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"content": "\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13912098']Over the weekend, a new star outgrew the confines of TikTok and was welcomed with open hearts and minds by the rest of the internet. His name is Emmanuel Todd Lopez, he’s an emu, and—like so many parents at so many dinner tables—he has a raging vendetta against cellphones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Avid TikTok users have known about Emmanuel’s sparkling personality for weeks now, thanks to \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Knuckle Bump Farms’ account\u003c/a> on the app. The South Florida farm’s content—curated by 29-year-old farmer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hiitaylorblake/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taylor Blake\u003c/a>—had primarily revolved around cattle and very sweet miniature cows since joining TikTok. That was until Emmanuel angrily sauntered into the picture in early July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms/video/7118102996201917739\" data-video-id=\"7118102996201917739\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@knucklebumpfarms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@knucklebumpfarms\u003c/a> Not a day goes by that Emanuel doesn’t try my life \u003ca title=\"emu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emusoftiktok\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emusoftiktok\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emusoftiktok\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"farmlife\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/farmlife\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#farmlife\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Knuckle Bump Farms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7118102977310690091\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – Knuckle Bump Farms\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The video quickly garnered millions of views and Emmanuel fans demanded more ornery emu content. Blake happily obliged, providing another clip of the big bird behaving badly. “Emmanuel, don’t do it!” quickly became a universal symbol of the entire world’s work-related frustrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms/video/7118391540732710190\" data-video-id=\"7118391540732710190\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@knucklebumpfarms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@knucklebumpfarms\u003c/a> Another day, another Emmanuel don’t do it🤦🏼♀️its impossible to educate under these hostile work conditions \u003ca title=\"emu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emmanueltheemu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanueltheemu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanueltheemu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"farmlife\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/farmlife\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#farmlife\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"choas\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/choas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#choas\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Knuckle Bump Farms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7118391475100044075\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – Knuckle Bump Farms\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then came the inevitable. A request to see what happened when Emmanuel \u003cem>did\u003c/em> do it. Again, Blake happily obliged with a TikTok of Emmanuel angrily knocking Blake’s cell phone to the ground and pecking at it. “Do you feel fulfilled now?” Blake asks him. “Did it give you a rush?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms/video/7118525659487620398\" data-video-id=\"7118525659487620398\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@knucklebumpfarms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@knucklebumpfarms\u003c/a> Reply to @pdtheog is this what you wanted? Bc I have cow shit stuck in my phone speaker now😩 \u003ca title=\"emu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emmanuel\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanuel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanuel\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emusoftiktok\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emusoftiktok\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emusoftiktok\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"farmlife\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/farmlife\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#farmlife\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Knuckle Bump Farms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7118525653288291118\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – Knuckle Bump Farms\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A major key in the appeal of the Emmanuel videos is the juxtaposition of his beady-eyed determination and Blake’s exasperated pleas for peace and sanity. This is also something she does with the other animals on the farm, as seen on TikTok. (“Ferdinand, I don’t need it out of you. This is exactly why we moved your mom to the big pasture: because she never shut her mouth.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms/video/7118404457943092522\" data-video-id=\"7118404457943092522\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@knucklebumpfarms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@knucklebumpfarms\u003c/a> I am tired of the verbal abuse I endure at the hooves of these cows \u003ca title=\"cowsoftiktok\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cowsoftiktok\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#cowsoftiktok\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"farmlife\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/farmlife\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#farmlife\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"moo\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/moo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#moo\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"stopbullying\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/stopbullying\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#stopbullying\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Knuckle Bump Farms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7118404444919728939\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – Knuckle Bump Farms\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the weekend, after someone made a supercut of Blake’s videos, the cult of Emmanuel spread to Instagram and Twitter, helped in large part by celebrity fans. Including Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/RealLyndaCarter/status/1548697854234984451\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Comedian Patton Oswalt posted several of Blake’s videos over the weekend. A favorite: one where she thanks the internet for supporting her and Emmanuel, then promptly gets her cell phone knocked into the dirt for her trouble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/1548718744498671616\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was on Sunday when we finally found out Emmanuel’s “government name”: Emmanuel Todd Lopez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms/video/7121505700672458026\" data-video-id=\"7121505700672458026\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@knucklebumpfarms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@knucklebumpfarms\u003c/a> He knew I meant business when I whipped out his government name 😩🤣 \u003ca title=\"emmanueltheemu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanueltheemu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanueltheemu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emmanueldontdoit\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanueldontdoit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanueldontdoit\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emmanuel\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanuel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanuel\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"animalsagainsteducation\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/animalsagainsteducation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#animalsagainsteducation\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Knuckle Bump Farms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7121505683312282411\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – Knuckle Bump Farms\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naturally, the internet was very excited about this important development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/mspears96/status/1548902042604896256\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/riverag3000/status/1548833955062747136\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/genwilliams/status/1548853201235058691\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No word yet on how the other emus at Knuckle Bump Farms—Regina and Ellen—are reacting to their friend’s newfound stardom. Emmanuel, at least, appears to be taking it in stride…\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms/video/7121796555685809450\" data-video-id=\"7121796555685809450\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@knucklebumpfarms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@knucklebumpfarms\u003c/a> People let me tell you bout my best friend 🤠 \u003ca title=\"emmanuel\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanuel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanuel\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emmanueldontdoit\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanueldontdoit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanueldontdoit\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emmanueltheemu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanueltheemu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanueltheemu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"bestfriend\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bestfriend\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#bestfriend\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ Best friend by Harry Nilsson - PeterVigilante\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Best-friend-by-Harry-Nilsson-6726196654770375430\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ Best friend by Harry Nilsson – PeterVigilante\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Over the weekend, a new star outgrew the confines of TikTok and was welcomed with open hearts and minds by the rest of the internet. His name is Emmanuel Todd Lopez, he’s an emu, and—like so many parents at so many dinner tables—he has a raging vendetta against cellphones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Avid TikTok users have known about Emmanuel’s sparkling personality for weeks now, thanks to \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Knuckle Bump Farms’ account\u003c/a> on the app. The South Florida farm’s content—curated by 29-year-old farmer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hiitaylorblake/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taylor Blake\u003c/a>—had primarily revolved around cattle and very sweet miniature cows since joining TikTok. That was until Emmanuel angrily sauntered into the picture in early July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms/video/7118102996201917739\" data-video-id=\"7118102996201917739\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@knucklebumpfarms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@knucklebumpfarms\u003c/a> Not a day goes by that Emanuel doesn’t try my life \u003ca title=\"emu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emusoftiktok\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emusoftiktok\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emusoftiktok\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"farmlife\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/farmlife\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#farmlife\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Knuckle Bump Farms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7118102977310690091\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – Knuckle Bump Farms\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The video quickly garnered millions of views and Emmanuel fans demanded more ornery emu content. Blake happily obliged, providing another clip of the big bird behaving badly. “Emmanuel, don’t do it!” quickly became a universal symbol of the entire world’s work-related frustrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms/video/7118391540732710190\" data-video-id=\"7118391540732710190\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@knucklebumpfarms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@knucklebumpfarms\u003c/a> Another day, another Emmanuel don’t do it🤦🏼♀️its impossible to educate under these hostile work conditions \u003ca title=\"emu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emmanueltheemu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanueltheemu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanueltheemu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"farmlife\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/farmlife\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#farmlife\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"choas\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/choas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#choas\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Knuckle Bump Farms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7118391475100044075\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – Knuckle Bump Farms\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then came the inevitable. A request to see what happened when Emmanuel \u003cem>did\u003c/em> do it. Again, Blake happily obliged with a TikTok of Emmanuel angrily knocking Blake’s cell phone to the ground and pecking at it. “Do you feel fulfilled now?” Blake asks him. “Did it give you a rush?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms/video/7118525659487620398\" data-video-id=\"7118525659487620398\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@knucklebumpfarms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@knucklebumpfarms\u003c/a> Reply to @pdtheog is this what you wanted? Bc I have cow shit stuck in my phone speaker now😩 \u003ca title=\"emu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emmanuel\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanuel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanuel\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emusoftiktok\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emusoftiktok\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emusoftiktok\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"farmlife\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/farmlife\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#farmlife\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Knuckle Bump Farms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7118525653288291118\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – Knuckle Bump Farms\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A major key in the appeal of the Emmanuel videos is the juxtaposition of his beady-eyed determination and Blake’s exasperated pleas for peace and sanity. This is also something she does with the other animals on the farm, as seen on TikTok. (“Ferdinand, I don’t need it out of you. This is exactly why we moved your mom to the big pasture: because she never shut her mouth.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms/video/7118404457943092522\" data-video-id=\"7118404457943092522\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@knucklebumpfarms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@knucklebumpfarms\u003c/a> I am tired of the verbal abuse I endure at the hooves of these cows \u003ca title=\"cowsoftiktok\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cowsoftiktok\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#cowsoftiktok\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"farmlife\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/farmlife\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#farmlife\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"moo\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/moo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#moo\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"stopbullying\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/stopbullying\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#stopbullying\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Knuckle Bump Farms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7118404444919728939\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – Knuckle Bump Farms\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the weekend, after someone made a supercut of Blake’s videos, the cult of Emmanuel spread to Instagram and Twitter, helped in large part by celebrity fans. Including Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Comedian Patton Oswalt posted several of Blake’s videos over the weekend. A favorite: one where she thanks the internet for supporting her and Emmanuel, then promptly gets her cell phone knocked into the dirt for her trouble.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>It was on Sunday when we finally found out Emmanuel’s “government name”: Emmanuel Todd Lopez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms/video/7121505700672458026\" data-video-id=\"7121505700672458026\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@knucklebumpfarms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@knucklebumpfarms\u003c/a> He knew I meant business when I whipped out his government name 😩🤣 \u003ca title=\"emmanueltheemu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanueltheemu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanueltheemu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emmanueldontdoit\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanueldontdoit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanueldontdoit\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emmanuel\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanuel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanuel\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"animalsagainsteducation\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/animalsagainsteducation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#animalsagainsteducation\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Knuckle Bump Farms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7121505683312282411\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – Knuckle Bump Farms\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naturally, the internet was very excited about this important development.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>No word yet on how the other emus at Knuckle Bump Farms—Regina and Ellen—are reacting to their friend’s newfound stardom. Emmanuel, at least, appears to be taking it in stride…\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms/video/7121796555685809450\" data-video-id=\"7121796555685809450\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@knucklebumpfarms\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@knucklebumpfarms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@knucklebumpfarms\u003c/a> People let me tell you bout my best friend 🤠 \u003ca title=\"emmanuel\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanuel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanuel\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emmanueldontdoit\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanueldontdoit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanueldontdoit\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"emmanueltheemu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/emmanueltheemu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#emmanueltheemu\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"bestfriend\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bestfriend\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#bestfriend\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ Best friend by Harry Nilsson - PeterVigilante\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Best-friend-by-Harry-Nilsson-6726196654770375430\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ Best friend by Harry Nilsson – PeterVigilante\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Union City’s Joshua Neal is a Star For Real",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC7857325208&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/joshuaneall/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joshua Neal\u003c/a> is a viral sensation, using social media platforms to share his acting talents and social commentary with the world, and simultaneously launching his career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple times a week, Neal posts short comedic videos where he plays all the roles, writes all the scripts, and produces all the stories. He can be seen smoking fake cigarettes as a bad guy or wearing a towel on his head as he takes on the role of an angry girlfriend—all in service of telling humorous stories that resonate with people’s real-life experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His posts have been shared widely, and have reached the digital doorsteps of Hollywood luminaries like \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/ellabakercenter/status/1547295009249980416?s=20&t=ebcv2ZkmKeD5UveebJ0MzA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ava DuVernay\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neal, an actor, writer and creator who grew up in Union City and currently lives in Hayward, now has a foot in the door of major production circles, and he did it by simply creating content from the confines of his parents’ crib.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week Joshua Neal shares a little bit of his own story, as well as what it takes to consistently make viral videos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Below are some lightly edited excerpts of the episode with Joshua Neal.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pen: Why Hayward? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like, Hayward is not L.A.\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joshua: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It isn’t, but you know, it’s a little bit easier for the opportunities to come to you wherever you are because of social media. So I don’t really have a reason to be in L.A. right now. You know, like I remember when I finally… I booked a national commercial right? And I was like, I’ve made it. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m going to buy my mom a Ferrari and I’m going to move to L.A.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pen: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Off of one commercial.\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joshua: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Exactly. So I made a cool little penny. But when I was out there, I was doing a lot of the same things that I was doing in the Bay, which is just waiting for an audition. Sending in a self-tape [audition], you know, you don’t really even get the audition in person, I guess, until round two or three? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Depending on, you know, how big of a production they are, you know, stuff like that. So I was like, you know what, until I have to come back to L.A. and do work there, then I’ll just stay out here. And [it’s] a little bit easier on the pockets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think the cultures are very different: there’s social media and then there’s the film and TV industry. I think how you’re seen is very, very different, you know what I mean? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because I feel like, there is the method that, you know, you’re just sending in your self-tape, you’re auditioning. But we’re in a different day and age now, to where you can be somewhat in control of your destiny, like you don’t have to wait around. And I think that instead of reaching out to Hollywood, it’s a little better to have Hollywood reach out to you, now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, there’s a lot of people that go to actor’s school. They do their … what is it called, their showcase. And there’s agents that come there and they get picked up straight from that, you know what I mean? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But for those of us who I would say kind of don’t want to sit still … Then it’s the best way to market yourself, brand yourself, make a living and have them go, “Oh, we think this guy will be good for this” because when they approach you in an audition opportunity, they have an idea already of who you are, and kind of like the part that you will fit. So it kind of gives you a little extra advantage… Until Michael B. Jordan comes in and then it’s all over!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pen: I asked Joshua what his goal would be if he were to make super stardom like Issa Rae, who also carved out her path through a web series. And whether he would try to help other people in his community get past some of the Hollywood gatekeeping. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joshua: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, for people, you know who aren’t Black, not a person of color, it’s kind of like the opportunity is everywhere, it’s been there. So there’s not as much pressure to put people on because they’re already on or going to get on. It’s very easy. Versus one of us makes it out of thousands? We’re all going to say like, “Oh, please, yo, I mean like, you got to.” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We feel like you’re obligated to because of the fact that it’s rare for one of us to make it as big as Issa Rae. You know what I’m saying? And I’m pretty sure she feels as pressured to sometimes to be like oh I have to do it, because if you don’t, who else is? There’ll be another Issa Rae thirty years from now. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Being a black man in America, especially a Black artist, there is the lack of opportunities. So if I get lucky and blessed enough to get to this level of whatever stardom, whatever you want to call it, and I have this access of managers and agents and casting directors and people that I can “put on,” I’m going to do so. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Joshua: Sometimes I feel like people can maybe look at social media people as like they got it made and stuff. When really I don’t, personally. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So I like to, you know, just bring it down to earth sometimes, let people know that it’s like, yo, or I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m 32, I live with my parents. You know, things just started taking off for me and my acting career a year and a half ago, you know, and I’m still trying to make it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sometimes I think it’s important to just let people know, like, we’re really all in this together. We’re really all trying to figure it out. Sometimes things aren’t what they seem, you know what I’m saying? So I just put that in there every now and then. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I know I can sound so phony, [but] he battle really is within yourself.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It really is. You’re your hardest critic. You’re always going to say, “this isn’t funny. That’s not going to do it. That’s not going to… ” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You don’t know that! Do it first, then find out. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s nothing to be worried about right now. There’s no failure. So make something, because it could be the greatest thing someone’s ever seen. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Joshua Neal gives us insight on creating viral videos and entering the entertainment industry. ",
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"title": "Union City’s Joshua Neal is a Star For Real | KQED",
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"headline": "Union City’s Joshua Neal is a Star For Real",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC7857325208&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/joshuaneall/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joshua Neal\u003c/a> is a viral sensation, using social media platforms to share his acting talents and social commentary with the world, and simultaneously launching his career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple times a week, Neal posts short comedic videos where he plays all the roles, writes all the scripts, and produces all the stories. He can be seen smoking fake cigarettes as a bad guy or wearing a towel on his head as he takes on the role of an angry girlfriend—all in service of telling humorous stories that resonate with people’s real-life experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His posts have been shared widely, and have reached the digital doorsteps of Hollywood luminaries like \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/ellabakercenter/status/1547295009249980416?s=20&t=ebcv2ZkmKeD5UveebJ0MzA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ava DuVernay\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neal, an actor, writer and creator who grew up in Union City and currently lives in Hayward, now has a foot in the door of major production circles, and he did it by simply creating content from the confines of his parents’ crib.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week Joshua Neal shares a little bit of his own story, as well as what it takes to consistently make viral videos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Below are some lightly edited excerpts of the episode with Joshua Neal.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pen: Why Hayward? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like, Hayward is not L.A.\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joshua: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It isn’t, but you know, it’s a little bit easier for the opportunities to come to you wherever you are because of social media. So I don’t really have a reason to be in L.A. right now. You know, like I remember when I finally… I booked a national commercial right? And I was like, I’ve made it. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m going to buy my mom a Ferrari and I’m going to move to L.A.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pen: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Off of one commercial.\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joshua: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Exactly. So I made a cool little penny. But when I was out there, I was doing a lot of the same things that I was doing in the Bay, which is just waiting for an audition. Sending in a self-tape [audition], you know, you don’t really even get the audition in person, I guess, until round two or three? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Depending on, you know, how big of a production they are, you know, stuff like that. So I was like, you know what, until I have to come back to L.A. and do work there, then I’ll just stay out here. And [it’s] a little bit easier on the pockets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think the cultures are very different: there’s social media and then there’s the film and TV industry. I think how you’re seen is very, very different, you know what I mean? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because I feel like, there is the method that, you know, you’re just sending in your self-tape, you’re auditioning. But we’re in a different day and age now, to where you can be somewhat in control of your destiny, like you don’t have to wait around. And I think that instead of reaching out to Hollywood, it’s a little better to have Hollywood reach out to you, now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, there’s a lot of people that go to actor’s school. They do their … what is it called, their showcase. And there’s agents that come there and they get picked up straight from that, you know what I mean? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But for those of us who I would say kind of don’t want to sit still … Then it’s the best way to market yourself, brand yourself, make a living and have them go, “Oh, we think this guy will be good for this” because when they approach you in an audition opportunity, they have an idea already of who you are, and kind of like the part that you will fit. So it kind of gives you a little extra advantage… Until Michael B. Jordan comes in and then it’s all over!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pen: I asked Joshua what his goal would be if he were to make super stardom like Issa Rae, who also carved out her path through a web series. And whether he would try to help other people in his community get past some of the Hollywood gatekeeping. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joshua: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, for people, you know who aren’t Black, not a person of color, it’s kind of like the opportunity is everywhere, it’s been there. So there’s not as much pressure to put people on because they’re already on or going to get on. It’s very easy. Versus one of us makes it out of thousands? We’re all going to say like, “Oh, please, yo, I mean like, you got to.” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We feel like you’re obligated to because of the fact that it’s rare for one of us to make it as big as Issa Rae. You know what I’m saying? And I’m pretty sure she feels as pressured to sometimes to be like oh I have to do it, because if you don’t, who else is? There’ll be another Issa Rae thirty years from now. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Being a black man in America, especially a Black artist, there is the lack of opportunities. So if I get lucky and blessed enough to get to this level of whatever stardom, whatever you want to call it, and I have this access of managers and agents and casting directors and people that I can “put on,” I’m going to do so. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Joshua: Sometimes I feel like people can maybe look at social media people as like they got it made and stuff. When really I don’t, personally. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So I like to, you know, just bring it down to earth sometimes, let people know that it’s like, yo, or I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m 32, I live with my parents. You know, things just started taking off for me and my acting career a year and a half ago, you know, and I’m still trying to make it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sometimes I think it’s important to just let people know, like, we’re really all in this together. We’re really all trying to figure it out. Sometimes things aren’t what they seem, you know what I’m saying? So I just put that in there every now and then. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I know I can sound so phony, [but] he battle really is within yourself.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It really is. You’re your hardest critic. You’re always going to say, “this isn’t funny. That’s not going to do it. That’s not going to… ” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You don’t know that! Do it first, then find out. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s nothing to be worried about right now. There’s no failure. So make something, because it could be the greatest thing someone’s ever seen. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "How Alyssa Wang Became the Bay Area’s Queen of Boba",
"headTitle": "How Alyssa Wang Became the Bay Area’s Queen of Boba | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Every week, I would have piano lessons, and if I did well, my teacher would give me a sticker. If I got a sticker, then my mom would take me to Tapioca Express, ” says Alyssa Wang, who goes by the online name \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/feedmeimei/videos\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Feed Meimei\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “So I’ve always loved boba since I was a kid.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Asian Americans of a certain generation, this kind of childhood nostalgia is commonplace. But Wang, 27, is one of the only ones who has transformed her boba love into a career. She is the internet’s likely first full-time boba content creator. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, Feed Meimei boasts more than 605,000 subscribers on Youtube, 737,000 followers on her Tiktok and 242,000 followers on Instagram. Over the past five years, Wang has made more than 70 Youtube videos documenting her countless visits to Bay Area boba shops. Wang’s favorite boba shop in the Bay Area, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.urbanritualcafe.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Urban Ritual\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, even named a drink after her. The drink is currently one of the store’s top three sellers, according to founder David Zhou. Whenever Wang posts about Urban Ritual, the store usually sees a 10 percent uptick in sales.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In that sense, Wang has become one of the most powerful people in the Bay Area boba scene—a kingmaker of sorts whose videos, many which are filmed inside her car, often wind up having a real impact on a small shop’s business fortunes. It’s a future that Wang never could have imagined when she was a college student posting food recommendations just for fun. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>From Software Engineer to Social Media Creator\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wang’s food blogging journey began in 2013 when she was a freshman at UC Davis studying computer science and psychology. As a hobby, she made @davis_eats, an Instagram account documenting her adventures exploring the college town’s food scene. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After graduating, Wang moved back to the Bay Area to live with her parents and began working as a software engineer. While she enjoyed coding, she found that she didn’t like it enough to do it eight hours a day. What she did love was building her food Instagram, which she renamed \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/feedmeimei/?hl=en\">Feed Meimei\u003c/a>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I found myself at work just being like, ‘I really wish I could just keep doing that. I want to go out and be shooting content at restaurants,’” Wang says. “It took months for me to come to terms with the fact that I was going to take this untraditional route. Growing up, I always thought I would be a doctor, lawyer or engineer, the classic jobs that Asian parents want you to do.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915017\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13915017\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman sits in cafe booth with a huge stack of oversized cups of boba in front of her.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wang is likely the internet’s first full-time boba influencer. \u003ccite>(Alyssa Wang / @feedmeimei)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wang decided at the end of 2018 to quit her job in tech to pursue content creation full time, a decision she says was partially inspired by the path of fellow UC Davis grad TJ Lee, known online as \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/cupoftj\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cup of TJ\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Wang had saved up money from her job and didn’t have other major financial responsibilities at the time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She hit the ground running in January 2019, churning out two Youtube videos per week and doing everything from storyboarding, preparing drinks and food, shooting and editing. On Instagram, she started making original content six times per week. In June 2019, she \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@feedmeimei?lang=en\">joined TikTok\u003c/a> and started posting there as well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I was just like, go, go, go, just put my head down and work,” Wang says. “I was very much in the mindset of like, ‘I’m just going to work, I’m going to upload, and as long as I keep going, then eventually I will be able to succeed.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Combatting Creator Burnout\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was unsustainable. At the end of 2019, she began to question why she was “working so hard towards something that was never going to happen.” So she took a break from content creation, a field where likes and views have made it notoriously easy to compare your own journey to those of others. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then, the pandemic hit. While tinkering with unpublished footage, at first out of sheer boredom, Wang rediscovered her love for making videos about food. She slowly began posting on Youtube again, just once a week. In 2021, she began experimenting with making boba from scratch and forming it into different characters. Those turned out to be her first “viral” moments. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CbeDBwFF_Rw/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a video with 1.2 million views on TikTok and 5.7 million views on Youtube Shorts, Wang melts down a strawberry Melona bar to make red panda-shaped tapioca pearls inspired by Pixar’s \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Turning Red\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. In another TikTok video with 5.9 million views, she makes \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lZ-G3ASbLAc\">cotton-candy pink, Kirby-shaped pearls\u003c/a>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The success has obviously helped, but being a full-time creator for more than three years has also taught Wang the importance of practicing self-care. She has learned to liberally use Youtube’s “don’t recommend channel” feature to prevent its algorithm from displaying other creators’ videos on her feed. It’s nothing personal—she’s ecstatic for their success—“but I also don’t want myself to feel like I’m not doing enough or I’m not happy where I am,” Wang says, “because I am happy.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The other thing that has helped, Wang says, is that family support, particularly from her mom, has remained constant. And that has made all the difference.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wang’s mom even \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">makes\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> frequent, highly-requested appearances in videos. (She has been featured in more than 60 of them so far.) The mother and daughter’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyB1W1tgHUw\">matching levels of enthusiasm for food\u003c/a> make for lighthearted entertainment that some viewers have said reminds them of their interactions with their own family. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bGRQJzAKZw\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Coming from an Asian upbringing, usually families aren’t super expressive with their emotions,” Wang says. “But, food, it was always something that could bring us together.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Queen of Many Domains\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While some of Wang’s subscribers may have originally come across her channel due to her viral boba videos, her positivity keeps them coming back for more—no matter the video’s subject. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Her well-received forays into making non-boba content are proof. She’s made food guides for the Bay Area, Taiwan, Japan, Toronto, Los Angeles, Hawaii and more. Her recent videos include a taste test and ranking of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyB1W1tgHUw\">every appetizer, dumpling and noodle dish at chain restaurant Din Tai Fung\u003c/a> alongside her mom. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wang speaks to the camera directly, casually, as a friend. Seldom does she offer overt criticism. It’s what sets her, and other food influencers, apart from the professional food critics.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915020\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13915020\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman smiles holding a colorful, seven-scoop ice cream cone in each hand.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-1920x2400.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Feed Meimei has branched out beyond boba to post videos about other food-related topics like soup dumplings and ice cream. \u003ccite>(Alyssa Wang / @feedmeimei)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sbe’s become somewhat of a local star, especially in the Bay Area’s boba scene. Baristas often tell her that customers use her videos as a guide for what to order, she says. She’s not fully used to the attention yet, and still finds it unreal that her subscribers will “sit there and watch me talk about food for, like, 20 minutes.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13904913,arts_13897410,arts_13908947']It’s been a successful endeavor so far, if the Feed Meimei team’s rapid expansion is any indication. In the past month, Wang has taken on a hiring manager, an assistant and a lawyer—a move that she says has been “long overdue.” Soon, she’ll hire another editor and start a new Youtube channel for casual vlogging. She did not delve into specifics of her financial situation, but, like other influencers, she generates income through a combination of brand partnerships, ad revenue, merchandise and collaborations—her Urban Ritual drink included. She makes enough, at least, that she doesn’t need to take on any other day job.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wang, a deeply nostalgic person, drew the flavor profile for her “Feed Me Ube” collaboration drink from her childhood. Her voice picks up as she describes the decadent drink, which features ube-flavored crème brûlée pudding, taro chunks, coconut milk and a choice of either rice milk or whole milk: “The rice milk is much lighter and it really lets the flavor of the ube shine through. But you could really taste that coconut-y sweetness with the whole milk.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It was so creamy,” Wang says, with the same enthusiasm she must have had as a kid, collecting stickers to get her weekly boba fix. “A dessert in a cup, basically.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The TikTok boba influencer dishes on nontraditional Asian American career paths, self-care and going 'viral.'",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Every week, I would have piano lessons, and if I did well, my teacher would give me a sticker. If I got a sticker, then my mom would take me to Tapioca Express, ” says Alyssa Wang, who goes by the online name \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/feedmeimei/videos\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Feed Meimei\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “So I’ve always loved boba since I was a kid.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Asian Americans of a certain generation, this kind of childhood nostalgia is commonplace. But Wang, 27, is one of the only ones who has transformed her boba love into a career. She is the internet’s likely first full-time boba content creator. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, Feed Meimei boasts more than 605,000 subscribers on Youtube, 737,000 followers on her Tiktok and 242,000 followers on Instagram. Over the past five years, Wang has made more than 70 Youtube videos documenting her countless visits to Bay Area boba shops. Wang’s favorite boba shop in the Bay Area, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.urbanritualcafe.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Urban Ritual\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, even named a drink after her. The drink is currently one of the store’s top three sellers, according to founder David Zhou. Whenever Wang posts about Urban Ritual, the store usually sees a 10 percent uptick in sales.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In that sense, Wang has become one of the most powerful people in the Bay Area boba scene—a kingmaker of sorts whose videos, many which are filmed inside her car, often wind up having a real impact on a small shop’s business fortunes. It’s a future that Wang never could have imagined when she was a college student posting food recommendations just for fun. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>From Software Engineer to Social Media Creator\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wang’s food blogging journey began in 2013 when she was a freshman at UC Davis studying computer science and psychology. As a hobby, she made @davis_eats, an Instagram account documenting her adventures exploring the college town’s food scene. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After graduating, Wang moved back to the Bay Area to live with her parents and began working as a software engineer. While she enjoyed coding, she found that she didn’t like it enough to do it eight hours a day. What she did love was building her food Instagram, which she renamed \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/feedmeimei/?hl=en\">Feed Meimei\u003c/a>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I found myself at work just being like, ‘I really wish I could just keep doing that. I want to go out and be shooting content at restaurants,’” Wang says. “It took months for me to come to terms with the fact that I was going to take this untraditional route. Growing up, I always thought I would be a doctor, lawyer or engineer, the classic jobs that Asian parents want you to do.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915017\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13915017\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman sits in cafe booth with a huge stack of oversized cups of boba in front of her.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_boba-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wang is likely the internet’s first full-time boba influencer. \u003ccite>(Alyssa Wang / @feedmeimei)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wang decided at the end of 2018 to quit her job in tech to pursue content creation full time, a decision she says was partially inspired by the path of fellow UC Davis grad TJ Lee, known online as \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/cupoftj\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cup of TJ\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Wang had saved up money from her job and didn’t have other major financial responsibilities at the time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She hit the ground running in January 2019, churning out two Youtube videos per week and doing everything from storyboarding, preparing drinks and food, shooting and editing. On Instagram, she started making original content six times per week. In June 2019, she \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@feedmeimei?lang=en\">joined TikTok\u003c/a> and started posting there as well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I was just like, go, go, go, just put my head down and work,” Wang says. “I was very much in the mindset of like, ‘I’m just going to work, I’m going to upload, and as long as I keep going, then eventually I will be able to succeed.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Combatting Creator Burnout\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was unsustainable. At the end of 2019, she began to question why she was “working so hard towards something that was never going to happen.” So she took a break from content creation, a field where likes and views have made it notoriously easy to compare your own journey to those of others. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then, the pandemic hit. While tinkering with unpublished footage, at first out of sheer boredom, Wang rediscovered her love for making videos about food. She slowly began posting on Youtube again, just once a week. In 2021, she began experimenting with making boba from scratch and forming it into different characters. Those turned out to be her first “viral” moments. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a video with 1.2 million views on TikTok and 5.7 million views on Youtube Shorts, Wang melts down a strawberry Melona bar to make red panda-shaped tapioca pearls inspired by Pixar’s \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Turning Red\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. In another TikTok video with 5.9 million views, she makes \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lZ-G3ASbLAc\">cotton-candy pink, Kirby-shaped pearls\u003c/a>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The success has obviously helped, but being a full-time creator for more than three years has also taught Wang the importance of practicing self-care. She has learned to liberally use Youtube’s “don’t recommend channel” feature to prevent its algorithm from displaying other creators’ videos on her feed. It’s nothing personal—she’s ecstatic for their success—“but I also don’t want myself to feel like I’m not doing enough or I’m not happy where I am,” Wang says, “because I am happy.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The other thing that has helped, Wang says, is that family support, particularly from her mom, has remained constant. And that has made all the difference.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wang’s mom even \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">makes\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> frequent, highly-requested appearances in videos. (She has been featured in more than 60 of them so far.) The mother and daughter’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyB1W1tgHUw\">matching levels of enthusiasm for food\u003c/a> make for lighthearted entertainment that some viewers have said reminds them of their interactions with their own family. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/7bGRQJzAKZw'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/7bGRQJzAKZw'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Coming from an Asian upbringing, usually families aren’t super expressive with their emotions,” Wang says. “But, food, it was always something that could bring us together.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Queen of Many Domains\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While some of Wang’s subscribers may have originally come across her channel due to her viral boba videos, her positivity keeps them coming back for more—no matter the video’s subject. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Her well-received forays into making non-boba content are proof. She’s made food guides for the Bay Area, Taiwan, Japan, Toronto, Los Angeles, Hawaii and more. Her recent videos include a taste test and ranking of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyB1W1tgHUw\">every appetizer, dumpling and noodle dish at chain restaurant Din Tai Fung\u003c/a> alongside her mom. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wang speaks to the camera directly, casually, as a friend. Seldom does she offer overt criticism. It’s what sets her, and other food influencers, apart from the professional food critics.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915020\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13915020\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman smiles holding a colorful, seven-scoop ice cream cone in each hand.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/feedmeimei_icecream-1920x2400.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Feed Meimei has branched out beyond boba to post videos about other food-related topics like soup dumplings and ice cream. \u003ccite>(Alyssa Wang / @feedmeimei)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sbe’s become somewhat of a local star, especially in the Bay Area’s boba scene. Baristas often tell her that customers use her videos as a guide for what to order, she says. She’s not fully used to the attention yet, and still finds it unreal that her subscribers will “sit there and watch me talk about food for, like, 20 minutes.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It’s been a successful endeavor so far, if the Feed Meimei team’s rapid expansion is any indication. In the past month, Wang has taken on a hiring manager, an assistant and a lawyer—a move that she says has been “long overdue.” Soon, she’ll hire another editor and start a new Youtube channel for casual vlogging. She did not delve into specifics of her financial situation, but, like other influencers, she generates income through a combination of brand partnerships, ad revenue, merchandise and collaborations—her Urban Ritual drink included. She makes enough, at least, that she doesn’t need to take on any other day job.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wang, a deeply nostalgic person, drew the flavor profile for her “Feed Me Ube” collaboration drink from her childhood. Her voice picks up as she describes the decadent drink, which features ube-flavored crème brûlée pudding, taro chunks, coconut milk and a choice of either rice milk or whole milk: “The rice milk is much lighter and it really lets the flavor of the ube shine through. But you could really taste that coconut-y sweetness with the whole milk.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It was so creamy,” Wang says, with the same enthusiasm she must have had as a kid, collecting stickers to get her weekly boba fix. “A dessert in a cup, basically.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>“Could be a hit,” country artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@georgebirgeofficial?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">George Birge\u003c/a> says with a shrug and a smile at the end of a TikTok video from last year. He was stitching a video posted by fellow \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@rynnstar?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TikToker Erynn Chambers\u003c/a>, in which she satirizes the difference in subject matter that men and women in mainstream country music typically sing about. Birge added a melody and a few more lyrics, and a coy tagline: “if this blows up ill [sic] finish the song and release it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Birge was right on both accounts: His TikTok did blow up, and the full version of the song, which he released in June, is currently a minor hit. It was one of the top 10 most added new singles for country radio on the day it was sent to stations last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afb-H8fqkJ4&t=48s\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Beer Beer, Truck Truck” is not the first song to spring from TikTok to the radio, but here’s how it all came together over the last 10 months.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>“Girls in tight jeans” vs. “I destroyed everything he loved—and then I killed him”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXAgv665J14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boys ‘Round Here\u003c/a>,” Blake Shelton sings about how he and his friends aren’t like your normal guys who listen to The Beatles or do the Dougie. Blake and his boys keep it country by drinking ice cold beers while “runnin’ them red dirt roads out, kicking up dust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaSy8yy-mr8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Before He Cheats\u003c/a>,” Carrie Underwood laments her partner’s infidelity using her writer’s pen, a set of keys and a Louisville Slugger in a passionate fit of property damage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13875953']Meanwhile, in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdh2p03cRfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Body Like a Backroad\u003c/a>,” Sam Hunt sings about how his partner has “hips like honey” and about the “way she fit in them blue jeans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And again in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEPomqor2A8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">No Body, No Crime\u003c/a>,” Taylor Swift and HAIM tell the tale of a woman avenging her best friend’s murder at the hands of an unfaithful husband—and then destroying all the evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of men’s country is ‘the beers’ and ‘the trucks’ and that kind of thing,” Erynn Chambers says. “And then women’s country is like revenge songs on their cheating husbands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chambers, a music teacher with a popular TikTok account where she posts educational and social justice related content, decided to poke fun at this stereotype. In October 2020, she posted a video of herself depicting a male country artist, singing the lyrics “beer beer, truck truck, girls in tight jeans,” with the caption “men in country music,” above her head. As for her female country artist? Yeah, she killed her cheating husband.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@rynnstar/video/6884621398111816966\" data-video-id=\"6884621398111816966\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@rynnstar\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@rynnstar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@rynnstar\u003c/a>\u003ca title=\"countrymusic\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/countrymusic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#CountryMusic\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Rynn\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6884621469750594310\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – Rynn\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The video went viral; it currently has 1.8 million likes, over 67,000 shares, and 27,000-plus comments—many of which were polarized, either praising Chambers for her humor and cultural insight or criticizing her for what they thought was an unfair reduction of the genre.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A self-issued songwriting challenge\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>When country artist George Birge, one of the 5.6 million viewers, first saw the video, he was at a crossroads in his career. Until February of this year, Birge was one half of the country duo Waterloo Revival, but was unsatisfied with its level of success; at that point, he was having more luck writing for other artists and was considering ending his singing career altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was at a writing session with fellow country artist Clay Walker, one of his idols, when Birge first learned about TikTok as a tool to grow his platform.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had finished writing for the day and he was like, ‘Dude, you just need to get on Tiktok and put your songs on there,’ which was like the last thing I expected,” Birge says—but he ended up taking the advice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13870376']“As musicians, we go grind it out and play to 100 or 1,000 or a couple of thousand people a night,” he says. “But if you do something that catches fire on TikTok, you can get in front of a million people instantly, and so that kind of piqued my interest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Birge found Chambers’ video in the country music hashtag, one of the first places he went after he made his account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My first reaction was like, ‘Yeah, she makes a really good point,’ ” he says. “But my second reaction was kind of like, ‘OK, it’d be fun to take this as a challenge and see if I can write a legitimate song using her hook up at the top.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@georgebirgeofficial/video/6908404290574961926\" data-video-id=\"6908404290574961926\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@georgebirgeofficial\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@georgebirgeofficial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@georgebirgeofficial\u003c/a>If y’all blow this up I may have to finish it and release it, should we write the whole thing @rynnstar 🔥 \u003ca title=\"countrymusic\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/countrymusic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#countrymusic\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"country\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/country\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#country\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"originalsong\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/originalsong\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#originalsong\u003c/a>\u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - George Birge\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6908404270417201926\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – George Birge\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Birge, Chambers’ TikTok parody poking fun at the genre his life revolves around had all the ingredients for a bonafide country hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We always say that the best country songs are the ones that get stuck in your head, that are easy to remember, that you can sing back after one [listen],” he says. “And even though she is kind of doing it in jest—that ‘beer beer, truck truck’ hook she did off the top—I feel like that could be something that could burn in your brain and be a big country hook, so I kind of took it and ran with it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That same day, Birge wrote a melody for the chorus and added a few more lines. He posted a stitch of him singing the new version in December 2020, and it quickly took off. People made it clear they wanted to hear a full song.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TikTok has not, in fact, killed the radio star\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In early January, Birge called his friend and producer, Ash Bowers, and asked him to come over and help him record the song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So we got on his computer and recorded a demo in like three hours,” Birge says. He posted another TikTok of himself playing the full version from his car speakers—\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@georgebirgeofficial/video/6912460114561649926\">that got 2.6 million views\u003c/a>—and that’s when “almost every record label in Nashville started calling me, asking to take meetings,” he says. Birge signed with RECORDS Nashville and had a studio version recorded by February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13866382']What emerged was “Beer Beer, Truck Truck,” in which Birge takes Chambers’ jesting chorus and turns it into a genuinely sweet ballad. With new lyrics about driving down dirt roads and spending summer nights staring at the stars, the song’s narrator tries to convince his lost love—who gave up her life in the country for the big city filled with bright lights and endless opportunity—that country life \u003cem>isn’t\u003c/em> all beers and trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he posted the initial TikTok, Birge says he had six followers. Now, he has just over 160,000. Likewise, Chambers’ account has ballooned to over 700,000 followers, with just over 70 million likes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I certainly didn’t think I was going to grow a big audience with it,” she says. As someone who grew up loving country music and just wanted to make a fun parody, she says her TikTok’s success “was never a thing that I was thinking was going to happen.” She never imagined that she’d have writing credits on a song in radio rotation and with over 4 million streams, either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really an honor and a privilege and a shock to see something that I came up with on the fly really connect with people and go out there like that,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=How+A+Joke+TikTok+About+Country+Music+Stereotypes+Hit+The+Radio&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>“Could be a hit,” country artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@georgebirgeofficial?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">George Birge\u003c/a> says with a shrug and a smile at the end of a TikTok video from last year. He was stitching a video posted by fellow \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@rynnstar?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TikToker Erynn Chambers\u003c/a>, in which she satirizes the difference in subject matter that men and women in mainstream country music typically sing about. Birge added a melody and a few more lyrics, and a coy tagline: “if this blows up ill [sic] finish the song and release it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Birge was right on both accounts: His TikTok did blow up, and the full version of the song, which he released in June, is currently a minor hit. It was one of the top 10 most added new singles for country radio on the day it was sent to stations last week.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/afb-H8fqkJ4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/afb-H8fqkJ4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>“Beer Beer, Truck Truck” is not the first song to spring from TikTok to the radio, but here’s how it all came together over the last 10 months.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>“Girls in tight jeans” vs. “I destroyed everything he loved—and then I killed him”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXAgv665J14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boys ‘Round Here\u003c/a>,” Blake Shelton sings about how he and his friends aren’t like your normal guys who listen to The Beatles or do the Dougie. Blake and his boys keep it country by drinking ice cold beers while “runnin’ them red dirt roads out, kicking up dust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaSy8yy-mr8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Before He Cheats\u003c/a>,” Carrie Underwood laments her partner’s infidelity using her writer’s pen, a set of keys and a Louisville Slugger in a passionate fit of property damage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Meanwhile, in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdh2p03cRfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Body Like a Backroad\u003c/a>,” Sam Hunt sings about how his partner has “hips like honey” and about the “way she fit in them blue jeans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And again in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEPomqor2A8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">No Body, No Crime\u003c/a>,” Taylor Swift and HAIM tell the tale of a woman avenging her best friend’s murder at the hands of an unfaithful husband—and then destroying all the evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of men’s country is ‘the beers’ and ‘the trucks’ and that kind of thing,” Erynn Chambers says. “And then women’s country is like revenge songs on their cheating husbands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chambers, a music teacher with a popular TikTok account where she posts educational and social justice related content, decided to poke fun at this stereotype. In October 2020, she posted a video of herself depicting a male country artist, singing the lyrics “beer beer, truck truck, girls in tight jeans,” with the caption “men in country music,” above her head. As for her female country artist? Yeah, she killed her cheating husband.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@rynnstar/video/6884621398111816966\" data-video-id=\"6884621398111816966\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@rynnstar\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@rynnstar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@rynnstar\u003c/a>\u003ca title=\"countrymusic\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/countrymusic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#CountryMusic\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Rynn\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6884621469750594310\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – Rynn\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The video went viral; it currently has 1.8 million likes, over 67,000 shares, and 27,000-plus comments—many of which were polarized, either praising Chambers for her humor and cultural insight or criticizing her for what they thought was an unfair reduction of the genre.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A self-issued songwriting challenge\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>When country artist George Birge, one of the 5.6 million viewers, first saw the video, he was at a crossroads in his career. Until February of this year, Birge was one half of the country duo Waterloo Revival, but was unsatisfied with its level of success; at that point, he was having more luck writing for other artists and was considering ending his singing career altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was at a writing session with fellow country artist Clay Walker, one of his idols, when Birge first learned about TikTok as a tool to grow his platform.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had finished writing for the day and he was like, ‘Dude, you just need to get on Tiktok and put your songs on there,’ which was like the last thing I expected,” Birge says—but he ended up taking the advice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“As musicians, we go grind it out and play to 100 or 1,000 or a couple of thousand people a night,” he says. “But if you do something that catches fire on TikTok, you can get in front of a million people instantly, and so that kind of piqued my interest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Birge found Chambers’ video in the country music hashtag, one of the first places he went after he made his account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My first reaction was like, ‘Yeah, she makes a really good point,’ ” he says. “But my second reaction was kind of like, ‘OK, it’d be fun to take this as a challenge and see if I can write a legitimate song using her hook up at the top.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@georgebirgeofficial/video/6908404290574961926\" data-video-id=\"6908404290574961926\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@georgebirgeofficial\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@georgebirgeofficial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@georgebirgeofficial\u003c/a>If y’all blow this up I may have to finish it and release it, should we write the whole thing @rynnstar 🔥 \u003ca title=\"countrymusic\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/countrymusic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#countrymusic\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"country\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/country\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#country\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"originalsong\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/originalsong\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#originalsong\u003c/a>\u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - George Birge\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6908404270417201926\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound – George Birge\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Birge, Chambers’ TikTok parody poking fun at the genre his life revolves around had all the ingredients for a bonafide country hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We always say that the best country songs are the ones that get stuck in your head, that are easy to remember, that you can sing back after one [listen],” he says. “And even though she is kind of doing it in jest—that ‘beer beer, truck truck’ hook she did off the top—I feel like that could be something that could burn in your brain and be a big country hook, so I kind of took it and ran with it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That same day, Birge wrote a melody for the chorus and added a few more lines. He posted a stitch of him singing the new version in December 2020, and it quickly took off. People made it clear they wanted to hear a full song.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TikTok has not, in fact, killed the radio star\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In early January, Birge called his friend and producer, Ash Bowers, and asked him to come over and help him record the song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So we got on his computer and recorded a demo in like three hours,” Birge says. He posted another TikTok of himself playing the full version from his car speakers—\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@georgebirgeofficial/video/6912460114561649926\">that got 2.6 million views\u003c/a>—and that’s when “almost every record label in Nashville started calling me, asking to take meetings,” he says. Birge signed with RECORDS Nashville and had a studio version recorded by February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>What emerged was “Beer Beer, Truck Truck,” in which Birge takes Chambers’ jesting chorus and turns it into a genuinely sweet ballad. With new lyrics about driving down dirt roads and spending summer nights staring at the stars, the song’s narrator tries to convince his lost love—who gave up her life in the country for the big city filled with bright lights and endless opportunity—that country life \u003cem>isn’t\u003c/em> all beers and trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he posted the initial TikTok, Birge says he had six followers. Now, he has just over 160,000. Likewise, Chambers’ account has ballooned to over 700,000 followers, with just over 70 million likes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I certainly didn’t think I was going to grow a big audience with it,” she says. As someone who grew up loving country music and just wanted to make a fun parody, she says her TikTok’s success “was never a thing that I was thinking was going to happen.” She never imagined that she’d have writing credits on a song in radio rotation and with over 4 million streams, either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really an honor and a privilege and a shock to see something that I came up with on the fly really connect with people and go out there like that,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=How+A+Joke+TikTok+About+Country+Music+Stereotypes+Hit+The+Radio&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "On 'Sour,' Olivia Rodrigo is a Lowercase Girl With Caps-Lock Feelings",
"headTitle": "On ‘Sour,’ Olivia Rodrigo is a Lowercase Girl With Caps-Lock Feelings | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Lowercase girls tend to fly under the radar by design, but once you start looking you’ll see them \u003ca href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3z45v/internet-lowercase-spelling-taylor-swift-charli-xcx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">everywhere\u003c/a>. For one thing, they’ve been all over the streaming charts in the past few years: \u003cem>folklore\u003c/em>, \u003cem>evermore\u003c/em>, “thank u, next,” girl in red, mxmtoon, dodie, beabadoobee, \u003cem>how i’m feeling now\u003c/em>, “drivers license,” “deja vu,” “good 4 u”—to name just a few recent, femme-forward musical phenomena that wouldn’t even \u003cem>think\u003c/em> of imposing the tyranny of capital letters on the listener’s imagination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But lowercase girls have been there forever, in the back rows of classrooms and the corners of parties, daydreaming, doodling, stockpiling vivid details and observations in the marble notebooks of their minds—waiting for the precise moment to launch them like a carefully crafted dart that punctures everybody else’s apathy and proves just how sharply she has been paying attention. Some of the best of them never grow out of it. “My only advantage as a reporter,” Joan Didion wrote in 1968, unwittingly describing her own species perfectly, “is that I am so physically small, so temperamentally unobtrusive, and so neurotically inarticulate that people tend to forget that my presence runs counter to their best interests. And it always does.” Beware the lowercase girl. Although she is usually overlooked, underestimated and even ignored, she sometimes turns out to be the one who’s been writing the story all along.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such were the cultural forces that Olivia Rodrigo harnessed, streamlined and gloriously melo-dramatized earlier this year in her breakout single, “drivers license”—stylized all lowercase, because of course. A lifelong Swiftie (almost literally: When Taylor Swift’s self-titled debut album came out, Rodrigo was 3) and the daughter of a therapist, Rodrigo was raised to be the kind of person who didn’t exactly hide her feelings. On the chorus of the song that accelerated her to overnight fame, she saves her most impassioned vocal delivery for what she clearly considers to be her ex’s most grievous crime: \u003cem>Guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me\u003c/em>. The implication being that in her songs, defiantly, she means every word.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmDBbnmKpqQ\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last few years, given the success of Billie Eilish’s ASMR jams and Swift’s soft acoustic reveries, it has sometimes felt like pop musicians are playing one big round of the Quiet Game, daring each other into an ever more provocative hush. “drivers license” certainly benefits from that tonal shift, but the most moving thing about the song is actually its careening sense of dynamism, the way it swings repeatedly from a private muttering to a collective, belt-it-out exorcism of the heart. Such is the power of That Bridge. (Perhaps the surest indication of the song’s massive, cross-generational appeal is the fact that its bridge inspired both a TikTok challenge \u003cem>and\u003c/em> an \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> skit—some kids may have been editing their small-screen video responses to it as their parents watched the episode on some old technological innovation called live TV.) Rodrigo’s songs play out like bottled-up soliloquies rather than two-sided conversations, which gives them the emotional force of someone who has previously felt unheard (by an apathetic boyfriend, or maybe by adult society writ large) finally speaking her mind. And so that bridge exposes the great irony of not only “drivers license,” but the lowercase girl herself. Because on the inside, where all the feelings are, her caps-lock key is JAMMED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“drivers license” would have been a hard act for any new artist to follow, but in the past month, Rodrigo has seized every opportunity to prove that there’s more to her than even that song could fully showcase. The two singles she’s released in the lead-up to her debut album, \u003cem>Sour\u003c/em>, have effortlessly slipped into unexpected genres—who among us could have predicted that the “drivers license” girl would go scorched-earth pop-punk on her third single, or that she’d pull it off?—and both have been sprinkled with striking, cleverly documented observational details. “Trading jackets, laughing ’bout how small it looks on you,” she sings on the hypnotic “deja vu,” as a chorus of backup Olivias exhale a scathing line of canned, can-barely-be-bothered laughter at such a romantic cliché: \u003cem>ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha\u003c/em>. “Guess the therapist I found for you, she really helped,” she shrugs on “good 4 u”—one of those kung fu lyrics that cuts its intended target in seven different places before he even realizes he’s bleeding. Rodrigo’s songs have lived-in details to spare, as though she had all this time been assembling a detailed dossier on the emotional minutiae of the teenage experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The remarkably potent \u003cem>Sour\u003c/em>, out today, plays a similar game of bait-and-switch with expectations. Far from the muted chords of “drivers license”—and \u003cem>worlds\u003c/em> away from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc8008B4ENI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">musical-theater sheen\u003c/a> of her songs for Disney+’s \u003cem>High School Musical: The Musical: The Series\u003c/em>—the album’s opening track, “brutal,” crashes in with a torrent of loud, crunchy guitars, overtop of which Rodrigo’s dryly compressed voice lists a seemingly unending string of adolescent neuroses: “And I don’t stick up for myself / I’m anxious and nothing can help / And I wish I’d done this before / And I wish people liked me more.” The \u003cem>and and and and\u003c/em>‘s pile up like a teetering Jenga tower of stress. Rodrigo proved on “good 4 u” that she can do a very effective vocal sneer, and on “brutal” she saves her most caustic one for the adults who insist, in their rose-colored recollections, that their teenage years were the best of their lives. “I’m so sick of 17,” she sighs, “where’s my f****** teenage dream?!” It’s an exhilarating lyric, an expertly calibrated eye roll at anyone over the age of 18—or maybe even at the previous generation’s entire philosophy about how pop music should be made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNi_6U5Pm_o\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m very emo,” Rodrigo said in a recent \u003cem>Rolling Stone\u003c/em> video interview, sitting beside her co-writer and producer Dan Nigro. “Dan was in an emo band, and he still tells me I’m emo—that’s how you know you’re \u003cem>really\u003c/em> emo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now 39, Nigro used to be the frontman of the Long Island-based band As Tall as Lions, who found moderate success in the booming East Coast emo-punk scene of the early aughts. He might seem an unlikely musical partner for Rodrigo, until you remember that perhaps the most prominent current producer of pop music made by young women, Jack Antonoff, is a veteran of the very same scene. (His first band, New Jersey-based Steel Train, was signed to the beloved, influential pop-punk label Drive-Thru Records.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as a one-time lowercase girl / emo kid / Drive-Thru Records enthusiast from suburban New Jersey, I \u003cem>do\u003c/em> find it pretty surprising that two of the most successful producers in crafting pop music from a feminine point of view came out of that scene. Because, as I remember all too well, it was a realm almost entirely devoid of women’s voices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13883873']“From my early-to-mid adolescence,” I wrote years ago in a reassessment of this period in my music-obsessed life, “I listened almost exclusively to music made by sad boys.” And it wasn’t just that girls’ perspectives were \u003cem>absent\u003c/em> from this music that I loved so passionately during this confusing and hormonally tumultuous time: The Girl was always the reason the boys were sad. In these songs, she was often actively vilified, blamed for the Lead Singer Boy’s every earthly woe—and not infrequently the star of his violent revenge fantasies. “Even if her plane crashes tonight she’ll find some way to disappoint me,” went a song I can still sing by heart as an adult, “by not burning in the wreckage, or drowning at the bottom of the sea.” This was, to me, romantic, melodramatic, \u003cem>deep\u003c/em>. I doodled lyrics like those on the backs of worksheets, in the margins of my diary. I played guitar—much better than I ever gave myself credit for then—but was too shy to be in a band, so I resorted to playing covers of those sorts of songs alone in my bedroom. Maybe I would have uploaded them to YouTube if it had existed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I gravitated toward emo and punk music because I was seeking out some sort of alternative to life as I knew it, so I think if Olivia Rodrigo had existed when I was a teen I would have at first been a little skeptical of her mainstream popularity, her preternatural poise, her Disney past. But in the end I have to think I would have been pulled in by the oceanic undertow of her music’s subjectivity, an exquisitely detailed, deeply felt, young girl’s perspective that was woefully lacking in the music I listened to when I myself was learning how to parallel park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nigro’s production style for Rodrigo is both playful and atmospheric, conjuring a kind of dreamy internal space in which it seems like the listener is eavesdropping on the singer’s thoughts and impressions. Seemingly small, intimate moments—an ex sharing a Billy Joel song with his new flame, say, in “deja vu”—are underscored with operatic flair. Though updated for this world of social media surveillance and stream-of-consciousness text messages, this approach isn’t exactly new. It’s basically the foundation of modern pop music as we know it, dating back to the youth-oriented concerns of Brill Building songwriters in the 1950s and the early 1960s girl groups whose adolescent experiences were dramatized into three-minute symphonies thanks to Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But also: No thanks to Phil Spector. Because his unavoidable centrality in the story of modern pop music also reminds us that it is an industry with a long, troubling history of exploiting—or worse—the affective labor of teenage girls. Accusations of abuse now also loom over the previous generation’s most influential pop hitmaker, Dr. Luke—ironically the architect of so-called “empowering” female-driven millennial pop anthems like “Roar,” “Since U Been Gone” and, yep, f-ing “Teenage Dream.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodrigo’s creative partnership with Nigro, though, seems to fit within a newer paradigm of pop star/producer power dynamics. Much like Antonoff’s pairings with some of the artists who have most directly inspired Rodrigo (Swift, Lorde, Lana Del Rey), and even a little like the intimate workings of Eilish’s bedroom pop laboratory with her brother Finneas, Rodrigo and Nigro present their work to the world as the result of a genuine, non-hierarchical collaboration. “I realize I’m okay at navigating my job because I played in a band for 10 years with three other very emotional, crazy people—myself probably being the most emotional crazy of the four of us,” Nigro \u003ca href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy8qbv/daniel-nigro-drivers-license-olivia-rodrigo-interview\">told\u003c/a> \u003cem>Vice\u003c/em> earlier this year. “Having those experiences with my bandmates has really helped me work with so many different artists, because I’m able to understand what they’re going through and get them to feel open enough to be who they actually are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But maybe that supposedly “new” paradigm also has crucial antecedents scattered throughout musical history, too. Nigro’s language there bears a striking resemblance to the way Alanis Morissette has described her creative partnership with producer Glen Ballard, with whom she first worked on another album with which \u003cem>Sour\u003c/em> finds cross-generational echoes: \u003cem>Jagged Little Pill\u003c/em>. “glen’s presence with me had no agenda,” Morissette reflected in a 2015 \u003ca href=\"https://alanis.com/news/jagged-little-pill-an-essay\">essay\u003c/a> commemorating the 20th anniversary of that landmark album and written—it must be said—all in lowercase letters. “this presence and this lack of projecting onto me ‘what i should be’ was the ultimate freedom and support i needed to crack open.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that essay, Morissette acknowledges that part of her success was lucky timing: In the mid-’90s there was suddenly, she writes, “a readiness, perhaps, for people to hear about the underbelly, the true experience of being a young, sensitive, and brave person in a patriarchal world.” That moment proved to be fleeting, though, and by the early aughts and my early teens the mainstream culture had shifted back to its norm of only caring about macho, masculine angst. Any girl trying to use the idioms of punk or emo to express herself—like, say, Avril Lavigne—was immediately regarded as an intruder, a poser or a sell-out until proven otherwise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I realize when I reflect back on the silent voices of my youth, though, is that we girls had \u003cem>so much\u003c/em> to rage and yell and be sad about—maybe even more than the boys ever did. Because for all the sense of community it gave me in connecting with like-minded friends, the punk and emo scene often still replicated the most misogynistic impulses of the broader culture. Something I have been sitting with for the past few years, and which I have not even known how to begin to process, is that the songwriter and frontman of my favorite emo band—the one who wrote those plane-crash lyrics I sang along to endlessly—was accused of sexual misconduct by girls who, at the time, were about the same age that I was when I idolized him. When I think too hard about that, I want to scream until my lungs explode.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cii6ruuycQA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodrigo and her peers have come of age at a time when a lot of the gender norms that reinforce those exploitative power dynamics are breaking down, in part because most of them grow up with an awareness and acceptance of gender fluidity. Terms like “lowercase girl,” or just “girl,” are more pliable, inviting and optional than they used to be. Some very popular, very emotional musicians have also paved certain paths, whether that’s Swift, Lorde, or Paramore’s Hayley Williams. Even if I didn’t always hear it affirmed in my own adolescence, it’s heartening to now hear Rodrigo asserting, from the top of the charts, that girls have \u003cem>plenty\u003c/em> to be emo about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As \u003cem>Sour\u003c/em> progresses, the ability to feel deeply and express herself becomes Rodrigo’s superpower. “Maybe I’m too emotional, or maybe you never cared at all,” she sings on the searing bridge of “good 4 u.” It’s not her, it’s \u003cem>him\u003c/em>, she concludes, diagnosing an unfeeling ex as acting “like a damn sociopath.” Rodrigo refracts the shattering experience of first heartbreak through a multitude of different moods and genres, and it’s a testament to her transfixing strengths as a songwriter and a vocal performer that it only starts to feel repetitive one song from the end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13896717']Some of the most promising moments on \u003cem>Sour\u003c/em> come when Rodrigo widens her view beyond The Boy or even herself, toward the larger forces keeping kids of her generation feeling so emo. “jealousy, jealousy” fixes its frustration on the picture-perfect distortions of influencer culture: “I kinda wanna throw my phone against the wall,” Rodrigo groans. In response to a culture saturated with quick-fix life hacks, self-help truisms and therapy-speak, Rodrigo is refreshingly good at illuminating the space between what she knows she \u003cem>should\u003c/em> feel and what she actually \u003cem>does\u003c/em> feel. “I know their \u003cem>beauty’s not my lack\u003c/em>,” she sings, harmonizing with herself so that the line sounds like one of those annoyingly tidy Instagram graphics with an inspirational note written in cursive. “Never doubted myself so much, like am I pretty, am I fun, boy?” she sings, airing her insecurities on the stirring “1 step forward, 3 steps back” (a song that interpolates, with permission, the piano riff from Taylor Swift’s “New Year’s Day”—the ultimate baton-pass). “I hate that I give you power over that kind of stuff,” Rodrigo sighs. And yet, how could she not? It’s brutal out there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final song on \u003cem>Sour\u003c/em> finds one last opportunity to flip expectations. “hope ur ok” is not—as its title might suggest—a feel-good message to the ex of “drivers license,” thus cleanly and cathartically closing the narrative loop. It is instead a series of character sketches of kids Rodrigo once knew well and lost touch with over the years. Each of them carries their own trauma, which Rodrigo sketches in empathetic, economical writing (“he wore long sleeves ’cause of his dad”). The song is sad but hopeful, radically unsettling at times, and almost disarmingly earnest in its benevolently universal well-wishing. Again, Rodrigo plays the girl who’s always been observing everyone around her with a gimlet eye, whether they realized it or not. Maybe, she seems to be concluding on behalf of her much-misunderstood generation, this is a more realistic teenage dream. Not to be ecstatic, euphoric, eternally empowered. Just to be—as Rodrigo puts it in unpresuming lowercase—”ok.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lindsay Zoladz is a critic, reporter and essayist living in Brooklyn.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=On+%27Sour%2C%27+Olivia+Rodrigo+Is+A+Lowercase+Girl+With+Caps-Lock+Feelings&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Lowercase girls tend to fly under the radar by design, but once you start looking you’ll see them \u003ca href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3z45v/internet-lowercase-spelling-taylor-swift-charli-xcx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">everywhere\u003c/a>. For one thing, they’ve been all over the streaming charts in the past few years: \u003cem>folklore\u003c/em>, \u003cem>evermore\u003c/em>, “thank u, next,” girl in red, mxmtoon, dodie, beabadoobee, \u003cem>how i’m feeling now\u003c/em>, “drivers license,” “deja vu,” “good 4 u”—to name just a few recent, femme-forward musical phenomena that wouldn’t even \u003cem>think\u003c/em> of imposing the tyranny of capital letters on the listener’s imagination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But lowercase girls have been there forever, in the back rows of classrooms and the corners of parties, daydreaming, doodling, stockpiling vivid details and observations in the marble notebooks of their minds—waiting for the precise moment to launch them like a carefully crafted dart that punctures everybody else’s apathy and proves just how sharply she has been paying attention. Some of the best of them never grow out of it. “My only advantage as a reporter,” Joan Didion wrote in 1968, unwittingly describing her own species perfectly, “is that I am so physically small, so temperamentally unobtrusive, and so neurotically inarticulate that people tend to forget that my presence runs counter to their best interests. And it always does.” Beware the lowercase girl. Although she is usually overlooked, underestimated and even ignored, she sometimes turns out to be the one who’s been writing the story all along.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such were the cultural forces that Olivia Rodrigo harnessed, streamlined and gloriously melo-dramatized earlier this year in her breakout single, “drivers license”—stylized all lowercase, because of course. A lifelong Swiftie (almost literally: When Taylor Swift’s self-titled debut album came out, Rodrigo was 3) and the daughter of a therapist, Rodrigo was raised to be the kind of person who didn’t exactly hide her feelings. On the chorus of the song that accelerated her to overnight fame, she saves her most impassioned vocal delivery for what she clearly considers to be her ex’s most grievous crime: \u003cem>Guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me\u003c/em>. The implication being that in her songs, defiantly, she means every word.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/ZmDBbnmKpqQ'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/ZmDBbnmKpqQ'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>In the last few years, given the success of Billie Eilish’s ASMR jams and Swift’s soft acoustic reveries, it has sometimes felt like pop musicians are playing one big round of the Quiet Game, daring each other into an ever more provocative hush. “drivers license” certainly benefits from that tonal shift, but the most moving thing about the song is actually its careening sense of dynamism, the way it swings repeatedly from a private muttering to a collective, belt-it-out exorcism of the heart. Such is the power of That Bridge. (Perhaps the surest indication of the song’s massive, cross-generational appeal is the fact that its bridge inspired both a TikTok challenge \u003cem>and\u003c/em> an \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> skit—some kids may have been editing their small-screen video responses to it as their parents watched the episode on some old technological innovation called live TV.) Rodrigo’s songs play out like bottled-up soliloquies rather than two-sided conversations, which gives them the emotional force of someone who has previously felt unheard (by an apathetic boyfriend, or maybe by adult society writ large) finally speaking her mind. And so that bridge exposes the great irony of not only “drivers license,” but the lowercase girl herself. Because on the inside, where all the feelings are, her caps-lock key is JAMMED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“drivers license” would have been a hard act for any new artist to follow, but in the past month, Rodrigo has seized every opportunity to prove that there’s more to her than even that song could fully showcase. The two singles she’s released in the lead-up to her debut album, \u003cem>Sour\u003c/em>, have effortlessly slipped into unexpected genres—who among us could have predicted that the “drivers license” girl would go scorched-earth pop-punk on her third single, or that she’d pull it off?—and both have been sprinkled with striking, cleverly documented observational details. “Trading jackets, laughing ’bout how small it looks on you,” she sings on the hypnotic “deja vu,” as a chorus of backup Olivias exhale a scathing line of canned, can-barely-be-bothered laughter at such a romantic cliché: \u003cem>ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha\u003c/em>. “Guess the therapist I found for you, she really helped,” she shrugs on “good 4 u”—one of those kung fu lyrics that cuts its intended target in seven different places before he even realizes he’s bleeding. Rodrigo’s songs have lived-in details to spare, as though she had all this time been assembling a detailed dossier on the emotional minutiae of the teenage experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The remarkably potent \u003cem>Sour\u003c/em>, out today, plays a similar game of bait-and-switch with expectations. Far from the muted chords of “drivers license”—and \u003cem>worlds\u003c/em> away from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc8008B4ENI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">musical-theater sheen\u003c/a> of her songs for Disney+’s \u003cem>High School Musical: The Musical: The Series\u003c/em>—the album’s opening track, “brutal,” crashes in with a torrent of loud, crunchy guitars, overtop of which Rodrigo’s dryly compressed voice lists a seemingly unending string of adolescent neuroses: “And I don’t stick up for myself / I’m anxious and nothing can help / And I wish I’d done this before / And I wish people liked me more.” The \u003cem>and and and and\u003c/em>‘s pile up like a teetering Jenga tower of stress. Rodrigo proved on “good 4 u” that she can do a very effective vocal sneer, and on “brutal” she saves her most caustic one for the adults who insist, in their rose-colored recollections, that their teenage years were the best of their lives. “I’m so sick of 17,” she sighs, “where’s my f****** teenage dream?!” It’s an exhilarating lyric, an expertly calibrated eye roll at anyone over the age of 18—or maybe even at the previous generation’s entire philosophy about how pop music should be made.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/gNi_6U5Pm_o'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/gNi_6U5Pm_o'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>“I’m very emo,” Rodrigo said in a recent \u003cem>Rolling Stone\u003c/em> video interview, sitting beside her co-writer and producer Dan Nigro. “Dan was in an emo band, and he still tells me I’m emo—that’s how you know you’re \u003cem>really\u003c/em> emo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now 39, Nigro used to be the frontman of the Long Island-based band As Tall as Lions, who found moderate success in the booming East Coast emo-punk scene of the early aughts. He might seem an unlikely musical partner for Rodrigo, until you remember that perhaps the most prominent current producer of pop music made by young women, Jack Antonoff, is a veteran of the very same scene. (His first band, New Jersey-based Steel Train, was signed to the beloved, influential pop-punk label Drive-Thru Records.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as a one-time lowercase girl / emo kid / Drive-Thru Records enthusiast from suburban New Jersey, I \u003cem>do\u003c/em> find it pretty surprising that two of the most successful producers in crafting pop music from a feminine point of view came out of that scene. Because, as I remember all too well, it was a realm almost entirely devoid of women’s voices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“From my early-to-mid adolescence,” I wrote years ago in a reassessment of this period in my music-obsessed life, “I listened almost exclusively to music made by sad boys.” And it wasn’t just that girls’ perspectives were \u003cem>absent\u003c/em> from this music that I loved so passionately during this confusing and hormonally tumultuous time: The Girl was always the reason the boys were sad. In these songs, she was often actively vilified, blamed for the Lead Singer Boy’s every earthly woe—and not infrequently the star of his violent revenge fantasies. “Even if her plane crashes tonight she’ll find some way to disappoint me,” went a song I can still sing by heart as an adult, “by not burning in the wreckage, or drowning at the bottom of the sea.” This was, to me, romantic, melodramatic, \u003cem>deep\u003c/em>. I doodled lyrics like those on the backs of worksheets, in the margins of my diary. I played guitar—much better than I ever gave myself credit for then—but was too shy to be in a band, so I resorted to playing covers of those sorts of songs alone in my bedroom. Maybe I would have uploaded them to YouTube if it had existed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I gravitated toward emo and punk music because I was seeking out some sort of alternative to life as I knew it, so I think if Olivia Rodrigo had existed when I was a teen I would have at first been a little skeptical of her mainstream popularity, her preternatural poise, her Disney past. But in the end I have to think I would have been pulled in by the oceanic undertow of her music’s subjectivity, an exquisitely detailed, deeply felt, young girl’s perspective that was woefully lacking in the music I listened to when I myself was learning how to parallel park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nigro’s production style for Rodrigo is both playful and atmospheric, conjuring a kind of dreamy internal space in which it seems like the listener is eavesdropping on the singer’s thoughts and impressions. Seemingly small, intimate moments—an ex sharing a Billy Joel song with his new flame, say, in “deja vu”—are underscored with operatic flair. Though updated for this world of social media surveillance and stream-of-consciousness text messages, this approach isn’t exactly new. It’s basically the foundation of modern pop music as we know it, dating back to the youth-oriented concerns of Brill Building songwriters in the 1950s and the early 1960s girl groups whose adolescent experiences were dramatized into three-minute symphonies thanks to Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But also: No thanks to Phil Spector. Because his unavoidable centrality in the story of modern pop music also reminds us that it is an industry with a long, troubling history of exploiting—or worse—the affective labor of teenage girls. Accusations of abuse now also loom over the previous generation’s most influential pop hitmaker, Dr. Luke—ironically the architect of so-called “empowering” female-driven millennial pop anthems like “Roar,” “Since U Been Gone” and, yep, f-ing “Teenage Dream.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodrigo’s creative partnership with Nigro, though, seems to fit within a newer paradigm of pop star/producer power dynamics. Much like Antonoff’s pairings with some of the artists who have most directly inspired Rodrigo (Swift, Lorde, Lana Del Rey), and even a little like the intimate workings of Eilish’s bedroom pop laboratory with her brother Finneas, Rodrigo and Nigro present their work to the world as the result of a genuine, non-hierarchical collaboration. “I realize I’m okay at navigating my job because I played in a band for 10 years with three other very emotional, crazy people—myself probably being the most emotional crazy of the four of us,” Nigro \u003ca href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy8qbv/daniel-nigro-drivers-license-olivia-rodrigo-interview\">told\u003c/a> \u003cem>Vice\u003c/em> earlier this year. “Having those experiences with my bandmates has really helped me work with so many different artists, because I’m able to understand what they’re going through and get them to feel open enough to be who they actually are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But maybe that supposedly “new” paradigm also has crucial antecedents scattered throughout musical history, too. Nigro’s language there bears a striking resemblance to the way Alanis Morissette has described her creative partnership with producer Glen Ballard, with whom she first worked on another album with which \u003cem>Sour\u003c/em> finds cross-generational echoes: \u003cem>Jagged Little Pill\u003c/em>. “glen’s presence with me had no agenda,” Morissette reflected in a 2015 \u003ca href=\"https://alanis.com/news/jagged-little-pill-an-essay\">essay\u003c/a> commemorating the 20th anniversary of that landmark album and written—it must be said—all in lowercase letters. “this presence and this lack of projecting onto me ‘what i should be’ was the ultimate freedom and support i needed to crack open.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that essay, Morissette acknowledges that part of her success was lucky timing: In the mid-’90s there was suddenly, she writes, “a readiness, perhaps, for people to hear about the underbelly, the true experience of being a young, sensitive, and brave person in a patriarchal world.” That moment proved to be fleeting, though, and by the early aughts and my early teens the mainstream culture had shifted back to its norm of only caring about macho, masculine angst. Any girl trying to use the idioms of punk or emo to express herself—like, say, Avril Lavigne—was immediately regarded as an intruder, a poser or a sell-out until proven otherwise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I realize when I reflect back on the silent voices of my youth, though, is that we girls had \u003cem>so much\u003c/em> to rage and yell and be sad about—maybe even more than the boys ever did. Because for all the sense of community it gave me in connecting with like-minded friends, the punk and emo scene often still replicated the most misogynistic impulses of the broader culture. Something I have been sitting with for the past few years, and which I have not even known how to begin to process, is that the songwriter and frontman of my favorite emo band—the one who wrote those plane-crash lyrics I sang along to endlessly—was accused of sexual misconduct by girls who, at the time, were about the same age that I was when I idolized him. When I think too hard about that, I want to scream until my lungs explode.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/cii6ruuycQA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/cii6ruuycQA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Rodrigo and her peers have come of age at a time when a lot of the gender norms that reinforce those exploitative power dynamics are breaking down, in part because most of them grow up with an awareness and acceptance of gender fluidity. Terms like “lowercase girl,” or just “girl,” are more pliable, inviting and optional than they used to be. Some very popular, very emotional musicians have also paved certain paths, whether that’s Swift, Lorde, or Paramore’s Hayley Williams. Even if I didn’t always hear it affirmed in my own adolescence, it’s heartening to now hear Rodrigo asserting, from the top of the charts, that girls have \u003cem>plenty\u003c/em> to be emo about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As \u003cem>Sour\u003c/em> progresses, the ability to feel deeply and express herself becomes Rodrigo’s superpower. “Maybe I’m too emotional, or maybe you never cared at all,” she sings on the searing bridge of “good 4 u.” It’s not her, it’s \u003cem>him\u003c/em>, she concludes, diagnosing an unfeeling ex as acting “like a damn sociopath.” Rodrigo refracts the shattering experience of first heartbreak through a multitude of different moods and genres, and it’s a testament to her transfixing strengths as a songwriter and a vocal performer that it only starts to feel repetitive one song from the end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Some of the most promising moments on \u003cem>Sour\u003c/em> come when Rodrigo widens her view beyond The Boy or even herself, toward the larger forces keeping kids of her generation feeling so emo. “jealousy, jealousy” fixes its frustration on the picture-perfect distortions of influencer culture: “I kinda wanna throw my phone against the wall,” Rodrigo groans. In response to a culture saturated with quick-fix life hacks, self-help truisms and therapy-speak, Rodrigo is refreshingly good at illuminating the space between what she knows she \u003cem>should\u003c/em> feel and what she actually \u003cem>does\u003c/em> feel. “I know their \u003cem>beauty’s not my lack\u003c/em>,” she sings, harmonizing with herself so that the line sounds like one of those annoyingly tidy Instagram graphics with an inspirational note written in cursive. “Never doubted myself so much, like am I pretty, am I fun, boy?” she sings, airing her insecurities on the stirring “1 step forward, 3 steps back” (a song that interpolates, with permission, the piano riff from Taylor Swift’s “New Year’s Day”—the ultimate baton-pass). “I hate that I give you power over that kind of stuff,” Rodrigo sighs. And yet, how could she not? It’s brutal out there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final song on \u003cem>Sour\u003c/em> finds one last opportunity to flip expectations. “hope ur ok” is not—as its title might suggest—a feel-good message to the ex of “drivers license,” thus cleanly and cathartically closing the narrative loop. It is instead a series of character sketches of kids Rodrigo once knew well and lost touch with over the years. Each of them carries their own trauma, which Rodrigo sketches in empathetic, economical writing (“he wore long sleeves ’cause of his dad”). The song is sad but hopeful, radically unsettling at times, and almost disarmingly earnest in its benevolently universal well-wishing. Again, Rodrigo plays the girl who’s always been observing everyone around her with a gimlet eye, whether they realized it or not. Maybe, she seems to be concluding on behalf of her much-misunderstood generation, this is a more realistic teenage dream. Not to be ecstatic, euphoric, eternally empowered. Just to be—as Rodrigo puts it in unpresuming lowercase—”ok.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lindsay Zoladz is a critic, reporter and essayist living in Brooklyn.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=On+%27Sour%2C%27+Olivia+Rodrigo+Is+A+Lowercase+Girl+With+Caps-Lock+Feelings&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "TikTok Dancer Pink Funky is Here to Ease Your Reopening Anxiety",
"headTitle": "TikTok Dancer Pink Funky is Here to Ease Your Reopening Anxiety | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>He’s just a guy, standing in front of a cell phone, asking us to love him. And, truth be told, it’s fairly impossible \u003cem>not\u003c/em> to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since June of last year, a mysterious nerdy white guy in sweat pants has been dancing—in very short bursts—for the internet’s entertainment. He calls himself Pink Funky, his energy is always infectious, and he grooves inside a space that resembles a Ramada Inn conference room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CJzMl_NnvGu/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his earliest videos, Pink Funky bounced around various rooms in his house, starting with his \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6839559600824405254\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(very cluttered) garage\u003c/a>. He occasionally attempted a few \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6838415040350113030\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">skits\u003c/a>. But it’s when he finally settled on a single boring backdrop and just let his inner diva glow, that this dancing machine found his magic formula, sports socks and all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6927470242100677894\" data-video-id=\"6927470242100677894\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@pink_funky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@pink_funky\u003c/a>💖 \u003ca title=\"rasputin\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/rasputin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##rasputin\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"boneym\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/boneym\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##boneym\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"retro\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/retro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##retro\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"oldies\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/oldies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##oldies\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"70s\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/70s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##70s\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dance\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dance\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancing\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancing\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancer\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancer\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"trend\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/trend\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##trend\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"tiktoktrend\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktoktrend\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##tiktoktrend\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"disco\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/disco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##disco\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"pinkfunky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pinkfunky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##pinkfunky\u003c/a>\u003ca title=\"♬ Rasputin (7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ Rasputin (7″ Version) – Boney M.\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes, objects in the background change—a dog bed disappears, a giant teddy bear arrives. Sometimes, there are lined up album covers against the wall. Usually, ineffectual disco lights spin on the floor. It matters not, for Pink Funky’s invigorating moves are never anything less than inspiring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6881042647696379141\" data-video-id=\"6881042647696379141\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@pink_funky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@pink_funky\u003c/a>✨💖☠️💖✨ \u003ca title=\"bellbivdevoe\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bellbivdevoe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##bellbivdevoe\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"poison\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/poison\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##poison\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"90s\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/90s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##90s\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dance\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dance\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancer\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancer\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancing\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancing\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fun\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fun\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##fun\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fyp\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##fyp\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"80s\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/80s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##80s\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"xyzbca\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/xyzbca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##xyzbca\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"vibing\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vibing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##vibing\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"goodvibes\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/goodvibes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##goodvibes\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"retro\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/retro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##retro\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"pink\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##pink\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"vintage\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vintage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##vintage\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"funky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/funky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##funky\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"pinkfunky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pinkfunky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##pinkfunky\u003c/a>\u003ca title=\"♬ Poison - Bell Biv DeVoe\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Poison-242490774100025344\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ Poison – Bell Biv DeVoe\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pink Funky has racked up 1.3 million likes and almost 87,000 followers \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">on TikTok\u003c/a>, because of his ability to be somehow unrelentingly fabulous and totally relatable at the same time. I mean, who \u003cem>hasn’t\u003c/em> spent a night during shelter in place shimmying around the living room to Shakira?\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6884038730521251077\" data-video-id=\"6884038730521251077\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@pink_funky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@pink_funky\u003c/a>✨💖🔥💖✨\u003ca title=\"shakira\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/shakira\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##shakira\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"hipsdontlie\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/hipsdontlie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##hipsdontlie\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fun\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fun\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##fun\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dance\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dance\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fyp\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##fyp\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancer\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancer\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancing\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancing\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"xyzbca\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/xyzbca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##xyzbca\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"spanishmusic\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/spanishmusic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##spanishmusic\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"vibes\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vibes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##vibes\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"vibing\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vibing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##vibing\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"goodvibes\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/goodvibes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##goodvibes\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"mood\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/mood\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##mood\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"pinkfunky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pinkfunky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##pinkfunky\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"pop\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##pop\u003c/a>\u003ca title=\"♬ Hips Don't Lie (feat. Wyclef Jean) - Shakira\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Hips-Don't-Lie-feat-Wyclef-Jean-6696413240089380866\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ Hips Don’t Lie (feat. Wyclef Jean) – Shakira\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of Pink Funky’s musical choices err on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6911438344861928709\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">more explicit side\u003c/a>, so he’s not always appropriate for younger viewers. But for grownups feeling anxious about returning to the world after 14 months of sheltering in place, he’s just perfect. Learning to socialize again might be a nerve-racking prospect for many, but when in doubt, Pink Funky has the energy to motivate you into dancing right on out of the house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you’re returning to dating? Save this link:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6940787970786053381\" data-video-id=\"6940787970786053381\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@pink_funky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@pink_funky\u003c/a>★ \u003ca title=\"donnasummer\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/donnasummer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##donnasummer\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"oldies\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/oldies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##oldies\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"retro\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/retro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##retro\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dance\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dance\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancer\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancer\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancing\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancing\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"70s\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/70s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##70s\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"disco\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/disco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##disco\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fyp\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##fyp\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"foryou\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/foryou\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##foryou\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"pinkfunky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pinkfunky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##pinkfunky\u003c/a>\u003ca title=\"♬ Hot Stuff - Donna Summer\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Hot-Stuff-6834889776521283585\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ Hot Stuff – Donna Summer\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>He’s just a guy, standing in front of a cell phone, asking us to love him. And, truth be told, it’s fairly impossible \u003cem>not\u003c/em> to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since June of last year, a mysterious nerdy white guy in sweat pants has been dancing—in very short bursts—for the internet’s entertainment. He calls himself Pink Funky, his energy is always infectious, and he grooves inside a space that resembles a Ramada Inn conference room.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In his earliest videos, Pink Funky bounced around various rooms in his house, starting with his \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6839559600824405254\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(very cluttered) garage\u003c/a>. He occasionally attempted a few \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6838415040350113030\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">skits\u003c/a>. But it’s when he finally settled on a single boring backdrop and just let his inner diva glow, that this dancing machine found his magic formula, sports socks and all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6927470242100677894\" data-video-id=\"6927470242100677894\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@pink_funky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@pink_funky\u003c/a>💖 \u003ca title=\"rasputin\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/rasputin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##rasputin\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"boneym\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/boneym\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##boneym\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"retro\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/retro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##retro\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"oldies\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/oldies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##oldies\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"70s\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/70s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##70s\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dance\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dance\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancing\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancing\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancer\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancer\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"trend\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/trend\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##trend\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"tiktoktrend\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktoktrend\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##tiktoktrend\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"disco\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/disco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##disco\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"pinkfunky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pinkfunky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##pinkfunky\u003c/a>\u003ca title=\"♬ Rasputin (7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ Rasputin (7″ Version) – Boney M.\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes, objects in the background change—a dog bed disappears, a giant teddy bear arrives. Sometimes, there are lined up album covers against the wall. Usually, ineffectual disco lights spin on the floor. It matters not, for Pink Funky’s invigorating moves are never anything less than inspiring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6881042647696379141\" data-video-id=\"6881042647696379141\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@pink_funky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@pink_funky\u003c/a>✨💖☠️💖✨ \u003ca title=\"bellbivdevoe\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bellbivdevoe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##bellbivdevoe\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"poison\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/poison\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##poison\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"90s\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/90s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##90s\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dance\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dance\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancer\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancer\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancing\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancing\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fun\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fun\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##fun\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fyp\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##fyp\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"80s\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/80s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##80s\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"xyzbca\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/xyzbca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##xyzbca\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"vibing\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vibing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##vibing\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"goodvibes\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/goodvibes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##goodvibes\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"retro\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/retro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##retro\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"pink\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##pink\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"vintage\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vintage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##vintage\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"funky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/funky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##funky\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"pinkfunky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pinkfunky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##pinkfunky\u003c/a>\u003ca title=\"♬ Poison - Bell Biv DeVoe\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Poison-242490774100025344\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ Poison – Bell Biv DeVoe\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pink Funky has racked up 1.3 million likes and almost 87,000 followers \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">on TikTok\u003c/a>, because of his ability to be somehow unrelentingly fabulous and totally relatable at the same time. I mean, who \u003cem>hasn’t\u003c/em> spent a night during shelter in place shimmying around the living room to Shakira?\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6884038730521251077\" data-video-id=\"6884038730521251077\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@pink_funky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@pink_funky\u003c/a>✨💖🔥💖✨\u003ca title=\"shakira\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/shakira\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##shakira\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"hipsdontlie\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/hipsdontlie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##hipsdontlie\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fun\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fun\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##fun\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dance\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dance\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fyp\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##fyp\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancer\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancer\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancing\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancing\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"xyzbca\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/xyzbca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##xyzbca\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"spanishmusic\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/spanishmusic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##spanishmusic\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"vibes\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vibes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##vibes\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"vibing\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vibing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##vibing\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"goodvibes\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/goodvibes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##goodvibes\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"mood\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/mood\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##mood\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"pinkfunky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pinkfunky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##pinkfunky\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"pop\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##pop\u003c/a>\u003ca title=\"♬ Hips Don't Lie (feat. Wyclef Jean) - Shakira\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Hips-Don't-Lie-feat-Wyclef-Jean-6696413240089380866\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ Hips Don’t Lie (feat. Wyclef Jean) – Shakira\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of Pink Funky’s musical choices err on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6911438344861928709\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">more explicit side\u003c/a>, so he’s not always appropriate for younger viewers. But for grownups feeling anxious about returning to the world after 14 months of sheltering in place, he’s just perfect. Learning to socialize again might be a nerve-racking prospect for many, but when in doubt, Pink Funky has the energy to motivate you into dancing right on out of the house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you’re returning to dating? Save this link:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky/video/6940787970786053381\" data-video-id=\"6940787970786053381\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@pink_funky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@pink_funky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@pink_funky\u003c/a>★ \u003ca title=\"donnasummer\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/donnasummer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##donnasummer\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"oldies\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/oldies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##oldies\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"retro\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/retro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##retro\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dance\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dance\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancer\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancer\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"dancing\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dancing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##dancing\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"70s\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/70s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##70s\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"disco\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/disco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##disco\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fyp\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##fyp\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"foryou\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/foryou\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##foryou\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"pinkfunky\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pinkfunky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">##pinkfunky\u003c/a>\u003ca title=\"♬ Hot Stuff - Donna Summer\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Hot-Stuff-6834889776521283585\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ Hot Stuff – Donna Summer\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Schooling Trolls and Fighting Fatphobia One TikTok at a Time",
"headTitle": "Schooling Trolls and Fighting Fatphobia One TikTok at a Time | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC1099207798&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through \u003ca href=\"https://www.brenajean.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">blogs\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@thebrenajean?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TikTok\u003c/a> videos \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thebrenajean/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brena Jean\u003c/a> discusses what it means to be one of the millions of people living with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/futureofyou/244604/lipedema-the-fat-disorder-that-millions-have-but-no-one-has-heard-of\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lipedema.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rarely diagnosed chronic disorder affects mostly women and causes fat cells within the body to build up and harden instead of burn; it’s often confused with obesity or \u003ca href=\"https://www.krcu.org/post/your-health-lymphedema#stream/0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lymphedema\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, many people living with lipedema don’t know they have it. Or, in Brena Jean’s case, she recognized the condition but struggled to prove it to medical professionals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, Brena Jean and I discuss how she’s taking internet trolls to school and what it means to fight fatphobia within the American healthcare system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@thebrenajean/video/6927027351733800197\" data-video-id=\"6927027351733800197\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;\">\n\u003csection> \u003ca target=\"_blank\" title=\"@thebrenajean\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@thebrenajean\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@thebrenajean\u003c/a> \n\u003cp>Thanks for your support \u003ca title=\"lipedema\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/lipedema\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#lipedema\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"lipedemafighter\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/lipedemafighter\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#lipedemafighter\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"lipedemagirl\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/lipedemagirl\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#lipedemagirl\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"bopo\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bopo\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#bopo\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"bodypositivity\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bodypositivity\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#bodypositivity\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"plussize\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/plussize\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#plussize\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"heds\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/heds\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#heds\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"eds\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/eds\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#eds\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"ehlersdanlossyndrome\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ehlersdanlossyndrome\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ehlersdanlossyndrome\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"curve\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/curve\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#curve\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"curvy\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/curvy\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#curvy\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"ootd\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ootd\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ootd\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003ca target=\"_blank\" title=\"♬ original sound - Brena Jean\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6927027458134919941\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound - Brena Jean\u003c/a> \u003c/p>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp> \u003cscript async src=\"https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js\">\u003c/script>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Below are lightly edited excerpts of my conversation with Brena Jean.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: I got picked on a lot and I got teased a lot. I even got bullied at home. My parents looked normative, their bodies didn’t look like mine. My mom — who I’m pretty sure I got lipedema from — was a small person with lipedema. She had a small body. But my body just seemed to just grow and grow and grow, no matter what I did. I was on a lot of diets. I was put on my first diet when I was a child. I did Slim Fast when I was a child and never stopped dieting. I even had an eating disorder for a while… But my weight would fluctuate at the most about 40 pounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: It wasn’t just my size, it was the shape of my limbs. I have rolls that people just stare at. They also assume, ‘Well, maybe because she’s so fat those rolls appear there.’ What I later learned [is that those rolls] are called cuffs, which is common with lipedema.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: … surgery removes the lipedema nodules and reduces the pain and reduces the size of your body, but that’s not necessarily seen as a cure by medical insurances… I still don’t know actually how many procedures I’ll need. And I’m not even sure when they’ll start. But when I’ve talked to doctors, the majority of them are like, oh, this is a whole reconstruction. It could be one to two years. And I don’t know how I’m going to look, but — just like I’ve learned as a person with a fat body — I’m going to love me wherever I’m at.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pen: And we can’t glaze over the fashion. Can you explain a little bit of the fashion for me? We can’t get past that point.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: So funny… I like to dress up. I like to feel good. My parents are from the South… And they are two Black people that are unmistakably Black. They come from an era where you have to stunt, you have to show up and show out or else you could possibly be mistaken for someone with insidious intentions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: I like to show up and show out as well. I want to be confident and I don’t want to have to hide my body anymore. And to do that requires a particular type of suiting up. I have to be prepared to take on other people’s response to my body and to my appearance. I think that’s what my parents did. They suited up for white supremacy. [laughs] I suit up for white supremacy and fatphobia, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896232\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896232\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-800x1220.jpg\" alt=\"Brena Jean in matching yellow top and skirt. She stares up towards the sun, soaking up its rays while lifting a corner of her skirt.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1220\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-800x1220.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-1020x1556.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-160x244.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-768x1171.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-1007x1536.jpg 1007w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-1343x2048.jpg 1343w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-1920x2929.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-scaled.jpg 1678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brena Jean\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pen: You’ve talked about fighting the medical system and your own insecurities. How are you fighting perceptions on the Internet or even internet trolls?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: ….I don’t think everybody should do this. I’m just a masochist but I like to respond to the trolls’ questions… I don’t think they expect a response. I don’t think they expect to be heard at all. I think that’s why they’re trolling. But I respond with a whole video response and then a lot of times I convert them over on my side. There are trolls rallying for me right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: You’re not going to troll me as bad as the systems do. I’m from Oakland. I know real trolls, ain’t nothing control you like white supremacy, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pen: Put it in perspective, right…\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: I used to be a teacher, if I can take how engaged people are in that rage and give them something of value, like a real answer and a real truth at least while they in that valley of rage, they can come out with something… So far, I haven’t been attached to what’s in the comments. I find there’s an opportunity there to educate folks, even the trolls. Oftentimes what I have found out [is that] they’re often angry with the same systems I’m angry at. Everybody’s affected and harmed by these things. Everyone, including you, are affected by fatphobia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC1099207798&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through \u003ca href=\"https://www.brenajean.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">blogs\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@thebrenajean?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TikTok\u003c/a> videos \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thebrenajean/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brena Jean\u003c/a> discusses what it means to be one of the millions of people living with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/futureofyou/244604/lipedema-the-fat-disorder-that-millions-have-but-no-one-has-heard-of\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lipedema.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rarely diagnosed chronic disorder affects mostly women and causes fat cells within the body to build up and harden instead of burn; it’s often confused with obesity or \u003ca href=\"https://www.krcu.org/post/your-health-lymphedema#stream/0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lymphedema\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, many people living with lipedema don’t know they have it. Or, in Brena Jean’s case, she recognized the condition but struggled to prove it to medical professionals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, Brena Jean and I discuss how she’s taking internet trolls to school and what it means to fight fatphobia within the American healthcare system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@thebrenajean/video/6927027351733800197\" data-video-id=\"6927027351733800197\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;\">\n\u003csection> \u003ca target=\"_blank\" title=\"@thebrenajean\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@thebrenajean\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@thebrenajean\u003c/a> \n\u003cp>Thanks for your support \u003ca title=\"lipedema\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/lipedema\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#lipedema\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"lipedemafighter\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/lipedemafighter\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#lipedemafighter\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"lipedemagirl\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/lipedemagirl\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#lipedemagirl\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"bopo\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bopo\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#bopo\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"bodypositivity\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bodypositivity\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#bodypositivity\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"plussize\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/plussize\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#plussize\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"heds\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/heds\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#heds\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"eds\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/eds\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#eds\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"ehlersdanlossyndrome\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ehlersdanlossyndrome\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ehlersdanlossyndrome\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"curve\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/curve\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#curve\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"curvy\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/curvy\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#curvy\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"ootd\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ootd\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ootd\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003ca target=\"_blank\" title=\"♬ original sound - Brena Jean\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6927027458134919941\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ original sound - Brena Jean\u003c/a> \u003c/p>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp> \u003cscript async src=\"https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js\">\u003c/script>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Below are lightly edited excerpts of my conversation with Brena Jean.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: I got picked on a lot and I got teased a lot. I even got bullied at home. My parents looked normative, their bodies didn’t look like mine. My mom — who I’m pretty sure I got lipedema from — was a small person with lipedema. She had a small body. But my body just seemed to just grow and grow and grow, no matter what I did. I was on a lot of diets. I was put on my first diet when I was a child. I did Slim Fast when I was a child and never stopped dieting. I even had an eating disorder for a while… But my weight would fluctuate at the most about 40 pounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: It wasn’t just my size, it was the shape of my limbs. I have rolls that people just stare at. They also assume, ‘Well, maybe because she’s so fat those rolls appear there.’ What I later learned [is that those rolls] are called cuffs, which is common with lipedema.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: … surgery removes the lipedema nodules and reduces the pain and reduces the size of your body, but that’s not necessarily seen as a cure by medical insurances… I still don’t know actually how many procedures I’ll need. And I’m not even sure when they’ll start. But when I’ve talked to doctors, the majority of them are like, oh, this is a whole reconstruction. It could be one to two years. And I don’t know how I’m going to look, but — just like I’ve learned as a person with a fat body — I’m going to love me wherever I’m at.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pen: And we can’t glaze over the fashion. Can you explain a little bit of the fashion for me? We can’t get past that point.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: So funny… I like to dress up. I like to feel good. My parents are from the South… And they are two Black people that are unmistakably Black. They come from an era where you have to stunt, you have to show up and show out or else you could possibly be mistaken for someone with insidious intentions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: I like to show up and show out as well. I want to be confident and I don’t want to have to hide my body anymore. And to do that requires a particular type of suiting up. I have to be prepared to take on other people’s response to my body and to my appearance. I think that’s what my parents did. They suited up for white supremacy. [laughs] I suit up for white supremacy and fatphobia, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896232\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896232\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-800x1220.jpg\" alt=\"Brena Jean in matching yellow top and skirt. She stares up towards the sun, soaking up its rays while lifting a corner of her skirt.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1220\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-800x1220.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-1020x1556.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-160x244.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-768x1171.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-1007x1536.jpg 1007w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-1343x2048.jpg 1343w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-1920x2929.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/DSC8915-scaled.jpg 1678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brena Jean\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pen: You’ve talked about fighting the medical system and your own insecurities. How are you fighting perceptions on the Internet or even internet trolls?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: ….I don’t think everybody should do this. I’m just a masochist but I like to respond to the trolls’ questions… I don’t think they expect a response. I don’t think they expect to be heard at all. I think that’s why they’re trolling. But I respond with a whole video response and then a lot of times I convert them over on my side. There are trolls rallying for me right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: You’re not going to troll me as bad as the systems do. I’m from Oakland. I know real trolls, ain’t nothing control you like white supremacy, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pen: Put it in perspective, right…\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brena: I used to be a teacher, if I can take how engaged people are in that rage and give them something of value, like a real answer and a real truth at least while they in that valley of rage, they can come out with something… So far, I haven’t been attached to what’s in the comments. I find there’s an opportunity there to educate folks, even the trolls. Oftentimes what I have found out [is that] they’re often angry with the same systems I’m angry at. Everybody’s affected and harmed by these things. Everyone, including you, are affected by fatphobia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "TikTok's Sienna Mae Gomez is Trapped in a Body Positivity Movement That Loves Almost No One",
"headTitle": "TikTok’s Sienna Mae Gomez is Trapped in a Body Positivity Movement That Loves Almost No One | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sienna Mae Gomez\u003c/a> is a confident, fun-loving 17-year-old girl who has, in the space of a single year, amassed 15 million followers on TikTok. Gomez’s videos—which show her dancing, goofing around, and generally living her best life—inspired a profile earlier this year in \u003ca href=\"https://www.nylon.com/beauty/sienna-mae-gomez-on-viral-tiktok-fame-body-positivity-and-her-first-big-beauty-deal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Nylon\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, which described her as “a cool girl confidently show[ing] off her regular body,” and praised for her “positive body image.” That description was born from the fact that Gomez regularly \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae/video/6938861360998599942?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">preaches “self-love,”\u003c/a> enthusiastically \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae/video/6934189925612981510?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">eats food on camera\u003c/a>, and dances in bikinis unselfconsciously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae/video/6942616617280883974\" data-video-id=\"6942616617280883974\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@siennamae\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@siennamae\u003c/a>quarantine 2020 vibes\u003ca title=\"♬ lady gaga saying that ppl can do hard things - umru\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/lady-gaga-saying-that-ppl-can-do-hard-things-6926901814931606277\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ lady gaga saying that ppl can do hard things – umru\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, Gomez posted a clip titled “bloating.” In it, she side-profiled her concave stomach expanding to a merely flat one after apparently eating five tacos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae/video/6947461951664540934\" data-video-id=\"6947461951664540934\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@siennamae\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@siennamae\u003c/a>bloating😁😁\u003ca title=\"♬ Exclamation mark - Soul\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Exclamation-mark-6940429731603041030\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ Exclamation mark – Soul\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The criticism from fans about the clip prompted her to make \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae/video/6947490119070797062?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">another video\u003c/a> almost immediately. In it, she captioned a message from a TikTok user who told Gomez that, despite her oft-repeated body positive stance, her slender physique just made bigger girls watching “feel worse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never claimed to be the face of body positivity,” Gomez says in the clip. “I never claimed to be in a specific group or representing a specific group of people. My account has always been, and will always be, purely just me feeling confident and hoping that that can inspire others … I’ve always put the message out there that any body type is beautiful. There is no right body.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gomez’s latest body positivity controversy emerges less than two months after she came under fire for launching a merch line sporting the phrase “Did you eat today?” Many critics saw it as an attempt to profit from other people’s eating disorders; \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/defnoodles/status/1360745257151782914/photo/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gomez asserted\u003c/a> that she was trying to express “compassion and care for people who are struggling.” [aside postid='pop_84826']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gomez certainly has a healthier attitude toward food and self-love than a great many other TikTok personalities. And her age is undoubtedly a factor in some of the issues she’s experiencing with her personal brand. But Gomez has also been benefiting—through no fault of her own—from a mainstream culture that has, for years, co-opted the ideas of “body positivity” without actually celebrating fat bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Examples, unrelated to either Gomez or TikTok, are not hard to come by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2016, \u003cem>Glamour\u003c/em> magazine added Amy Schumer to the cover of its plus size issue, despite the fact that she was a size 6-8 at the time. (It was left to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/BD0sVf9KUCy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Schumer herself to point out on Instagram\u003c/a> that presenting her body as plus size was damaging to young women.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, Everlane prominently used an \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Everlane/status/1079791787424665600/photo/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">extra-curvy model\u003c/a> named Chloé Vero in the ad campaign for its underwear launch—only to cap the largest size at XL. (That particular underwear came with a 32-inch waist.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2017, \u003cem>Vogue\u003c/em> hyped up the fact that Ashley Graham would be the first plus size model to grace its cover, only to hide her body in a line of \u003cem>Vogue\u003c/em>‘s regular models. (“NO NORM IS THE NEW NORM,” the cover lied.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13895242 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/screen-shot-2017-02-09-at-9-50-24-am-1486654943.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/screen-shot-2017-02-09-at-9-50-24-am-1486654943.png 480w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/screen-shot-2017-02-09-at-9-50-24-am-1486654943-160x200.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, \u003cem>E!\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Glamour\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Yahoo\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Seventeen\u003c/em>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-body/news/khloe-kardashian-shows-off-stretch-marks-in-bikini-photo/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>US Weekly\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and a variety of other outlets all carried stories about the fact that Khloe Kardashian had “proudly” shown off her stretch marks in an Instagram post. The headlines suggested this was a relatable moment, an occasion to celebrate women’s imperfections. \u003cem>US Weekly\u003c/em> began its article on the subject with the words: “The real her.” Despite all that hype, Kardashian’s image bore little resemblance to anything most women could relate to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CKrfAC7BSLg/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coincidentally, just as Sienna Mae Gomez was reckoning with her place in the skewed world of mainstream body positivity, Lena Dunham was \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/style/lena-dunham-body-positivity-11-honore-spanx.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">breaking down the movement for the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. In an interview to promote her new plus size collaboration with 11 Honoré over the weekend, Dunham described the narrow parameters of the bodies deemed appropriate for mainstream celebration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She told the newspaper:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The thing that’s complicated about the body positive movement, is it can be for the privileged few who have a body that looks the way people want to feel positive. We want curvy bodies that look like Kim Kardashian has been up-sized slightly. We want big beautiful butts and big beautiful breasts and no cellulite and faces that look like you could smack them on to thin women.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>A quick glance at \u003cem>Cosmopolitan\u003c/em>‘s 2021 list of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/fashion/a49364/curvy-plus-size-model-instagram/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Best Plus Size Models and Accounts to Follow\u003c/a>” perfectly illustrates Dunham’s point. While, unlike Gomez, the women featured \u003cem>are\u003c/em> size 12 or over, they almost exclusively fit the very specific type that Dunham describes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The list includes \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzg4bf9gkq7/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ashley Graham\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CMctG1hsZqu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sonny Turner\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CFadljPJweI/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jada Sezer\u003c/a>. (Thankfully, it also includes \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CJAEkEin3SI/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tess Holiday\u003c/a>, a glaring exception to the rule.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzg4bf9gkq7/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, in more niche, fat positive circles on the internet, you will find rounder bellies, less symmetrical waistlines and a much broader idea of what it means to be big and beautiful. But the struggle to get America on board with actual, real-life, plus size bodies has been ongoing for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While filming \u003cem>Girls\u003c/em>—a show in which she often appeared naked and unposed—Dunham was bombarded with criticism about her body, and told by countless internet trolls to cover up. As such, she has given a lot of thought as to why the world is more comfortable hearing about body positivity from women with smaller bodies than hers. [aside postid='arts_13880699']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have a big stomach, I always have,” she \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/style/lena-dunham-body-positivity-11-honore-spanx.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told\u003c/a> the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>. “That’s where I gain my weight … and that’s not where anybody wants to see flesh … The amount of people who have written to me on my page: ‘You’re promoting obesity. Don’t you understand you’re killing yourself? Are you stupid? Why are you doing that?'” She continued: “If a thin girl wears sweatpants, it’s kind of cute—like, ‘I’m having a rough day!’ But for a chubby girl, it’s ‘You’ve made a lifestyle choice to give up.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Truthfully, Gomez and Dunham represent two sides of the same coin. Both became famous as very young women. Both arrived in the public consciousness with specific sets of privilege (Gomez’s is physical; Dunham’s financial) that leave them exposed to criticism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the difference in how Dunham and Gomez have been received is rooted firmly in the thing they’re both trying to stamp out. The fact that both are struggling to such a great degree to get their message across isn’t an indictment of either of them, really. It’s the reflection of a culture that ceaselessly continues to judge women based on the shapes and sizes of their bodies.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The same weekend the TikTok star came under fire for her thin privilege, Lena Dunham explained why she didn't fit either. ",
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"description": "The same weekend the TikTok star came under fire for her thin privilege, Lena Dunham explained why she didn't fit either. ",
"title": "TikTok's Sienna Mae Gomez is Trapped in a Body Positivity Movement That Loves Almost No One | KQED",
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"headline": "TikTok's Sienna Mae Gomez is Trapped in a Body Positivity Movement That Loves Almost No One",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sienna Mae Gomez\u003c/a> is a confident, fun-loving 17-year-old girl who has, in the space of a single year, amassed 15 million followers on TikTok. Gomez’s videos—which show her dancing, goofing around, and generally living her best life—inspired a profile earlier this year in \u003ca href=\"https://www.nylon.com/beauty/sienna-mae-gomez-on-viral-tiktok-fame-body-positivity-and-her-first-big-beauty-deal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Nylon\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, which described her as “a cool girl confidently show[ing] off her regular body,” and praised for her “positive body image.” That description was born from the fact that Gomez regularly \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae/video/6938861360998599942?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">preaches “self-love,”\u003c/a> enthusiastically \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae/video/6934189925612981510?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">eats food on camera\u003c/a>, and dances in bikinis unselfconsciously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae/video/6942616617280883974\" data-video-id=\"6942616617280883974\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@siennamae\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@siennamae\u003c/a>quarantine 2020 vibes\u003ca title=\"♬ lady gaga saying that ppl can do hard things - umru\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/lady-gaga-saying-that-ppl-can-do-hard-things-6926901814931606277\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ lady gaga saying that ppl can do hard things – umru\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, Gomez posted a clip titled “bloating.” In it, she side-profiled her concave stomach expanding to a merely flat one after apparently eating five tacos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae/video/6947461951664540934\" data-video-id=\"6947461951664540934\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@siennamae\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@siennamae\u003c/a>bloating😁😁\u003ca title=\"♬ Exclamation mark - Soul\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Exclamation-mark-6940429731603041030\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">♬ Exclamation mark – Soul\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The criticism from fans about the clip prompted her to make \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae/video/6947490119070797062?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">another video\u003c/a> almost immediately. In it, she captioned a message from a TikTok user who told Gomez that, despite her oft-repeated body positive stance, her slender physique just made bigger girls watching “feel worse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never claimed to be the face of body positivity,” Gomez says in the clip. “I never claimed to be in a specific group or representing a specific group of people. My account has always been, and will always be, purely just me feeling confident and hoping that that can inspire others … I’ve always put the message out there that any body type is beautiful. There is no right body.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gomez’s latest body positivity controversy emerges less than two months after she came under fire for launching a merch line sporting the phrase “Did you eat today?” Many critics saw it as an attempt to profit from other people’s eating disorders; \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/defnoodles/status/1360745257151782914/photo/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gomez asserted\u003c/a> that she was trying to express “compassion and care for people who are struggling.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gomez certainly has a healthier attitude toward food and self-love than a great many other TikTok personalities. And her age is undoubtedly a factor in some of the issues she’s experiencing with her personal brand. But Gomez has also been benefiting—through no fault of her own—from a mainstream culture that has, for years, co-opted the ideas of “body positivity” without actually celebrating fat bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Examples, unrelated to either Gomez or TikTok, are not hard to come by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2016, \u003cem>Glamour\u003c/em> magazine added Amy Schumer to the cover of its plus size issue, despite the fact that she was a size 6-8 at the time. (It was left to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/BD0sVf9KUCy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Schumer herself to point out on Instagram\u003c/a> that presenting her body as plus size was damaging to young women.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, Everlane prominently used an \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Everlane/status/1079791787424665600/photo/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">extra-curvy model\u003c/a> named Chloé Vero in the ad campaign for its underwear launch—only to cap the largest size at XL. (That particular underwear came with a 32-inch waist.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2017, \u003cem>Vogue\u003c/em> hyped up the fact that Ashley Graham would be the first plus size model to grace its cover, only to hide her body in a line of \u003cem>Vogue\u003c/em>‘s regular models. (“NO NORM IS THE NEW NORM,” the cover lied.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13895242 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/screen-shot-2017-02-09-at-9-50-24-am-1486654943.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/screen-shot-2017-02-09-at-9-50-24-am-1486654943.png 480w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/screen-shot-2017-02-09-at-9-50-24-am-1486654943-160x200.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, \u003cem>E!\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Glamour\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Yahoo\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Seventeen\u003c/em>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-body/news/khloe-kardashian-shows-off-stretch-marks-in-bikini-photo/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>US Weekly\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and a variety of other outlets all carried stories about the fact that Khloe Kardashian had “proudly” shown off her stretch marks in an Instagram post. The headlines suggested this was a relatable moment, an occasion to celebrate women’s imperfections. \u003cem>US Weekly\u003c/em> began its article on the subject with the words: “The real her.” Despite all that hype, Kardashian’s image bore little resemblance to anything most women could relate to.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Coincidentally, just as Sienna Mae Gomez was reckoning with her place in the skewed world of mainstream body positivity, Lena Dunham was \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/style/lena-dunham-body-positivity-11-honore-spanx.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">breaking down the movement for the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. In an interview to promote her new plus size collaboration with 11 Honoré over the weekend, Dunham described the narrow parameters of the bodies deemed appropriate for mainstream celebration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She told the newspaper:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The thing that’s complicated about the body positive movement, is it can be for the privileged few who have a body that looks the way people want to feel positive. We want curvy bodies that look like Kim Kardashian has been up-sized slightly. We want big beautiful butts and big beautiful breasts and no cellulite and faces that look like you could smack them on to thin women.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>A quick glance at \u003cem>Cosmopolitan\u003c/em>‘s 2021 list of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/fashion/a49364/curvy-plus-size-model-instagram/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Best Plus Size Models and Accounts to Follow\u003c/a>” perfectly illustrates Dunham’s point. While, unlike Gomez, the women featured \u003cem>are\u003c/em> size 12 or over, they almost exclusively fit the very specific type that Dunham describes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The list includes \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzg4bf9gkq7/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ashley Graham\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CMctG1hsZqu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sonny Turner\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CFadljPJweI/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jada Sezer\u003c/a>. (Thankfully, it also includes \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CJAEkEin3SI/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tess Holiday\u003c/a>, a glaring exception to the rule.)\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Of course, in more niche, fat positive circles on the internet, you will find rounder bellies, less symmetrical waistlines and a much broader idea of what it means to be big and beautiful. But the struggle to get America on board with actual, real-life, plus size bodies has been ongoing for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While filming \u003cem>Girls\u003c/em>—a show in which she often appeared naked and unposed—Dunham was bombarded with criticism about her body, and told by countless internet trolls to cover up. As such, she has given a lot of thought as to why the world is more comfortable hearing about body positivity from women with smaller bodies than hers. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have a big stomach, I always have,” she \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/style/lena-dunham-body-positivity-11-honore-spanx.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told\u003c/a> the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>. “That’s where I gain my weight … and that’s not where anybody wants to see flesh … The amount of people who have written to me on my page: ‘You’re promoting obesity. Don’t you understand you’re killing yourself? Are you stupid? Why are you doing that?'” She continued: “If a thin girl wears sweatpants, it’s kind of cute—like, ‘I’m having a rough day!’ But for a chubby girl, it’s ‘You’ve made a lifestyle choice to give up.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Truthfully, Gomez and Dunham represent two sides of the same coin. Both became famous as very young women. Both arrived in the public consciousness with specific sets of privilege (Gomez’s is physical; Dunham’s financial) that leave them exposed to criticism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the difference in how Dunham and Gomez have been received is rooted firmly in the thing they’re both trying to stamp out. The fact that both are struggling to such a great degree to get their message across isn’t an indictment of either of them, really. It’s the reflection of a culture that ceaselessly continues to judge women based on the shapes and sizes of their bodies.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Get to Know TikTok's Talking Animals: Bunny, Billi, Bastian and Steve B",
"headTitle": "Get to Know TikTok’s Talking Animals: Bunny, Billi, Bastian and Steve B | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>We’ve all done it: put on a silly voice and talked on behalf of our pets. The fancy word for it is ventriloquating, and in 2019, \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/12/why-do-people-make-voices-their-pets/603718/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Atlantic\u003c/em> talked to pet-owners\u003c/a> about why they did it. (“The voice I give my dog is somewhat sarcastic or critical,” one 31-year-old man admitted. “His most common phrase is ‘You son of a bitch.'”) Chances are, if you come across someone who doesn’t ventriloquate for their pets, that restraint is likely born from a wholehearted belief that their animal already \u003cem>is\u003c/em> talking. Like Kermit the cat, here:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-jj6Ik4QAc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a small but increasing number of pet owners, however, having a talking animal at home—one that speaks English, no less—is now an actual, bonafide reality. It all started a couple of years ago when \u003ca href=\"https://www.hungerforwords.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stella\u003c/a>, a Catahoula-Blue Heeler mix, was taught to communicate by her speech-language pathologist owner. Christina Hunger was inspired to give Stella a soundboard after teaching non-verbal children to communicate in similar ways. And the results were undeniably impressive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CLH2jg6Bsl9/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stella now has nearly 800,000 \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hunger4words/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instagram\u003c/a> followers, and Hunger’s first book, \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/319252-how-stella-learned-to-talk-the-groundbreaking-story-of-the-world-s-firs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>How Stella Learned to Talk: The Groundbreaking Story of the World’s First Talking Dog\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, is due for release on May 4. But since Stella and Hunger first found internet fame, a number of other charismatic pets have gotten in on the act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13869528']First—and most famously—there’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@whataboutbunny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bunny\u003c/a>, a Sheepadoodle with 5.4 million followers on TikTok whose education was directly inspired by Stella’s. The 18-month-old is full of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CJd9DHBBnd4/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">love for her human mom\u003c/a> (artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.mcreativej.com/post/for-the-love-of-craft-alexis-devine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alexis Devine\u003c/a>), obsessed with her human dad’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@whataboutbunny/video/6930056511024647429\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pooping habits\u003c/a>, and frequently asks about her dog \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CIV_GmqhT8E/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">friends\u003c/a> (\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@whataboutbunny/video/6932131332931849477\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Beacher\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CKJxvi7h5vz/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tango and Selena\u003c/a>). At several points in her communication journey, Bunny has appeared to be grappling with serious philosophical issues, including figuring out \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CH-gTD4hDPl/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">concepts of both time\u003c/a> and self:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CHk6GzyhReG/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fortunately, Bunny is just as adept at making fart jokes. (Farts, in Bunny speak, are “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CJJVpqsBEpq/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">poop play\u003c/a>.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CKopgbNh6QR/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not quite as advanced, but just as stinkin’ cute, is \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@bastianandbrews\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bastian\u003c/a>, the most food-obsessed talking pup in all the land. The terrier from New York has been learning to communicate since June 2020 and has garnered 86,400 followers on TikTok. But burgeoning fame is irrelevant to Bastian—all the rescue cares about is forcing his humans to get his dinner (and \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@bastianandbrews/video/6928747203590671622\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">breakfast\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@bastianandbrews/video/6928135667818056965\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">treats\u003c/a>) from the fridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CLfj4Ryps7f/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately for owner Joelle Andres, this demanding little pooch is impossible to say no to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CKm8lgHJxfP/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which brings us, appropriately enough, to the talking cats. \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@kristiinawilson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steve B\u003c/a> is a New York rescue with 150,600 followers on TikTok who started using his soundboard at the ripe old age of 11. His animal behaviorist owner, Kristiina Wilson, says he picked it up very quickly, and that Steve’s favorite button is “\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@kristiinawilson/video/6918031554329464070?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">outside\u003c/a>.” But watching his antics, Steve’s greatest moments are often the ones where he’s saying “No.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CC7dmzQhDbz/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the ones where he’s using his soundboard for evil:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CIzkeyMhRlv/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steve’s not the only cat in the game. \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@billispeaks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Billi\u003c/a> has 328,800 followers on TikTok and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@billispeaks/video/6908486117302160645\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">catnip button\u003c/a> to call her own. Billi mostly enjoys expressing \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@billispeaks/video/6909896971692150022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">love for her owner\u003c/a> Kendra, and asking for playtime. She even has \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@billispeaks/video/6896227363479194886\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">specific buttons for specific toys\u003c/a>. But, like Bunny, Billi’s desire to learn and understand more about herself is fairly astonishing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here she is asking where her ears, chin, and back are:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CIL6Vq7g1B-/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And here is Billi using that knowledge to get very specific pets:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CLh8yRUg3GB/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, UC San Diego and \u003ca href=\"https://fluent.pet/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fluent Pet\u003c/a> (the makers of the soundboards) launched a research project called \u003ca href=\"https://www.theycantalk.org/about/our-approach-to-research\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">They Can Talk\u003c/a>. And while it currently has 700 participants, including dogs, cats, pigs and horses, the team is still \u003ca href=\"https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/t4BU6s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">looking for more\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re thinking of signing up for a soundboard of your own though, be prepared for the consequences. In addition to near-constant demands for food, scritches and “outside,” an ongoing theme for all of the animals is a general disdain for the music of their respective households.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bastian, for example, is not an appreciator of Frank Sinatra:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CKpNdWcpbj_/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Steve didn’t enjoy Jennifer Lopez’s rousing rendition of “America the Beautiful” at President Biden’s inauguration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CKSlnmiBRjk/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hell, Billi can’t even get on board with the \u003cem>Hamilton\u003c/em> soundtrack:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CLkwJzZgNAW/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s just no pleasing some people.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Bunny, Billi and Bastian are just three of many animals learning to talk, inspired by a dog named Stella and her soundboard.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>We’ve all done it: put on a silly voice and talked on behalf of our pets. The fancy word for it is ventriloquating, and in 2019, \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/12/why-do-people-make-voices-their-pets/603718/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Atlantic\u003c/em> talked to pet-owners\u003c/a> about why they did it. (“The voice I give my dog is somewhat sarcastic or critical,” one 31-year-old man admitted. “His most common phrase is ‘You son of a bitch.'”) Chances are, if you come across someone who doesn’t ventriloquate for their pets, that restraint is likely born from a wholehearted belief that their animal already \u003cem>is\u003c/em> talking. Like Kermit the cat, here:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/N-jj6Ik4QAc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/N-jj6Ik4QAc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>For a small but increasing number of pet owners, however, having a talking animal at home—one that speaks English, no less—is now an actual, bonafide reality. It all started a couple of years ago when \u003ca href=\"https://www.hungerforwords.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stella\u003c/a>, a Catahoula-Blue Heeler mix, was taught to communicate by her speech-language pathologist owner. Christina Hunger was inspired to give Stella a soundboard after teaching non-verbal children to communicate in similar ways. And the results were undeniably impressive.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Stella now has nearly 800,000 \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hunger4words/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instagram\u003c/a> followers, and Hunger’s first book, \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/319252-how-stella-learned-to-talk-the-groundbreaking-story-of-the-world-s-firs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>How Stella Learned to Talk: The Groundbreaking Story of the World’s First Talking Dog\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, is due for release on May 4. But since Stella and Hunger first found internet fame, a number of other charismatic pets have gotten in on the act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>First—and most famously—there’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@whataboutbunny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bunny\u003c/a>, a Sheepadoodle with 5.4 million followers on TikTok whose education was directly inspired by Stella’s. The 18-month-old is full of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CJd9DHBBnd4/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">love for her human mom\u003c/a> (artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.mcreativej.com/post/for-the-love-of-craft-alexis-devine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alexis Devine\u003c/a>), obsessed with her human dad’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@whataboutbunny/video/6930056511024647429\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pooping habits\u003c/a>, and frequently asks about her dog \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CIV_GmqhT8E/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">friends\u003c/a> (\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@whataboutbunny/video/6932131332931849477\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Beacher\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CKJxvi7h5vz/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tango and Selena\u003c/a>). At several points in her communication journey, Bunny has appeared to be grappling with serious philosophical issues, including figuring out \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CH-gTD4hDPl/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">concepts of both time\u003c/a> and self:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Fortunately, Bunny is just as adept at making fart jokes. (Farts, in Bunny speak, are “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CJJVpqsBEpq/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">poop play\u003c/a>.”)\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Not quite as advanced, but just as stinkin’ cute, is \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@bastianandbrews\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bastian\u003c/a>, the most food-obsessed talking pup in all the land. The terrier from New York has been learning to communicate since June 2020 and has garnered 86,400 followers on TikTok. But burgeoning fame is irrelevant to Bastian—all the rescue cares about is forcing his humans to get his dinner (and \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@bastianandbrews/video/6928747203590671622\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">breakfast\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@bastianandbrews/video/6928135667818056965\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">treats\u003c/a>) from the fridge.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Unfortunately for owner Joelle Andres, this demanding little pooch is impossible to say no to.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Which brings us, appropriately enough, to the talking cats. \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@kristiinawilson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steve B\u003c/a> is a New York rescue with 150,600 followers on TikTok who started using his soundboard at the ripe old age of 11. His animal behaviorist owner, Kristiina Wilson, says he picked it up very quickly, and that Steve’s favorite button is “\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@kristiinawilson/video/6918031554329464070?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">outside\u003c/a>.” But watching his antics, Steve’s greatest moments are often the ones where he’s saying “No.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>And the ones where he’s using his soundboard for evil:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Steve’s not the only cat in the game. \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@billispeaks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Billi\u003c/a> has 328,800 followers on TikTok and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@billispeaks/video/6908486117302160645\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">catnip button\u003c/a> to call her own. Billi mostly enjoys expressing \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@billispeaks/video/6909896971692150022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">love for her owner\u003c/a> Kendra, and asking for playtime. She even has \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@billispeaks/video/6896227363479194886\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">specific buttons for specific toys\u003c/a>. But, like Bunny, Billi’s desire to learn and understand more about herself is fairly astonishing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here she is asking where her ears, chin, and back are:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>And here is Billi using that knowledge to get very specific pets:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Last year, UC San Diego and \u003ca href=\"https://fluent.pet/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fluent Pet\u003c/a> (the makers of the soundboards) launched a research project called \u003ca href=\"https://www.theycantalk.org/about/our-approach-to-research\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">They Can Talk\u003c/a>. And while it currently has 700 participants, including dogs, cats, pigs and horses, the team is still \u003ca href=\"https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/t4BU6s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">looking for more\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re thinking of signing up for a soundboard of your own though, be prepared for the consequences. In addition to near-constant demands for food, scritches and “outside,” an ongoing theme for all of the animals is a general disdain for the music of their respective households.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bastian, for example, is not an appreciator of Frank Sinatra:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>And Steve didn’t enjoy Jennifer Lopez’s rousing rendition of “America the Beautiful” at President Biden’s inauguration.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Hell, Billi can’t even get on board with the \u003cem>Hamilton\u003c/em> soundtrack:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s just no pleasing some people.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "2020: The Year Small Pleasures Finally Eclipsed Celebrity Culture",
"headTitle": "2020: The Year Small Pleasures Finally Eclipsed Celebrity Culture | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>If you’re looking for a perfect encapsulation of what happened to celebrity culture in 2020, look no further than this Twitter thread that emerged last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/warrenleightTV/status/1336817740078845955\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/warrenleightTV/status/1336817747699904512\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/warrenleightTV/status/1336817757455872005\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enthusiastic bird watching is nothing new, of course, especially in New York City. But in December 2020, seeing a large group of photographers raving over a bird instead of a celebrity isn’t just less surprising than it would’ve been in January, it’s somehow infinitely more relatable. Because as everyone has struggled to keep their heads above the proverbial flood waters for the last 10 months, these kinds of small pleasures have dominated all of our lives. And they’ve come remarkably close to decimating celebrity culture as a national pastime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There can be no doubt that 2020 has forced us to reevaluate all priorities: our careers, homes, families, relationships—even \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13883244/how-sheltering-in-place-is-shifting-womens-beauty-standards\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">our appearances\u003c/a>. But caring about celebrities was one of the very first things to go by the wayside when normal life unceremoniously shut down in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not hard to pinpoint the exact moment when we turned our backs either. It was this:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/ashleyfeinberg/status/1240484129222856705\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gal Gadot et al.’s ill-advised, cringe-worthy, patronizing, self-indulgent response to a global pandemic was a cold bucket of water on the head, at the precise moment we neither wanted nor needed one. But it also woke us up. Overnight, celebrity culture went from providing a casual mental escape to being so far beyond the realms of real—the real stress, real fear, real discomfort we were all feeling—that it became utterly and instantaneously unpalatable. [aside postid='arts_13877066']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was exacerbated by celebrities telling us how to handle the pandemic from the comforts of their \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tv/B92YsciHcUu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mansions\u003c/a>, their \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HtpM7XvUnQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hot tubs\u003c/a>, their \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B90q7dpAnHW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">meditation retreats\u003c/a>, and their \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B9BxGPqFfpw/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">first-class seats\u003c/a> on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B9kwcbPnFPo/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">airplanes\u003c/a>. By the time a group of\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13881801/anti-racism-celeb-psa-i-take-responsibility-is-the-new-imagine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> overwrought white actors declared\u003c/a> in June—in the aftermath of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11823403/george-floyd-anti-racism-and-protests-against-police-violence-echo-globally\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">killing of George Floyd\u003c/a>—that they were taking responsibility for turning blind eyes to racial injustice, the public greeted it by collectively rolling theirs. Hell, by the end of 2020, even Ellen DeGeneres—previously one of America’s most beloved TV hosts—was \u003cem>persona non grata, \u003c/em>after allegations of her \u003ca href=\"https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/krystieyandoli/ellen-employees-allege-toxic-workplace-culture\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">toxic workplace\u003c/a> emerged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In my role as a pop culture journalist this year, the shift has been palpable. By the end of spring, it was abundantly clear that KQED Arts & Culture readers were suddenly more interested in hearing about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13879872/dont-worry-your-new-jigsaw-puzzle-obsession-is-perfectly-normal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">jigsaw puzzles\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13880317/escaped-goats-in-san-jose-live-out-our-shelter-in-place-fantasies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">escaped goats\u003c/a> than about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13878920/meghan-and-harry-take-stonewalling-uk-tabloids-to-a-new-level\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harry and Meghan\u003c/a>. (I knew I was really in trouble after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13877883/dolly-parton-wants-to-read-us-bedtime-stories-so-everything-is-fine-now\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">story about Dolly Parton\u003c/a> flopped.) My job, almost overnight, became about self-care and self-contained pastimes that were firmly outside of the realms of the rich and the famous. The upper crust, it seemed, had been rendered largely irrelevant, almost overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public’s relationship with celebrities was further disconnected after the entertainment industry all but ground to a halt. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13890093/2020-decimated-the-concert-industry-and-it-cant-rebuild-without-government-help\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Concert tours were delayed\u003c/a> indefinitely, a shocking number of \u003ca href=\"https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/breakdown-of-2020-movie-delays-and-when-they-will-hit-theaters/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">movie releases were postponed\u003c/a> until 2021, and TV shows either stopped dead in their tracks, or were forced to come up with complicated production solutions. (Oddly, this actually worked to benefit viewers in some cases. \u003cem>The Great British Baking Show\u003c/em>’s quarantined contestants were closer than ever, for one. And in lieu of making Season 2, HBO’s \u003cem>Euphoria\u003c/em> aired a two-person, one-hour\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY0_7wPGJlk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> special\u003c/a> in December that should be remembered as one of the most thought-provoking hours of television … well, \u003cem>ever\u003c/em>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another factor influencing our level of interest in famous people was a sudden drop in commuting time across the nation. According to Stanford University economist Nicholas Bloom, since March, almost twice as many \u003ca href=\"https://news.stanford.edu/2020/06/29/snapshot-new-working-home-economy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">employees are working from home\u003c/a> than those at workplaces. The non-commuters are now 42% of America’s labor force. Without mundane journeys to fill with distractions, workers are less in need of frivolous celebrity tidbits. [aside postid='arts_13879872']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The erasure of all those commutes and early morning Starbucks lines undoubtedly contributed to the death of short-form streaming channel \u003ca href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/10/22/quibi-shuts-down-after-six-months-heres-why/3725358001/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Quibi\u003c/a>, just six months after it launched. And not even the biggest names on its roster—the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Liam Hemsworth, Queen Latifah, Kevin Hart and Chrissy Teigen—provided enough of a lure to get people to tune in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Gen Z’s desire for short-form entertainment remained intact, they really only wanted it from TikTok. This was thanks in part to a format that allowed for a sense of community and connection while sheltering in place. On TikTok, the stars weren’t celebrities in the traditional sense either. They were \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@addisonre\">Addison Rae\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@bellapoarch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bella Poarch\u003c/a>, who currently have 71.1 million and 47.6 million followers respectively, simply for miming while cute. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@badwiggies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bad Wiggies\u003c/a> (3.4 million followers)—an anonymous trio of Miami girls dancing in empty parking lots—inspired dance moves and fashion choices. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@iamtabithabrown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tabitha Brown\u003c/a> (4.5 million followers)—a.k.a. “the world’s favorite mom”—provided cooking videos that proved to be both entertaining and soothing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s not forget that TikTok was also the platform that gave us Nathan Apodaca, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13887427/the-viral-fleetwood-mac-challenge-guy-just-got-10000-in-donations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">skateboarding cranberry juice guy\u003c/a>. Apodaca acted as the ultimate symbol of how regular people stay zen in dire circumstances, and the nation fell in love with him because of it. (Let’s hope the Fleetwood Mac fan can hang onto that spirit as he \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9500868/nathan-apodaca-tests-positive-covid-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">battles coronavirus\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not even our most famous reality stars could keep up this year. As was evidenced by \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSI_vs._Logan_Paul\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jake and Logan Paul\u003c/a> moving into amateur boxing, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/pictures/kuwtk-ending-everything-the-kardashians-have-said/the-beginning-of-the-end-3/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kardashians finally calling it quits\u003c/a> on their TV show. (After 14 years and 20 seasons, no less.) In 2020, between Kim casually mentioning \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/KimKardashian/status/1277752179877527554\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">North West’s $25,000 Freesian horse\u003c/a>, Kanye announcing Kim had become \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1277766033844121601\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a billionaire\u003c/a>, and the now-infamous “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/KimKardashian/status/1321151217482014726\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">trip to a private island\u003c/a>,” the family never seemed more out of touch. (Which is an impressive feat considering their track record.) [aside postid='arts_13888949']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the future, when we think about what kept us amused in 2020, we won’t remember movies or TV, we’ll remember the puzzles, the potted plants, the baking and the books. And when we look back and recall the biggest stars of the year, most won’t be from stage and screen. They’ll be the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kron4.com/health/coronavirus/howling-for-healthcare-workers-across-the-bay-area/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">healthcare\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13885071/watch-that-time-project-runway-tried-to-redesign-the-usps-uniform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USPS\u003c/a> workers who worked tirelessly to get us through it. They’ll be the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13885235/hit-hard-by-pandemic-youth-of-color-are-leading-activism-new-poll-finds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">teens who organized\u003c/a> and dominated Black Lives Matter marches. And of course we’ll remember \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13888949/the-internet-is-very-worried-about-msnbcs-steve-kornacki\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steve Kornacki and his khakis\u003c/a>, both of which stayed up for days to provide America with up-to-the-minute results during the weirdest election in living memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It won’t stay like this forever, of course. In a few years, once we get to a post-coronavirus world, celebrity culture will return. But for now, let’s appreciate the reset 2020 gave us. For 10 months now, instead of following famous people’s lives in our spare time, we’ve become almost entirely focused on our own, down here with everyone else, enduring what is sure to be one of the most stressful years of our lives. What we’ve learned about ourselves in the process will be of more value for years to come than anything the world of celebrity could have conjured.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If you’re looking for a perfect encapsulation of what happened to celebrity culture in 2020, look no further than this Twitter thread that emerged last week.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Enthusiastic bird watching is nothing new, of course, especially in New York City. But in December 2020, seeing a large group of photographers raving over a bird instead of a celebrity isn’t just less surprising than it would’ve been in January, it’s somehow infinitely more relatable. Because as everyone has struggled to keep their heads above the proverbial flood waters for the last 10 months, these kinds of small pleasures have dominated all of our lives. And they’ve come remarkably close to decimating celebrity culture as a national pastime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There can be no doubt that 2020 has forced us to reevaluate all priorities: our careers, homes, families, relationships—even \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13883244/how-sheltering-in-place-is-shifting-womens-beauty-standards\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">our appearances\u003c/a>. But caring about celebrities was one of the very first things to go by the wayside when normal life unceremoniously shut down in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not hard to pinpoint the exact moment when we turned our backs either. It was this:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Gal Gadot et al.’s ill-advised, cringe-worthy, patronizing, self-indulgent response to a global pandemic was a cold bucket of water on the head, at the precise moment we neither wanted nor needed one. But it also woke us up. Overnight, celebrity culture went from providing a casual mental escape to being so far beyond the realms of real—the real stress, real fear, real discomfort we were all feeling—that it became utterly and instantaneously unpalatable. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was exacerbated by celebrities telling us how to handle the pandemic from the comforts of their \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tv/B92YsciHcUu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mansions\u003c/a>, their \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HtpM7XvUnQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hot tubs\u003c/a>, their \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B90q7dpAnHW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">meditation retreats\u003c/a>, and their \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B9BxGPqFfpw/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">first-class seats\u003c/a> on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B9kwcbPnFPo/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">airplanes\u003c/a>. By the time a group of\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13881801/anti-racism-celeb-psa-i-take-responsibility-is-the-new-imagine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> overwrought white actors declared\u003c/a> in June—in the aftermath of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11823403/george-floyd-anti-racism-and-protests-against-police-violence-echo-globally\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">killing of George Floyd\u003c/a>—that they were taking responsibility for turning blind eyes to racial injustice, the public greeted it by collectively rolling theirs. Hell, by the end of 2020, even Ellen DeGeneres—previously one of America’s most beloved TV hosts—was \u003cem>persona non grata, \u003c/em>after allegations of her \u003ca href=\"https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/krystieyandoli/ellen-employees-allege-toxic-workplace-culture\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">toxic workplace\u003c/a> emerged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In my role as a pop culture journalist this year, the shift has been palpable. By the end of spring, it was abundantly clear that KQED Arts & Culture readers were suddenly more interested in hearing about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13879872/dont-worry-your-new-jigsaw-puzzle-obsession-is-perfectly-normal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">jigsaw puzzles\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13880317/escaped-goats-in-san-jose-live-out-our-shelter-in-place-fantasies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">escaped goats\u003c/a> than about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13878920/meghan-and-harry-take-stonewalling-uk-tabloids-to-a-new-level\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harry and Meghan\u003c/a>. (I knew I was really in trouble after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13877883/dolly-parton-wants-to-read-us-bedtime-stories-so-everything-is-fine-now\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">story about Dolly Parton\u003c/a> flopped.) My job, almost overnight, became about self-care and self-contained pastimes that were firmly outside of the realms of the rich and the famous. The upper crust, it seemed, had been rendered largely irrelevant, almost overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public’s relationship with celebrities was further disconnected after the entertainment industry all but ground to a halt. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13890093/2020-decimated-the-concert-industry-and-it-cant-rebuild-without-government-help\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Concert tours were delayed\u003c/a> indefinitely, a shocking number of \u003ca href=\"https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/breakdown-of-2020-movie-delays-and-when-they-will-hit-theaters/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">movie releases were postponed\u003c/a> until 2021, and TV shows either stopped dead in their tracks, or were forced to come up with complicated production solutions. (Oddly, this actually worked to benefit viewers in some cases. \u003cem>The Great British Baking Show\u003c/em>’s quarantined contestants were closer than ever, for one. And in lieu of making Season 2, HBO’s \u003cem>Euphoria\u003c/em> aired a two-person, one-hour\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY0_7wPGJlk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> special\u003c/a> in December that should be remembered as one of the most thought-provoking hours of television … well, \u003cem>ever\u003c/em>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another factor influencing our level of interest in famous people was a sudden drop in commuting time across the nation. According to Stanford University economist Nicholas Bloom, since March, almost twice as many \u003ca href=\"https://news.stanford.edu/2020/06/29/snapshot-new-working-home-economy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">employees are working from home\u003c/a> than those at workplaces. The non-commuters are now 42% of America’s labor force. Without mundane journeys to fill with distractions, workers are less in need of frivolous celebrity tidbits. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The erasure of all those commutes and early morning Starbucks lines undoubtedly contributed to the death of short-form streaming channel \u003ca href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/10/22/quibi-shuts-down-after-six-months-heres-why/3725358001/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Quibi\u003c/a>, just six months after it launched. And not even the biggest names on its roster—the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Liam Hemsworth, Queen Latifah, Kevin Hart and Chrissy Teigen—provided enough of a lure to get people to tune in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Gen Z’s desire for short-form entertainment remained intact, they really only wanted it from TikTok. This was thanks in part to a format that allowed for a sense of community and connection while sheltering in place. On TikTok, the stars weren’t celebrities in the traditional sense either. They were \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@addisonre\">Addison Rae\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@bellapoarch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bella Poarch\u003c/a>, who currently have 71.1 million and 47.6 million followers respectively, simply for miming while cute. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@badwiggies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bad Wiggies\u003c/a> (3.4 million followers)—an anonymous trio of Miami girls dancing in empty parking lots—inspired dance moves and fashion choices. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@iamtabithabrown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tabitha Brown\u003c/a> (4.5 million followers)—a.k.a. “the world’s favorite mom”—provided cooking videos that proved to be both entertaining and soothing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s not forget that TikTok was also the platform that gave us Nathan Apodaca, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13887427/the-viral-fleetwood-mac-challenge-guy-just-got-10000-in-donations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">skateboarding cranberry juice guy\u003c/a>. Apodaca acted as the ultimate symbol of how regular people stay zen in dire circumstances, and the nation fell in love with him because of it. (Let’s hope the Fleetwood Mac fan can hang onto that spirit as he \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9500868/nathan-apodaca-tests-positive-covid-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">battles coronavirus\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not even our most famous reality stars could keep up this year. As was evidenced by \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSI_vs._Logan_Paul\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jake and Logan Paul\u003c/a> moving into amateur boxing, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/pictures/kuwtk-ending-everything-the-kardashians-have-said/the-beginning-of-the-end-3/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kardashians finally calling it quits\u003c/a> on their TV show. (After 14 years and 20 seasons, no less.) In 2020, between Kim casually mentioning \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/KimKardashian/status/1277752179877527554\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">North West’s $25,000 Freesian horse\u003c/a>, Kanye announcing Kim had become \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1277766033844121601\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a billionaire\u003c/a>, and the now-infamous “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/KimKardashian/status/1321151217482014726\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">trip to a private island\u003c/a>,” the family never seemed more out of touch. (Which is an impressive feat considering their track record.) \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the future, when we think about what kept us amused in 2020, we won’t remember movies or TV, we’ll remember the puzzles, the potted plants, the baking and the books. And when we look back and recall the biggest stars of the year, most won’t be from stage and screen. They’ll be the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kron4.com/health/coronavirus/howling-for-healthcare-workers-across-the-bay-area/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">healthcare\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13885071/watch-that-time-project-runway-tried-to-redesign-the-usps-uniform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USPS\u003c/a> workers who worked tirelessly to get us through it. They’ll be the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13885235/hit-hard-by-pandemic-youth-of-color-are-leading-activism-new-poll-finds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">teens who organized\u003c/a> and dominated Black Lives Matter marches. And of course we’ll remember \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13888949/the-internet-is-very-worried-about-msnbcs-steve-kornacki\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steve Kornacki and his khakis\u003c/a>, both of which stayed up for days to provide America with up-to-the-minute results during the weirdest election in living memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It won’t stay like this forever, of course. In a few years, once we get to a post-coronavirus world, celebrity culture will return. But for now, let’s appreciate the reset 2020 gave us. For 10 months now, instead of following famous people’s lives in our spare time, we’ve become almost entirely focused on our own, down here with everyone else, enduring what is sure to be one of the most stressful years of our lives. What we’ve learned about ourselves in the process will be of more value for years to come than anything the world of celebrity could have conjured.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>By now, regardless of how old you are or what your political affiliations are, you’ve probably heard of Claudia Conway. Like other teens, the outspoken 15-year-old uses \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@claudiamconway?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">her TikTok account\u003c/a> to vent about her mom, the Trump administration and things she sees online. Unlike other teens, Claudia has 1.4 million followers, the ear of the press and the attention of mainstream news media. Not because she’s an activist or especially articulate. Rather, it’s because she’s the daughter of George and Kellyanne Conway—and her content is particularly unfiltered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Claudia has found herself trending on Twitter four times this year—usually for documenting her turbulent relationship with her parents, especially her mom. This month, however, her “lol” and “lmao”-laden online statements were permitted even more gravity than usual, because they concerned the coronavirus outbreak in the White House. [aside postid='pop_103297']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The day after the president’s diagnosis was revealed, Claudia posted a video of herself to TikTok, looking unimpressed, captioned: “my mom coughing all around the house after trump tested positive for covid.” The following day, she posted an image of herself wearing a mask, captioned, “update my mom has covid.” Two days later: “hey guys currently dying of covid!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, Oct. 5, after Trump left hospital and tweeted, “Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life,” Conway commented on a thread: “guys lmao he’s not doing ‘better’.” Later in the day, she wrote: “he is receiving the world’s best healthcare right now… ‘don’t be afraid’ he is such a joke.” And later still: “he is so ridiculous. apparently he is doing badly lol and they are doing what they can to stabilize him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was quickly hailed as both a whistleblower and an excellent “reporter.” Especially by those exhausted by the mixed messages and contradictory information coming out of the White House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/lorieliebig/status/1313240698162946048\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/maddenifico/status/1313261611453382657\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elsewhere, she was dismissed as a disrespectful child, undeserving of anyone’s attention—including that of her parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/flowerlady61/status/1313487504725680129\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/potatoes187/status/1313351282510495744\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How we as a nation responded en masse to this shit-talking 15-year-old very much reflected how much weight we’ve become accustomed to casually piling onto Generation Z.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Malala Yousafzai’s emergence in 2012 signaled that teenagers no longer had to work in activist groups to garner respect from older generations. But the narrow path Malala carved out was rapidly transformed into a highway by the wave of activism that greeted the Trump administration in 2017. And the proliferation of social media, along with a relentless 24-hour news cycle, put young campaigners in the spotlight in an unprecedented way. [aside postid='arts_13850832']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It started in earnest in 2018. After 17 people were killed in a mass shooting at their school, the teenagers of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were thrust onto the national stage. The teen leaders—including David Hogg, Emma González and Cameron Kasky—that emerged that February went on to organize \u003ca href=\"https://marchforourlives.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March For Our Lives\u003c/a>, a national gun control movement designed for young people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg inspired a global, youth-led movement for climate action. By September, she was addressing the United Nations Climate Change Conference. “This is all wrong,” she scolded the room. “I shouldn’t be standing here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to me for hope? How dare you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That same month, 23-year-old Boyan Slat sailed away from San Francisco Bay to try and clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—a plan he had been hatching since the age of 16. The hopes pinned on him have been consistently hyperbolic—“\u003ca href=\"https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/boyan-slat-ocean-action-hero-on-a-new-mission\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ocean Action Hero\u003c/a>,” one headline recently blared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have been others since, like 13-year-old LGBTQ+ activist Desmond is Amazing, who was the Grand Marshall of Brooklyn’s Pride parade last year. And Isra Hirsi, who founded the U.S. Youth Climate Strike when she was 15. Let’s not forget that several of the Bay Area’s biggest Black Lives Matter marches this year were \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2020/visuals/youth-protest-leaders/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">organized by teens\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These young activists are inspiring, no doubt. But the adults watching them have created a narrative that these kids are going to fix national and global problems that currently seem insurmountable—thus absolving themselves of responsibility. On the flip side, glorifying youth activists as saviors has had the unintended effect of exposing them to online harassment and constant scrutiny. Which is why it seemed perfectly reasonable for adults to immediately hail Claudia Conway as both a hero and a villain. [aside postid='pop_105305']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leveling that kind of judgment on teens started in earnest with the Parkland kids. They were presented first as heroes of the gun control movement, then routinely ridiculed and harassed. David Hogg, Emma González and Cameron Kasky have all been singled out for bullying by adults who should know better including Fox News host \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/29/business/media/laura-ingraham-david-hogg.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Laura Ingraham\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/gop-candidate-who-called-teen-skinhead-lesbian-quits-race-n857861\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Republican candidate Leslie Gibson\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greta Thunberg has been subjected to a stunning number of attacks, perpetrated mostly by adult men. On Fox News (one commentator referred to her as a “mentally ill Swedish child”), on the president’s Twitter account repeatedly (“\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1205100602025545730\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chill Greta, Chill!\u003c/a>”), and in too many cruel memes to mention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1176931201342431234\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Slat’s efforts to clean up the ocean have been dismissed and mocked repeatedly despite the enormity of the task he’s taken on. (Earlier this year, the \u003cem>Vancouver Sun\u003c/em> pondered whether or not his \u003ca href=\"https://theoceancleanup.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIls-O_7Go7AIV6h-tBh0ZDgUcEAAYASAAEgI5ofD_BwE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ocean Cleanup\u003c/a> was “\u003ca href=\"https://vancouversun.com/news/plastic-oceans-unwanted-trash-and-a-popular-but-unproven-plan-to-solve-the-problem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the environmental version of Fyre Fest\u003c/a>.”) Both \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/israhirsi/status/1202384424270225408\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Isra Hirsi\u003c/a> and Desmond the Amazing (reminder: he is 13) have received death threats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Youth movements have always been pivotal in transforming America, generation by generation. Throughout the ’50s and ’60s, high schoolers led walk-outs over racial inequality and segregation in education. They protested the Vietnam war and voting access, and found themselves on the nightly news because of it. But never before Gen Z has there been so much focus and weight put on individual teens campaigning for change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is why so many people have been able to ignore the fact that Conway, though opinionated, most frequently uses TikTok as a cry for help. Back on Sept. 15, she captioned a video: “no one believes you” “i have never abused you” “all you do is lie for attention.” The next screen read: “why would i lie you broke me.” Last week, when one user posted, “Just saw your mom on the news with out a mask on,” Conway responded: “and you wonder why i have covid.” Recent clips show her checking her blood oxygen and asking the public if she needs to go to the hospital. [aside postid='arts_13882454']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>America would do well to start remembering that Claudia Conway, though intelligent, engaging and entertaining, is neither going to save us, nor bring down the government. Rather, she’s a teenager trying to navigate a very unhealthy relationship with her family. We’ve just become so accustomed to overburdening Gen Z activists with messes of prior generations’ making, we think nothing of piling them onto her too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The narrative that Gen Z is going to save the world has been used like an emotional floatation device for adults during this entire presidency. And it is true that this generation is particularly savvy, organized, driven and smart. But if we want them to make a change that badly, it’s time we start leaving them alone. They’ve already proven that they do much better without our interference, and they certainly don’t deserve our abuse.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It started in earnest in 2018. After 17 people were killed in a mass shooting at their school, the teenagers of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were thrust onto the national stage. The teen leaders—including David Hogg, Emma González and Cameron Kasky—that emerged that February went on to organize \u003ca href=\"https://marchforourlives.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March For Our Lives\u003c/a>, a national gun control movement designed for young people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg inspired a global, youth-led movement for climate action. By September, she was addressing the United Nations Climate Change Conference. “This is all wrong,” she scolded the room. “I shouldn’t be standing here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to me for hope? How dare you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That same month, 23-year-old Boyan Slat sailed away from San Francisco Bay to try and clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—a plan he had been hatching since the age of 16. The hopes pinned on him have been consistently hyperbolic—“\u003ca href=\"https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/boyan-slat-ocean-action-hero-on-a-new-mission\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ocean Action Hero\u003c/a>,” one headline recently blared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have been others since, like 13-year-old LGBTQ+ activist Desmond is Amazing, who was the Grand Marshall of Brooklyn’s Pride parade last year. And Isra Hirsi, who founded the U.S. Youth Climate Strike when she was 15. Let’s not forget that several of the Bay Area’s biggest Black Lives Matter marches this year were \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2020/visuals/youth-protest-leaders/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">organized by teens\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These young activists are inspiring, no doubt. But the adults watching them have created a narrative that these kids are going to fix national and global problems that currently seem insurmountable—thus absolving themselves of responsibility. On the flip side, glorifying youth activists as saviors has had the unintended effect of exposing them to online harassment and constant scrutiny. Which is why it seemed perfectly reasonable for adults to immediately hail Claudia Conway as both a hero and a villain. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leveling that kind of judgment on teens started in earnest with the Parkland kids. They were presented first as heroes of the gun control movement, then routinely ridiculed and harassed. David Hogg, Emma González and Cameron Kasky have all been singled out for bullying by adults who should know better including Fox News host \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/29/business/media/laura-ingraham-david-hogg.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Laura Ingraham\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/gop-candidate-who-called-teen-skinhead-lesbian-quits-race-n857861\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Republican candidate Leslie Gibson\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greta Thunberg has been subjected to a stunning number of attacks, perpetrated mostly by adult men. On Fox News (one commentator referred to her as a “mentally ill Swedish child”), on the president’s Twitter account repeatedly (“\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1205100602025545730\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chill Greta, Chill!\u003c/a>”), and in too many cruel memes to mention.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>First came the viral TikTok video.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Utilizing only a longboard, a large bottle of cranberry juice and Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” Nathan Apodaca soothed the anxieties of a stressed out nation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/DrewFrogger/status/1309531633545089024\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then came the parodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the personification of Pumpkin Spice Season:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO4mhpdExew\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By soldiers serving in the US Army:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1313134705445875712\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hell, even Mick Fleetwood \u003cem>from Fleetwood Mac\u003c/em> made one:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CF7-GVDBHYz/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The viral clip led to Gen Z collectively discovering Fleetwood Mac for the first time, and subsequently losing its damn mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/lanee_boi/status/1312952427407192066\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/annoyingtradcat/status/1312859448646529026\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/dojasleftbreast/status/1312948831617679360\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of which put Fleetwood Mac back on the charts like it was still 1977.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/Nickslive/status/1312930099579228166\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, finally—finally!—Nathan Apodaca’s story emerged. What glorious event was it that inspired this Idaho Falls resident to make such a serene, carefree clip? Well, Apodaca was on his way to work at a potato factory. From his brother’s house, which he lives outside of, in an RV with no running water. And his car had broken down on the way because it has a faulty battery. And, because he only had 15 minutes to get to work on time, he had to jump on his longboard to get there. The TikTok clip? Just a spur-of-the-moment decision to make the journey more fun. [aside postid='arts_13886217']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apodaca’s zen attitude paid off—literally. Fans of his viral video have since sent him over $10,000. \u003ca href=\"https://www.tmz.com/2020/09/30/fleetwood-mac-skateboarder-viral-video-nathan-apodaca-donations-new-rv-car/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Talking to TMZ\u003c/a>, he described the donations as “a blessing,” said he would be giving $5,000 to his mom, and using the rest to fix his car and get “a space of [his own] to cook and clean, shower and shit.” He also said he would be open to doing a commercial for Ocean Spray, should they require his services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of which goes to prove that a little optimism can still go a long way—even in 2020.\u003cbr>\n\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">Update: Since first publishing this story, there have been two important developments. First, Ocean Spray’s CEO made his own parody video:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/SomehowSamantha/status/1313672001878454274\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then his company promptly \u003ca href=\"https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/06/ocean-spray-delivers-truck-juice-fleetwood-mac-skateboarder-dream-challenge/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">presented Nathan Apodaca with a new truck\u003c/a> full of cranberry juice. Apodaca responded accordingly with a new TikTik video.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/emilycblz/status/1313612975647924224\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep the PMA going by following \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@420doggface208?source=h5_m\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apodaca on TikTok\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"From KQED's California Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures' hero=https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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}
},
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"id": "bbc-world-service",
"title": "BBC World Service",
"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
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"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
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},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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}
},
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"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
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"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"order": 1
},
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"order": 15
},
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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