If you’ve looked at internet music discourse over the past couple of years, you may see a few names pop up more than others. A lot of people have similar favorites in these communities, and it can be interesting to see which albums and artists are talked about more than others.  I can understand why certain artists are talked about. Radiohead is a band I think is very unique and brilliant; I have no qualms with Geese; and I think My Bloody Valentine is one of the most influen

Emma's Enlightenments This week has been hard for me. For a moment, I wasn’t sure what to write about. How can I give advice when I, myself, am lost?  That’s when I snapped myself back into reality. I have to save myself.   If no one is there, be there.  Sometimes, you have to take your own steps to being okay, which means being alone for a little while.  There won’t be someone there to pick you up every time you fall. You can’t expect to always have another set of hands.   Y

After 12 seasons of the NASCAR Playoffs, the premier stock car racing series is returning to the Chase format for the 2026 season, the first time since 2013.  The move comes after years of constant complaining from drivers and fans about the lack of crowning a “real champion” in the playoffs, especially after the 2025 Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway ended in controversial fashion.   As a result of that race, Denny Hamlin, who led the majority of the race and had dominate

Recalls are just a bandaid In the past several days, there have been numerous recalls for various food products issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For example, the FDA has recently issued a recall for cookie dough that contains undisclosed peanuts.    “People who have allergies to peanuts run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products," the FDA said in its recall announcement.     Especially for food-allergy related

Since many people (including myself) have declared 2026 as the new 2016, I thought it would be appropriate to share my thoughts on an album that came out in 2016 that people weren’t the biggest fans of.  That album would be “Painting With” by Animal Collective. I firmly believe Animal Collective are legends in the indie circuit, as their output from the 2000s is nothing short of wonderful. Their albums from “Sung Tongs” to “Centipede Hz” are all exceptional releases, but whil

Opinion: Tangible Media: Obsoletion vs. Opportunity   Travis Johnson   Staff Writer     As a 25 year old Gen Z-er that was born during the height of the Y2K “end of the world” conspiracy, I have come to terms with the sad reality that others around my age, myself included, are part of a faction otherwise known as “pre-internet.”    During my childhood, my parents made me go outside and play in the mud, play hide-and-seek with other children in the neighborhood and build lasti

On Jan. 3, 2026, the United States of America launched a military strike in Venezuela and captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. They then were brought back to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.   According to npr.org , the US has struck at least five “Venezuelan” drug boats that were trying to bring drugs across the border. If the Venezuelan “president” was sending drugs into our country, we are absolutely justified to go in

Birmingham, we cannot allow Israel to breach citizens' privacy Israel’s interference in the United States continues to increase at an alarming rate as Birmingham, Alabama’s City Council plans to enter a contract with an Israeli data mining company.   In their last meeting, the Birmingham City Council approved a resolution after it was recommended by Mayor Randall Woodfin to create a contract between the local police department and Cellebrite Incorporated.   https://bhamal.gra

A ccording to a study entitled “Smartphone use in a large US adult population: Temporal associations between objective measures of usage and mental well-being,” which was published on the National Institute of Health’s website (NIH), the average American spent 337.7 minutes, over five and a half hours, on their smartphone per day.   The median minutes of screen time for all non–social media applications per day was 295, and the median minutes of screen time on all social medi

You hear that? Exactly. Nonsense, which is basically what baseball is.  Baseball is boring and confusing. Now, don’t get me wrong; it has its perks here and there, but overall, it’s nothing compared to a fast paced, hyped, physical and active sport.   Soccer is exactly that.  When it comes to soccer, you are guaranteed some type of action at least every five minutes. With baseball, you’re lucky to be done with the first inning by the time you come back from the concession sta

With 2026 in full swing, I wanted to highlight some of the releases from last year that I personally enjoyed. The albums and songs I have mentioned are not in any specific order, but all of them are recommended by me.  Jane Remover’s album “Revengeseekerz” dropped last year and it was definitely my most anticipated album coming into 2025. It excelled my expectations dramatically, to the point where I thought every song was a hit. I like to describe “Revengeseekerz” as being j

Since 2004, the NASCAR Cup Series has had a variety of different postseason formats. What once was a simple points-earning system with the top-performing driver being crowned the champion became a convoluted, confusing, and sometimes unnecessary gimmick.  In 2016, NASCAR introduced its current version of the “Playoffs”. In it, 16 drivers would qualify after a 26-race regular season. With a “win and you’re in” model, it intends to make every race important throughout the seaso

2025s catalogue of music was disappointing. I recall weeks of the summer spent feeling like there was something good waiting just around the corner, only to poke my head out and repeatedly find nothing.   Ironically, in their stead, I found myself listening to droves upon droves of tracks released the year prior, and the one before that. Songs that within months became soundtracks to swathes of my time had, in fact, found their first air before the calendar turned 25.   Album

I can’t believe my time at Troy University has swiftly come to an end. Despite everyone telling me to enjoy the college experience and how it will fly by in the blink of an eye, I truly didn’t expect it to fly by as quickly as it did. I don’t even know how to put my experience at Troy into words and have it live up to the reality of how wonderful it was. I'm so grateful for these past three and a half years and all the memories I’ve been blessed to walk away with having forev

It’s true what they say about time: it only gets faster. I never used to believe my family members and mentors who told me time flies even quicker once you graduate high school and get into college. Yet, here I am, about to graduate in less than a month, when it feels like I’ve only just adjusted to college life completely.   Readers, to many of you, my name may not be familiar. I regret that I’ve never actually written an article before, but I’ve read nearly every one to gra

The final edition is here. I can hardly believe it. This entire semester, I have struggled to come to terms with the fact that it’s time to say goodbye. On December 12, I will be a graduate of Troy University, and what an experience it has been.  If I could describe Troy in one word, it would be “opportunity.” Through this school, I have learned and grown so much, through good times and bad. I’ve made so many wonderful memories with so many wonderful people, and I’m truly sad

Every kid gets asked the question countless times: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” For me, from a young age, I knew my answer to this question was that I wanted to be a teacher. Sure, like most kids I went through the firefighter phase, the doctor phase, the mailman phase and a few others that are a little embarrassing. Eventually, however, my goal of teaching stuck with me, and I’ve been working towards it ever since.  I had many amazing teachers in my local publi

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, commonly known as RFK, the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the face of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. MAHA aims to, according to the White House’s website, eradicate childhood disease while “pursuing truth, embracing science, and enacting pro-growth policies and innovations to restore children’s health.”   In addition to a focus on the eradication of childhood disease, MAHA aims to conduct a host of other he

When I think about Squarepusher, I usually associate him with being one of the pioneering acts of the frantic and intricately programmed electronic music subgenre drill and bass. When I think about Intelligent Dance Music (IDM) from the early 90s, I think about ambient sounding tracks and slow, but mellow and dark house or techno music. Squarepusher has been making drill and bass since the mid 90s.   In my opinion, he is a great example of the jazzier side of the subgenre. Hi

Protests are often something people do to challenge something they don’t like or agree with. Peaceful protests can often lead to change within policy, or something can get overturned.   Often, these protests can lead to major change. As we look at history, the Montgomery Bus Boycott led the Black community to be treated better in the South. However, what does it look like when a protest fails miserably?  To me, the answer would be to look no further than the “No Kings Protest

Emma's Enlightenments This Week’s Advice: You Have Time.   Something that has always scared me is time.  The fact is, it has the ability to either flow so slow or go so fast. It has always had a hold over me.  As a kid, it seemed like the worst thing ever. I always looked at the clock when I had to wait a couple more hours to see a friend, to get out of school, or even until it was morning.   It seemed to go on forever,   but, as I grew up, I was scared for the opposite reas

Emma's Enlightenments This Week’s Advice: Feel It.  As a kid, I was always taught to be tough.   I was shown that emotions are weaknesses and only lead to more of a mess.  As I grew up, my mindset on this obviously had to change.  To be successful, you need to feel your emotions.  If not, they are bottled up, shaken some more and explode.   Not feeling your emotions is worse than feeling them too much.  Likewise, it’s better to feel them as they come, rather than to feel them

Solution: Negotiate now, and negotiate early As of Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, the United States Federal Government, for the first time since Trump’s first presidency, has been shut down for 20 days. For 20 days, the government has not been fully funded. This does not mean, as is commonly assumed, our elected officials do not collect a paycheck. Rather, they still get to collect their salaries, which are, according to congress.gov , a minimum of $129,284.    https://www.congress.g

Let's hope the Democratic Shutdown ends soon The government has been shut down since Oct. 1, 2025. A government shutdown is the suspension of non-essential government functions when Congress fails to pass appropriate bills to fund the government. This leads to many government employees going without pay, losing their jobs to job cutsor being furloughed. So, why is the government shut down now?  According to bbc.com , the US Government shut down because Republicans and Democra