Alyssa Tillman

     I was reading an article from the Guardian about Trump’s plan to take over Gaza . I get to the end of the article and there is a lengthy message from the Guardian. It reads: “With the new administration boasting about its desire to punish journalists, and Trump and his allies already pursuing lawsuits against newspapers whose stories they don’t like, it has never been more urgent, or more perilous, to pursue fair, accurate reporting.” It continues, “The Guardian has neither a self-interested billionaire owner nor profit-seeking corporate henchmen pressuring us to appease the rich and powerful.” This frightened me, not just as a journalist, but as someone who relies on the news to be an accurate and unbiased source of information.       When Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017, nine journalists were arrested while covering protests in Washington, DC, with several facing rioting charges. This marked the beginning of a troubling trend over the next ...

     In a 2023 interview with W, the Weeknd claimed that Hurry Up Tomorrow would serve as a skin-shedding for his career: “The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as the Weeknd,” he said. “I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as the Weeknd. But I still want to kill the Weeknd.” The Weeknd released his longest album to date last Friday, marking the end of the second trilogy in his catalog. A follow up project to After Hours and Dawn FM is no easy task, but I was impressed with the work that went into this album.        Hurry Up Tomorrow begins with The Weeknd trapped in a state of cynical despair. Dark, doomsday-inspired synths and a pulsing heartbeat set the stage for lyrics that linger in isolation and flirt with the idea of death. But just before he sinks into hopelessness, his harmonies build to a crescendo, leading into an upbeat groove similar to Michael Jackson's Thriller. It does not sound like a direct sample, but still a...