feminist Power Necklace Why say it when you can wear it? This statement chain necklace by Karen Kavett is the perfect present for any jewelry-loving nasty woman in your life. While Kavett uses “Feminist” as her example, feel free to use whatever phrase or word (preferably of the girlboss variety) that suits your fancy. 2. One-Braid Knot Necklace Goddess of macrame,… Read more

Like most amazing things, it all started with one viral tweet. "Help, my students are referring to Joseph Stalin as Joseph the Stallion after I showed them pictures of young Stalin," a hapless 10th grade teacher Tweeted. Since then, Twitter has been in a frenzy sharing flashback photos of some of our favorite (and most hated) historical figures in their physical prime because, let's face it: many of those grey-haired, middle-aged men in our high school history textbooks were once… hot!. Here’s a compilation of the… Read more

It seems that Trump-appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett is upholding her prescribed role in the Supreme Court as she pushes for the overruling of Roe v. Wade. Following Wednesday’s Supreme Court hearing in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a Mississippi case that makes abortions illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy, the court’s oral arguments highlight a clear divide between liberal and conservative judges while driving at the central question of abortion as a states’ issue or Constitutional right. While… Read more