WPTS Radio starts school year with rockin’ showcase
By Sarah Connor, Culture Editor
August 27, 2018
Filed under Culture, Music, Top Stories
WPTS Radio invited Pitt students to dance and sing on the evening of Aug. 23 to celebrate the station's annual Local Music Showcase.
Staff Picks: Our Autumn Aesthetics
By The Pitt News Staff
August 20, 2018
Filed under Art, Culture, Welcome Back 2018
Fall trends are abundant, and our staff is here to share their thoughts on the popular — and slightly ridiculous — trends coming our way this spooky season.
Staff picks: Best of Campus Cuisine
By The Pitt News Staff
August 20, 2018
Filed under Culture, Food & Drink, Welcome Back 2018
Many students don’t look too deeply into their food options before coming to school. Thankfully, our staff is here to shed light on dining options on campus!
Get funky this fall with concerts in Pittsburgh
By Sarah Connor, Culture Editor
August 20, 2018
Filed under Culture, Music, Welcome Back 2018
The exciting shows coming to Pittsburgh this fall range from rap to pop to 70s rock, leaving little room to disappoint fans of most genres of music.
‘Christopher Robin’ is unoriginal but uplifting
By Shahum Ajmal, Contributing Editor
August 20, 2018
Filed under Culture, Movies, Welcome Back 2018
The drama-fantasy is a somewhat slow and cliche, yet heartwarming and beautiful continuation of A.A. Milne’s stories.
Best neighborhoods for off-campus adventures
By Sarah Connor, Culture Editor
August 20, 2018
Filed under Art, Culture, Food & Drink, Welcome Back 2018
For many new Pitt students, the busy, exciting atmosphere of city life is one of the reasons they chose to attend an urban university. With Oakland’s many hospitals, restaurants, drugstores and parks surrounding our campus, students have a good idea of what life is like in an urban area. But what many...
Picklesburgh packs Roberto Clemente Bridge
By Grey McGettigan, For The Pitt News
August 20, 2018
Filed under Culture, Food & Drink, Welcome Back 2018
Picklesburgh’s fourth annual gathering did not disappoint, featuring a longer, larger and brinier celebration of all things pickled.
Arctic Monkeys’ Pittsburgh performance fired up the Pete
By Sarah Connor, Culture Editor
August 20, 2018
Filed under Culture, Music, Welcome Back 2018
The indie rock band excited fans of all ages at their performance on Pitt's campus in late July.
Pitt Band preps for 2018 performances
By Sarah Connor, Culture Editor
August 20, 2018
Filed under Culture, Music, Top Stories, Welcome Back 2018
As the fall semester kicks into full swing, the 2018 football season will do the same. Along with football season comes the crowd-pleasing performances from Pitt Band.
Q&A with acclaimed author, Pitt professor Anjali Sachdeva
By Victoria Pfefferle-Gillot, Staff Writer
August 20, 2018
Filed under Art, Culture, Welcome Back 2018
To learn more about “All the Names They Used for God” and the author behind it, The Pitt News Gillot spoke with Sachdeva about her history and the creation of her acclaimed debut work.
‘Dandy Andy’ tour takes a look at Warhol’s queer history
By Jon Kunitsky, Staff Writer
August 20, 2018
Filed under Art, Culture, Top Stories, Uncategorized, Welcome Back 2018
The tour differs from regular museum tours by allowing visitors to learn more about Warhol’s boyfriends, his life as a gay man in New York City and how his art was subsequently influenced by the men in his life and the queer community.
Artisan Pittsburgh welcomes fans for Jeff Goldblum Day 2018
By Delilah Bourque, Staff Writer
July 17, 2018
Filed under Art, Culture, Movies
Everyone has celebrities they adamantly adore. For some, they’re heroes of westerns like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, while for others they’re sex symbols like Angelina Jolie and George Clooney. For a certain group of people, there is one man who perfectly embodies all that a celebrity shou...
6th annual Deutschtown Music Festival takes over North Side
By Darren Campuzano and Sarah Connor
July 17, 2018
Pittsburgh’s annual Deutschtown Music Festival began Friday the 13th this year — but the fear of bad luck didn’t stop thousands of Pittsburghers from indulging in the tastes and sounds of the City’s largest summer rock-fest. Instead of throwing salt over their shoulders, spectators were t...
Future Tenant features feminist art in new exhibit
By Jon Kunitsky | Staff Writer
July 10, 2018
A placard awaits guests entering the Future Tenant artist space on Penn Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh. “Through their various forms of artistic expression, [these artists] refuse to give in to the burdens of the male gaze. Instead, they yell back at the catcaller,” it reads, welcoming guests to t...
Art, music, pets and vets: SouthSide Works Exposed
By Shahum Ajmal and Victoria Pfefferle-Gillot | TPN Staff
July 10, 2018
Filed under Art, Culture, Food & Drink, Music, Top Stories
As the City of Pittsburgh wound down from Fourth of July celebrations and stormy weather, the South Side neighborhood prepared for the 14th annual SouthSide Works Exposed arts festival from July 6 to 8. The event was sponsored by City Vets PGH, a new urgent care veterinary practice in the South S...
Jimmy Wopo: The man behind the music
By Hannah Schneider, Contributing Editor
June 26, 2018
Filed under Culture, Music, Top Stories
Local rapper Travon Smart — known by his stage name, Jimmy Wopo — was fatally shot last Monday afternoon at the age of 21. The shooting took place in the Middle Hill neighborhood — the very neighborhood that helped him become famous. Growing up in the Hill District was difficult for Smart. As a yo...
Duolingo debuts ‘Something Like Home’ documentary
By Jon Kunitsky | Staff Writer
June 26, 2018
Pittsburgh-based education software company Duolingo is most popular for teaching foreign languages to millions of people worldwide through its phone app and online learning program. But the company’s newest marketing project goes beyond the screen and travels into the real world to share the persona...
Girls who rock: Ladyfest 2018
By Sarah Connor, Culture Editor
June 20, 2018
Filed under Culture, Music, Top Stories
A Google search for “rock bands” yields a long list of well-known results — Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Guns N’ Roses are the first bands listed. The search results show other examples such as The Who, AC/DC and modern bands like the Arctic Monkeys and Coldplay. Aside from being ...
The Incredibles return without skipping a beat
By Grey McGettigan | For The Pitt News
June 19, 2018
After Disney-Pixar introduced international audiences to “The Incredibles” — a family of five superheroes struggling to live a super mundane life — the project’s creative linchpin, Brad Bird, kept busy. Blockbusters “Ratatouille” and “Tomorrowland” demanded most of his time, but the write...
Three Rivers Arts Festival music recap: Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real
By Darren Campuzano | Staff Writer
June 19, 2018
Lukas Nelson, 29, was born with a predisposition — a habit to upstage any other acts on a concert bill. He did it back in September 2017 at Pittsburgh’s edition of Farm Aid as a young standout performer among musical vets like Dave Matthews and John Mellencamp. The Southern rocker was on stage at the Thre...
Three Rivers Arts Festival music recap: Mendelssohn Choir sings Bob Dylan
By Darren Campuzano | Staff Writer
June 17, 2018
Bob Dylan once sang “Try imagining a place where it’s always safe and warm / Come in...I’ll give you shelter from the storm?” But on June 5, the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh gave the crowd of the Three Rivers Arts Festival a proverbial shelter from the literal storm with a set composed alm...
People’s Pride passes on corporate sponsorships, focuses on inclusion
By Jon Kunitsky | Staff Writer
June 12, 2018
Filed under 2. Featured, Culture
“Pride of the people will overcome evil!” This was only one of many rally cries heard from the marchers in Pittsburgh’s second annual People’s Pride March late Sunday morning. The “people” of the chant were members of the LGBTQ+ community who are often overlooked — specifically tran...
Photos: Pride across Pittsburgh
By The Pitt News Staff
June 12, 2018
Filed under City, Culture, News, Top Stories, Visual
...
Three Rivers Arts Festival music recap: Mavis Staples
By Darren Campuzano | Staff Writer
June 12, 2018
Any Pittsburgh native raised on trips to the Three Rivers Arts Festival can attest that the exhibition of diverse artists and musicians is always accompanied by thick rainfall. Festival season in the ’Burgh never commences without it. Amid fears of rain delays and cancellations, each of the bigge...
Annual Three Rivers Arts Festival kicks off downtown
By Zachary Donovan | Staff Writer
June 5, 2018
Filed under Art, Culture, Food & Drink, Music, Top Stories
The City of Pittsburgh’s North Side was filled with the sound of country music and the sight of about 25 tons of trash this past weekend as the Kenny Chesney concert took over Heinz Field and the surrounding parking lots for tailgates. But across the river from the hard-partying country fans, a different crowd...
Royal Blood at Stage AE: How can two people make so much noise?
By Sarah Connor, Culture Editor
June 5, 2018
Two men from Brighton, England, stood on the indoor stage at Stage AE in Pittsburgh’s North Side on the evening of May 31. One of them had a broken foot and the other couldn’t move from the stool he was sitting on. But these two people managed to get a crowd of hundreds of people jumping, screa...
Pitt School of Medicine puts on ‘Beauty and the Yeast Infection’
By Shahum Ajmal | Contributing Editor
May 30, 2018
It’s a tale as old as time — itching, burning and pain during sexual intercourse. This is how WebMD describes the symptoms of a yeast infection, which the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine took to the stage with a satirical production called “Beauty and the Yeast Infection.” The cla...
Lawrenceville Art Crawl leaves visitors in awe
By Jon Kunitsky | For The Pitt News
May 30, 2018
Filed under Art, Culture, Food & Drink, Music, Uncategorized
Betsy Lewis, Emmy Brown and Emily Richards walked down Butler Street amid sun-showers and humidity Saturday afternoon. As rising juniors at Pitt majoring in microbiology, neuroscience and physics, respectively, they ventured out of Oakland to admire local art displayed along the sidewalks of Lawrence...
Free for students: Art, exercise, buses and more!
By The Pitt News Staff
May 30, 2018
Filed under Art, Culture, Music
One of the best perks of being a student at Pitt is the Panther Card. In addition to all of the traditional purposes a student ID serves, like holding dining passes, granting access to dorms and registering for on-campus events, a Panther Card can be a ticket to a new world of entertainment for stude...
Staff Picks: Coffee Craziness
By The Pitt News Staff
May 30, 2018
Filed under Culture, Food & Drink
For some, getting caffeinated is the most important part of mornings in college. But others prefer using the local coffee shops for an afternoon date, a study session or a meet-up with old friends. Whether you are a hard-core coffee addict and need all of the espresso shots you can get or just want ...
Staff Picks: Pizza Party
By The Pitt News Staff
May 30, 2018
Filed under Culture, Food & Drink
One thing most Pitt students learn during their first few months on campus is that they must choose sides for the ongoing battle between Sorrento’s Pizza Roma and Antoon’s Pizza. Both sit on Atwood Street in South Oakland and both are frequented by Pitt students. The allegiance of some students...
Taco lovers lose their minds at Highmark Stadium
By Delilah Bourque | Staff Writer
May 30, 2018
Filed under Food & Drink, Uncategorized
Think of your favorite food, the most versatile and delicious thing you think you could eat for every meal. Maybe for you, it’s pizza, pasta or sandwiches. For some, that food is tacos. Over the weekend of May 20, a mass of Pittsburgh’s most famous Mexican food descended upon Highmark Stadium near...
Lingering Laughter: Pitt’s LGBTQ+ community takes on the comedy scene
By Sarah Connor, Culture Editor
May 30, 2018
Filed under Culture, Television, Theater
When Andrew Dow isn’t making crowds of people laugh as the host of Pitt Tonight or performing onstage with the improv group Ruckus, he can be found spending his summer in his hometown of Abington, just 15 miles outside of Philadelphia. As he cozied up to his dog on a mid-May evening, he and his mot...
Pittsburgh Filmmakers to close doors in North Oakland
By Sarah Connor and Victoria Pfefferle-Gillot
May 29, 2018
Filed under Culture, Movies, Top Stories
After 20 years of providing classes to residents of Pittsburgh and students at Pitt, Pittsburgh Filmmakers will end its days in Oakland. Due to financial struggles, Pittsburgh Filmmakers has canceled its fall courses in film and photography, and has made plans to sell its building on Melwood Avenue...
Shawn Mendes moves toward maturity in third album
By Shahum Ajmal | Contributing Editor
May 29, 2018
When Vine was still popular in 2013, Shawn Mendes only needed six seconds of camera time to become an overnight internet sensation. Mendes, a 19-year-old singer-songwriter, shared a video of him singing “As Long As You Love Me” by Justin Bieber on the popular video-sharing social media app. The short video quick...
‘Deadpool 2’ delivers laughs and action
By Victoria Pfefferle-Gillot | For The Pitt News
May 22, 2018
“Deadpool 2,” released May 18, claims to be a family movie, despite leading with a murder — no different than movies like “The Lion King” or “Bambi,” according to the title character. But based on its R rating and crude jokes, it’s safe to say “Deadpool 2” doesn’t qualify. ...
Sneak peek: Free entertainment for this summer in the City
By Sarah Connor, Culture Editor
May 22, 2018
Filed under Art, Culture, Food & Drink, Movies, Music, Top Stories, Uncategorized
Now that college students have finished their finals and high school students are going to prom, the summer season is truly about to begin. The City of Pittsburgh is ready to celebrate the sunny months with some free outdoor events. Typical summer events — like the Independence Day celebration ...
Don’t Call Her Honey: Ciara Gray artist spotlight
By Siddhi Shockey | Staff Writer
May 16, 2018
Filed under Art, Culture, Top Stories
When she was a young artist in first grade, Ciara Gray brought an assignment to the front of the class to show the teacher her work — how she’d ripped a portrait from a magazine in half and pasted it to paper, sketching in the missing half of the model’s face. Now, marks of Gray’s creativity are etched...
Pappas bids The Public adieu with ‘Hamlet’
By Jon Kunitsky | For The Pitt News
May 16, 2018
Filed under Culture, Theater, Top Stories
The audience poured an avalanche of applause over the cast of Pittsburgh Public Theater’s production of “Hamlet” following its opening performance April 19 — uproarious cheering, whistling and standing ovations galore. But I did not stand, and instead left the theater feeling indifferent and...
TPN says ‘so long’ to senior editors
By The Pitt News Staff
April 23, 2018
Filed under Culture
Amanda Reed, Online Engagement Editor I met Amanda the spring semester of my first year as a news writer. I’d already been around since September, but she wasn’t one of my editors until that January. I remember being a bit nervous having to work with an entirely new editor halfway through the year ...
Digress from stress: Pittsburgh’s Slices of Serenity
By Elizabeth Donnelly | Staff Writer
April 22, 2018
Filed under Culture, Top Stories
It’s no secret that finals week can be a stressful time for students, but there are many places Pitt students can go for relief — both on and off campus. With these study break destinations, students can try to focus their mental energy on staying calm and relaxing. Stress Free Zone — William Pitt Union (Oakland...
Bazzi’s beats bring music to the meme scene
By Shahum Ajmal | Staff Writer
April 19, 2018
“You so f***in’ precious when you smile,” was the only line Andrew Bazzi needed to begin his rise to fame with his 2017 single, “Mine.” These now-iconic lyrics went viral in October when Snapchat released a “Be Mine” lens, which fills the user’s screen with heart-shaped eyes and float...
Bloomfield boasts eccentric music scene
By Charlotte Couch and Emma Maurice | Staff Writers
April 19, 2018
The eclectic, little neighborhood of Bloomfield holds a secret within it: an erupting music scene. Bloomfield’s booming music and arts culture has created a niche community of creators, bands and artists — all aiming for the scene to thrive. One of the most popular hubs in the neighborhood — kno...
Pitt Film Fest features city-wide student work
By Vikram Sundar | Staff Writer
April 17, 2018
While maintaining a long-distance relationship with his girlfriend in Indiana, Pennsylvania, senior Mark Conner spent many a lonely road trip listening to the cassette tape she had given him — Fleetwood Mac’s “Tango in the Night.” It was during these trips that he came up with the idea for his ...
Labor of love: PSA puts on Mock Shaadi
By Shahum Ajmal | Staff Writer
April 16, 2018
Filed under Culture, Top Stories
Two first-year students exchanged vows in the William Pitt Union ballroom Saturday night — but all in good fun. The bride and groom were volunteer participants in the Pitt Pakistani Student Association’s second annual Mock Shaadi event. Awash in shades of red, yellow and pink, the ballroom wa...
Cocktail classroom: Professors bring classes to the bars
By Darren Campuzano | Staff Writer
April 13, 2018
Filed under Culture, Food & Drink, Top Stories
A professor walks into a bar to talk about statistical issues in business. This sounds like the opening line of bad joke — but it's a reality for some Pitt professors. Though it is rather unconventional, some University staff members have been relocating class to more sociable areas on campus, s...
Isle of Dogs delights with animation, disappoints with representation
By Vikram Sundar | Staff Writer
April 11, 2018
Wes Anderson has once again proven himself to be one of the most visually innovative auteurs in cinema with his latest film, “Isle of Dogs.” Set in a futuristic Japan, “Isle of Dogs” tells the tale of a headstrong 12-year-old boy named Atari, voiced by Koyu Rankin, who searches for his beloved d...
Musical Theatre Club gears up for Legally Blonde
By Sarah Connor, Staff Writer
April 11, 2018
Filed under 2. Featured, Culture, Theater
Chloe Torrence circled a group of actors and singers onstage at the Charity Randall Theatre, kicking off her normal weeknight routine. “Starting tonight, you cannot call ‘line’ anymore,” Torrence said. “We start tech rehearsals soon, so you should know your lines by now.” The junior theatre arts ...
Out with the old, in with the bowl: Crave-a-bowl opens in Oakland
By Derek Wagner | For The Pitt News
April 10, 2018
Filed under Culture, Food & Drink
After Qdoba’s sudden and disappointing closing, a new restaurant quickly popped up in its place. Crave-A-Bowl, the ambiguously named newcomer to the Oakland food scene, opened just over a week ago and has generated a fair amount of buzz due to it replacing the popular burrito-based spot. Owned ...
Maxo Vanka’s legacy lives on in Millvale Murals
By Neena Hagen, Senior Staff Writer
April 10, 2018
As a town known for its iron manufacturers and lumber mills, Millvale seems like an unlikely place to house a spectacular art collection. The former industrial borough — located at the northernmost tip of the Allegheny river trail across the 40th Street bridge — doesn’t boast much in terms of outward ...
Women hone craft at Art House in Homewood
By Shahum Ajmal | Staff Writer
April 4, 2018
Filed under Art, Culture, Top Stories
As Vanessa German and a group of artists were about to settle in for a night of writing and discussion in her house, a car crash outside derailed the March evening. The group witnessed an altercation between the victim of the crash and police officers who responded to the scene, and feeling that...
Former Film Row finds new life in start-up
By Joanna Li | Staff Writer
April 4, 2018
Filed under Culture, Movies, Top Stories
As a teenager, movie fanatic Drew Levinson noticed a run-down brick building with a familiar logo — 24 stars circling a mountain — as he passed it on his way to crew practice from Taylor Allderdice High School. The building sat in the back of his mind until 2009, when he stumbled across a film...
Comedian Bill Burr ‘Walks his way out’ to Pittsburgh
By John Hamilton | Managing Editor
April 3, 2018
Filed under Culture, Top Stories
Since the last time Bill Burr was in Pittsburgh, he’s had a kid and written three seasons of an animated Netflix show, “F is for Family.” But he’s adamant that his worldview and his stand-up routine remain largely unchanged. That means when he makes his “triumphant return” to the City...
Ready Player One: Riddled with nostalgia
By Vikram Sundar | Staff Writer
April 3, 2018
Film deity and acclaimed director Steven Spielberg takes audiences on a two-hour-and-19-minute nostalgia fever dream with his latest film, “Ready Player One.” Based on Ernest Cline’s popular novel of the same name, Spielberg’s adaptation of “Ready Player One” was shaping up to be the defini...
Flashback to the ’50s: FBA hosts old Hollywood fashion show
By Elizabeth Donnelly | Staff Writer
March 29, 2018
Filed under Culture
Most college students don’t raid their grandmother’s closet for fashion inspiration, but when Julia Huber’s models strutted down the runway in the William Pitt Union Wednesday night, her grandmother’s mink coat was on full display. Pitt’s Fashion Business Association hosted its Annual Fashion ...
Louis Vuitton looks forward with new head of menswear design
By Charlie Garcia-Weger | For The Pitt News
March 29, 2018
Filed under Culture
The once-stuffy world of couture will soon collide with the world of streetwear as Virgil Abloh adds yet another project to his list of accomplishments. The high-end clothing brand Louis Vuitton announced Abloh as its next head of menswear design Monday, in a move that signals major progress within the already shifting fashion industry. Abloh — founder of b...
Cassettes make a comeback in local music scene
By Zachary Donovan | Staff Writer
March 26, 2018
Popular trends tend to reappear every so often — and in the music world, this is especially true. Genres give way to post-genres, subgenres and genre fusion, and popular tropes of the past seem to pop up 20 years later with little explanation. This trend has taken shape recently in the form of cassette rele...
Student stand-ups take the mic
By Zachary Donovan | Staff Writer
March 22, 2018
Filed under 2. Featured, Culture
The crowd erupted in laughter as Nektarios Kasamias — whose parents immigrated from Greece — regaled them with tales of white friends who wished they had “more ethnicity.” “[They’re like,] ‘I’m just plain old regular normal American,’” he said. “Normal American? Let’s not go thr...
Halal: Is it meat you’re looking for?
By Shahum Ajmal | Staff Writer
March 22, 2018
Filed under Culture, Food & Drink
When asked about my diet, I’ve stated the same phrase countless times. “Depending on my options, I'm either a vegetarian, pescatarian or meat eater,” I say. I am a 19-year-old Muslim, so when it comes to eating, the wheres and whys are a little more complicated than deciding between a sweet o...
African Students Organization hosts annual Wazobia fashion show
By Charlotte Couch | For The Pitt News
March 20, 2018
Filed under Culture, Top Stories
A frenzy of applause welcomed models as they sauntered down the white runway. Red and green lights illuminated the potted trees placed on the back of the stage, while red, yellow, green and purple lights gave the ceiling a rainbow-like appearance. A video showing clips of African children jubilantly danci...
Reopening the tomb: “Tomb Raider” returns with tired tropes
By Derek Wagner | For The Pitt News
March 20, 2018
The original “Tomb Raider” film, “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” released in 2001, as well as its equally disastrous 2003 sequel, successfully banished the franchise to cinematic purgatory for 15 years. While reboots and remakes made up the majority of films over the past decade, “Tomb Raider” ...
“Spectacles” film series considers religion in film with “My Name is Khan”
By Vikram Sundar | Staff Writer
March 15, 2018
Moviegoers and religious scholars gathered for a film screening Tuesday in the hopes of viewing religion through a cinematic lens. Spectacles — a film series that analyzes religious and cultural motifs in movies — screened “My Name is Khan” in room 407 of the Cathedral of Learning from 7-...
Making Art in the Arctic: Pitt Alum plans voyage to hone her craft
By Elizabeth Donnelly | For The Pitt News
March 15, 2018
In just six short months, Theresa Baughman will be spending her days in subzero temperatures in pursuit of combining her art with anthropology. “As an artist, I am much more invested in the process of making the piece than I am the final product,” Baughman, 26, said. Baughman is embarking ...
Lil Yachty headed for wreck in “Lil Boat 2”
By Zach Donovan | Staff Writer
March 12, 2018
So far, 2018 has seen several mainstream hip-hop acts release album sequels in an attempt to call back to a previous style and appeal to die-hard fans. Atlanta trio Migos released the supersized monstrosity of an album, “Culture II,” to mixed reviews at the end of January. The insufferably preach...
Zaki defies genre in debut of self-titled album
By Sarah Connor, Staff Writer
March 12, 2018
Filed under Culture, Music, Top Stories
Jesse Descutner, a 2016 Pitt graduate, heard the environmental term “urban heat island” in an undergraduate urban studies class and immediately thought it would be a good name for his band. In that same class, Descutner, a guitarist, met bassist Sean O’Connor, a 2017 Pitt graduate. The two ...
Pitt film fanatics offer 2018 Oscar predictions
By Vikram Sundar | For The Pitt News
March 1, 2018
Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the film industry will recognize some of the most well-crafted, impactful films of the year at the Oscars Sunday night. But Hollywood’s biggest night will also likely be consumed by social issues such as the Time’s Up movement, which H...
Students petition for reproductive rights at “My Body is My Own” exhibit
By Marissa Perino | Senior Staff Writer
March 1, 2018
Bright pink flags dot the lawn outside the William Pitt Union on one of the first warm days of spring semester as students kneel to read the stories written on each individual marker — sometimes pausing to add their own to the display. Emphasizing the importance and intersection of topics such as bi...
Cultivating curls and confidence at The Beautiful Summit
By Abigail Tesfay | For The Pitt News
February 27, 2018
Filed under Culture
The O'Hara Student Center became a hub of support and encouragement this past weekend as black women gathered in solidarity. Hosted by Pitt’s offices of Diversity and Inclusion, Students Affairs and Residence Life, the first Beautiful Summit — dedicated entirely to the empowerment and wellnes...
“Annihilation” renovates past sci-fi thrillers
By Derek Wagner | For The Pitt News
February 27, 2018
As my friend and I walked out of the theater after seeing Director Alex Garland’s new film “Annihilation” — both trying to wrap our heads around what we had just witnessed — my friend said, “I feel like this is how audiences felt after seeing ‘2001’ in theaters for the first time.”...
Review: Tyler the Creator takes over Stage AE with trademark performance
By Charlie Garcia-Weger | For The Pitt News
February 22, 2018
The only venue you’d expect to see an act like Tyler, the Creator performing in Pittsburgh is Stage AE. And the only rapper that wouldn’t even think about the title of the concert hall until five songs through is the notorious “Odd Future” frontman. “What the f***, this is an American Eagle ...
Homeless identities on display at “Walk On By” exhibit
By Shahum Ajmal | Staff Writer
February 22, 2018
Renee Rosensteel passed the same homeless man in downtown Pittsburgh multiple times before she could no longer avoid his attention-seeking gestures and decided to stop and introduce herself. “I knew he was part of the scene down there,” Rosensteel said. “I was tired. I’d just had enough, ...
Black Panther revitalizes the stagnant superhero genre
By Vikram Sundar | For The Pitt News
February 20, 2018
Director Ryan Coogler enters new territory with “Black Panther,” peeling back old layers of the formulaic superhero narrative to reveal fresh and exciting elements rarely seen in the genre. Following the enormous box office success of Marvel’s latest entries — “Guardians of the Galaxy Vo...
Pitt Stage’s Marie Antionette wows with symbolism and decadence
By Amanda Reed | Contributing Editor
February 20, 2018
Pitt’s production of “Marie Antoinette” has everything needed to recall the history of its title character — chandeliers, a guillotine and plenty of wigs. But make no mistake — this is not a historical play, but a “meditation on excess,” as director Le’Mil Eiland notes in the program. After ...
Review: Pitt Stages puts modern spin on Little Shop of Horrors
By Amanda Reed | Contributing Editor
February 15, 2018
Upon walking into the Charity Randall Theatre in Oakland Friday night, I was immediately transported from the dreary Pittsburgh weather to the even drearier Skid Row. But after two hours there, I didn’t want to return to the Steel City. Pitt’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors,” a 1982 off-...
Sree’s Foods serves up Indian cuisine in Oakland
By Sarah Connor, Staff Writer
February 15, 2018
Filed under Culture, Food & Drink
Nestled next to Peace, Love and Little Donuts on Meyran Avenue sits a small, family-owned shop selling homemade Indian food. A colorful sign hanging from the top of the building reading “Sree’s Foods” welcomes customers into the quick-service restaurant. Sree’s Foods is a restaurant that serves a...
Seeking out safe sex in the LGBTQ+ community
By Shahum Ajmal and Abigail Tesfay | Pitt News Staff
February 14, 2018
Filed under Culture
The average human being can only be so comfortable with openly discussing how to insert an internal condom, which is why organizations like the Rainbow Alliance come prepared with a prosthetic vagina. “You have to overcome that hurdle of talking about it at all in order to talk about safe sex prac...
Pitt students condemn catcalling
By Joanna Li | Staff Writer
February 14, 2018
Filed under Culture, Top Stories
As a 12-year-old, Sophia Marshall stepped out of the house feeling confident in the outfit she had picked out that morning. As she waited for a friend by the local high school, she heard a sharp whistle from out of the window of a passing car — her first experience with catcalling. Marshall, now a...
Review: Timberlake tanks crossover in “Man of the Woods”
By Zachary Donovan | For The Pitt News
February 13, 2018
Every so often, an established mainstream artist proudly announces they are returning to their roots. In recent years, we’ve heard Lady Gaga trade provocative synth pop for introspective piano ballads, Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish retire his post-grunge flannel and opt for cowboy b...
Students celebrate sexuality in The Vagina Monologues
By Siddhi Shockey | Staff Writer
February 13, 2018
Cheers roared throughout the O’Hara Ballroom as the individuals on stage repeated the word “mine” over and over in an effort to reclaim their sexuality, prompting the audience to join in. The Campus Women’s Organization’s production of “The Vagina Monologues” — a play about the reclama...
Pitt Alum has it in the Effin bag
By Prachi Patel | Staff Writer
February 9, 2018
Filed under Culture
George Patterson reaches into his pocket to pull out his business cards with a glint of amusement in his eyes. “I guarantee, if you read my title, you will laugh,” Patterson said. Stamped under his name, G.B. Patterson, are the words “Effin President.” Patterson, a 52-year-old Pitt alum an...
Rhodessa Jones brings art and activism to Pitt
By Joanna Li | Staff Writer
February 8, 2018
Filed under Art, Culture, Theater, Top Stories
Since she found theater, San Francisco-based artist Rhodessa Jones said she has always had a place in the world — whether it be to share her ups and downs or to offer other women a chance to speak out. “Theater has been the one lover that has never let me down — it demands a lot of me, but t...
“Phantom Thread” weaves a tale of style and strange love
By Vikram Sundar | For The Pitt News
February 8, 2018
Leading man Daniel Day-Lewis sews his way into our hearts once again in the stylish, yet heartfelt “Phantom Thread.” Written and directed by filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, “Phantom Thread” is an engrossing portrait of the posh, self-indulgent realm of fashion-driven aristocrats in impove...
Cry me a river: Timberlake’s controversial Super Bowl homage to Prince
By Darren Campuzano | Staff Writer
February 6, 2018
Prince once told an audience in Los Angeles, “Instead of hate, celebrate.” Apparently, that memo never reached this year’s Super Bowl — as mutual hatred for all things Patriots stretched from Minneapolis all the way to Forbes Avenue. But for those that had no stake in the game, outrage wa...
First time for yoga: stretching the limits at Wintergarden
By Sarah Connor, Staff Writer
February 6, 2018
Filed under Culture
I rolled out of bed at 8 a.m. Sunday wishing my alarm clock hadn’t interrupted my usual Sunday morning sleep session that usually creeps into the early afternoon. I peeked out the window of my South Oakland apartment and saw heavy, wet snow falling from the gray sky. Today was not the day for me to...
Migos’ third album “Culture II” falls flat
By Zachary Donovan | For The Pitt News
February 1, 2018
Migos had every reason to go down as a footnote in the brief history of the trap genre. The collective — made up of Atlanta rappers Quavo, Offset and Takeoff — dropped its breakout single, “Versace,” almost five years ago but failed to recreate the track’s success because of a string of PR and l...
Battle for the band: students trade pop for performance at Hofbrauhaus College Night
By Siddhi Shockey | Staff Writer
February 1, 2018
Filed under Culture, Food & Drink, Music
In the great beer hall at Hofbrauhaus every Thursday night, college students dance under the warm light of chandeliers to authentic live music — partaking in a beloved College Night tradition. But when Pitt senior accounting and business information systems major Derek Arnold walked into College ...
Oakland Restaurant Week hosts 6 days of $6 lunches
By Shahum Ajmal and Elizabeth Donnelly | For The Pitt News
January 30, 2018
Filed under Culture, Food & Drink, Top Stories
Students on a budget can ditch Market Central for the week and try out a new restaurant on Forbes or Fifth Avenue for a discounted price instead. Oakland Restaurant Week — which takes place from Monday, Jan. 29, to Saturday, Feb. 3 — is hosted and funded by the Oakland Business Improvement Di...
Ashley Cecil displays ‘Birds and Botany’ at Phipps Conservatory
By Emma Maurice | Staff Writer
January 30, 2018
Just inside Phipps Conservatory, Ashley Cecil has created the illusion of Springtime in the midst of a harsh Pittsburgh winter — blooming flowers and songbirds rest on bright yellow backdrops along the walls of the Welcome Center, greeting visitors as they escape the cold. Cecil found inspirati...
Review: Walk the Moon delivers electrifying performance at Stage AE
By Darren Campuzano | Staff Writer
January 25, 2018
If there is a single guideline for bands performing in Pittsburgh, it is to never offend Steel City football. The audience at Stage AE witnessed this cardinal sin committed onstage Tuesday night by the unapologetic Cincinnati band, Walk the Moon. “When I think of Pittsburgh, I think of how badass ...
Q&A: Pitt alum opens Haus of Vain thrift store
By Charlie Garcia-Weger | For The Pitt News
January 25, 2018
Filed under Culture
Thrifting in Pittsburgh is an underappreciated subject. When I discuss my excitement with people about finding a really interesting or rare find while thrifting in Pittsburgh, they look at me funny — maybe because I’m from Brooklyn. I grew up in what some consider “hipster central,” where it...
Pitt playwrights compete in festival
By Caroline Bourque and Shahum Ajmal | Pitt News Staff
January 23, 2018
Onstage, two actors sparred, bickered and gestured toward an imaginary hole in the floor as a willing audience played along — bringing to life a story from the mind of a fellow Pitt student. At the third annual Playwriting Festival, hosted by the Pitt Performance Collaborative, three students had the c...
Review: Salud Juicery opens in Oakland
By Elizabeth Donnelly | For The Pitt News
January 23, 2018
Filed under Culture, Food & Drink
Just blocks away from Pitt’s campus, Oakland residents now have access to a tasty and healthy alternative to frozen treats and juices. Salud Juicery recently opened its fourth location in the Pittsburgh area — tucked away at 3400 Fifth Avenue. The unadvertised soft opening Friday, Jan. 5, allow...
The Naughties focus on the fans
By Caroline Bourque and Prachi Patel | Pitt News Staff
January 19, 2018
Filed under 2. Featured, Culture, Music
The audience at a typical Naughties show can expect anything from bass player Jad Hilal’s usual joke segment to a patriotic onstage reading of the Constitution — backed by red, white and blue stage lights. Lead vocalist and guitar player Jesse Wehner, a Pitt senior and economics major, said th...
Best of Oakland food run
By Noah Manalo | For The Pitt News
January 19, 2018
Filed under Culture, Food & Drink
When I woke up Thursday morning, I felt a little stressed. Weighed down by schoolwork I had yet to complete, and with a long band practice ahead of me that evening, I knew I needed some good food to carry me through the day. I realized the only logical option was to eat at The Pitt News readers’ fav...
ASA breaks the bamboo ceiling
By Shahum Ajmal | For The Pitt News
January 18, 2018
Filed under Culture
Albert Tanjaya encouraged the discussion of Asian stereotypes Wednesday night, evoking a feeling of acceptance from the group gathered in room G8 of the Cathedral. “We are talking about the journey of self-identity, self-discovery and what it means to be an Asian-American,” Tanjaya said. Tanjaya...
Camila Cabello debuts self-titled solo album
By Zachary Donovan | For The Pitt News
January 18, 2018
If you didn’t know who Camila Cabello was six months ago, you almost certainly do now. The 20-year-old former member of Fifth Harmony has exploded onto the scene with the success of her solo smash hit “Havana.” Incorporating elements of her Cuban heritage with the dark aesthetics of trap, “Ha...
Review: Miguel makes waves with ‘War & Leisure’
By Taylor Robinson | For The Pitt News
January 16, 2018
Miguel’s most recent album is a practice in reflection — asking listeners to re-examine their integrity and take a second look at their treatment of each other. In the chorus of “Now,” Miguel sings, “Is that the look of freedom, now? / Is that the sound of freedom, now? / ‘Cause it's ...
Pitt alumni produce ‘Body Farm’ film
By Joanna Li | Staff Writer
January 16, 2018
Filed under Culture, Movies, Top Stories
When a friend offhandedly suggested that Brandon Keenan — a 2005 graduate of Pitt’s media communication program — research the strange topic of body farms, he quickly discovered a potential story unfolding before him. Keenan, 34, has now seen the production of his first feature film, a psycholog...
Rescue dog reaches Instagram fame
By Joanna Li | Staff Writer
January 10, 2018
Filed under Culture
Lu-Seal’s silver dog collar reads “Don’t feed me, I’m on a diet,” reminding her admirers of the long journey she has overcome to be healthy and happy — even if they have to say no to her puppy-dog eyes. As a 9-year-old abandoned chihuahua weighing a dangerously heavy 16 pounds, more than ...
Soda Club creates their own genre
By Sarah Connor, Staff Writer
January 9, 2018
Filed under 2. Featured, Culture, Music
Jarrett Krause opened the doors to his classroom at Beth Shalom Early Learning Center in Squirrel Hill Friday morning. His prekindergarten students drew colorful, scribbly pictures and asked him about his long, curly hair. One day later, the 2015 Pitt alumnus was tossing that same curly hair onst...