What Does it Mean When You Vote for a Joke Candidate?
In the first week of December, joke ticket Will Gansa will face off with Ella Cheng in a run-off election for Princeton’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) President. Gansa, running on a platform of waffle fries, ripe fruit, and ‘bike reform,’ won 44% of the popular vote to Cheng’s 32%, in the first round of elections in late November.
The Sound of Political Work: A Joint Interview
On a cold November evening, I sat down with Ella, Will, and Molly on the floor of the African Art room in the Princeton University Art Museum for their first-ever joint interview to discuss fashion, the experience of time and waffle fries.
Notes on Engaging with Black Thought
I have started this piece many times. Each beginning featured a description of Professor Emeritus of African American Studies Cornel West and his entrance into McCosh 50.
In the Nation’s Pocket
Student activists campaigning for divestment—from fossil fuel companies, weapons manufacturing companies, or companies operating in the Israeli-occupied West Bank—must face an administration that for decades has refused to acknowledge the central point at the very core of any divestment campaign: that the university’s investments should be considered as part of the university itself.
Amusement Abandoned
We heard the theme park before we saw it. A constant screech, grating and shrill.
Respecting Ms. Banks
Of the many things the singer Banks (the stage name of Jillian Banks) does well—and I think there are many—the thing she does best is cultivate her own vibe.
E. 7th Street
cash wasn’t honey on the tracks / but the subway smelled like my front pocket / stale raspberry cola and dusty and blackened fingertips
When Life Gives You Lemons
One of my closest friends called recently after a bad breakup. We hadn’t spoken in a few weeks, so when I picked up the phone, I felt that familiar yet uncomfortable sense of separation caused by more than just physical distance.
Sophie’s Namesake
I was named in a fit of impatience. My brother Toby was six years old and frustrated that my parents referred to little unborn me only as “the baby.” Inspired by the book he was reading, one day he asked, “Can we just call her Sophie?” And so they did.
Rules for When You Plan on Educating Your Future Children about Mortality
Tell them they will never die because they are too young to understand object permanence. Avoid their questions. You do not own any pets.
Love in the Time of Lana
I fell in love with Lana Del Rey a week after I got my driver’s license. Sixteen and in the deeper throes of teenage angst, I’d taken to calling the suburban split-level I’d grown up in “my parents’ house” and spending as much time as possible out with my steady, if less than stable, high school boyfriend.