On Missed Connections and interstellar radio waves. By Magda Lena Griffel Illustration by Vanessa Zhou On a Monday in 2008, at exactly 7 p.m. EST, NASA beamed the Beatles’ “Across the Universe” from Pasadena, CA through deep space towards Polaris, the North Star. Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe… It wasn’t the first, the last, or the most technologically significant message sent from Earth acr

Media we think you would enjoy — but likely not as much as The Blue and White Magazine Illustration by Lilah Chen Natalie Buttner , Editor-in-Chief: Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, “Mondo Bongo.” Nicolette Larson, “Lotta Love.” Duda Kovarsky Rotta , Managing Editor: Angela Ro Ro, “Amor Meu Grande Amor.” Djavan, “Pétala.” Luther Vandross, “Never Too Much.” Nnema Épée-Bounya , Deputy Editor: Lauryn Hill & Bob Marley, “Turn Your Lights Down Low.” Dadju, “Reine.” Lucy Mason , P

On today’s agenda: A less-than-inspiring galvanization for collective action, and an oxymoronic double entendre (politicians debating ethics). By Rocky Rūb As Claire Shipman’s fashion idol, Nancy Pelosi, once said, “There’s no point in saying ‘good morning’ because it certainly is not one,” and not just because we received another Wellhub advertisement in our inboxes this week. In case you’re a little SCAB and haven’t heard about the greatest injustice our students have ever,

On today’s agenda: A welcoming rock salt headrush, the great concentration debate, and absolutely no mention of REDACTED . By Rocky Rūb Welcome back, students of the lowest ranked Ivy League institution! The Blue and White is so excited to get back to school and remind everyone how much better it is to read about campus queer spaces, Columbia Housing tenant violations, and whether woke is back (funnily enough these are all stories published by the GOAT writer, Rocky Rūb) tha

Some thoughts on the recent snow in New York. By Kate Sibery Illustration by Iris Pope Ten days ago they were predicting a lot of snow. “They” being my grandmother’s reference point for all information relating to weather, current events, and anything else you might read about in the newspaper or see on T.V. “They are saying it might get up into the 70s this week.” “They say it’s a good time to start shopping at Fairway.” “They say interest rates are way down.” “They” is her

Media we think you would enjoy — but likely not as much as The Blue and White Magazine Maya Lerman , Editor-in-Chief: Manichitrathazhu (1993). Jean Baudrillard, America . Serial Experiments Lain (Crunchyroll). The Hobbit (1977). The Mountain Goats, “This Year.” Chris Brown , Managing Editor: “FLCL Reanimated” (YouTube). Magdalena Bay, Imaginal Disk . Wednesday, “Wasp.” Fried Okra. Enlighten Mint Yerba Mate. LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver . George Murphy , Deputy Editor: Jo

Writing, at its simplest, is a vessel for memory. Socrates—the famous anti-writer—denounced the written word as an “elixir for reminding,” for fear it would corrode our inner capacity for memory. But regardless of whether our memories are irreparably rotted (finals studying will be the judge of that!), we writers and readers have accessed a kind of magic that only an elixir of reminder could conjure—the possibility of preserving our memories in ink, and letting them wander th

By Hannah Lui

By Lucia Dec-Prat and Eli Schalet

As heard by The Blue and White. Illustration by Selin Ho BARNARD’S VERY OWN FREQUENT FLYER Word on the street is that Chair of the Barnard English department, Professor Ross Hamilton, commutes to teach his class cross-Atlantic. You heard that right—he permanently lives in Spain, jets in for the start of the week to teach his classes, and escapes back to the Iberian sunshine by the weekend. THE FREE SPEECH FABLE A certain Columbia free speech organization has taken its miss

By Rocky Rūb and Schuyler Daffey Illustration by Isabelle Oh The following emails were uncovered in The Blue and White ’s ongoing investigation into two Columbia students who completed internships on the Hill this summer and are now staffers on the teams of Zohran Mamdani and Marjorie Taylor Greene. No stone is going unturned. Please consult this space for further updates. From: Richard Ryder Sent: 11/11/2025 7:34:35 PM To: Maysie Rosa Scott Subject: [URGENT] Is Woke Back??!

On the termination of Temporary Protected Status. By Tara Zia Illustration by Jing Geng Over the last few months, the Trump Administration’s terminations of Temporary Protected Status have made headlines on a weekly basis. For Nina Alvarez, these headlines do not go unnoticed: Documenting the story behind this immigration policy and those it impacts represents a years-long effort. A journalist, documentarian, and video photographer, Alvarez has over 20 years of reporting exp

Striking down the bowling pins of diaspora and desire. By Elika Khosravani Illustration by Audrey Wang It is my understanding that at some point in every student’s undergraduate career, they meet a professor who quietly, and then all at once, rearranges their world. For me, that professor is Zaina Arafat. Every Thursday, she takes the train down from her apartment in Harlem to teach Fiction and Personal Narrative at Barnard, and I have the privilege of watching up close the

Leaping between the roles we inherit and the ones we create. By Lucy Mason Illustration by Em Bennett Since the start of her career, Unity Phelan has captivated audiences night after night as a dancer with New York City Ballet. In 2021, she was promoted to the rank of principal dancer, performing in hundreds of ballets and emerging as one of the company’s defining artists along the way. This fall, she brought that experience uptown to teach in the Barnard Dance Department.

By Iris Eisenman Illustration by Truman Dickerson Ted Schmiedeler, CC ’26, fills every moment. Transported halfway across the country from Chicagoland, within weeks of setting foot on campus Ted threw himself into the historic corner of Lerner Hall occupied by WKCR, Columbia’s radio station. Eager to get involved, Ted flew through the licensing process and soon began staying overnight to program the radio show Transfigured Night from one to five in the morning. But instead o

By Elika Khosravani It is spring again and everyone is day-dreaming about falling in love again. Again. And again and again and again, until it finally sticks. So my mind, naturally, is also turned towards love. To be in love, I imagine, must feel like a lighthouse. A crumbling column on a crag, dangling delicately over the frothing sea. A lonely boat, guided by a single lantern and a ramshackled anchor, hesitantly heads toward the shoreline, toward the red and white tower, a

Jewel Anderson The sky’s white mirror makes a feast of me— eyes first, then teeth, then pulse. I open my mouth and she swallows the sound. The light bends wrong tonight. I step into it and it steps back. My shadow clings and flakes like psoriasis. The shine is a trick, a white worm. It crawls the length of my arm, makes veins into rivers, rivers into ropes. I told the doctor I was cured. He smiled, yellow crescent, and asked who was speaking. My mouth is a traitor— The tide l

The Maysles Documentary Center keeps the spark of Harlem’s art film scene alive. By Caroline Nieto Illustration by Selin Ho I ran to the M60+ to hitch a ride to the intersection at 125th street and Malcolm X Boulevard–a locale that was once called “the Mecca of Harlem,” an artistic hub that spawned from the fallout of the Harlem Renaissance. The intersection got its name from the inception of performance spaces there during the latter half of the twentieth century, with the A

On students who are workers, workers who are students, and the recent Unfair Labor Practice complaints against the SWC. By Duda Kovarsky Rotta and Gabriela McBride Illustration by Derin Ogutcu Columbia is the birthplace of student employees at private universities being recognized as workers. In 2016, the National Labor Relations Board’s “ Columbia Decision ” granted graduate researchers, teaching assistants, and resident advisors the full breadth of rights that any other wo

A look into WKCR’s archives and towards 89.9 FM’s anti-carceral potential. By Cecilia Zuniga Illustration by Em Bennett Tip-toed on a jail cell toilet, Jose Hernandez Velasquez stood feet above the ground in search of 89.9 FM’s signal. His hands, grasping a battery-powered radio, reached towards the window. Two minutes before 9 p.m., he struck the perfect angle, and WKCR’s broadcast began to play. Velasquez didn’t dare to move. For an hour, he remained outstretched in the sa