Here it is, this year’s final edition of The Issue. We hope you got well through this year and will enjoy the well-deserved summer holidays. While you are doing that, you can of course also enjoy this edition of the Issue, which is again full of fun and interesting articles. This time we focused on the broad theme of popular culture. In a popular culture-themed Issue, a movie review can obviously not be left out. Esmee watched the academy award-winning movie Nomadland and she will tell you why you should also give this movie a try. Just like Esmee, Lisette also got inspired by a movie. She watched the Netflix-original The Trial of the Chicago 7. The story is a dramatization of real history and Lisette will explain what the real history of The Chicago Seven is.
Another important part of popular culture is music. Simon has taken a closer look at an artist who has been rather controversial recently, Lil Nash X. This artist thanks his fame to his song Old Town Road, which went viral on Tik Tok. What’s up with Tik Tok anyway, right? Nick felt exactly this way and hence he decided to look into what makes Tik Tok so popular these days, and will it stay around for a long time?
This time around we also have a very special guest writer, namely Emeritus Professor of American Studies, Hans Bak. He will shine his light on Amanda Gorman’s performance during President Biden’s inauguration. In the article he elaborates on the history of inauguration poetry and why this particular performance was so special. Gorman is great but we got our very own literary talent, namely Youri. He has again written a very nice short story. I should warn you beforehand, you will probably be hungry after reading it.
As usual Femke dove into the world of conspiracy theories. This time she focused on what makes these theories actually so popular and widespread. Another item that can not be missed in The Issue is Maaike’s internship rubric. She interviewed our very own designer, Wouter Peer, for this edition. He is currently doing an internship at the editorial office of Eva Jinek. So, if you are dreaming of a career in journalism, be sure to check this one out.
That was it for The Issue this year. On behalf of the entire editorial board, have a nice summer and enjoy the read!
Luc de Klerk