For the past few months, my Facebook and Twitter feeds have been rife with enthusiastic praise for the Netflix political drama, House of Cards. I have no shame in admitting that I devoured the show’s entire first season in a single weekend. The show is run-through with amazing performances from Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, and Kate Mara (among others), brilliant writing, and bonkers plot twists that, fair warning, I might touch on in ... Read More

I never thought I’d have to say this, but … does President Obama need to borrow one of Mitt Romney’s binders full of women? Recent appointments for Obama’s second-term cabinet shows a staggering lack of diversity. A now infamous photograph showing the President with his senior advisors – a room full of white men, lounging around in their best business casual – could just as well be a photo of poker night ... Read More

We all rung in the bright, new year some hours ago, and 2013 is still aglow with newfangled optimism and determined resolutions. It certainly started out on a precarious but positive note for Americans – as we survived two years in a row of apocalyptic predictions and, perhaps more importantly, narrowly averted the fiscal cliff, this year isn’t lookin’ too bad. Therefore, I have a proposition for a New Year’s ... Read More

A study at Northwestern University looks at the way we judge politicians to help explain the gender gap in politics. The study denies that people rationally consider candidates, and instead states, “research indicates that people use shallow decision heuristics, such as impressions of competence made solely from facial appearance when deciding whom to vote for.”  73 students (38 women and 35 men) looked at facial photos of ... Read More

It's Election Day! And everyone is really, really tense. I'm no exception: just the other day, an acquaintance mentioned that she really doesn't care who wins, and instead of engaging said person in thoughtful dialogue, I yelled ROE VERSUS WADE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD and burst into tears. So ANYWAY! Supreme Crafty Lady Callie discovered this gem yesterday and it had us all ROFLcoptering around the office. I don't know how to explain it, and to ... Read More