With the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett solidifying uncertainty for the future of Roe v. Wade, today is a dark day for feminists everywhere. However, in less depressing news, the most recent polls show that women in swing states are on track to do some heavy lifting in securing a Biden win. Although a woman’s right to choose is hanging in the balance, a Biden presidency could allow for some stability with the possibility of a Supreme Court expansion. Ms. Magazine's polling suggests that in battleground states, the… Read more

Legendary cartoonist and author of bestselling graphic memoir, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, & Me, Ellen Forney is using her latest comic to inform readers about the importance of voting in the upcoming election. Along with championing voting, Forney's work has given voice to other important issues such as mental health in her graphic memoir, Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life. Check out Forney's comic below to stay informed and get excited about voting! -Comic by Ellen Forney To see more of… Read more

Grand: A Memoir By Sara Schaefer (Gallery Books) Sara Schaefer was only in grade school when her life was turned upside down by a family scandal. Already a cautious child, she becomes even more vigilant in the face of this formative experience, which exacerbates her anxiety but also gifts Schaefer with an ironclad sense of humor that serves as a shield against life’s difficult circumstances. This talent for wit in the face of hardship serves her well in her chosen profession of comedy; she carves out dizzying career… Read more

Dulcé Sloan has been a correspondent on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah since 2017 and her segments frequently go viral and get millions of views. In 2019, she got her own Comedy Central Presents stand-up special, and in 2020, she launched her podcast, That Black Ass Show on Starburns Audio. Coming up on November 13, she’s co-starring in a new comedy called Chick Fight that’s basically a girl version of Fight Club. She literally steals every scene she’s in and I predict many more films will be in her future. In this… Read more

Rachel Wiley’s new poetry collection, Fat Girl Finishing School, is a tender, hilarious, illuminating journey written openly and unapologetically by a woman whom the world has aimed to shame into silence because of her body. Wiley is both a fighter and a comedic jackpot, blending razor-sharp cynicism and wit with heartbreaking truth. These poems will sneak up on you, making you laugh at the most inappropriate moment or cry exactly when you need to. In the poem, “In Which the Poet Learns to Wake Up Alone,” Wiley writes:… Read more

If you're like me, every season is the perfect season for a good mystery. But the turning leaves, pumpkin-laden doorsteps, and darker nights of fall add to the strong sinister vibes of a well-written thriller. With everything occupying our minds and energy right now, it can be difficult to feel excited about this year's All Hallow's Eve. But luckily, some of the best names in the mystery game have come to our rescue to ensure that we experience some chilling, festive fright. Here are 5 new mysteries written by women to… Read more

Every bottle of wine has a story. And for over a hundred years, the storytellers have been women, especially in California’s Napa Valley. Since Josephine Tychson became the first woman to build and operate a winery in California in 1886, women have been leaders in the industry and, today, make up 60% of the region’s winemakers and winery owners. To celebrate—and to help the Napa Valley wine region rebuild after a one-two punch from COVID-19 followed by a series of wildfires—these fierce forces are teaming up for a very… Read more

"What started as an annual public exhibition of womxn-made art films in storefront windows is now a mission to support global cross-cultural dialogue," says Zehra Ahmed, the curator behind "Womxn in Windows," a new exhibit on Canal Street in New York City. The show is part of a multi-city screening series in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Shanghai. In New York, "Womxn in Windows" is now showcasing the films of Rémie Akl and Sylvie Weber in the storefront window of 321 Canal Street in association with ON CANAL by… Read more

On Tuesday, San Francisco voted in favor of the Caution Against Racial and Exploitative Non-Emergencies Act, otherwise known as the CAREN Act. This legislation will give targets of racially biased 911 calls the right to sue the caller and is one of a few pioneering laws that have been passed in efforts to regulate the reporting of Black individuals for non-crimes including but not limited to barbequing, birdwatching, selling water, and more. San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passes the CAREN Act—a new law… Read more

Add some magic to your favorite photos by getting a little knotty. The often feared but oh-so-fabulous French knot is easier to ace than you might imagine. It’s also the perfect embroidery stitch to transform your fabric-printed photos into wall-ready works of art. Have a yearbook photo that needs a makeover? A group portrait you want to add some extra joy to? Thoughtful placement of a few French knots can highlight trim on an outfit, punctuate the center of a flower, or fill the air with confetti. En masse, they can… Read more

When Jane Elliott walked into her classroom in 1968, she introduced an exercise about racism that is still repeated all over the world. We caught up with the ground-breaking educator to discuss teaching kids about race, how there’s no such thing as “white” people, and why Black women are her heroes In June, Black Lives Matter uprisings against racial violence and police brutality raged from New York to Minneapolis, following the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Riah Milton, and more. In response, the Internet… Read more

Halloween is usually filled with children prancing around the neighborhood before dusk and 35-year old men in Jim from The Office costumes lumbering around drunkenly. But, this year we won’t have to worry about getting candy for these trick-or-treaters or fighting off the advances of many uncharismatic Jims. Instead, we can really indulge in all that Halloween movies have to offer. Here are 12 spooky movies you can watch now curated for every mood: If you're all about the classics: Halloween (1978) is the… Read more

The principal women of colour on Netflix’s GLOW took to Instagram on Monday to share a letter they wrote to the show’s creators and executive producers expressing their concerns over the representation of their characters. The letter, written and sent before the show’s cancellation earlier this month, was posted by Sunita Mani, Ellen Wong, Sydelle Noel, Britney Young, Shakira Barrera, and Kia Stevens, who all co-signed the letter. In the letter, the women outline the issues of inclusivity within the show’s storylines.… Read more

Grammy-nominated vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Georgia Anne Muldrow conjures a mélange of sounds as the one-woman band JYOTI on her jazz-saturated album, Mama, You Can Bet! At first listen, it points to the comforting sounds of Nina Simone or Erykah Badu (with whom Muldrow has collaborated in the past), along with inflections of Shuggie Otis and Solange. Such breadth might spell trouble, but Muldrow’s wayfaring album is a vagabond that never gets lost. From the excellent “Ra’s Noise” to the title track,… Read more

In a place like the U.S., where the stories of queer people of color are continually erased, 30-year-old artist Johanna Toruño aims to center and celebrate them. Born in El Salvador, Toruño was displaced by war and migrated to the U.S. at age 10. After being incarcerated as a teen and spending three years on probation, she began searching for ways to express herself and connect with others. “Having these experiences of displacement and not speaking the language, and then having the experience [of] living as a queer… Read more

Netflix’s newest drama Grand Army is a scary but unfortunately realistic portrayal of being a teenager in America. One of the students at this Brooklyn high school where the show is set is Tor. Portrayed by actress Crystal Nelson, Tor is a confident and loving member of the school’s basketball team. Crystal discussed with BUST how Grand Army is different from other high school dramas and why playing Tor was like looking in the mirror. Can you tell me about Grand Army a little bit? What is your show about? Grand Army is… Read more

After four days of Amy Coney Barrett’s Senate confirmation hearing that culminated in Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein’s highly questionable, maskless hug with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, I think we all need a debrief, and a stiff drink. In what Rolling Stone called “the most useless job interview ever,” Barrett successfully evaded almost all of the questions thrown her way. How wild of us to expect answers out of a woman who could sit on the highest court of the country for the rest of her living years. Many… Read more

Diane Guerrero adds a little "something-something" to voting in this hilariously seductive PSA, “Safe Voting Feels So Good”, which promotes “safe, consensual, and pleasurable voting.” In the video, co-produced by Rosario Dawson, we see Guerrero sitting on the edge of a bed in a dimly lit room, purring to viewers that this is “no time for abstinence,” and that people need to “get it in.” This playful approach to voting is a cheeky way to motivate those who remain disengaged when it comes to casting in their ballots. Go… Read more

Filipino-British artist and 2020 Brit Awards Rising Star nominee Beabadoobee is slated to release her debut album, Fake It Flowers, in October. More from BUST Angel Olsen Reimagines Fan Favorites On "Whole New Mess": BUST Interview Mexican-American Sister Trio Tiarra Girls Talk New Cover Single "Can't Stop The World," Heritage, The Pandemic, And Proudest Moments: BUST Interview Beverly Glenn-Copeland's "Transmissions" Is Perfect For Both Lifelong Fans And Newcomers Read more

There is no question that last night’s Billboard Music Awards stood out from previous years. Not only did the event, which takes place in L.A.'s Dolby Theater, happen without a live audience, but stars such as Demi Lovato, Lizzo, and Killer Mike used their platforms to highlight important current and political issues. In case you missed it, here are some of the most noteworthy moments. 1. Demi Lovato performed her newest song, “Commander in Chief,” a protest against President Trump. Lovato’s performance was illuminated… Read more

If you're a millennial of a certain age, it’s possible you’ve been lusting after Joseph Gordon-Levitt for basically your whole life. From grade-school sleepovers in the late ’90s (10 Things I Hate About You) to date nights in the aughts (500 Days of Summer) to Oscar prepping in the 2010s (Inception), he’s always been there, upstaging higher-profile heart throbs in every genre. So, it is with great pleasure that I report he is every bit as charming as you’d want him to be, even on a cross-countryphone call in the midst… Read more

It’s been a long week: you deserve to take a break and do something fun, relaxing, and most importantly, for you. Whether that means watching a spooky movie in honor of the Halloween season, losing yourself in a new book, or learning something new, we’ve got you covered with this week’s fresh entertainment picks. Read on for what we’ll be up to this weekend. MOVIES/TV Rebecca Lily James stars in Netflix’s adaptation of the classic Gothic novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, about a young woman who finds herself haunted… Read more

In one of the first scenes of “Lady Liberty,” Shea (Julia Lindon) awkwardly comes out to her gynecologist, who is painfully unprepared for the news. Shea saying “no penis” to indicate that her sexual partner doesn’t need to be using condoms is perhaps the funniest line of the whole short film. Lindon, who plays the main character, is also the writer and producer of the short, which premiered at Tribeca TV last year. Unfortunately for her, this scene was mined from Lindon’s own experience at a gynecologist's office.… Read more

Medusa’s origin story is varied. Yet, the most widely recognized comes from Ovid’s Metamorphosis, in which Medusa was a mortal maiden in the temple of Athena, where she was raped by Poseidon. Soon after, Athena banished and cursed Medusa with a head of snakes and a gaze that turned men to stone. As the story goes, she was eventually beheaded by the epic hero Perseus, who used her head as a weapon before gifting it to Athena. Yesterday in New York City, a seven-foot-tall sculpture of Medusa was unveiled across from the… Read more

A coming of age story meets The Smiths' fandom of the '80s in The More You Ignore Me. This film weaves Morrissey's legacy into the befuddled homelife of Alice (Ella Hunt), her loyal father, Keith (Mark Addy), and mentally disabled mother, Gina (Sheridan Smith) in rural England. The film is an adaptation of Jo Brand's darkly comic novel. Yet, beneath Brand's comedic writing, The More You Ignore Me tackles difficult themes like mental illness and loss as Alice is bent between her devotion to her mother and her newly… Read more

While the term “fangirl” has been playfully reclaimed by people of all genders, the historical portrayal of young women music enthusiasts has often landed somewhere between glossed-over footnote and “hysterical” as a metric used to measure a musician’s power. In Fangirls: Scenes From Modern Music Culture, author Hannah Ewens, whose own experiences are included, explores a far more complex view of fandom through exhaustive research and interviews with women and gender-nonconforming music devoteesin the U.K., Europe,… Read more

In the midst of today's crazymaking Amy Coney Barrett live hearings—a terrifying process that could eventually result in the demolition of Roe v. Wade—we'd like to suggest a little palate cleanser in the form of Viva Ruiz’s new track, “Thank God For Abortion Anthem.” Ruiz is an activist and artist-in-residence for Shout Your Abortion, a multimedia movement working to normalize abortions through art, storytelling, and community-building events and she's also the creator of the activist collective Thank God For Abortion… Read more

RepresentUs, a grassroots anti-corruption organization, had celebrities strip down for voter rights. Sarah Silverman, Amy Schumer, and Tiffany Haddish were among those who got naked to warn against mistakes that are commonly made when filling out and sending mail-in ballots, specifically the issue of “naked" ballots. There are 16 states that may require voters to enclose their ballots in a secrecy sleeve, also known as an inner envelope, privacy sleeve, or identification envelope, and then place it in a second outer… Read more

Content warning: The following story contains discussion of violence against Indigenous women. Joyce Echaquan was a 37-year old Atikamekw woman of the Manawan community in Quebec. She was a mother to seven children and respected by the members of her tribe. On September 28, Echaquan went live on Facebook in a Joliette, Quebec hospital as she writhed in pain. Echaquan had a heart condition treated with a pacemaker and was experiencing intense stomach pain. The video showed a nurse and an orderly yelling at Echaquan in… Read more

More than 200 Guatemalan women and girls were killed in the first eight months of this year alone. Since 2015, more than 3,000 women and girls have been killed in Guatemala according to human rights groups like Amnesty International and the United Nations. Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, which share borders, all rank in the top five globally for their rates of femicide. In Guatemala, crimes against women go unpunished in more than 83% of reported cases. Most of the cases of femicide this year remain unsolved and… Read more

Megan Thee Stallion is calling all the “college hotties.” Last week, the rapper and college student debuted a scholarship in honor of her new song “Don’t Stop” with Young Thug. Two $10,000 dollar scholarships will be awarded at an unnamed date to women of color that are pursuing an associates, bachelors or postgraduate degree in any field of study. The application website reads, “Still a college student herself, Megan is incredibly passionate about the transformative power of education and remains a strong advocate for… Read more

In 1980, a shy young woman named Roberta Williams made history by designing a new kind of computer game—changing the industry forever Mystery House YOU ARE IN THE FRONT YARD OF A LARGE ABANDONED VICTORIAN HOUSE. STONE STEPS LEAD UP TO A WIDE PORCH. ————— ENTER COMMAND? Two simple sentences and a cursor, blinking like a heartbeat, awaiting your command. To most, it might read like the beginning of an odd and boring story, but the format will be familiar to anyone over 40 who ever dabbled in microcomputing. It was the… Read more

Since March, thousands of student-led protests have flooded the streets of Bangkok to denounce the Thai government. For a brief moment, the protests were halted due to the coronavirus pandemic but have picked back up since June when restrictions were lessened. The demonstrations have aimed criticism at their government’s lack of initiative to embrace new ideas, so women, especially young students, rallied to have their concerns raised to the forefront. In tandem with the anti-government protests, Thai women have used… Read more

So, you and your person are quarantined apart—or maybe, you were already in a long-distance relationship, and it looks like travel isn’t the safest option right now. You miss them; hell, you’re horny. Allow me to share some together-not-together strategies. Keep in Touch What schedule helps you feel optimally connected? What’s the right number of texts and calls per day or week? Keep your intimacy nurtured; feed your connection. Date Virtually Out of quarantine, you’d have rituals and rhythms. Maybe cook dinner together,… Read more

Where did early suffragists ever get the idea that women should have the same rights as men? The answer may be in their own backyards—in the egalitarian society created by Native Americans "One day, a [Native American] woman gave away a fine quality horse.” The audience of women’s rights activists listened attentively as ethnographer Alice Fletcher addressed the first International Council of Women. The scene was Washington, D.C. The date was March 1888. “Will your husband like to have you give the horse away?”… Read more

Isolation. Police brutality. Violence. Quarantine. A global pandemic. Wildfires. COVID-19. These are some of the words that have been ringing through our ears since the start of 2020. It feels very much the meme of the dog in a hat, sitting in the kitchen while flames burn all around, saying “I’m fine.” But we are not fine. Very much not fine. While the world is on fire both literally and figuratively, we have adapted. Adapted to Zoom University, six feet apart dinner dates, distanced learning, sourdough starter kits,… Read more

President Trump’s hasty COVID-19 recovery has brought on many conflicting feelings. After the news of his sickness broke, only two days after his cringeworthy debate performance where Trump mocked Biden for wearing “the biggest mask,” Twitter erupted. Some called the diagnosis his karmic fate; others wished death upon him. Soon after, Twitter resoponded to the surge, saying, “Tweets that wish or hope for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against *anyone* are not allowed and will need to be removed. This does… Read more

The Seattle Storm, led by Sue Bird and Breonna Stewart, beat the Las Vegas Aces at the WNBA championship Tuesday night to win the title with a record-breaking margin of 33-points. This is the team’s fourth title in 16 years and Bird has been around for all of them. As she watched her teammates dominate the Las Vegas Aces she said, “The fact that I’m sitting here, I think I’m having this, like, in-shock moment because it doesn’t really feel real that we just won and that I was able to contribute in the way that I did.”… Read more

Professor Bettany Hughes is a historian, author, and broadcaster who was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for her services to history, which makes her the first Dame to ever appear on BUST’s Poptarts podcast. She is currently professor of history at the New College of the Humanities and a research fellow at King’s College. Her first book, Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore has been translated into ten languages. Her second book, The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life was a… Read more

Content warning: The following Q&A as well as the film included contains discussion of sexual and physical abuse. In the short film Garden of Ants, by Jenni Hensler, a young woman exists in two warring realities, one in innocence and the other in the throngs of an abusive relationship. The film is an abstract reflection of Hensler’s personal experiences with abuse and how she continues to work through its effects on her relationships. Hensler is a freelance creative director, stylist and filmmaker who has produced art… Read more

Lesbians, a species known for obsessive love with an insatiable desire to be around one’s partner at all times, might be, in some ways, living in their golden era. The COVID-19 pandemic has given the community exactly what it has always wanted: an opportunity to live in one’s home watering plants, walking dogs, being “forced” to stay in watching true crime documentaries and making snack plates for one another throughout the day. Sure, the economy is collapsing and many of us are on the daily brink of a mental health… Read more

“Trans people are not new. We have always been here. As long as there’s been recorded human history, we have always existed. But we have been written out of the human story…” said Imara Jones for TIME earlier this year. The repercussions of being written out of the human story have never been more apparent as people’s lack of understanding too often turns into inconsolable violence. According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the number of transgender or gender non-conforming people killed so far this year has now… Read more

I love my friends. Really, I do. The majority of them are wonderful people that amaze me every day. They are artists and teachers and powerful businesswomen. But many of them are young and healthy and they don’t know what they don’t know, including what it’s like to be a chronically ill person, especially during a global pandemic where your disease is constantly listed as being in a “high risk group.” As a Type-1 Diabetic, that is one thing I am aware of. Please don’t get me wrong – I know nobody’s perfect, and I don’t… Read more

In Convenience Store Woman, the first of Japanese novelist Sayaka Murata’s books to be translated into English, the author established herself as someone with a knack for writing genuine oddballs and misfits. Earthlings, her follow-up, is even weirder. The book follows a girl named Natsuki as a child and then later as a 30-something. Abused by her mother, uncared for by her father and sister, and molested by a teacher, Natsuki literally believes herself to be a magical alien from the planet Popinpobopia. The only… Read more

I have loved Sarah Paulson for a long time. I remember the exact moment—Picture it, Connecticut, sometime between 1999-2001. I’m watching Juliette Lewis in The Other Sister, a rom-com about a mentally disabled woman and in appears a young Sarah Paulson as her estranged lesbian sister. I dont know, something about her lisp was adorable to me, or I felt bad that her character was ostracized by her family because she was gay, but I decided she was one of my favorite actors from that minor role. I love her so much, so much… Read more

In the case of six Indigenous women from the Pikangikum First Nation in Canada who pleaded guilty to impaired driving offences, Ontario Court Justice David Gibson is calling to challenge the minimum sentences and penalties under federal law. Federal law in Canada rules that repeated impaired driving offenders must face a mandatory minimum jail term of 90 days. The sentence may be served intermittently on weekends to allow the offender to maintain their employment, education, or familial responsibilities. As the six… Read more

We missed Bi-Visibility Day, so here are some biconic individuals that have been hetero-washed by history. Do you remember ever learning First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was bisexual? I certainly don’t. Before we move on to the list, to this day bi myths still pervade the heterosexual and LGBTQ+ community. These myths erase and harm bi-folks, so to set the tone, here’s a quote from The Bisexual Manifesto (1990) written by The Bay Area Bisexual Network: “Monosexuality is a heterosexist dictate used to oppress homosexuals… Read more

Red Light, Green Light In 1947, Women’s Wear Daily reported on a fad for novelty pins among “college girls,” who loved their “pearls and sorority pin” but would “never turn down an item that’s an attention getter, a source for conversation, or a piece that would stagger a stag line.” A small plastic pin shaped like a traffic light filled the bill: pull one of its tiny chains and a red blade emblazoned with “STOP” popped out; pull the other, and a green one marked “GO” appeared. The pin was modeled after the Acme… Read more

Akwaeke Emezi made history when their debut novel, Freshwater, was nominated for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2019. The 33-year-old is also a video artist and essayist. They received critical acclaim for Freshwater, a semi-autobiographical work exploring their Igbo heritage and gender identity, which is being adapted into a television series by FX. The nomination was the first time that a non-binary transgender writer was recognized by the prize. With Emezi’s second novel, The Death of Vivek Oji, which was released… Read more

Both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly have passed a bill that will try correction officers who engage in sexual relations with detainees as a Class 6 Felony. However, Governor Ralph Northam still needs to sign the bill for it to become law. Delegate Karrie Delaney said she proposed the bill to close a loophole in the law which currently allows police officers to have sexual relations with a detainee. “This puts people in a clear power imbalance at a very vulnerable time if they were detained by an officer with… Read more