This past weekend I was lucky enough to cover the BUKU Music + Art Project at New Orleans' own Mardi Gras World. Located between an overgrown railroad line and an abandoned power plant right on the Mississippi river, this young festival (only it's second year) was a huge success. The majority of BUKU had an electronic dance music theme, with nearly 12,000 fans in attendance to see headliners such as Major Lazer, Flux Pavilion, Calvin ... Read More

For most Americans, the Super Bowl is all about chicken wings, beer, and good company. But in the shadow of this massive sporting event, there lie disturbing truths about the Super Bowl’s history of attracting sex traffickers. Large-scale events that are fueled by booze, excess, and consumption are also hotbeds for the underground sex trade, though this gritty reality is often eclipsed by fanfare and funny commercials.  Clemmie ... Read More

I recently caught Beats Antique at The Howlin’ Wolf in New Orleans. The all-instrumental band, comprised of David Satori (guitar, viola, and percussion), Tommy Cappel (keys, percussion), and Zoe Jakes (belly dancer, composer, and producer) fuses Middle Eastern tribal sounds with experimental world music and electronica. Lynx, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Colorado, was the opening act and wowed the crowd with her ... Read More

Eve Ensler is a total rock star. See? She’s best known for writing and starring in the groundbreaking play The Vagina Monologues—heck, even your grandparents have probably heard of it. Not being one to rest on her laurels, she founded a nonprofit, V-Day, that combats the epidemic (and yes, folks, it is an epidemic) of sexual and domestic violence happening all around the world. V-Day activists have opened hospitals for abuse ... Read More

IFC is on a roll. They just keep announcing exciting movie premieres and fun Q&A sessions with independent film’s greatest minds. This time, it’s director Jonathan Demme’s film festival veteran documentary: I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, The Mad, and the Beautiful. The film will debut on September 13 at the NYC IFC Center followed by a Q&A with Demme. I’m Carolyn Parker follows one New Orleans ... Read More