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 ac

On the inexplicable obsession with the perfect ballet dancer. By Magda Lena Griffel Illustration by Iris Pope As a child, Grace Li, CC ’28, was transfixed by the role of Clara in Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker . For Fiona Witty-Daughtery CC ’28, it was the older dancers at her first summer intensive. For the late ballerina Michaela Mabinty DePrince, it was a magazine cover of a prima ballerina that flew to the gate of her orphanage when she was four. She joined ballet classes a

Reflections on protest in the archives. by Magda Lena Griffel Illustration by Isabelle Oh Rumor had it the Rare Book and Manuscript Library had “materials” from the Spring 2024 protests. Curious, I hiked to Butler’s sixth floor, wedged my possessions into my designated locker, and entered the hallowed Woods reading room. Golf pencil sharpened, note paper stacked, I sifted through massive manila folders to find the latest addition, labeled “ Israel-Gaza War Protest .” I flippe