Mash-Up Round-Up: Arya Stark for President
The week of July 22 was: cheering on Arya Stark’s 100% Black Approval rating; fearing government cheese conspiracies; engaging in the great hot dog debate; and wondering if we should get a groupon for a Cajun swamp tour.
Mash-Ups In The News:
A Defender of the Constitution, With No Legal Right to Live Here
Ms. Mateo, a Oaxacan-born lawyer defending immigrants rights in court, is our Mash-Up hero. She’s also undocumented. While many undocumented immigrants are afraid to leave their homes and planning for the worst, Ms. Mateo believes she is safer being out in the world and knowing that her community will have her back. She believes being invisible is not the answer. Just like these badass teen girls who staged a Quinceanera protest in Texas against hatefulanti-immigrant legislation.
via NY Times
A white American man has lived in China for 20 years. He is deeply steeped in the culture, which is great! He believes he should be considered Chinese at this point and argues just as an immigrant can become American, one should be able to be Chinese. Nah.
via Wall Street Journal
Why Do Millennials Care About DNA Kits?
A swab of your spit is all it takes for you to know within a matter of weeks a little bit about what makes you who you are. And millennials LOVE them. But why? Millennials are more comfortable moving away from family and mashing up than any other generation, so what explains the curiosity? The fact that they mash-up may be exactly the reason: the population of multiracial Americans is growing at a rate three times that of the overall population and maybe people are seeking some clues about their identity from these spit tubes.
via Study Breaks
Safety Is A Top Concern For Indian Students Admitted To US Schools For Fall
It’s 2017. There’s been a 12 percent increase in admissions offers to Indian students but a steep decline in acceptance rate because students are terrified of being targets of racist violence. We can talk about the billions of dollars that the over one million mash-up international students add to the economy. Or we can do better so they don’t learn in fear. Rest in Power Srinivas Kuchibhotla.
via HuffPost
Why Americans Are Having Less Sex
Would you rather…have more or less sex? Hmm. Couples are spending more time on their phones (and watching Netflix) and less time doing it. Apparently being together but on your phones puts a damper on the ‘simmering’ context needed for sex. Sigh. Oh and get this: Tinder has encouraged a huge rise in cybersex between people who will never even meet up. Put your phone down everyone, put on your go-to D’Angelo track, and go make out. Stat.
via CNN
At Mash-Up, we generally try to give people the benefit of the doubt. But, also, sometimes it’s just racist. Like getting an email mistakenly addressed to “Hello Black” from a potential employer because your race was tagged as Black in their database…These three essayists take a deeper look at the microaggressions they have experienced as they try to answer whether it was a misunderstanding or something much more.
via New York Times
In many ways it literally pays to be pretty. The effects can range from a free drink to something much larger. For example, companies who feature their attractive CEOs on TV spots can experience a bump in stock price. Well, this one’s for you ugly duckling: it turns out there is also an “ugliness premium” that makes less comely people seem more credible and trustworthy than someone more attractive.
via New Yorker
French Moms Aren’t Superior Parents—They Just Have It Easier
Instead of being shamed to raise our kids more like the French (they’re well behaved! They eat everything!). It turns out that the French have some mom-friendly policies that provide paid leave, affordable and available childcare and schools that cook yummy noms. It’s like the nanny we never had, or what the French call the government.
via Quartz
The Subtle Power Of Uncomfortable Silences
Could you go 8 seconds in a conversation with absolute silence? The Japanese can, but Americans can only last half that time. Anglophones get uncomfortable when there are long stretches of silence in a conversation, but more pauses mean more productive outcomes in almost “every realm of human life.” Like the Japanese say, ‘a silent man is the best one to listen to’.
via BBC
What’s In a Face? The Great Diversity Of Human Faces Tells Us Of Our Past.
“Evolution explicitly favored diversity in human faces because a wide array of faces makes it easier to discriminate a friend from a foe, a mother from a stranger, and a brother from a rival.” Diversity is evolutionary! Science!
via Psychology Today
