Staff picks of the decade

When Kanye West stormed the stage at the 2009 VMA’s to interrupt Taylor Swifts’ acceptance speech, he sent shockwaves across the music industry. When he exiled himself in Hawaii to work on his upcoming album, many wondered what music would result from all of this drama. The answer, of course, is the best album of this generation. “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is the “magnum opus”...

For the past four seasons of NBC’s The Good Place, the practice of radical empathy has been at play. Both the faults of humanity and the need to be better are central themes of the sitcom created by Mike Shur, of The Office and Parks and Recreation fame. Classical philosophy lessons are paired alongside the sarcastic, sometimes goofy comedy that has ruled NBC’s comedy nights for the past decad...

“Turtles All the Way Down” is a captivating story by John Green of how an anxiety-ridden teenager, Aza Holmes, deals with typical high school situations and real life challenges. Holmes is often accompanied by her best friend Daisy, who introduces Aza to the case of Russell Pickett, a billionaire gone missing after getting into monetary trouble with the government. As Aza and Daisy work to track ...

Taylor Swift is the preeminent artist of the 2010’s. Swift began her career young, writing and performing her own songs from a young age. She experienced early success, becoming the youngest artist to be signed by Sony/ATV Music Publishing at 14 years old. She is the recipient of a plethora of awards and recognitions as the most awarded artist at the American Music Awards in addition t...

This American Life encompasses exactly what a podcast should be. Three far-expanding stories with a common theme that all ties nicely into a little bow. Being well-rounded and perfect for a long drive or a well-paced run, it lives up to the name. For example, one of my favorite episodes, “Reunited (And It Feels So Good),” consists of an Iranian couple that moves to America and finally falls in...

Jordan Peele’s Get Out was a standout movie that will be remembered for generations to come. It maintained a serious tone while still being hilarious for all viewers. Between the talented cast and remarkable plot twist Get Out was both well-performed and suspenseful. Most importantly Get Out made emotional connections to the alienation and racial tension that are found throughout America without excl...

In a time were big animation companies are making mainstream 3D animated films, I think Sony and Columbia Pictures brought a fresh new look to the 3D cinematic industry. The use of original comic art and the unique idea of using a slower frame rate to give people the sense of flipping through one of Marvel's new comic books. With the introduction of revamped Spider-Men and a new computer-animation st...

Despite being first released in 1992, Mario Kart still plays a significant role in today’s video gaming world. Nintendo consoles were a huge part of my childhood and with each one came additional versions of the classic Mario Kart game. In this past decade, there have been four new games released, in addition to a mobile phone version of the game, Mario Kart Tour (2019). I know I am not alone in saying...

Greg was on the newspaper staff when I started teaching the class. It was his second year on staff and the adjustment to a new teacher and new expectations for the publication was a rocky transition. Greg missed deadlines, ignored word counts, and chose to do math homework in place of his assignments. After miscommunications, poor grades, and yelling Greg became my news and copy editor. He still wrote...