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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

Bryan Liu

Bryan Liu, Managing Editor

Bryan Liu (they/them) is a student journalist from Jersey. Having been with the Beacon since day one, they’ve photographed and written extensive feature stories about local artists, pop culture, and communities. Ex-opinion and living arts editor. Formerly of GQ Middle East and Harper’s Bazaar Arabia. Freelance for Cambridge Day. Also a hairdresser.

Latest from Bryan Liu
Senior Missionary Elder Butt and Assistant to the Bishop Stephen Patterson catch up over holiday fanfare in the Latter-day Saints' chapel gymnasium. (Bryan Liu/ For The Beacon)

Latter-day Saints celebrate Lunar New Year

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / February 5, 2025

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a Lunar New Year party celebrating Chinese culture in their Cambridge chapel last Friday night.  Latter-day...

Playwright Kate Hamill and Director Shana Cooper hug during a workshop of "The Odyssey." (Bryan Liu/ For The Beacon)

After 2000 years, Odysseus finally makes it to Boston

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / February 5, 2025

Actor and Playwright Kate Hamill’s latest production, “The Odyssey,” will have its world premiere on Feb. 9 at the American Repertory Theater in...

David Methven, piper for the 15th annual Burns supper at The Haven last Thursday night.

‘Everybody gets to be Scottish tonight’: In Jamaica Plain Burns supper honors Scotland’s national poet

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / January 30, 2025

Hundreds of locals celebrated the life and legacy of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, at the 15th annual Burns supper hosted at Scottish restaurant...

Candace Persuasian lip syncs "Defying Gravity," as Elphaba. (Bryan Liu/ Beacon Staff)

A birthday and a name change for drag artist Candace Persuasian

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / January 30, 2025

Candace Persuasian’s birthday show, Candyland, celebrated her official name change while performing a lip sync of "Defying Gravity" at Jacque’s Cabaret last...

Reflection. (Bryan Liu/ Beacon Staff)

K-pop idols get canceled for saying ‘Chinese New Year,’ should we?

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / January 29, 2025

The K-pop industry epitomizes trivial controversies. Every year—an idol says “Chinese New Year” instead of “Lunar New Year,” and netizens dogpile...

Daphne Bryant, founder of Dreamworldgirl Zine, in a photoshoot. (Courtesy of Emma Cahill)

How Daphne Bryant built her dream world

By Bryan Liu and Meg Richards / January 15, 2025

Dreamworldgirl, a Y2K-inspired zine celebrating girlhood’s complexities, puts women of color, queer, and plus-size women in traditionally “girly”...

Charles Yu signs local author Cynthia Yee's copy of "Interior Chinatown" at the Boston Asian American Film Festival. Yee writes her own column called the Hudson Street Chronicles, a collection of personal essays about growing up in Boston's Chinatown during the '60s. She says the book saved her life. (Bryan Liu/ Beacon Staff)

‘Interior Chinatown’ responds to model minority myth

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / November 20, 2024

Taiwanese American author Charles Yu’s National Book Award-winning novel, “Interior Chinatown,” lept off the page, literally—he adapted...

American reggae singer Matisyahu, ended his set with the 2009 hit, "One Day," on Thursday night, Nov. 7. (Bryan Liu/ Beacon Staff)

Yallapalooza Boston celebrates Jewish music

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / November 11, 2024

Act two of the three-part Yallapalooza 2024 concert series kicked off in Boston at the Emerson Colonial Theater on Thursday. The tour, presented by Hillel,...

Becky Moon, who converted her house into a spontaneous studio on Tuesday afternoon, showcased her artistic journey via philosophy-related paintings and sculptures—guests were encouraged to compose poems and draw sounds. (Bryan Liu / Living Arts Editor)

Becky Moon’s open house: a local artist’s philosophy

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / October 10, 2024
Becky Moon told me to imagine a tomato—and in my mind, one appeared: minimal gloss, blush red, fresh and bulbous with a fuzzy green toupee and barcode sticker.
Michael Kiwanuka. (Bryan Liu/ Living Arts Editor)

Michael Kiwanuka sings: a month before “Small Changes”

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / October 6, 2024
There was no disco, yet the ball kept spinning above us, and as much as I wanted this moment to freeze forever it would not—still, I could not help but overflow; because music this beautiful could not be clung to like water, only felt—and if not for my eyelid’s border or the skin of my eardrums, I would have melted all together. 
Illustration by Rachel Choi.

Cotton Isn’t As Comfortable As You Think.

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / December 6, 2023

Ethical consumption doesn't exist. I found out last summer in New York when the world’s leading denim heads told me so—this was the Kingpins Show;...

Illustration by Ryan Yau.

“Thankskilling 3” Will Stuff Your Turkey.

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / November 29, 2023

There is a heart-shaped niche in my chest that gets stuffed when I rewatch the Thankskilling franchise. I am in love with each installment of the two-part...

Photos by Ashlyn Wang

Unraveling the Sustainable Threads of Denim Culture

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / November 8, 2023

In the 1947 Broadway production of Tennesee Williams’ play, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Marlon Brando wanted his jeans so tight that costume designer...

Photo: Bryan Liu

Rising Tides: The oyster industry faces climate change challenges and solutions

By Shannon Garrido, Hailey Akau and Bryan Liu / November 8, 2023

  The world is your oyster, until it isn’t.  ​​On Sept. 1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory about...

Illustration by Ryan Yau.

Everyone’s a Zen Master

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / October 4, 2023

It’s no secret that Buddhism regionalizes as it spreads. Before Buddhism became Zen, it was Chan—which combined original Indian Mahāyāna practice...

Guitarist, Donovan Miller, who played back to back sets for Nectarine Girl and Ana Schon.

[Photo] Cucking is an art form and Cuckfest dares to share

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / September 27, 2023

The Manglers performing.

Illustration by Kellyn Taylor.

Activism isn’t skin-deep

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / September 13, 2023

I am sitting with the wettest elbows.  My forearms are slick with water from this morning when I was bent over the sink, washing my face. They will...

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / April 3, 2023

Radiohead’s 1995 alternative chart topper, “Fake Plastic Trees,” is about my Christmas tree. The eponymous fake Chinese rubber plant lives rent-free...

Nostalgic for Harvard: it's not what you think

Nostalgic for Harvard: it’s not what you think

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / February 23, 2023

I hate CC100: Foundations of Speech Communications—and that has nothing to do with my teacher or my classmates; it’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s...

Tyler Durden loves his explosives. Cambodia does not.

Tyler Durden loves his explosives. Cambodia does not.

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / January 25, 2023

“Fight Club” is not a movie about fighting.  Author Chuck Palaniuk says “it’s about two men and a woman, and one man, the hero, is shot to...

An installation at “Food Justice: Growing a Healthier Community through Art.”

Fuller Craft Museum serves food justice exhibit

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / November 16, 2022

Amid the inevitable deluge of overindulgent Thanksgiving-themed feasts, Instagram stories and Facebook posts rises an interesting question: what about...

Illustration by Ryan Yau

Gobble gobble: Thankskilling and Birds Aren’t Real reflect new Marxist canon.

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / November 16, 2022

I’m an addict. I can’t stop watching low-budget, B-list horror flicks that are certifiably shit. I would consider films like “Sharknado,” “Llamageddon,”...

Rachel Choi

Meditated so hard my ass cracked: Buddhism is not Islamophobic

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / November 9, 2022

When Siddartha Gautama went outside of his opulent palace for the first time and saw poverty, disease, and old age, he drew a central conclusion: existence...

Robert Hansen, founder of "Apollo Hansen Designs."

Student graphic design brand shoots for the moon

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / November 9, 2022

Apollo 13 may have exploded, but Apollo Hansen made it to the moon.  The 20-year-old marketing major, filmmaker, and fashion developer, also known...

Illustration by Hailey Akau

When it comes to durian, spitters are quitters

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / October 19, 2022

Durian is an acquired taste—a taste westerners can’t seem to acquire, so they make fun of it on the internet. The stinky “king of fruits” endemic...

Emerson Mafia admin debuts new merchandise fundraiser

Emerson Mafia admin debuts new merchandise fundraiser

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / October 6, 2022

While the Emerson Mafia is often known solely as a means of networking, it has now expanded its community and fundraising efforts in a unique way: merchandise.  Michael...

To save Chinatown, we must Experience Chinatown

To save Chinatown, we must Experience Chinatown

By Bryan Liu and Ryan Yau / September 29, 2022

Through the Chinatown gate lies a wrinkle in time against the backdrop of metropolitan Boston. The neighborhood evokes a sense of anachronism: faded, old-fashioned...