In The Buzz Cut, we bring you a round-up of all the weird, controversial, and wonderful stories we’ve been reading all week.
Demi Lovato is a lot of things. They are a singer, activist. And now, by their own description, a “UFO Experiencer.” To the uninitiated, Lovato is launching a docuseries to initiate contact with aliens and “make peace” with them. “What if they’re [aliens] already here,” they ask, “waiting for us to reach out?”
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A writer went on an expedition to a secluded Californian island in search of an answer. Scientists had thought the first Americans arrived on the continent via a land bridge, but the expedition shows the sea may have played a bigger role in this journey. Probing who were the first Americans can unveil answers about our primeval ancestors.
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What do crop tops, newsboy hats, and bare midriffs have in common? They’ve all earned a rep for being “bad” outfits on Sex and the City; but therein lies the gold of the show and fashion. “It’s when Carrie gets messy that the outfits, the character, and the series really come alive.“
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The bottomless world of Wikipedia has grown in its framing of facts and fiction with the war on terror. “What’s less obvious is how those shocking events of the early 2000s… helped make Wikipedia into the so-called last bastion of shared reality.” The 20th anniversary of 9/11 inspires an interrogation of shared reality in a post-truth age.
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With The Matrix Resurrections trailer getting over 1 million views within an hour of its release, there’s no denying everybody’s dying for a trip down the rabbit hole again. A John Wick-ish Keanu Reeves in therapy with a therapist who is Neil Patrick Harris? Yes. All the blue pills in the sink? Yes. Will it resurrect hope itself for generations who’ve held on to cultural life lessons from The Matrix series?
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A landmark judgment in 1994 caused a significant shift in the history of Indian federalism. A backstory recounts the case that made President’s Rule a rarity in today’s times. “The Bommai judgment was a creature of its times…The question now is whether it will be used to uphold secularism the way it once upheld federalism.”
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The search for a missing boy in a Canadian city started with rain boots. Then came online sleuths to help the family. Conspiracies and distortion online ended up with the parents accused of dark magic; worse, of killing their son. “It was a dizzying, dystopian funhouse of rumor and speculation.”
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American actor Michael K. Williams passed away this week. This profile of Williams shows the vulnerability, identity crisis, strength, and redemption of the actor. It is not about The Wire or other numerous depictions; Williams elevated Black identity on screen.
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Dante’s Divine Comedy has inspired readers for centuries. The real-life inspired women characters, however, have existed as “metaphors, from pious maidens to villainesses capable of bringing dynasties to their knees.” A researcher dug the personal histories of each woman and gave them new life online. Turns out you really can rewrite history.
