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J.K. Rowling Has Responded Perfectly To Critics Of The "Harry Potter" Play Cast
“Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified.”
In case you missed it, on Sunday night it was revealed that actor Noma Dumezweni has been cast as Hermione Weasley in the upcoming West End play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Warner Bros.
21 Things You Never Knew You Could Donate
Clear you house and help someone in need.
Amy Sefton/Buzzfeed
Bras
- BraRecycling.com accepts old, new or gently used bras and lingere at over 50 drop-off locations throughout the country or by mail. The usable bras are donated to women's shelters and the rest are recycled into
- Free The Girls is a non-profit that collects used bras to help women affected by sex trafficking in Africa and Central America. They collect bras at many drop-off locations and by mail.
Read more at Jezebel.
Romikmk / Getty Images
Stuffed Animals
- SAFE (Stuffed Animals for Emergencies) collects gently used stuffed toys (as well as books, blankets and kids clothes) and sends them to police and fire departments for use during emergencies like fire, illness and extreme weather-events. Donations are accepted through chapter members listed here or by mail.
- Project Night-Night collects stuffed animals and other bed-time supplies like books and blankets to make packages for homeless children or children at risk of becoming homeless. They are currently accepting only new and like-new items, through drop-off in Michigan, Ohio and California or by mail to one of those locations.
Sergey Skleznev / Getty Images
Gaming Equipment
*Get Well Gamers brings video games and equipment to children and teens in hospitals. They accept new and used equipment from any gaming system by mail.
Games for Heros sends games and equipment to troops overseas. They accept...
Merznatalia / Getty Images
How Long Would You Survive In "Game Of Thrones" Based On Your Sign?
What do we say to the Lord of Death? Not today.
The Most Moving Personal Essays You Needed To Read In 2015
Jared Harrell / BuzzFeed News
They Pretend To Be Us While Pretending We Don’t Exist — Jenny Zhang
Will Varner / BuzzFeed
Jenny Zhang responded to a white poet’s use of a Chinese pen name with a deeply personal and far-sighted look at the publishing industry’s failure to see excellence when it comes from people of color.
When Children With Autism Grow Up — Bob Plantenberg
Eric Petersen for BuzzFeed News
Bob Plantenberg wrote a heartbreaking account of the summer he was 23, needed a job, and found it working with Scooter — a 21-year-old man with autism who needed full-time support. He learned just how unprepared our society is for the half million people diagnosed with autism who are becoming adults.
How To Get Your Green Card In America — Sarah Mathews
Pete Gamlen for BuzzFeed News
Sarah Mathews moved from Oman to the United States as a teenager. What she and her family went through in order to stay here, legally, will make you think hard about the reality of immigration in this country.
The Dicks Of Our Lives — Mary H.K. Choi
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
Mary H.K. Choi on dick pics, ex-boyfriends, and growing old — but maybe not growing up.
The Transgender Dating Dilemma — Raquel Willis
Lauren Tamaki for BuzzFeed News
Raquel Willis wrote about the trials of looking for love in a world where trans women are taught to feel grateful for any scrap of affection and made to fear for their safety.
A Black Girl’s History With Southern Frat Racism — Tracy Clayton
Flickr: Jimmy Emerson/Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND http://2.0) / Via Flickr: auvet
Tracy Clayton was one of few black students at Transylvania University, a small college in Kentucky, in the early 2000s. She wrote about being reminded, every day, of just how unwelcome she was there. (The university's administration later sent an email urging students not to share the essay.)
I Moved Back To My Parent’s House At 29, And It Wasn’t The End Of The World — Ramona Emerson
Alice Mongkongllite / BuzzFeed
When Ramona Emerson left New York City and moved back into her parents’ house on a tiny island in the Puget Sound, she found out that people who aren’t in their twenties do seem to understand some things more clearly.
The Terrible Tale Of My Racist One-Night Stand — Ella Sackville Adjei
Tom Humberstone for BuzzFeed
In which Ella Sackville Adjei discovers, to her regret, that racists don’t wear badges – especially on a sweaty dance floor on a Greek island.
A Childhood Spent Inside A Chinese Restaurant — Susan Cheng
Will Varner / BuzzFeed
When Susan Cheng was growing up, being one of the few Asians in her school was hard enough. Working at her parents’ Chinese restaurant didn’t make it any easier.
Ten Times I Knew I Loved You — Erin Chack
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
A true love story by Erin Chack, written for her boyfriend on their 10th anniversary.
I’m An Adjunct Who Also Works In A Grocery Store — Matt Debenham
Alice Mongkongllite / BuzzFeed
What do you do when you can't make a living as an adjunct professor? Get a job bagging groceries. A tale of trying to be middle class in today’s America, from Matt Debenham.
The Night I Spoke Up About My #BlackSuicide — Terrell J. Starr
Kelsey Borch for BuzzFeed
On the verge of ending his own life, Terrell J. Starr chose instead to overcome the stigma surrounding African-Americans and depression, and to find a supportive community on Twitter.
Volunteering At An Abortion Clinic Made Me Lose Patience With The Abortion Debate — Kaye Toal
Haejin Park / BuzzFeed
Kaye Toal explained why anyone who really wants to understand what’s at stake in the debate over abortion should spend some time outside the places where it happens.
Self-Portrait Of The Artist As Ungrateful Black Writer — Saeed Jones
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
No, Saeed Jones is not happy to “just be here.” Racism doesn’t vanish the moment you set foot into the ivory towers and glittering soirees of the literati.
Those Who Leave Somalia Need Remittance Too — Sarah Hagi
Kevin VQ Dam for BuzzFeed
As the child of Somali immigrants, Sarah Hagi inherited an obligation to send money to relatives she had never met. In this essay for our Inheritance Issue, she explained why that connection is so important to her.
I Can’t Live Without Fear, But I Can Learn To Be OK With It — Arianna Rebolini
Alice Monkongllite / BuzzFeed
Arianna Rebolini wrote about coming to terms with her OCD and the inescapable fear that the people she loves will die. Read more from Mental Health Week here.
I Used To Be An Alcoholic. Now I’m A Stoner Who Has A Drink Sometimes. — Katie Herzog
Kiersten Essenpreis for BuzzFeed News
For Katie Herzog, marijuana wasn’t a gateway to harder drugs. It was an exit ramp from her addiction to alcohol.
Lost And Found In “Majora’s Mask” — Alanna Okun
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
Alanna Okun achieved a victory over her own anxiety by finally letting the ticking clock run down in her favorite video game.
I Forgot To Find My Husband At A Black University — Jamilah Lemieux
Chris Kindred for BuzzFeed News
Jamilah Lemieux was told to find the love of her life at Howard University. She wrote for our Black Colleges Issue about why that didn't happen.
I Don’t Care What You Think About My Breakfast — Katie Heaney
Lauren Zaser / BuzzFeed
After years of copying other people’s snacks and fending off unsolicited diet advice, Katie Heaney wrote about finally figuring out what she wants to be eating.
I Was The Best Fake Attorney In America — Sandra Allen
Dakota Blue Harper for BuzzFeed News
In 2005, Sandra Allen won the High School Mock Trial National Championships. Ten years later, she returned to nationals to try to make sense of what that victory meant — and what this competitive celebration of our legal system even is.
My Boyfriend Loves Fat Women — Kristin Chirico
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
Kristin Chirico dug deep into her complicated feelings about dating someone who openly appreciates her body type. Read more from Body Week here.
I Gave A Speech About Race To The Publishing Industry And No One Heard Me — Mira Jacob
Will Varner / BuzzFeed
Mira Jacob made an impassioned case for why the future of publishing needs to represent the world we live in, and all the colors of people in it.
How One Direction Helped Me Find My Girls — Mackenzie Kruvant
When Zayn Malik left One Direction, Mackenzie Kruvant found unexpectedly meaningful friendships in the community of women who make up the 1D fandom.
I Tried To Use A Hookup App As A Real Estate Listing — Matt Ortile
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
Matt Ortile described his search for good sex and some kind of permanence in New York City.
Yes, I'm His Daughter — Lauren Paul
Jon Stich for BuzzFeed
Lauren Paul's dad is old and white; she is young and brown. It’s often been more complicated than it should be.
The Bad Blood: My Life With Sickle Cell Anaemia — Sara Bivigou
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
Sara Bivigou wrote vividly about the complicated reality of living with sickle cell, and everything she does to feel normal in spite of her sickness.
What I Learned From My Neuroatypical Partner – Meredith Talusan
Meredith Talusan / BuzzFeed News
Meredith Talusan's partner has severe ADD and is on the autism spectrum. They wrote about seeing his neuroatypicality not as a disorder, but as a big part of why their relationship works.
These Sublime Ads From The 50s And 60s Introduced The World To Electronics
Made by Herbert Bayer for General Electric in 1942
At the dawn of electronic era, in the mid-20th century, artists and advertisers faced a new challenge — illustrating the unseeable world of the electron.
“Everyone knew electronics were changing the world, but artists had to explain and visualize those changes,” Megan Prelinger, author of this year’s Inside the Machine: Art and Invention in the Electronic Age, told BuzzFeed News. “And companies had to sell them.”
When radio, television, and computers came on the scene, old-fashioned advertising — typically a slogan and a line drawing of a light bulb or radio — just wasn’t up to the task of explaining, or at least celebrating, the vacuum tubes, transistors, and printed circuits that powered those inventions.
But a more modern and abstract style of marketing emerged in the 1940s. The 1942 “Earth Bulb” image above, for example, bottled the Earth inside the triode tube that was opening up the new world of FM radio transmission. “Modern art was what artists turned to, to show what couldn’t be seen,” Prelinger said.
General Electric (artist unknown), 1960
Invented in 1948, the tiny transistor amplified electrical signals, making circuitry cheap and reliable for the first time. And Prelinger noted, the transistor also made electronics “small, cool, personal, and efficient.”
Portable radios and car radios suddenly sprouted everywhere, and firms such as Texas Instruments struggled to explain how tiny transistors boosted radio signals. Ad-firm artists turned to the transistor symbol — a “T” crowned with an arrow and sprouting a tail — invented by engineers to design circuits. The transistor depiction above, for example, was taken from the back cover of a electronics handbook published in 1960.
“Both modern art and engineering were responding to technology becoming part of everyday life, and so maybe it is not surprising they came together,” Prelinger said.
Willi Baum for The Martin Company, 1961
Abstract art also popularized the moon race in ads, depicting one of the era’s signature technologies: space rockets. In ads for radios, computers, and other electronics, the cylinders and cones of spacecraft circled ball-like planets, following elliptical orbits on imagined journeys to other worlds.
In a bid to look futuristic, recruiting ads for rocket firms and national labs turned widely to abstract artists to design posters and promotions. For example, the Martin Company (now Lockheed Martin) commissioned celebrated space artist Willi Baum to create the stylized rocket resembling a Japanese pagoda, seen above, in a 1961 hiring notice for engineers whose rather mundane job was to figure out how to to shave weight from spacecraft. The poster also included a calculus equation, another hallmark of the era.
NASA took an interest in art as well, asking children’s illustrator Paul Calle in 1963 to document astronaut training for the moon. Calle created the U.S. Postal Service’s commemorative stamp art celebrating Apollo 11’s first lunar landing.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing / U.S. Post Office / Via en.wikipedia.org
Later on, as computerization and the information age dawned, artists turned to numbers and symbols to explain programming and the inner workings of electronics.
Taking a cue from graphic designers, they looked to “found” art — clipped from textbooks, studies, and shop manuals — to create mash-ups of numbers and symbols, according to Prelinger. Artists also took inspiration from Swiss designs that strung different text fonts along grids in displays.
Jacqueline Casey for Lincoln Laboratories, 1963
In the 1963 recruiting poster for MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory shown above, for example, artist Jacqueline Casey mixed and matched elements from nine scientific papers.
“A lot of this art filtered out, starting in trade publications and then into advertising that a broad swath of the public saw,” Prelinger said. “We see a lot of the art from this time still influential today.”
Cover of the Proceedings of the IRE, artist unknown, 1959
Cybernetics, the merger of man and machine, also influenced the art of the electronic era in ways that are still familiar. As transistors made hearing aids possible, words like “cyborg,” “bionics,” and “artificial intelligence” migrated into popular awareness.
Graphic artists reached for old-fashioned representational art depicting the human body and mixed it with the graphics and symbols of the electronic era, Prelinger said. A collage like the one shown in detail above, taken from the 1959 cover of an Institute of Radio Engineers report on medical technology, exemplifies the trend.
Cutaways of human skulls with computer parts or symbols replacing the brain also became particularly popular, Prelinger said.
As modern art became postmodern, and computers went from the mainframe to the “cloud,” depictions of technology in ads have drifted away from showing the physical devices themselves. Photography has replaced drawings to depict the real world.
Data Processing for Management, 1961
But some technology fans, particularly those in today’s “do-it-yourself” movement, have reacted against this removal, Prelinger said. Their retrofuturism hearkens back to the days of amateur radio, vinyl records, and vacuum tubes. “This is where art meets electronics with an enthusiasm that again moves in the direction of the future.”
