Is it too late for tech giant to stake claim?

Facebook is attempting to further its agenda as an app-of-all-trades with Facebook Dating, which launched in September 2019 and is available in 19 countries throughout North and South America and East Asia, with a rollout in Europe expected in early 2020. The opt-in, in-app feature resembles many of its competitors in appearance and what it offers, but the introduction of a few features and a heightened concern for safety and privacy may help Facebook stand out in the crowded business of finding love online. 

Users can create a “Secret Crush” list based on their Facebook and Instagram networks. Users can add up to nine crushes and are notified if they’re in another users’ nine crushes — much like a game of Battleship where the objective is to find matching coordinates behind a wall.

“Secret Crush lets you match with people you already know on Facebook and/or Instagram,” according to the Facebook website. “By default, Facebook Dating won’t match you with your Facebook Friends, but people told us they were interested in exploring potential romantic relationships within their extended circles, like their Facebook friend list and Instagram followers.” 

Users have the choice to share their Facebook and Instagram stories on their dating profiles. It’s a window into someone’s day-to-day life, which may be an effective counter to the catfishing epidemic as a backdoor background check and identity verification method.

Users can see who likes them and “swipe” with just those profiles. This is a feature that’s available on other apps, but they’re commonly behind a paywall. 

“There’s a lot of competition, and I don’t think it would do that well because there’s Bumble, Hinge, Tinder and Grindr,” said Rabiya Oberoi, a third-year international relations major. “I associate Facebook with staying connected to people I already know.”

Facebook is trying to ensure safety and privacy, especially through protection from malicious use of personal data, for its users.

Michael Walters, a museum scientist at UC Davis, commented on whether he thinks Facebook can compete in the online dating market with many of the apps available having the same recurring issues.

“I don’t think so — I think the dating app market is saturated already,” Walters said. “Plus, not to mention this would be using, or gathering, more of our personal data, [and] Facebook has had issues with security.”

According to Facebook’s website, “Finding a romantic partner is deeply personal, which is why we built Dating to be safe, inclusive and opt-in. Safety, security and privacy are at the forefront of this product. We worked with experts in these areas to build protections into Facebook Dating from the start, including the ability to report and block anyone.” 

Alex Zoch, a fourth-year communication major, expressed her hesitation when deciding to meet someone she met online in person.

“I get scared about meeting someone new, and that environment is very vulnerable,” Zoch said. “I get worried about their intentions as opposed to being out in a neutral place.”

Regardless of new features or safety measures, there are still social stigmas surrounding the use of dating apps.

“If you’re using a dating app, it’s expected to just be for hooking up,” Zoch said. 

Walters also said some view the experience as a whole to be lacking a human emotional element. 

“With my experience using online dating apps, people seem to use online dating apps in lieu of interpersonal connections,” Walters said. 

Written by: Josh Madrid — arts@theaggie.org

The diet industry may have been pushed out of the mainstream, but a new industry has taken its place 

In 2018, Weight Watchers completely rebranded its marketing as a company. It even changed its name to WW, or “Wellness That Works.” This rebranding was a result of an increase in criticism regarding “diet culture” and the practices it promotes, such as crash dieting and restrictive eating. The diet industry makes $35 billion off of Americans, and people have started to catch on.

Unsustainable diets that condemn entire food groups, such as the Atkins diet, have been pushed out of the cultural zeitgeist. An increasing number of people are pushing back against the claims made by the diet industry about the best way to care for your body. Instead, “wellness” has become a keyword in 2020 utilized by these companies, supposedly focusing on ways to boost true physical and mental health. 

Just because a diet product is rebranded as wellness, however, does not mean that there is not an industry profiting behind it. Disordered and restrictive practices still prevail under their mask. 

The concept of “wellness” has replaced its diet-driven predecessors and has integrated itself into our daily lives. An article in JSTOR Daily reviewed this rising trend.

“Once associated with the utopian New Age subcultures of places like Marin County and Santa Fe, wellness has gone mainstream,” the article explained. “The landscape is crowded with the business of it: juice bars, meditation retreats, detox diets, mindfulness apps, and retailers of downward-dog-friendly Lycra.”

Although these routines are not inherently dangerous, the conflation between the practices and full-fledged diet practices are becoming an issue. The act of fasting, for example, has been practiced for hundreds of years. It can have great benefits for one’s mental, physical and spiritual health. When it is coupled with a desire to lose weight, however, it can lead to detrimental mental and physical damage. 

“The worst component of this industry is that it positions itself under the guise of legitimate health, making it possibly even more damaging than the conventional diet culture,” an article for Metiza articulates. 

Fasting for religious or spiritual purposes lead to intermittent fasting, which has now led us to alternate day fasting, in which people restrict calories for entire days in order to place themselves at a caloric deficit. Disordered behaviors around food and health are harder to see when they are masked by “wellness.” 

Just like the condemned “diet industry” that profits off of people thinking something is wrong with themselves and their diets, the wellness industry functions in a very similar way.

An opinion piece in USA Today, written by former holistic nutritionist Denby Royal, details the falsehoods of many wellness claims and the ways in which it functions like a business.

“A meal in my home would have included only organic and non-genetically modified organisms (non-GMO) foods,” Royal writes. “I thought this was the best way to rid your diet of toxins and pesticides. In reality, this isn’t quite the case. The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a list of synthetic substances that organic growers are permitted to use on their crops and still maintain their ‘organic’ label.” 

This industry has gone beyond replacing the diet industry and has pervaded aspects of medical care as well. Certain wellness practices and “natural cures” are hailed as valid remedies for actual medical and psychological issues. This is demonstrated by trends like the anti-vaccination movement, which advises using peppermint and lavender oil instead of antiviral medication to treat influenza, with disastrous consequences, and in the case of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Lab company, which sells $70 “Wellness” candles and a $500 Wellness Solution vibrator. This proves that just because an ideology or product has “wellness” in the description does not mean you should buy into it. 

Although there’s nothing wrong with focusing on one’s health and wellness, people should still be weary of claims that a specific product or lifestyle change will inherently better one’s life. Odds are, there is an industry behind the claim trying to make money by selling dissatisfaction. 

Written by: Alyssa Ilsley — arts@theaggie.org  

Sexual assault though a woman’s perspective 

Content warning: sexual assault, rape 

Sexual assault is a reccuring issue, but there never seems to be a resolution. Although attempts are made to educate the public on the issue, accusations of rapes or sexual assaults constantly make headlines, and women disportionately suffer the consequences. 

UC Davis students who identify as women courageously took a stance against this pattern by anonymously sharing their stories of sexual assault. 

The first woman to share her story was a 20-year-old neurobiology, physiology and behavior major. 

“I was 18 when it happened,” she said. “I met this guy my first day of my freshman year, when I moved into the dorms, and I went to a frat party. He asked me if he could go home with me to the dorms and I said no. I was not into that.”

“He was a sophomore, an older boy, and I thought he was so cool,” she said. “And so we started hanging out Fall Quarter, and eventually we did engage in sexual intercourse. He asked me if I was comfortable using no condom, and I said no. I had never, not even with my past boyfriend, ever had unprotected sex. That’s a deal breaker for me.”

“I got a pet fish, and I invited him over to see it. I was drunk because I was celebrating my fish’s birthday. And he decided to drink […] I was like, okay, I guess you can sleep here. And so then, that night, we had sex,” she said. “I wasn’t that drunk, I was perfectly [capable] to consent. And he again, asked about the condom and I said, ‘No,’ like, that’s not something I’m gonna budge on. And so we went to bed afterwards, and then the next morning I woke up to him f-cking me without a condom.”

“I woke up and I pushed him off of me. [He said he] thought [I] was awake, but if I were awake, why were my eyes closed? I didn’t tell anyone for two weeks that had even happened because I didn’t know what to do,” she said. 

She eventually told her roommate and her resident advisor what happened because she was still in communication with him and was in denial about what had happened. As a mandated reporter, her RA stopped her and told her that she was sexually assaulted. 

 “No, I wasn’t, because we had sex before, so it’s totally fine,” she responded, but as she explained what had happened, she realized, ‘Oh my god, he sexually assaulted me.’” 

“I asked her to keep his name off of [the report],” she said. “And until that happened, I never understood why girls don’t automatically report — like why they don’t report the name and get the guy in trouble? But now I get it, and it’s so hard to explain, but it’s just, you don’t want to live in it.”

“I wouldn’t have reported it all if I didn’t tell her because it’s really hard to recount what happened and to actually say the words, ‘I was sexually assaulted, and this is the person who sexually assaulted me,’” she said. “But I get now, like in the Kavanaugh case, why [Dr. Christine Blasey Ford] came out so much later; it makes sense, because it’s so hard to do it right after it happens. You’re in so much denial and traumatized.”

She ended up with perfect grades that Winter Quarter, not out of sheer determination, but because of her insomnia. She would do her homework at all hours of the night, because she “was so afraid of sleeping, because of him.” She experienced panic attacks and anxiety and went to therapy, which she said didn’t help.

“I think the thing that ended up fixing it for me was just talking about it,” she said. 

Three weeks after the sexual assault occured, she was at a party and ended up finding out that the man who had assaulted her had chlamydia. She ended up finding out about his STI through a friend, and confronted him about it on the Quad, where they argued about the effects of chlamydia. She made him take his phone out and text all the women whom he had had sex with to inform them about his STI.

“[I said], ‘Have a great life,’ and I just walked off,” she recounted. “The worst part of all is that it wasn’t even my fault, the fact that I had unprotected sex. It was not my fault.” 

She got her STI test at the Student Health and Wellness Center, but was met with accusatory questions about her sexual history.

“I got a call that I got chlamydia because his d-ck was inside me for five seconds unprotected,” she said.

She underwent a round of antibiotics and probiotics, which ended up costing $150 out of pocket. 

“At the end of the day, I don’t regret anything, because I think I learned so much from it,” she said. “I think before [my experience], I was so naive and couldn’t quite comprehend why on earth a girl would not report. And now it makes complete sense to me, because we live in a society that blames the victim and questions the victim.”

“My housemate last year was like, ‘We need to question the girls more; who’s to say they’re not lying?’ And now, any person that says they’re sexually assaulted, I automatically trust them and believe them because it’s not something you lie about,” she said. 

The second woman to share her story was a 20-year-old undeclared major. 

“I had a co-worker that was very inappropriate with me,” she said. “At first, I thought it was just in a homie way, and then he would start making me feel really uncomfortable by grabbing me in places where he knew there weren’t cameras.”

“When somebody would walk by us, he’d immediately stop, and I would always tell him, ‘I’m trying to work, […] don’t touch me like that, we’re just friends,’” she said. “That went on for a while.”

One day he lured her to the back freezer and he gave her a beer.
“Then he just grabbed me and went in for the kiss,” she said. “I gave him no signs at all whatsoever and like, I’ve never validated his moves on me. And he’s an older guy, probably in his 30s. He’s not like this young dude. And I obviously wasn’t attracted to him or anything. He just [planted] his lips on mine.”

“I obviously pushed him away,” she continued. “I ran out of the freezer, and it was just so uncomfortable and so not okay. I don’t think I realized that until a long time after it happened. At the moment I was like, ‘I didn’t feel comfortable, and I don’t feel comfortable when he does things to me,’ and I tell him to not do them to me, but it doesn’t do anything.” 

“I didn’t even think about telling anybody about it,” she said. “I worked with my best friend and he had done similar things to her, but he never put his lips on her. He would touch her in inappropriate ways, like grab her waist […] while we were trying to work. It was really inappropriate.”

“[If] he’s doing it to both of us, like it’s okay, you know?” she said. “I think when I realized that it was really messed up was when I actually told somebody about it. It hits harder when you say it out loud, I think.” 

“I’m never going to tell my parents or anything,” she said. “Nobody wants to hear that their child has been sexually assaulted. It’s also weird because I feel embarrassed. In a way, I was violated and I let them violate me. There’s a sense of embarrassment that I think goes a long with the act.” 

“I’m sure a lot of people feel how I feel,” she said. “There’s obviously so many predatory guys out there. You really come to realize that as you get older. People don’t understand that some things are not okay. I feel like I don’t know how things could possibly change. It’s just […] so ingrained in society.”

The final woman to share her story was a 20-year-old international relations major.

“I feel like it’s just something that follows me, something I can’t seem to shake no matter where I am,” she said. “I find it absurd that four out of four of my housemates have all been sexually assaulted in some way. It almost seems like a norm for women nowadays, and it definitely shouldn’t.”

“My senior year of high school is when it all began,” she said. “The guy I was talking to for a while ended up getting accused of rape. After that, it just kind of spiraled. More and more girls started coming forward saying that he had sexually assaulted them in some way and that he was a predator.” 

“The crazy thing is that he was ASB president, he was on the varsity baseball team, everyone seemed to love him and his parents were gems,” she explained. “Senior year sucked for me because I was so torn that the person I spent so much time with was being accused of something so unforgivable. Although he never did anything to hurt me, I felt almost contaminated. I never got closure with him, he went off the grid, and he never reached out again. So once I went to college, I thought I would just be able to move on.”

“I started talking to this guy freshman year of college,” she said. “He was really sweet, handsome and smart. There were no red flags. One night, we went to a party and I drank so much I completely blacked out. I had already spent the night in his dorm before, so he ended up taking me back to his place for me to sleep it off. I don’t remember how I got there, or even leaving the party, but all I remember is a snippet of the night of him on top of me.”

“I woke up blurry from the night before, and I didn’t even realize what happened until later on that day,” she said. “I ended up confronting him, but I didn’t really think much of it. He said that I told him I sobered up and that I consented, so I kind of pushed it aside. A few weeks later, I started getting panic attacks every time I saw him, and I knew something wasn’t right.”

“The panic attacks got so bad that I ended up calling the UC Davis Center for Advocacy, Resources and Education (CARE) and talking to this lady about it all,” she said. “I didn’t realize how messed up I was after high school and how it came with me to college. I realized then that I wasn’t in the right mindset to consent at all and that it wasn’t my fault. I realized that I was sexually assaulted, but I didn’t want to press any charges whatsoever.”

“The thing is, I didn’t want to have to go get help, I didn’t want to have to avoid the bike rack he went to, I didn’t want to talk about it or even say that I was sexually assaulted,” she said. “It really f-cking sucks that women have to go through this so often. Nobody wants to have to get help because they were violated. I don’t want that to be a part of who I am, but I had no choice, that choice was taken from me.” 

“I just want to be a normal college student who goes out and has fun, but sometimes I find myself leaving parties early because I get panic attacks,” she explained. “Sometimes, I end up drinking a lot because I don’t feel drunk. I think my body goes into autopilot and won’t let itself get drunk, and that is honestly really frustrating because I just want to be normal and have fun. I don’t get that choice anymore; it changed who I am.” 

There is no “right way” to confront this issue, but sharing personal stories may encourage others to come forward — sparking a change. 

“Pussy power,” said the undeclared major. 

Written by: Sierra Jimenez — arts@theaggie.org

The names of students who spoke about their experiences with sexual assault have been omitted in order to protect their identities.

There’s no rule to relationships

With the great holiday of Valentine’s Day recently passed, I’ve taken some time to reflect on the heteronormative and strictly defined social constructions of relationships left in its wake. 

From a very young age, we are taught a specific set of ideas about love and relationships. Whether it be from books and movies, our families or just observing the world around us, there lies a clear consensus by the time we start engaging in romantic behavior. Most of us learn the following: We are all meant to end up in a relationship. With this person, you will have a bond like no other, and you will call it “love,” and if it isn’t right the first time, you will one day find your soulmate. 

That’s where Valentine’s Day comes in. Commercials are centered around love: Magazines feature gift guides “for him” and “for her,” and supermarkets are overflowing with teddy bears and pink. Every Feb. 14, we celebrate our special someone with material goods, remembering the gendered expectations of relationships on the day Saint Valentine was buried. (Note: This guy was only deemed romantically relevant some 1,400 years after he died. So it makes sense that a possibly false notion that the saint had anything to do with love upholds the socially manufactured norms imposed on us by the holiday.)

I don’t mean to say that anyone who celebrates the holiday is being fooled by capitalist interests or that we don’t need a day just to appreciate our significant others. The day itself isn’t the real problem here, but rather what it represents about the ideals we operate under during the rest of the year. 

In a jewelry commercial I saw recently, a woman tells her husband that she doesn’t want anything for Valentine’s Day, and he says to himself that he knows she’ll be livid if he doesn’t actually get her anything. The notion that women aren’t communicative or are so materialistic as to hate their partner for not buying them a gift is one of many false and disrespectful representations of the ways relationships work. These perceptions perpetuate gender roles and sexist concepts in relationships.

This day of love also highlights our obsession with monogamy. Monogamy is a concept that arose with civilization, and it’s not as innate as we tend to believe. Humans are sexual beings, and it’s normal to want to be with more than one person after a while — most animals do. It’s becoming increasingly clear that monogamy isn’t always necessary to sustain a healthy and happy connection. For some, it can even be the downfall of a relationship. Vox’s Netflix show “Explained” has an episode on this topic if you’re confused or intrigued. 

Beyond the enforced interplay within romantic relationships, there is also a sentiment behind Valentine’s Day that we’re supposed to be in love. It’s there to remind us that that is the ultimate goal. 

The UC Davis Love Lab passed out condom goodie bags last week, including a strip of paper with the statement “You are a worthwhile human being, whether or not you are in a relationship.” At first, I found this to be ridiculous. I’m pretty sure most people don’t define their self-worth on the basis of their relationship status. Upon further consideration, though, I realized that the need they felt to include this disclaimer among the condoms was representative of a bigger issue: The holiday’s aggressive push of romantic love and relationships can leave people feeling less loved than usual, even those who feel fulfilled while single. It’s kind of counterintuitive. 

On the holiday of love, shouldn’t we be encouraging kindness, compassion and all types of love — romantic or otherwise? If we participate in this holiday in elementary school, before we understand what romance really is, then its basis must reach beyond just romantic relationships. If it doesn’t, then we shouldn’t be celebrating it with children. 

We should use this day to encourage loving friendships, too — in particular, the idea of platonic intimacy. We’re taught that romantic relationships are where you should be most emotionally and physically vulnerable with another person. There is, however, an opportunity for this with friends as well. The way you open up to a person is likely different with friends than it is with partners, but that doesn’t make one form of vulnerability more profound than the other. The bond between people is immensely stronger when we can be our authentic selves and this is supported by intimacy in both romantic and platonic settings. This type of love can be just as impactful.

My point is simple: There is no rule to relationships. Our romantic relations are just as individual and effortful as our friendships. Standards vary from person to person, but so long as all parties involved agree on what’s expected from one another, the way you choose to engage is no one’s business but you and your partner’s. 

Valentine’s Day doesn’t create this narrow definition of relationships — all of us do. But the holiday props up an idealized version of human connection that impedes the progression of a culture that should be allowed to explore the diverse interests of humans without judgement. 

Humanity constantly touts our emotional intelligence and social capacity that surpasses that of most of the Animal Kingdom, but we are conforming to a dynamic that is more restrictive than what those same, emotionally inept animals practice. If we’re able to love and feel in such varying and complex ways, why don’t we celebrate it? 

In the wise words of the Beatles, “All you need is love.” The only thing I would add is “Love that is equally represented and free of conventions” — and I’d like to think they would agree. 

Written By: Allie Bailey — arts@theaggie.org

Peter Pan’s origin comes to life in Cooper, Sedgwick production

The UC Davis Theatre and Dance department will host their rendition of “Peter and the Starcatcher,” a prequel to the well-known “Peter Pan.”

Although the production is put on by the Davis Theatre and Dance Department, cast members do not have to major in theatre and dance to take part in a production. 

“Our theaters on campus are our classrooms,” said Mindy Cooper, the co-director, a Broadway veteran and a professor of theatre and dance. “So the rehearsal process for this is a classroom. And I’m very proud of what we get on stage.” 

The pre-production and production of this show has taken over a year. The department began by spitballing ideas and tearing them up, seeing what worked best with the budget they had and brainstorming the best way to relate the plot of this award-winning play to regular students living their day-to-day lives. 

“It’s been interesting to bring them to life,” Cooper said. “They are words on paper. And when you first read the script, the voices come to life in your head and then they’re in your head and then you hire actors and then suddenly, they’re bringing flesh and blood to it. And so I’ve grown kind of in love with all of the characters and all the meshugas that happens.”

“Peter and the Starcatcher” is adapted from the 2004 novel of the same name written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. The story takes place before we meet Peter Pan as a whimsical character, where he is simply known as Boy. He heads aboard a ship named Neverland and meets a witty young girl named Molly who promises to keep the “starstuff” hidden from the pirates they meet at sea. But her willingness to be good gets them into an immense amount of trouble and adventure.

“Peter and the Starcatcher hits home for me,” said Katie Halls, a fourth-year drama and English double major who portrays Molly, via email. “Because Peter Pan was always one of my favorite stories growing up. The thought of flying away and escaping my troubles was, and is, still appealing to me.” 

Nathaniel Challis, a fourth-year communications major who portrays Peter, said he can connect to his character now more than ever.

“I think it’s funny that I’m coming up at the end of my college career, maybe my educational career, and I’m playing this character that doesn’t want to grow up,” Challis said. “[Peter] just wants to be a kid, he just wants to be a boy for a while. And the older I’m getting, the closer I’m getting to entering the real non-educational world. I’m hanging on to these fleeting minutes [and] classes and enjoying every second of it. So it’s a cathartic experience getting to portray that on stage.”

As for Halls, she said she relates to her character’s quirks of being a child with a smart mouth and an odd sense of maturity. 

“I always saw myself in Wendy, a character who is constantly torn with wanting to stay a child but also grow up,” Halls said, in reference to the Neverland character. “Molly is the same way. She’s smart, sophisticated, strong and seems to have a lot of things figured out for being only thirteen year old. But she is still a child, and I think Peter brings that out of her.”  

Challis said the magical element of the story is “only a fraction” of what the play is about. 

“Most of what it’s about is finding a home and finding a family and finding out who we are,” Challis said. “Whether it’s 13 or 22, we’re still looking for who we are. Most of us don’t have a clue yet. And this show is a beautiful portrayal of that. I don’t think it matters what walk of life you’re in because there’s always something in Peter Pan for anybody.”

Although the story has been told multiple times, Cooper and 2020 Granada Artist-in Residence Toby Sedgwick, the co-directors of the production, have created a new take for the Davis rendition of the story. The twist will feature projections and a live camera feed to move the story forward and do the writing justice. 

“What I really love about this script is that it’s kind of a homage to theater as a process,” said Samantha Reno, the scenic designer. “It’s magical, but it’s more about the physicality and the showing. You’re airing your laundry in many ways and pulling back the curtain on this show, in the way that we’re storytelling here. It’s nice to see the nuts and bolts visible instead of this invisible thing you would see in a very conventional [show].”

The tale of Peter Pan has been around since the early 1800s, when the little boy first appeared in a short novel written by J.M. Barrie. But his story has been written and rewritten time and time again. And this take on Peter is another addition to the character who is ingrained into the public’s thoughts. 

“I love the storytelling of it,” Cooper said. “The different ways that you can tell stories are important. Stories are as old as ancient cultures sitting around a fire grunting and telling what happened that day. It’s drawing hieroglyphics on the wall of a cave and telling the story of hunting that woolly mammoth, we need stories, and so I love the theatricality that you can tell a story with it.”

Cooper also said she believes that students may be able to relate to the story now more than ever.

“I think the world needs a lot of hope right now,” Cooper said. “And this is a show full of hope [and] believing [as] we are living in these incredibly strange times. I love coming to rehearsal and feeling uplifted.”

Tickets are currently on sale and can be bought through the UC Davis event website. Students can purchase tickets at the discounted price of $12 whereas faculty and staff pricing is $17.50 and general admission is $20. The show takes place at Wright Hall from late February to early March. 

Written by: Itzelth Gamboa — arts@theaggie.org

The Arts Desks’ weekly picks for movies, books, music and television shows.

Movie: The Departed

Leonardo Dicaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg. Directed by Martin Scorsese. That’s all you need to know. Sit that tuchus down and get ready.

Book: “Slaughterhouse 5” by Kurt Vonnegut

Nazis, time travel and a filthy flamingo, Kurt Vonnegut’s 1969 “Slaughterhouse-Five” is an uproarious, acutely honest journey of epic proportions to nowhere in particular. This is one of the few Advanced Placement Language books I was forced to read, but couldn’t put down. It tracks the life of U.S. Army private Billy Pilgrim, a half-hearted attempt of a human being, as he travels from the countryside of a war-torn Germany to an alien zoo’s makeshift suburban living room. “Slaughterhouse 5” is often recognized as Vonnegut’s defining work, and it’s not hard to understand why. His disarming humor and eccentric wisdom provide nonstop cackles and states of heavy contemplation. In Billy Pilgrim-like fashion, “Slaughterhouse-Five” effortlessly stumbles to the top of the satirical war novel canon. Both young and old alike can delight in the absurd genius of Vonnegut at his prime.

Album: “Sound and Color” by the Alabama Shakes

“Sound and Color” is a 2015 Grammy award winner and the second album from the Athens-based artist Alabama Shakes. The arresting voice of frontwoman Brittany Howard stays front and center within the album’s 47-minute lifespan. Howard’s vocals weave between the soulful tones of Etta James and the jarring shrill of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant. This may not sound appealing, but give it a listen and you’ll get it. The opening title track is a delicate layering of chimes, rhythmic snare and tenderhearted vocals. SImply calling it a song does not do it justice. Meticulously timed and masterfully crafted, it bears more resemblance to a resplendent auditory sunrise. Another standout, “Gimme All Your Love,” showcases a deep rooted dichotomy in sound, between warm tenderness and uncensored anguish. When all is said and done, the Shakes manage to piece together a timeless work of sonic catharsis. So, yes, if you were wondering, it’s really good.

Television Series: “Succession”

Coming off its second season, the HBO-produced show is on a roll, and it’s just gaining momentum. The series is set in the opulent mansions and looming skyscrapers of New York City’s financial elite. The story begins to unfold when Bryan Cox’s character Logan Roy, the cold-blooded sociopathic CEO of conservative media goliath Royco, falls into ill health. In the ensuing fallout, Roy’s four bloodthirsty children clamber to snatch whatever power they can get. Packed full of corporate backstabbing, ruthless humor and one of the most gripping casts on television today, “Succession” is downright binge-worthy.

Written by: Andrew Williams — arts@theaggie.org