Recess | Staff Note - The Chronicle

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

Embracing ‘losing control’ through female rap

By Miranda Gershoni | October 31, 2019

My first exposure to female rap was Lauryn Hill’s “MTV Unplugged No. 2.0,” which my mother had on vinyl and would play most evenings after school.

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

Crate-digging in the age of Spotify

By Will Atkinson | October 24, 2019

I tend to discover music in one of two ways: either from the usual cycle of new releases and album reviews, or from a chance trip down the rabbit hole of Spotify’s related-artists feature.

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

What a horny teen murder drama taught me about myself

By Alizeh Sheikh | October 17, 2019

Nadia Shanaa is a Palestinian, hijab-wearing, Virgo energy-radiating character from “Elite,” a show that Vulture aptly described as “Netflix’s best horny teen drama.”

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

Setting a new ‘baseline’

By Kerry Rork | October 10, 2019

The cultural discourse surrounding mental health seems to perpetuate and welcome the worst baseline. And when the baseline is disrupted, it feels nearly impossible to reset.

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

Durham, I love you

By Jack Rubenstein | October 3, 2019

Outside of the puppies at the Canine Cognition Center, Durham might be the best thing Duke has to offer us.

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

Sacred rituals

By Sarah Derris | September 19, 2019

I arrived in New York a full week and a half before starting my new job. Just enough time to orient myself to my new landscape.

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

What comes after certainty

By Will Atkinson | September 5, 2019

On Karl Ove Knausgaard, Bill Callahan and the art of daily living.

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

In the darkness

By Nina Wilder | May 31, 2019

Nothing holds more importance in a cinema than a film, certainly not the patron nor his concerns or woes; quite literally, everything else surrenders to the shadows.

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

It’s the end of an era, friends. I walked into 301 Flowers my first week of college, and I’m walking out four years later, still unable to sum up my Duke experience. So I’ll talk about Durham instead.

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

Endings and beginnings

By Sarah Derris | April 17, 2019

I used to be an outgoing kid. Ask me five years ago, and I would have proudly identified myself as an ENFJ personality-type.

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How I learned to stop worrying and love the arts

By Jessica Williams | April 3, 2019

So, this is my last editor's note ever. I've reported for The Chronicle since the first month of my freshman year, and have thought about what I'd write in this specific piece since then. During the last few years, I'd occasionally wonder: What infinite wisdom will I be able to impart in my last words as a graduating senior?

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On unruly bodies and how to cope with being in-between

By Alizeh Sheikh | March 20, 2019

When I began questioning my sexuality as 13 or 14 year-old, the imperative question was “Why am I the way I am?”

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

Drawing in digital

By Selena Qian | March 6, 2019

I finally bought myself a drawing tablet this past week. I’ve started using a tablet at work — at the Duke Innovative Design Agency — but outside of that, I’ve been using a mouse or my trackpad to do digital art. That works pretty well for infographics, but it’s definitely difficult to replicate the same effects I would have on paper or canvas.

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

Turning 20: Growing pains (and gains)

By Eva Hong | February 27, 2019

I used to be that obnoxious girl who always “unintentionally” reminded her friends that her birthday is in a month, discreetly inserting an advertisement into a conversation that had been about something totally different.

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A beginner's guide to campy films

By Nina Wilder | February 20, 2019

In her 1964 piece titled “Notes on ‘Camp,’” Susan Sontag outlines a genre of art (but here, I’ll focus on films) that goes by the name “camp.”

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

Where to start with twee pop this Valentine’s Day

By Will Atkinson | February 13, 2019

When it comes time to assemble Valentine’s Day-themed playlists every year, I’m often struck at just how easy it is to ascribe “love song” status to nearly any piece of pop music: Love, heartbreak and all their variations probably account for a good 50 percent of pop — from “Be My Baby” all the way down to “thank u, next” — and for the rest, it isn’t too difficult to draw the line.

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

A loss for words

By Sarah Derris | February 6, 2019

I’ve had to do an egregious amount of writing in the last few weeks. Not that much writing for Recess, admittedly, but writing for classes, internships, scholarships and the like.