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

Joshua Sokol

Joshua Sokol, Staff Writer

Joshua Sokol is a staff writer at The Beacon and a junior journalism major.  Alongside his work at The Beacon, he has had writing published in The Los Angeles Review. Joshua is a lifelong resident of Massachusetts and currently resides in Cambridge.

Latest from Joshua Sokol
 Even as white and Black people use cannabis at similar rates, Black people are 3.64 times more likely to be arrested on charges of weed possession, according to a 2020 ACLU report.

The luxury of neighborhood dispensaries deny America’s racist cannabis criminalization

May 1, 2021

In 1936, a film titled “Reefer Madness” hit the silver screen. Originally titled “Tell Your Children,” the black & white cinema explored the...

Fiona Apple’s reckoning, 24 years in the making

Fiona Apple’s reckoning, 24 years in the making

March 30, 2021

At the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, a 20-year-old Fiona Apple took the stage to accept her award for “Best New Artist in a Video.” She won the award...

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

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...

Three-time Grammy Award winner Fiona Apple

The winners of the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards

March 14, 2021

The 2021 Grammy Awards are finally upon us. The premiere ceremony streamed live on the Recording Academy’s website, beginning at 3pm EST. Comedian Trevor...

Grammy awards

2021 Grammys: here’s who we think will win

March 11, 2021

2020 was a wild year for music. Dua Lipa and Lady Gaga released albums loaded with club bangers just as clubs became a thing of the past. Fiona Apple made...

I convinced myself that people could see my loneliness, radiating like an inverted aura that stigmatized me into something wretched and weak.

Confronting my loneliness was a double-edged sword

March 1, 2021

I first moved to Boston in the fall of 2017 from Westminster, Massachusetts; a small, rural town. It was a move that filled me to the brim with anxiety...

Stand with Standing Rock- March on Washington, D. C. 
March 10, 2017

Climate justice must include Indigenous sovereignty

February 10, 2021

When I think of the year 2016, it seems like eons have passed. In the past four years, time has moved awry, with one headline after another bringing waves...

SOPHIE, a complex whole made of intricate parts

SOPHIE, a complex whole made of intricate parts

February 3, 2021

SOPHIE, a Grammy-nominated electronic-pop producer and artist who revolutionized the genre of hyperpop, died on Saturday in Athens, Greece. At 34 years...

Multimedia artist Daniel Callahan / Courtesy Daniel Callahan

Artist and professor Daniel Callahan appointed president of the Roxbury Cultural District board of trustees

January 20, 2021

Multimedia artist Daniel Callahan, an affiliate professor of Emerson, has been appointed by the Roxbury Cultural District as the president of the board...

Released in isolation: The top 10 albums of 2020

Released in isolation: The top 10 albums of 2020

December 22, 2020

2020 has been a year of disappointment. Internships were cut. Intense feelings of isolation and general melancholy reigned in relation to the state of...

Cured (2020) is an American documentary directed by Bennett Singer and Patrick Sammon.

Film review: ‘Cured’ reminds us the necessity of LGBTQ+ activism

November 11, 2020

After four years of the Trump administration rolling back LGBTQ+ protections, particularly those protecting the trans community, documentaries like Cured,...

Screenshot from the ICA Panel on racism, contemporary art, and public health.

Racism and public health: ICA Boston discusses the role of the artist in 2020

November 2, 2020

In June, Mayor Marty Walsh declared racism a public health crisis as millions of Black Lives Matter protesters demanded justice for police brutality victims...

A Halloween playlist for all your (socially distant) celebrations

A Halloween playlist for all your (socially distant) celebrations

October 31, 2020

Even though parties are a no-go this year, a good soundtrack can transform a quiet night into a one or two person soiree in an instant. Everyone dust...

Six Crimee, 1982, Jean-Michel Basquiat© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York

Sound and color: Jean-Michel Basquiat, the hip-hop generation and the world of post-graffiti

October 21, 2020

A new exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston pays tribute to hip-hop and graffiti culture, displaying it as a testament to the post-graffiti American...

The Lincoln Statue is set to be taken down in the wake of the recent Black Lives Matter protests.

Artists, activists come together for “Memorials: As Monuments Fall” webinar

October 17, 2020

Historical monuments and who they seek to memorialize have come under harsh scrutiny in 2020. Emerson Contemporary, along with a team of professors and...

Performers at the annual Honk! Festival raise their hands together in celebration.

Somerville-based HONK! Festival invited international partners for virtual blowout

October 14, 2020

The Somerville-based HONK! Festival of Activist Street Bands looked quite unusual this year due to the impact of COVID-19. But the 2020 fest at the intersection...

Emersons Paramount theater.

ArtsEmerson, WERS receive grant money from Boston COVID-19 fund

October 13, 2020

Two Emerson-affiliated organizations, ArtsEmerson and WERS 88.9, received grant funding from Boston’s $1 million Arts and Culture COVID-19 Fund this...

Music venues have been struggling trough the COVID-19 pandemic due to the nature of their business.

In the wake of COVID-19, independent music venues adapt their model to survive

October 1, 2020

Live performance venues are one of the many businesses adversely affected by COVID-19. Since they rely on shoulder-to-shoulder contact and gathering large...

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