English 9 Guest Series: “The Virtual Life” Podcast
by Arman Manternach ‘23 and Greyson Lazarus ‘23
In the very first episode of The Virtual Life, the team explores the ways that video games can help to build community. Our sources: Acharya, Raveena. Telephone interview. Audio purified with interviewee's permission. Colder Carras, Michelle, et al. "Commercial Video Games As Therapy: A New Research Agenda to Unlock the Potential of a Global Pastime."
The Grammys are one of the most respected music award shows in the world. These prestigious awards are given to well-deserving artists every year. But what if the public came to know that the system is rigged? What if the public came to know that the Recording Academy picks and chooses winners with a racial bias? This is exactly what is happening now, only most of the public doesn’t know.
Have you ever thought to yourself, “it feels like no progress is ever going to be made because it takes so long for change to happen”? Well, many teens and young adults have thought the same thing throughout history, but instead of just waiting for time to pass, they took it upon themselves to speed up the timeline and get things done. This continues to be a theme in current times with youth leading movements surrounding many issues including the climate crisis, gun violence, and systemic racism in the US.
What goes into a finale, whether it be one season or the whole show? Should it have tragedy and loss, like in Grey’s Anatomy, or surprise and disaster, like in 9-1-1, or even mystery, like in Blacklist? What exactly makes a good season finale?
Students love it, teachers hate it -- this thing is gum. Despite the fact that one can see this under most desks, it has its benefits. The National Library of Medicine states that “Some 374 billion pieces of chewing gum are sold worldwide every year.” This means that someone in a year would chew an average of 49 pieces of gum. Schools should not take students’ ability to chew gum in class away. Gum benefits students by reducing stress, helping with hygiene, and improving memory.
What is something that you probably spend a lot of your day on but don’t get very much if anything out of? Social media is something that almost everyone has nowadays, whether it’s Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc. Almost everyone has some form of it. A lot of you have probably heard all about the harms and effects it can have on you and how bad it is. But instead of doing something about it and just brushing it off, listen and act on it. I ignored these harms and effects for years while I had it, but then I stopped and really thought about it and what I’m doing on it, and getting out of it, and finally deleted it. All of this and more is why I think that you should delete social media.
