Lauran Hibberd has her tongue firmly planted in her cheek and her heart right on her sleeve with her latest EP “Goober.” Intimate, real, and with enough wit to fill a comedy club, this slacker-pop star’s music has a sound reminiscent of Weezer, Courtney Barnett, and Sløtface while still remaining completely unique. Hibberd’s second EP, following the 2019 release of “Everything is Dogs,” finds her more thoughtful and certainly more confident without sacrificing her hyperspecific and relatable lyricism. Produced by Suzy… Read more

With the specter of a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court in front of them, Republicans have increasingly become more brazen in their pushes to overturn Roe v Wade. This Thursday, 228 Republican members of Congress (184 from the House and 44 from the Senate) asked the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and stop their “vise grip on abortion politics”. The request was included as part of an amicus curiae (or “friend of the court” briefing in which a third party writes the court about a particular case at… Read more

Mykki Blanco expertly harnesses inspiration from their worldly travels, experiences with a great love, and talented family and friends to create this concise, deliberate “mini-album.” Each of the nine songs feels unexpected yet perfectly arranged, and together, they form an eclectic group whose individual moments of excellence highlight one another. With some old-school saxophone and Blood Orange’s R&B melodies, “It’s Not My Choice” oozes sexuality and longing for one’s lover to return. “Want From Me” brilliantly fuses… Read more

The Olympics are in full swing and we are here for the greatness. Take a look at a few of our favs competing this Olympic season. 1. Naomi Graham It was an honor to photograph Olympic boxer Staff Sgt. Naomi Graham and it's as exciting seeing this portrait run in Sport Illustrated: https://t.co/gpsybO2OPp. Check this video to see more: https://t.co/xndv5smFmr. Thanks @EmLJohnson for the assignment! pic.twitter.com/s3h2IHmSQA — Ross Taylor (@ross_taylor) July 25, 2021 Naomi Graham is not only an amazing boxer, but she is… Read more

Lucy Liu has confirmed a long-rumored clash between her and her Charlie’s Angels costar and comedian Bill Murray, after Murray said “inexcusable” things to her on the set of the 2000 film. Speaking on the Los Angeles Time’s podcast Asian Enough this Tuesday, Liu explained what happened over 20 years ago by saying: “As we’re doing the scene, Bill starts to sort of hurl insults, and I won’t get into specifics, but it kept going on and on. I was like, ‘Wow, he seems like he’s looking straight at me.’ I couldn’t believe… Read more

Norway has passed a new law which will make it illegal for influencers and celebrities to photoshop images of themselves on social media platforms, unless explicitly stating that they have done so. The move comes as part of the Ministry of Family and Children’s desire to “reduce body pressure,’ and its contribution to low self worth among young people. According to a report from Vice, the law will crack down on any alterations made to the face and body, including the use of filters. Failure to do so will result in a… Read more

“Because porn may not be considered art, but some art can definitely be considered porn.” Or so Pornhub declares in its introduction for “Classic Nudes”, the porn platform’s new interactive website and app designed to guide visitors through some of the world’s most famous erotic art. Meant (in part) to encourage the return of museum visitors as covid restrictions ease up around the world, the site features tours of some of the world’s most famous museums and the nudist art they contain for both in-person visitors and… Read more

In a shocking conclusion for the American gymnastic team, Olympic gold medalist gymnast Simone Biles has withdrawn from the gymnastic team final at this year’s Tokyo Olympics. Her withdrawal from the team competition follows an uncharacteristic stumble on the vault earlier in the day. Biles had planned to complete an Amanar vault, a difficult move of 2 and ½ turns in the air. Instead, it appeared as if Biles had lost her way in the air, only completing 1 and ½ turns before landing on the mat and stumbling forward. The… Read more

For her third full-length release, indie songwriter extraordinaire Lucy Dacus finds herself revisiting her formative coming-of-age years through candid and vulnerable autobiographical accounts. Her narratives reveal early experiences with relationships, sexuality, and beyond, with relatable rawness. Songs like “First Time” are saturated with layered vocals, fuzzy guitars, and poppy percussion, while others take a less-is-more approach, like the highly anticipated ballad “Thumbs”—the fan favorite from live performances… Read more

In some very, very good news, Lil Nas X dropped the music video for “Industry Baby” today.As we have all come to expect out of Lil Nas X, the video is pretty spectacular. It begins with him being sentenced to 5 years in Montero State Prison (an allusion to his Satan shoe legal troubles with Nike), where his life as an inmate includes hot pink uniforms, impeccable naked shower choreography, a Shawshank Redemption-style escape, and finally, a prison-break that has every inmate dancing out of the barbed-wire gates. There… Read more

Jessica Hopper is one the most insightful rock critics working today. A long-time contributor to the Chicago Reader; she’s been a columnist for The Village Voice, Chicago Tribune, and Punk Planet; the music consultant for This American Life; the editorial director for MTV News; and a senior editor at Pitchfork and Rookie. For over 20 years, she has consistently been covering women in music who women care deeply about through a feminist lens, from Liz Phair to M.I.A. to Janelle Monae to Hole to Bjork just to name a few.… Read more

The Norwegian women’s beach handball team was fined €1500 (about $1765) on Monday for refusing to wear bikini bottoms. In the Euro 2021 tournament’s bronze medal match against Spain, the Norwegian women decided to wear elastic shorts in opposition to the International Handball Federation’s requirements that women handball players wear bikini bottoms “with a close fit and a cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg. The side width must be a maximum of 10 centimeters.” The men’s teams on the other hand are allowed… Read more

Saneun Hwang is a visual artist and graphic designer based in Brooklyn, New York. Hwang moved to New York City from Seoul, South Korea eight years ago to pursue a degree in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts. There, she learned how to channel her passion for drawing and crafting into new mediums, like graphic design, mixed-media art, and photography. Her latest exhibition, “Concrete Utopia,” opens Friday, July 23 at Local Project Art Space. BUST sat down with the artist to discuss her creative process, the… Read more

Michaela Coel joins the Black Panther family as… well, we don’t know who yet. What we do know is that Variety reported Coel is on set at Atlanta Pinewood Studios filming the sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Although details of plot and characters are currently being kept under lock and key, the mystery only adds to the excitement, with many fans eager to find out how writer-director Ryan Coogler plans to continue on without the late Chadwick Boseman. Coel who first hit the scene writing, directing, and starring… Read more

CHAI’s latest album, WINK, is chicken soup for the pandemic-ravaged soul. Though, in this case, it feels appropriate to swap the soup for the karaage (Japanese fried chicken) that earns a sultry dedication on the Tokyo-based band’s third LP. To help cope with COVID isolation, CHAI “made an album that was like a friend,” lead singer/keyboardist MANA says through the band’s interpreter Rena Tyner. (The four-piece prefers to remain surname-less.) “It’s an album that I can cry to, get mad at, and get happy with.” MANA and… Read more

What is Multi-Level Marketing? Have you ever received a DM from a former high school classmate telling you about this “amazing opportunity” to earn some cash on your own time? Did this opportunity include the selling of a product that they swore “works wonders”? Chances are they were trying to get you into a multi-level marketing scheme, or an MLM for short. An MLM is a company that not only gives the seller a commission based on how much they sell, but they receive a commission based on the selling of their recruits.… Read more

Karrueche Tran broke the glass ceiling for Asian American and Pacific Islander actors with her recent award win last Sunday. The 37-year-old took home the Emmy for outstanding performance by a leading actress in a daytime fiction program, becoming the first AAPI leading actress to win an Emmy at either the Daytime or Primetime awards. The Los Angeles native snagged the trophy she did so for her role in POPSTAR TV’s digital drama The Bay. Tran plays Vivian Johnson-Garrett, one of the wealthy residents of the fictional… Read more

Britney Spears has declared on Instagram that she's done with performing until her dad steps down from her conservatorship. "For those of you who choose to criticize my dancing videos... look I'm not gonna be performing on any stages anytime soon with my dad handling what I wear, say, do, or think!!!!” Britney announced in her post. She then went on to say that she would rather dance in her living room than be controlled on stage. Jamie Spears has been left as the sole conservator of Britney Spears’ finances following… Read more

Fresh off the heels of the final season of Pose, actress, model, and activist Indya Moore is setting her sights on the fashion world with a gender-inclusive capsule collection with clothing designer Tommy Hilfiger. The collection, released in the US on July 13th and in Europe on July 2oth, aims for inclusivity on all fronts including gender, size, and price. Moore has remixed colors and fabrics recognizable to Hilfiger fans—cool blues, reds, neutrals, and iconic pinstripes—and fashioned casual blazers, breezy shirt… Read more

Mannequin Pussy embraces some enormously hard-to-fill voids on Perfect. Freshly a trio, the Philly punk staple parted ways with founding guitarist Thanasi Paul near the end of 2020 and spent most of the pandemic apart. Exploring that emptiness and their evolution as a group, the three-piece powerhouse reunited in the studio to create almost all of the well-rounded tracks for their fourth EP. Diving headfirst into a reinvigorated and fervently vulnerable sound, Mannequin Pussy lyrically lets go without loosening its… Read more

Appearing on Demi Lovato’s 4D podcast, actress, singer, and dancer Jojo Siwa discussed her “gay awakenings” and how Lovato played a role. Reflecting on a Lovato concert she went to several years back, 18-year-old Siwa described “being a little too interested” in the way Demi danced with one of their backup dancers, Jojo Gomez, during a performance of “Cool for the Summer.” Lovato was clearly thrilled by this information, particularly when Siwa explained that her girlfriend Kylie Prew’s own gay awakening was prompted by… Read more

Pop quiz: What rom-com would Grace Kuhlenschmidt remake with a gay twist? “That’s a tough one,” she says after a beat. “Romantic comedies are my favorite genre and they’re all straight. But I think Meet the Fockers could be fun if it was about lesbian moms dealing with their daughter bringing home a boyfriend.” The choice provides a window into the up-and-coming comedian’s taste—one seasoned with pinches of surprise and satire. Most important, her style is hilariously, unabashedly, almost boastfully queer.… Read more

Halsey has unveiled the cover art for her latest album, “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power,” complete with a video tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the 13-minute-long silent film, Halsey is lavishly dressed as she walks barefoot around the famous New York landmark, looking at various artworks depicting motherhood, including Duccio Di Buoninsegna’s ‘Madonna and Child’, as she cradles her own baby bump. The singer, who announced her pregnancy back in February, could have stepped out of one of the paintings… Read more

Mattel’s official Naomi Osaka doll sold out within hours of it’s release on Monday, July 12th. Osaka joins the Barbie hall of fame as one the extraordinary women honored in Barbie’s Role Model Series. Currently ranked No. 2 by the Women’s Tennis Association, Osaka is the first Asian player to hold the top rank in singles, and is the reigning champion at both the Australian and US Opens. The doll sports Osaka’s Nike outfit that she wore during the 2020 Australian Open along with a miniature version of her signature… Read more

Midwife, aka multi-instrumentalist Madeline Johnston, captures all the angst and intensity of the past year on one intense recording. Elements of shoegaze, metal, post-metal, pop, and electro-pop commingle on her latest release, Luminol. The name of the record comes from the chemical used by forensic investigators to discover blood and other bodily fluids left behind at a crime scene. And just like its namesake, this difficult-but-important album has a way of dredging up all kinds of forgotten emotions. Themes of… Read more

Nearly 130 years ago famed journalist and civil rights advocate Ida B. Wells was driven out of Memphis for reporting on the lynching of three Black men; a statue of the former resident will be unveiled in downtown Memphis, honoring the life and work of the journalist, activist, and teacher. The statue will sit next to the First Baptist Beale Street Church where Wells’ newspaper had its offices. While the erection of the statue certainly serves as a celebration of Wells’ legacy as a journalist and activist, it does not… Read more

Shiori Ito’s Black Box is known today for helping launch the #MeToo movement in Japan, and the author was recognized by Time Magazine as a 2020 person of the year. This memoir, in a quick, exhilarating narrative, spans the events between 2015 and 2017, when the author was raped by well-known reporter Noriyuki Yamaguchi. They had met up under the pretense that he would have helpful information for a job he was “coordinating” for her. She regained consciousness in his hotel bed, while he was assaulting her. I couldn’t… Read more

Emmy nominations are in, and it’s history in the making. Mj Rodriguez, who portrays Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista in the critically-acclaimed FX show Pose, became the first openly trans woman to be nominated in the award show’s leading actress category. The nomination gives Rodriguez deserving recognition for her acclaimed role as Blanca Evangelista, a trans woman, nurse, and manicurist living with HIV/AIDS, who forms her own drag house in 1980’s New York. Pose, which depicts the city’s underground ball culture of the… Read more

“You wanna hear a story about how me and this bitch fell out? It’s kinda long but it’s full of suspense,” hilariously narrated by Taylour Paige as the title character, Zola kicks off with the infamous line that started it all. With hypnotic visuals and an unparalleled musical score, it’s hard to not get swept up in this hoe trip from hell. Directed by Janicza Bravo and co-written by playrite Jeremy O’Harris (writer of Tony Nominated Slave Play), Zola is based on the viral 2015 Twitter thread by then Detroit Hooters… Read more

The latest addition to the Disney canon is an animated tale centered around a magic-less teenage heroine. Encanto takes place in a small village in the mountains of rural Colombia where the Madrigal family lives. Blessed by the mountains, each member of the family has a special, magical gift. Some have super-strength, while others can shape-shift, except for one of them: fifteen-year-old Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz of In the Heights and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.) The trailer bursts with all the color, life, music, and magic… Read more

There are few worlds as sexy, warm, and feel-good as the Jasmine Guillory rom-com universe, and While We Were Dating is a lovely addition to Guillory’s Wedding Date canon. Ad executive Ben Stephens (whose brother, Theo, is a previous Guillory hero) really isn’t looking for a relationship. But when renowned actor Anna Gardiner enters his orbit, he struggles to deny their chemistry. As Anna and Ben grow closer, they find themselves jumping headfirst into a spontaneous fling-turned-publicity stunt that could become the… Read more

Dicky Wafelbakker walks home, carrying a tureen of soup in her hands. It is April 13, 1945, in Nazi-occupied Holland, and soup kitchens have sprung up all over to help keep citizens alive during the devastating famine, created by the Germans, that is gripping the country. Wafelbakker is a 57-year-old retired journalist and children’s book translator who never married and lives alone. She’s also a Nazi sympathizer who recently created a list of names and locations of Jews who are hiding in the area and mailed it off to… Read more

Zaila Avant-garde became the first African American winner of the Scripp’s National Spelling Bee on Thursday, and is quickly becoming America’s favorite (and most interesting) 14-year-old. After unsuccessfully competing in 2019, Avant-garde won this year’s bee after correctly spelling the word “murraya,” a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees. According to ESPN, Zaila first started competing in spelling competitions only a few years ago, after her father saw the spelling bee on TV and realized that his… Read more

Kristen Radtke is a narrator as unflinching and bold as readers should be before approaching this graphic novel. Seek You demonstrates how loneliness is an experience that’s both universal and achingly unique—which is why it shouldn’t scare or embarrass us. The artwork is both dramatic and sparse, allowing readers to float along without getting lost in the big picture. This is a story about “we,” not “me.” For lovers of creative nonfiction, this title has the rare ability to interweave facts with personal anecdotes in… Read more

Island Queen: A NovelBy Vanessa Riley(William Morrow) “Tu ikiwa uko huru.” Dorothy “Doll” Kirwin Thomas’ mantra in Vanessa Riley’s historical novel, Island Queen, means, “Only if you’re free, then you can be.” Born into slavery in the colonial West Indies, the real Thomas fought for freedom at a time when she was barely seen as human. “I’m luckier, I guess. My black is beautiful,” Doll says, in response to the suggestion that she—a dark-skinned Creole woman with an Irish father—should feel cheated that she can’t pass… Read more

On June 27th, 28-year-old Kataluna Enriquez made LGBTQ and pageant history. Ending Pride Month with a bang, the Filipina-American became the first transgender women crowned Miss Nevada. Not only does this mark the first time a trans-woman has held the title, but Enriquez will also be the first openly transgender contestant to compete in the Miss USA pageant.Acknowledging the significance of her win in an Instagram post, she wrote “My community, you are always in my heart. My win is our win. We just made history. Happy… Read more

Ann Wilson is lead singer and songwriter of the band Heart, which she has fronted for over 40 years with her sister Nancy, earning them a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The first hard rock band fronted by women, Heart has sold over 35 million albums, and their hits, including “Barracuda,” “Crazy On You,” and “Magic Man,” are undisputed classics. As a solo artist, Ann released the 2007 album Hope & Glory and 2018’s Immortal, along with multiple singles. And this past May, she released a surprising and… Read more

There are 4 elements of the tarot: Fire (wands), air (swords), earth (pentacles, or coins), and water (cups). Each element is lauded over by a King and Queen, who represent the most righteous form, the pinnacle, of each element’s power. Kings are great and all, but yawn, patriarchy. The Queens of the tarot channel feminine energy and are known for approaching problems with intuition and inner strength rather than the blunt force of the Kings. In this four-part series, we feature one Tarot Kween each week with a… Read more

Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting By Mary Gauthier (St. Martin’s Essentials) Saved by a Song, the new book by beloved folk singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier, is part memoir, part how-to guide. In each of its 13 chapters, Gauthier opens with lyrics from a song in her catalog (save for two, which borrow from John Prine and John Lennon), then weaves together memories of the life events that inspired those lines with notes about her process and the techniques she honed while working on each one. Her… Read more

Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist of the New York Time’s 1619 Project, has declined the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Journalism School’s tenure offer after controversy over the latter's original decision to withhold it. Hannah-Jones made the announcement to instead accept a faculty position at the historically Black, Howard University, on Tuesday’s “CBS This Morning” with Gayle King. Her decision comes after weeks of controversy over UNC’s April announcement that they would be… Read more

A recent report by Human Rights Watch, My Life is Not Your Porn: Digital Sex Crimes in South Korea, has detailed the rising epidemic of digital sex crimes in South Korea. Known as molka, these crimes involve the use of illegal cameras to capture non-consensual, voyeuristic images and videos, predominantly of women and girls. The testimony of one woman in the report, Lee Ye-Rin, highlights the largely undetectable nature of these offences, Ye-Rin first described how her married boss, whose advances she had previously… Read more

Set in Worcester, Massachusetts, Allison (Emmy winner Annie Murphy of Schitt’s Creek) is a childless, 30-something, who longs to get out of the small, stifling life she has with her cable-guy husband Kevin (Eric Petersen). You wouldn’t know the premise is that grim though as the show welcomes viewers into Allison’s home with a familiar scene straight out of sitcoms-past: Kevin plays beer pong in the brightly lit living room while his friends joke along. Allison walks in holding a basket of laundry before getting hit by… Read more

"My own relationship with my body is so complicated. […] I’m fat, and I celebrate other fat people, but I don’t quite celebrate me. I would secretly give anything to be thin, while outwardly and openly rebelling against the idea that anyone should have to.” —from Fat Chance, Charlie Vega From debut author Crystal Maldonado comes Fat Chance, Charlie Vega, a memorable, nuanced, and binge-worthy coming-of-age novel about a fat brown girl trying to survive her chaotic life in a white Connecticut suburb. Charlie Vega is a… Read more

While teaching history at South Atlanta High School in the early 2000s, T. Morgan Dixon came across a startling statistic: 50 percent of Black girls in the U.S. will develop type 2 diabetes unless diet and activity levels change. Inspired to do something about it, Dixon began taking girls hiking. At the same time, her best friend Vanessa Garrison was grappling with women in her family dying prematurely from chronic diseases. Wanting to do something more radical and transformative to combat the health crisis… Read more

SEX ON TV isn’t only getting hotter—it’s getting better. In recent years, we’ve seen more nuanced depictions of intimacy, pleasure, and consent, with interactions that actually look real. A lot of this improvement is thanks to Ita O’Brien, a British intimacy coordinator and the author of a set of “Intimacy On Set Guidelines” that were widely adopted by producers and directors in 2017. O’Brien, who has worked on acclaimed shows including I May Destroy You, Sex Education, and Normal People, describes her professional… Read more

There are 4 elements of the tarot: Fire (wands), air (swords), earth (pentacles, or coins), and water (cups). Each element is lauded over by a King and Queen, who represent the most righteous form, the pinnacle, of each element’s power. Kings are great and all, but yawn, patriarchy. The Queens of the tarot channel feminine energy and are known for approaching problems with intuition and inner strength rather than the blunt force of the Kings. In this four-part series, we feature one Tarot Kween each week with a… Read more

You’d think society would have evolved past this by now, but apparently high school principals will always be symbolic stand-ins for the oppressive hand of authority. Robert Tull, principal of New Jersey’s Eastern Regional Camden County High School, decided to really drive home the stereotype on June 17th when he attempted to cut short the valedictorian speech of Bryce Dershem, who wanted to share his experience as a queer teenager. Dershem began his speech with the usual pleasantries and congratulations before… Read more

Lydia Lunch has always been a fierce provocateur. After over 40 years of pushing boundaries both artistically and personally, the film and video maker, Beth B, has taken on telling Ms. Lunch’s fascinating and enthralling story in her documentary "The War Is Never Over." For those unfamiliar, Lydia Lunch has been recording as well as making Indie and underground films and videos since 1979. She has never been on a major record label nor had any mainstream success in the US despite her volume of work which is vast and… Read more

Nothing levels up a beverage like a colorful piece of fruit, veggie, herb, or flower frozen in a perfectly clear cube. Whether you want to make an extra special cocktail or just fancy up some lemonade, it’s like having a little work of art right there in your glass. But there’s more to making ice than you might think—Leslie Kirchhoff wrote a whole book about it: Disco Cube Cocktails: 100+ Innovative Recipes for Artful Ice and Drinks. Here are her clear cube tips and tricks, adapted from the book. You’re just one tray… Read more

IKEA is finally catering to the demands of the queer community! For too long couches have remained an exclusively hetersexual and cisgender luxury, denied to LGBTQIA+ folks since the invention of furniture. For countless centuries, leaders and activists have cried out for justice and IKEA has stepped up to the plate, introducing the totally asked for and definitely necessary Love Seat Collection. All jokes aside, IKEA’s Love Seat Collection is a series of playfully colorful and admittedly well designed couches modeled… Read more