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3 Reasons Why Wearing Blackface Is (Almost) Never Okay

Nov 11, 2014 | Arts and Entertainment, mic, Race and Racism

Published: Daily Dot (November 11, 2014) Why can’t we get over blackface? Take the backlash against Nisha Damji, the British woman who complained about a pub owner’s use of blackface. After expressing her feelings in an online forum, Damji was greeted with online comments that ranged from lame excuses (it was an “absurdist” joke and the man’s black friend dressed up as a “black klansman”) to the...

5 Things Our Education System Needs To Start Teaching… For The Sake of America

Nov 6, 2014 | Education, Gender and Sexism, History, mic, Race and Racism

Published: Good Men Project (November 6, 2014) Matthew Rozsa wonders if the American education system is producing good citizens. As Americans wind down from the 2014 midterm elections (and, inevitably, begin preparing for the presidential contest two years hence), this question deserves special attention. In any society even ostensibly structured according to democratic principles, the...

Why Ben Stein Is A Disgrace To Nerds Everywhere

Nov 6, 2014 | General Advice, mic, President Obama, Race and Racism

Published: Daily Dot (November 6, 2014) Ben Stein’s credibility as a nerd is dead, as Stein’s recent controversial (and patently untrue) claim that President Obama is the “most racist president there has ever been in America” is evidence that he’s departed the critical thinking train. Since nerds seem to rule the world, it’s time for them to come for one of their own....

Gamergate and the Basement Generation

Oct 23, 2014 | Arts and Entertainment, Gender and Sexism, General Advice, mic

Published: Good Men Project (October 23, 2014), Daily Dot (October 27, 2014) Matt Rozsa doesn’t see the passion of the basement generation as necessarily a bad thing, but it needs to be used for good. “Man, I see in Fight Club the strongest and smartest men who’ve ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables – slaves...

How being best friends with Siri saved an autistic boy’s life

Oct 23, 2014 | Asperger's Syndrome, Autobiographical, mic, Science and Technology

Published: Daily Dot (October 23, 2014) Earlier this week, the New York Times ran an editorial by Judith Newman about her autistic child and the bond he has developed with Siri, the iPhone app. After discovering there was “someone who would not just find information on his various obsessions...but actually semi-discuss these subjects tirelessly,” Newman has found that her son Gus now has a...

5 ways to make sure you’re not that customer the Internet hates

Oct 21, 2014 | Class Issues, General Advice, Internet Culture, mic

Published: Daily Dot (October 21, 2014) If there’s one topic food service employees love to discuss, it’s the pros and cons of working in their industry. People seem to hold a different standard for how they treat waiters, fast food clerks, and the wide range of other men and women who serve their meals. This was most recently evidenced by the viral story of a high school football player who...

The one thing everyone forgets about Obama’s legacy

Oct 16, 2014 | Arts and Entertainment, Health & Wellness (Physical), Internet Culture, mic, President Obama

Published: Daily Dot (October 16, 2014) Unlikely though it might seem, First Lady Michelle Obama’s new viral video “Turnip for What” is more than just a silly video that parodies a hip-hop hit to teach Americans about the joys of eating the titular vegetable. Indeed, even as pundits continue to debate Paul Krugman’s controversial Rolling Stone article detailing Barack Obama’s policy successes...

I’m a real teacher, and I love Rate My Professor

Oct 13, 2014 | Autobiographical, Education, Internet Culture, mic, Science and Technology

Published: Daily Dot (October 13, 2014) The website Rate My Professor, which allows users to rank and write reviews of their teachers, is more than just a valuable tool for college students who want to be smart consumers about their classroom experiences. It also embodies the greatest promise of the Internet revolution—its ability to not only disseminate information, but encourage people to...