Beme News, 2018, 10:16… Prisoners in Soledad, California are turning to an unlikely source — feminism — to understand the behaviors that may have landed them behind bars. Contessa visits with Richard Edmond Vargas who is working with his fellow inmates to challenge the idea of what it means to “be a man.”
Blackface in America
Vice News, 2019, 2:37… Ralph Northam is still the governor of Virginia—for now. But he’s facing increasing pressure to resign after a conservative media site unearthed a photo of a man in blackface on Northam’s page in a 1984 medical school yearbook. Northam insists it isn’t him in the photo. And the New York Times today reported that a group of his medical school classmates is standing behind him.
1-844-WYT-FEAR (Racism Hotline)
The New York Times, 2018, 2:38… In this satirical infomercial, the comedian and actress Niecy Nash plays the inventor of a new hotline, 1-844-WYT-FEAR. The video advertises a phone service for white people to call when they can’t cope with black people living their lives near them. It’s a real phone number we created so that fearful whites can call it for advice, about their racism.
Animal Rights Extremists
Vice, 2019, 17:00… Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) is an animal liberation group that is notorious for its large-scale actions which sometimes involve illegal tactics such as civil disobedience and trespassing. DxE sees their actions as essential to forwarding their cause of exposing injustices in the Animal Agriculture System.
Political Protest at the Oscars
The Verge, 2017, 3:45… The Academy Awards is an opportunity for Hollywood’s best to speak out about the political causes that concerned them the most, on the biggest stage possible. But in a time when voters are divided and everyone’s a pundit, it’s easy to forget that the Oscars weren’t always a home to politics. From Marlon Brando to the creators of Moonlight, we take a look at the history of the Oscars as a moving, and sometimes miscalculated, home to political protest.
In Praise of Billionaires
Influencers & Manufactured Desire
The Rich Guy Who Wants To Pay More Taxes
NowThis, 2019, 14:00… Prince believes that raising the minimum wage will increase consumption and we're better off putting money into the hands of people who will spend it in the economy than those at the top who already have plenty of money. Prince also says that the wealthy people in charge do not care if the economy improves just if they're making more money.
PornHub's 2018 Stats (SFW)
The Karl Marx Festival
Vice News, 2019, 4:49… In October, New York University hosted “On Your Marx” — a two week long jubilee to celebrate this bicentennial with a broad, eccentric slate of panel discussions and performances. In the spirit of camaraderie, tickets to all events were priced pay-as-you-wish — from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. VICE News went to sample several of the festival’s unique offerings, including a choral rendition of the Communist Manifesto, a Marxist party with DJs AndrewAndrew, and a contemporary dance performance "ritualizing the labor of its dancers."
Pharmacy Deserts & Oases
Al Jazeera, 2019, 2:25… More and more minority neighbourhoods in US cities are becoming what healthcare experts call "pharmacy deserts". From Oregon on the west coast to Baltimore on the east, local drug stores are closing up shop in low-income and minority neighbourhoods. The decisions may be based on profitability, but with the widening scope of services pharmacies offer in the United States - like physicals, immunisations, drug counselling, sexually transmitted infection screening and other laboratory testing - residents of poor neighbourhoods struggle to access an increasingly important part of the national healthcare system. Al Jazeera's John Hendren reports from Chicago.
Political Self-Segregation
Vice News, 2019, 6:06… You can’t pick your family, but you can pick your friends. And if they start to vote differently than you, some families are willing to pick up, leave and find new friends. Sick of states that permit legal marijuana? Same-sex marriages? Laws that permit transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice? What if there were a better way? Last year, VICE News went to McKinney, Texas to check out "Conservative "Move" - a real estate company that says it has the solution to living a life free of liberals. They’ll try to find you a place to live, a job with a decent wage, and the best schools for your children, in Texas or any other Republican stronghold.
Play Labs
Urban Thinkscapes
Quartz, 2018, 5:03… Urban Thinkscape is more than just a playground. It was designed by a team of psychologists and architects to encourage families to play while waiting for the bus. The researchers behind the project argue that play is crucial for early childhood development and that there needs to be more of it built into public spaces — more than a playground for kids. In 2050, 70% of the world’s children will live in cities. If the team can prove Urban Thinkscape’s success, it’s a concept that can be replicated almost anywhere.
Advertising & Alcohol Regulation
USA Today, 2018, 5:43… Millions of Americans will hoist a glass this holiday season. And convincing you to do so is big business! In the US alone, 2 billion dollars is spent on alcohol advertising each year. Perhaps well worth it, as it results in 162 billion dollars in annual alcohol sales. You heard us right, it's not just your in-laws who are driving you to drink.
Crime as a Disease?
The Problems of Border Security TV
Al Jazeera, 2018, 9:55… For the past few years, Border Security TV has become a regular fixture on airwaves around the globe. It's a subgenre of reality TV where camera crews follow border control officials as they search for illegal goods, interrogate suspicious newcomers, and deport those deemed unwanted. Its popularity, some say, is a clear sign of the times.
GE Big Boys (SNL)
Saturday Night Live, 2018, 1:45… A commercial advertises GE’s new line of home appliances made for men. #SNL #JasonMomoa #MumfordAndSons #SNL44
Emotional Labor & Airlines
Adam Ruins Everything, 2018, 2:17… Adam unfolds the profoundly sexist and disrespectful treatment flight attendants endured during the Golden Age of flying. #truTV #AdamRuins