Tuesday, January 7

Journalism

The Most Recent Crop Of Terms Added To The Dictionary
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Journalism, TOP FOUR

The Most Recent Crop Of Terms Added To The Dictionary

‘Thirst trap’ and ‘edgelord’ were recently added to the dictionary – so why hasn’t ‘nibling’ made the cut? A student in my graduate seminar recently mentioned seeing her “niblings” at Thanksgiving. Some of the students in my class were clearly familiar with the term. But others frowned, suggesting that they hadn’t heard the term before, or didn’t know what it meant. A nibling is the child of one’s brothers or sisters. The word is a blend of the “n” in “niece” and “nephew” with “sibling,” and it was coined in the early 1950s by linguist Samuel Martin. But even though it’s been around for over 70 years, the word isn’t included in the online Merriam-Webster dictionary. The most recent crop of terms added to the dictionary includes words like edgelord – a person who makes provocative statement...
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Are You Ready For A Road Trip This Summer?
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Journalism

Are You Ready For A Road Trip This Summer?

Going on a road trip this summer? 4 reasons why you might end up speeding, according to psychology. Your bags are packed. You’ve sorted entertainment and snacks for your passengers and have squeezed all your holiday luggage in the car. You’re now ready to head off for your road trip – one hour after you meant to leave. There will be more traffic now, but maybe, if you put your foot down you can make up some time. It might be tempting to speed. People do so for a number of reasons, not just because they’re running late. Here’s why, what this does to your risk of being injured, and how to plan your road trip to minimise that risk. 1. You think you’ll get there faster Perhaps one of the biggest myths about speeding is it saves you a lot of time. In fact drivers overestimate how much time th...
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Are Shared Meal Experiences The Next Big Thing Bringing People And Pups Closer Together?
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Journalism

Are Shared Meal Experiences The Next Big Thing Bringing People And Pups Closer Together?

Shared meal experiences: The next big thing bringing people and pups closer.  Do you throw birthday parties for your dog? Include them in family photos? Maybe you have matching outfits you don for special occasions? If you enjoy spending time with your pup through fun activities like these, you’ll love the next big thing in bonding with pets: shared mealtime experiences. This isn’t just eating at the same time. Shared mealtime experiences mean pet owners are creating human dishes for themselves that are inspired by the ingredients in their pup’s food bowl. Once the dish is ready, you can both enjoy meals that mimic each other while spending quality time together. It’s an activity that fills your belly and your cup at the same time. Shared meal inspiration Your dog is one of your most belo...
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The Power Of Chicken Soup: How It Can Help You
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism, SELF, TOP FOUR

The Power Of Chicken Soup: How It Can Help You

Does chicken soup really help when you’re sick? A nutrition specialist explains what’s behind the beloved comfort food. Preparing a bowl of chicken soup for a loved one when they’re sick has been a common practice throughout the world for centuries. Today, generations from virtually every culture swear to the benefits of chicken soup. In the U.S., the dish is typically made with noodles, but different cultures prepare the soothing remedy their own way. Chicken soup as a therapy can be traced back to 60 A.D. and Pedanius Dioscorides, an army surgeon who served under the Roman emperor Nero, and whose five-volume medical encyclopedia was consulted by early healers for more than a millennium. But the origins of chicken soup go back thousands of years earlier, to ancient China. So, with cold a...
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Why Are White Working-Class Young Men Turning To Racist Violence?
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Journalism

Why Are White Working-Class Young Men Turning To Racist Violence?

Today’s white working-class young men who turn to racist violence are part of a long, sad American history. In recent years, the United States has seen a surge of white supremacist mass shootings against racial minorities. While not always the case, mass shooters tend to be young white men. Some journalists and researchers have argued that class and ideals of white masculinity are partly to blame. This argument is not surprising. Throughout U.S. history, white men’s anxieties over their manhood and social class help explain many violent attacks on Black people, whom the perpetrators blame for denying them their rightful privileges. Such was the case with Dylann Roof, a then 22-year-old white supremacist who was convicted and sentenced to death in the 2015 deaths of nine Black worshippers a...
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A Comprehensive Look At 3.5 Million Written Teacher Comments About Students
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Journalism

A Comprehensive Look At 3.5 Million Written Teacher Comments About Students

We analyzed over 3.5 million written teacher comments about students and found racial bias. Written teacher comments about students can show implicit racial or ethnic and gender biases in school discipline, according to our recent study. To identify these biases, we analyzed more than 3.5 million teacher comments about students from thousands of schools in the U.S. These comments were written in student office discipline referrals. Teacher comments were gathered from a web application used by schools to provide information such as when and where student discipline referrals occurred. When purchasing the application, schools can provide permission for their de-identified data to be used for research purposes. Our study showed that teachers wrote more when describing behavior incidents of Bl...
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Exploring The Legacy Of A Black-Owned Team In Basketball
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Journalism

Exploring The Legacy Of A Black-Owned Team In Basketball

A century ago, a Black-owned team ruled basketball − today, no Black majority owners remain. For the first time in 20 years, the NBA began its season with no Black-owned franchises. In fact, there’s been only one Black majority-owned team in league history. In late 2002, the NBA awarded an expansion team, the Charlotte Bobcats, to Black Entertainment Television co-founder Bob Johnson. Four years later, former NBA star Michael Jordan bought a minority stake in the franchise, and in 2010, he bought Johnson’s stake. However, Jordan sold his majority stake in the franchise in July 2023. This lack of diversity in basketball team ownership is especially disappointing considering the rich history of Black ownership in sports, which began when the top leagues in the U.S. were still segregated. A c...
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Black And Vulnerable Can Be Dissected Without Consent
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Journalism

Black And Vulnerable Can Be Dissected Without Consent

From morgue to medical school: Cadavers of the poor, Black and vulnerable can be dissected without consent. Every year, first-year medical students approach their human cadavers with a mixture of awe and trepidation. They will come to know their assigned cadaver intimately. During the course of their studies, they will carefully pull back layers of skin, muscle and tissue as they learn the fundamentals of human anatomy. When the long process of dissection is complete, the cadavers are cremated, with the remains returned to family, interred in a dedicated plot, scattered in a memorial garden or sometimes buried at sea. Historically, anatomy laboratories relied on unclaimed bodies or executed prisoners, and even resorted to grave-robbing to meet the growing demand for cadavers. Today, while ...
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A Generation Of African Writers Have Followed In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Footsteps — 20 Years After The Publication Of ‘Purple Hibiscus,’
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Journalism

A Generation Of African Writers Have Followed In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Footsteps — 20 Years After The Publication Of ‘Purple Hibiscus,’

20 years after the publication of ‘Purple Hibiscus,’ a generation of African writers have followed in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s footsteps. Twenty years ago, in October 2003, 26-year-old Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie burst onto the North American publishing scene with her debut novel,“ Purple Hibiscus.” Since then, Adichie’s literary fame has only grown: She’s published two more novels and a collection of short stories, while two of her TED talks have garnered tens of millions of views. In September 2023, she published her first children’s book – a joyful celebration of mother-daughter love – under the nom de plume Nwa Grace-James. But the October 2003 publication of “Purple Hibiscus” didn’t just signal the start of a single author’s brilliant career. It also forged a path for...
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The Perils Of Live Theater
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CELEBRITY NEWS, Journalism, POLITICS

The Perils Of Live Theater

What live theater can learn from Branson, Missouri. In summer 2023, the publication American Theatre declared unequivocally that live theater was “in crisis” – particularly regional, nonprofit theaters. Writing for The New York Times, Isaac Butler preferred the phrase “on the verge of collapse.” The numbers are stark. Not only have dozens of theaters across the country closed their doors since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, but those that are still open have also contracted their seasons massively, producing 40% fewer shows than in 2019. What can regional, nonprofit theaters do to survive? One place to look for ideas is the tourist town of Branson, Missouri. Scholars and theater critics have ignored this mecca of live entertainment that attracts millions of people a year, larg...
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