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Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Column

Stop kink shaming: all types of sex are valid

Stop kink shaming: all types of sex are valid

By Mariyam Quaisar / November 11, 2021

People have sex. That is a concept that society has come a long way in wrapping its head around, which is great. Now, society needs to wrap its head around...

David Dobrik’s kingdom of bullying

David Dobrik’s kingdom of bullying

By Kaitlyn Fehr, Columnist / March 25, 2021

Trigger Warning: This column contains mentions of racism, homophobia, ableism, and sexual assault. Over the past couple of years, the YouTube community...

Unfortunately, collective grief comes alongside numbness. We, as a human collective, when overwhelmed with so much sorrow, seem to have an “off” switch.

Traversing grief in a pandemic

By Joshua Sokol / March 17, 2021

While scrolling through Twitter—a passive and frequent pandemic pastime—I’ll see tweets along the lines of “We survived 2020; that’s something...

Noah Centineo as Peter and Lana Condor as Lara Jean in "To All the Boys I've Loved Before."

To All the Books I’ve Loved Before: What Happened to Netflix’s Top Teen Franchise

By Shawna Konieczny, Staff Writer / February 17, 2021

For Valentine’s Day, Netflix gifted its subscribers with the third and final installment of the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before movie series based...

The unwavering patriarchy in India is deeply rooted in the history of the country, and it starts with the Indian family dynamic. The husband and father is the head of a household, making sons the desired offspring, while daughters can be seen as a burden..

New legislation in India causes farmer protests over corporate privatization

By Mariyam Quaisar, Deputy Living Arts Editor / February 10, 2021

Since Aug. 2020, farmers in India are protesting new laws passed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that significantly lessen government regulation around...

Video games are the modern form of storytelling

Video games are the modern form of storytelling

By Karissa Schaefer / January 20, 2021

Video games have been around since the 1950s, bringing forth old-school classic computer games like “Tennis for Two” and “Spacewar.” Since then,...

He's Got Spunk: He texts me, he texts me not

He’s Got Spunk: He texts me, he texts me not

By Gary Sowder / December 15, 2020

Much like everyone in my generation, I use dating apps. Tinder, Grindr, and Hinge are currently downloaded on my phone. And despite the desperation that...

President-elect Joe Biden holding a toddler Pete Wentz beside his mother, Dale Wentz. The 41-year-old Fall Out Boy lyricist and bassist is best known for his impact on the emo music genre.

Emo Never Dies: How Joe Biden helped kickstart the emo music genre

By Kaitlyn Fehr / November 18, 2020

When I think of emo music, I used to think of Gerard Way, Patrick Stump, Brendon Urie, or Hayley Williams. After the 2020 presidential election, I now...

The next step for pandemic-ridden pro sports after election

The next step for pandemic-ridden pro sports after election

By Brendan Beauregard / November 10, 2020

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Lebron James and Lakers teammates kneel for the national anthem while wearing "VOTE" shirts.

Don’t tell athletes to “shut up and dribble”

By Christopher Williams / November 10, 2020

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Media courtesy of Kaitlyn Fehr

Emo Never Dies: The Black Parade keeps marching on

By Kaitlyn Fehr / November 4, 2020

This October, I celebrated the birthday of an emo icon. My Chemical Romance’s third album,  The Black Parade, officially turned 14 years old in October...

He's Got Spunk- 'The Ick'

He’s Got Spunk- ‘The Ick’

By Gary Sowder / October 22, 2020

Temperatures have started to dip below the sixties. The leaves in the Common are fluttering off the trees. The pumpkin spice latte is back. It’s...

During quarantine I had to come to terms with my own negative thoughts.

Being OK with not feeling OK

By Taina Millsap / October 14, 2020

As a Latina woman, I’ve always been surrounded by happiness and the mindset that everything is fine. Even my grandma, who fought depression all her life,...

Gary Sowder writes about love and sex.

‘On the DL’: The sexual politics of sleeping with closeted guys

By Gary Sowder / October 1, 2020

My mom lives in Westchester County, New York, a place that is most known for being the home of the Clintons', and the last place Robert Durst’s wife...

"I don’t think I’ll ever not love fantasy, but I’m excited for my literary taste to grow with me and read about different experiences."

In quarantine, I revisited my taste in books—and it changed for the better

By Taina Millsap / September 2, 2020

Throughout my entire childhood, I always loved books. I forced my grandma to take me to the bookstore after my Friday classes every week, so that I could...

Right person, wrong time is a myth

Right person, wrong time is a myth

By Lara Hill / May 7, 2020
Last semester posed an interesting dilemma for my love life. I had just emerged from a serious, long-term relationship in October 2019, and I planned on studying abroad at Kasteel Well the following semester. I approached my dating life very casually, still using dating apps like Tinder. I didn’t intend to find something serious because I was worried about finding the “right” person at the wrong time. 
Everything has changed—except my love for Taylor Swift

Everything has changed—except my love for Taylor Swift

By Jess Ferguson / February 26, 2020

It was 2007, and I distinctly remember opening up my seventh birthday present: a black SanDisk MP3 player. At the time, I thought I was the coolest first-grader...

Learning to love both of my "faces"

Learning to love both of my “faces”

By Diana Bravo / February 25, 2020

When I look in the mirror, I don’t recognize the face that looks back at me as completely “mine.” Of course, I know it’s my face. I’ve never...

Photo credit: Ally Rzesa

How TV brought me closer to my brother

By Dana Gerber / January 29, 2020
Sometimes, binge watching is your only hinge.
My identity was altered by telenovelas and American sitcoms

My identity was altered by telenovelas and American sitcoms

By Emily Cardona / January 28, 2020

Like most pre-teens and teenagers, I looked to TV shows, movies, and books to figure out who I was and who I wanted to be when I was younger.  Middle...