By Kate Sibery I stacked my books on the sill but every time there was wind  they fell over and every time it rained they got wet. So I moved the books to the floor but they got stepped on  instead of read. I bought a bookshelf  but couldn’t put it together I swallowed the screws which went down easy  like cough drops or pennies coppery and cold.  I left the freezer open for a day or two to see how it would smell which was bad but not as bad as the smell of paint after I deci

Natalie Buttner , Editor-in-Chief: Train Dreams  (2025). WNYC Studios, “La Brega.” The Atlantic Games, “Bracket City.” Duda Kovarsky Rotta , Managing Editor: T.S. Eliot, “Little Gidding V.”   Adrianne Lenker, “Sadness As A Gift.” Carlos Drummond de Andrade, “A Flor e a Nausea.” Nnema Épée-Bounya , Deputy Editor: Jamiroquai, “Morning Glory.” Daft Punk, “Veridius Quo.” When Harry Met Sally , (1989).  Lucy Mason , Publisher: The Periodicals and Microformes Reading Room. Hannah L

Barnard English goes “global.” By Iris Eisenman Illustration by Nini Vilac Not too long ago, Professor Atefeh Akbari could be found in the labyrinthine recesses of the LeFrak offices. Now, I had the pleasure of speaking with Akbari in her cozy office on the fourth floor of Barnard Hall, with plenty of natural light flooding the room. The change of environment is a reflection of her career’s progress at Barnard. Akbari is arguably the face of the English department’s recent ef

On limits, math, and hockey.   By Schuyler Daffey Illustration by Audrey Wang Milena Harned CC ’26 reminisces fondly over skating in front of Heads of State. At the Ice Hutch, CU Hockey’s former home rink,   Milena would drill in front of a dignified audience of cardboard cutouts, among them Rachel Green, Chewbacca, and Michael Jordan. The team has since moved to a different rink, but Milena will never forget “seeing Obama watch me skate in his inhumanly large cutout form.” M

Columbia University is the largest territory in NYC, and the Columbia University Tenants Union is fighting to keep it in check.  By Jeremiah Barron Illustration by Nini Vilac In 1987, journalists Ted Robbins and Jack Newfield published  a ranking of the city’s most abusive landlords in The Village Voice ; Columbia University won the title of the single worst landlord in the entire city. The largest private property owner in the city was, in their words, “a wolf in sheepskin c

The Beginnings of Ntozake Shange and her Literary Elsewheres. By Nnema Épée-Bounya Illustration by Iris Pope On the fourth floor of Milstein Library, in box nine, folder three of the Ntozake Shange Papers sits a stapled, slightly stained, magazine. Tucked between the manilla folders of Barnard’s Archives, its cover is a loose sketch of a nude Black woman—her arms delicately wrapped around her body, her hip popped to the side, her featureless face turned toward the reader. To

Why everyone should take Acting 1 before graduating. By Julian Rodriguez Illustration by Julie Shi It was 9 a.m., and I was lying on the floor of the Glicker-Milstein Theatre with my shoes off. Soon, Professor David Skeist would walk in, wearing a fuzzy Care Bear bucket hat, a lavender tank top, and a very loose pair of green linen pants, appearing a little frazzled. Professor Skeist is a Brooklyn-based actor, director, and adjunct professor at Barnard. Kooky and extravagant,

Four steps on how to be Chinese. By Willow Bradford Illustration by Lilah Chen The elevator is broken and my room is four flights up. Among many white canvases, a flimsy red and gold piece of paper is hastily taped across the elevator buttons on the ground floor of Sulzberger. An outstretched index finger reaches, through papers upon papers, to press up and down buttons, regardless of the cuts and scratches in between. Despite being covered by a poster for a Columbia business

A Look into Student Film at Columbia. By Liam Curedale Illustration by Em Bennett In September, Kallen Fenster, CC ’28, a fresh-faced Columbia sophomore walked onto campus. This past summer, he’d realized that he wanted to pursue a career in entertainment law. He loved film, and he loved law—as much as anyone can. So, Kallen started looking around. Barnumbia has no shortage of student-run film production groups. Studio 292, Girls Who Film, The 1 Train is Delayed, CLIP, and ot

A visit to the re-opened Studio Museum in Harlem.  By Aliyyah Hamid Illustration by Julie Shi A fluorescent light sculpture forms the following couplet: “Me/We.” The “We” sits below “Me,” as if reflecting it. The original poet was none other than Muhammad Ali, who was asked to “give us a poem!” during a speech at the Harvard commencement in 1975. Give us a Poem  is the title of the neon light sculpture by Glenn Ligon that sits yards above its audience, mounted in the lobby of

One Man’s Search for Fauna in the Most Unlikely of Places. By David Kramer Illustrations by Em Bennett Every day, thousands of cars drive down Broadway, the average 1 train carries 7,000 passengers between dawn and dusk, and tens of thousands of pedestrians hurry across Manhattan. It’s a busy, noisy city.   But in the basement of a pet store on Broadway, a tortoise sleeps. His name is George, he’s 28 years old, and he thinks you should feed him strawberries. George leads an a