People over Profit at the Princeton Record Exchange

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By Sosena T.

Refreshing, gentle, welcoming. After leaving the uncomfortable heat of Princeton, New Jersey, and stepping into the conditioned air of the Princeton Record Exchange, you can’t help but feel all of these things. That also extends to how Jon Lambert approaches every aspect of his craft, running the famous record store — from the way he buys records to the weddings that take place in the store to the healthcare he covers for his employees. 

After sitting down with Lambert, he expressed a sense of responsibility to repair the previously broken AC unit, even though it would require $11,000. Money that could’ve been used, he wished, for buying new records — a way to increase profits. But he couldn’t let his customers or his community lose their haven from the scorching temperatures. Lambert serves the Princeton area through the passionate work he does at his store. He’ll pay any price if that means people of all backgrounds feel comfortable in the Princeton Record Exchange.

Throughout the sit-down interview, the local music enthusiast opened up gradually about his passions. When asked about his workers and work environment, he lit up with excitement, a glimpse into his motivation for continuing the work he does. 

In some ways, small businesses bear the same financial expectations as large corporations but operate on smaller capital. On top of rent, cash-flow management, and taxes, Lambert provides health insurance to all 17 of his workers, in addition to the fair wages he pays them. To him, these people aren’t just minds and hands that make his business succeed — they’re family. “Hey, you pay them fair, you treat them fair, and maybe you make a little less money, and you spread that around so that people can be human,” he says.  

Human. It’s something we all are, but sometimes the idea gets muddled in the business world. However, Lambert makes the value of human life central to his work. This isn’t a strategy to attract customers but a genuine reflection of his character. Lambert shared a personal memory from 2020, the hardest year for small businesses. The pandemic didn’t single out who it affected: Young or old, poor or rich, it impacted everyone. COVID-19 affected both large and small companies, but to different degrees. After informing us that the Princeton Record Exchange was forced to shut down, he took a deep breath before continuing. The lack of cash flow forced Lambert to lay off his entire staff. Without their workplace and amid a global crisis, especially for Lambert—whose core principles include “courtesy and respect and kindness” — this was profoundly difficult. Despite these hardships, he stayed true to his values by continuing to pay for his employees’ health care for as long as he could after they were laid off. For nearly everyone, one major concern during the pandemic was access to healthcare. While Lambert couldn’t keep the store open, he made sure no one who helped make his business special was left alone in a nightmare.

Several days after my interview with Lambert, a press conference was held with Mayor Mark Freda of Princeton City. Sitting in the makeshift briefing room, I kept in mind the noble character of the owner of 20 S Tulane St, Princeton, NJ, and decided to ask about policies that support local small businesses, such as the city’s “music fairy-godfather.” Mayor Freda responded with enthusiasm, proud to highlight major contributors to Princeton’s community and economy. He mentioned the special improvement districts (SIDs) and how they benefit the city, noting that businesses make up 20 percent of the tax base, which helps reduce the tax burden on homeowners, a critical issue in the state. This shows how diverse and supportive local businesses can be for their community.

Overall, it’s safe to say that owning an independent business has clear challenges, like the absence of corporate funding, but are those trade-offs worth it? For Lambert, the answer will always be yes.

Building Relationships at the Farmers Market

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By Jace L.

Gabriel Siciliano is a farm owner who grows fresh produce to sell at farmers markets. His farm is named after his great-grandfather, Abraham Feldsher, who was a Jewish immigrant from Russia. Feldsher fled to the United States in the 1800s because he couldn’t own land in Russia as a Jew. He eventually bought farmland, which was his dream, in Hightstown, New Jersey. Sicilicano now runs the family farm with his mom’s help (plus her dog) to keep his great-grandfather’s memory and efforts alive. 

Siciliano is passionate about his work and how it affects not only his customers, but the world as a whole. Farmers markets are a great way to get fresh produce at a decent price, Siciliano says: “We try and price everything so that we’re still able to stay solvent and stay in business, but we’re able to have folks who may not have quite as much money have access to our produce.” Siciliano believes that as inflation increases, farmers markets are seeming to get more business because they don’t have excess fees such as the ones that are added to the price at a grocery store. Some of these fees are resale and transportation fees, which customers don’t have to deal with when they’re buying straight from the source. 

With the Trump administration proposing a nearly $7 billion reduction in the budget of the United States Department of Agriculture, people like Siciliano rely on customers to keep the farm afloat. “When I go to a farmers market, the customer that I’m looking for is not necessarily someone who’s going to come and spend $100 and I never see them again,” he says. “I’m looking for someone who’s going to come spend $20 every single week for the whole season. And it’s that kind of reliable cash flow that we look for.” Siciliano says that he tries to get to know regulars to show that he cares about who they are as people. 

Siciliano took the time to get to know some of his customers and he found that some were immigrants. “The men, the women, and the other folks who I’ve worked with over the years, you know, whether they’re documented, whether they’re undocumented — are some of the kindest, most hard-working people I’ve ever met and I haven’t heard from a number of these people in quite some time,” he says. He expressed he’s concerned for their safety due to the new immigration policies being put into place by the Trump administration. He considers his regular customers his community and it is tough for him to see harm come to the people he’s grown fond of over time. 

From the customer’s perspective, getting to know the person who sells them cheaper and healthier food is beneficial. They can get any questions they have about quality answered right there through the vendor of the product. They can gain a sense of just how much thought and care is put into the food they’re buying as well. They gain a sense of trust with the vendors that carries into transactions. Trust can lead to friendships such as the ones Siciliano has mentioned. 

One customer, Emma Eisenveil, recognizes vendors from her area at different markets, including Terhune Orchards. Terhune Orchards sells a variety of fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables, but they are also a winery. “I visit there kind of frequently,” she says. Some customers at the farmers market were asked if they had a favorite vendor or two. “Inside the Columbus Farmer Market there is a toy store,” Leia Acosta says. “I think that’s one of the nicest memories I’ve had because the woman was very sweet to me— she still is.”Acosta explained that when she was growing up, her dad would give her a little bit of money to spend at this toy store almost every weekend. “I saw that as my Toys R Us,” she says. It was clear that she thought of this vendor as a significant part of her childhood. 

Building a space of familiarity can be important for both vendors and customers, several people at the farmers market said. Trusting someone enough to buy groceries from them creates a bond. Being close to a vendor doesn’t necessarily mean knowing how many pets they have, who their uncle is, or being invited to a family wedding. But, for regular customers, it’s still nice to know something about the person who is putting food on their table. 

The Stonewall Monument Is Falling—and Trump Pushed It

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By Norman S.

During the month of June, protest signs bounce up and down.
“Trans Rights Are Human Rights,” one of them reads.
Parades light up streets all across the United States.

Now flash forward five years: That same sign is blacklisted. Celebrating anything that strays from the “norm” is criminalized.

Sound scary? That’s the path we’re currently on.

The Stonewall National Monument—located at the site of a New York City bar—is dedicated to the uprising that sparked the LGBTQ+ rights movement in the 1960s. Before Donald Trump’s second term, the official government website for the site openly described this history using terms like “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual,” and “transgender.”

Today, “bisexual” and “transgender” have been removed.

The Republican Party has increasingly framed the LGBTQ+ community—especially trans people—as predators targeting children and women. This harmful narrative is being used to justify systemic rollbacks. And the quiet deletion of LGBTQ+ labels from government platforms is just the beginning.

There is precedent for this. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, anti-Japanese xenophobia surged. President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded with Executive Order 9066, creating military zones on the West Coast and forcibly relocating Japanese Americans to internment camps under inhumane conditions.

The parallels to today’s political moment are hard to ignore.

Trump and other conservative leaders regularly label LGBTQ+ identities as threats, using slurs and dehumanizing language—words like “mutilation,” “trap,” and “she-male.”

If this framing continues unchallenged, displacement or even criminalization may follow.

Removing terms like “transgender” and “bisexual” from government websites is not just erasure—it’s a warning.

If these dominoes fall, the gay and lesbian communities could be next.
And after that, all of our personal freedoms may be on the line.

Diversity Isn’t Just a Buzzword—It Changed How I See the World

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By Dominic T.

As I scanned my high school cafeteria, I, like every other freshman in America, anxiously wondered where I would fit in.

The difference was, when I looked at all my potential lunch companions, I didn’t just see students from countless religions, races, backgrounds, and economic statuses. I saw scholars, athletes, artists, musicians—completely unique individuals.

That experience, and many others like it, helped me realize something important: diversity isn’t just a feel-good checkbox. It’s essential to communities across the country.

The benefits of diversity aren’t just subjective—they’re measurable.

In a 2014 Princeton University study, researchers asked groups in Texas and Singapore to price stocks. They found that diverse groups were 58% more accurate than non-diverse groups. In other words, diversity improves how we solve problems, how we collaborate, and how we perform.

This applies to the workplace, too. Every culture has something valuable to bring to the table—economically, socially, and intellectually.

Diversity also saves lives. A study conducted at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that patients from non-white backgrounds often receive worse care from predominantly white medical centers. But when diversity among medical professionals increases, patient outcomes improve.

That’s because when people feel seen, heard, and understood—especially in essential settings like hospitals—they thrive.

I know this from experience. Out of 362 suburbs in Illinois, my hometown of Romeoville ranks number 31 in diversity. Growing up, I never saw my classmates from other cultures as “different”—it just felt normal.

As an agnostic person, I learned about religions like Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam directly from my peers. Their openness helped shape how I think, and helped me better understand the values people hold.

Diversity isn’t something you check off on a college application.
It’s a force that opens your mind, expands your empathy, and builds stronger communities.

The cultural richness of my hometown made me who I am. I believe everyone deserves the chance to grow up in an environment like that—because it doesn’t just change how you see the world.


It changes how you move through it.

Even MAGA Wants the Truth: Trump’s Broken Promise on the Epstein Files

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By Selah D.

Trump promised to release the Epstein files if elected—but now, he’s refusing to follow through.

Liberals and MAGA supporters seem to disagree on almost everything, but when it comes to the Epstein files, they’ve found rare common ground. While many Americans see wrongdoing and injustice in the Trump administration, it’s uncommon for Trump’s own right-wing base to feel the same.

That’s what makes this different. The Epstein files are one of the few issues causing noticeable disillusionment among his most loyal supporters.

But the Epstein files are just one of many examples where Trump and his administration have contradicted themselves or been caught in lies.

What’s revolutionary about this moment is that even his own party is upset. The backlash from the right may mark a turning point in how much trust President Trump still has—even within his base.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump was asked directly whether he would declassify the Epstein files. He responded:

“Yeah, yeah, I would.”

This wasn’t the only time he made the promise. He also brought it up on a podcast with Lex Fridman and during a radio show with Will Cain. On the latter, he said:

“It’d be interesting to find out what happened there.”

But two weeks ago, when asked by reporters about the Epstein case, Trump backtracked completely:

“I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody.”

Why did he suddenly change his mind? Did he ever mean it in the first place—or was it just another campaign ploy to gain support?

These are the questions that explain why even his supporters are starting to lose trust.

Trump is a liar—and always has been.

The Hidden War Within: How Tribalism Splits Nigeria

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By Richard F.

Divide is part of human nature. We divide ourselves based on hair texture, gender, skin color, religion—but one that surprised me the most as I was growing up was dividing by tribe.

I am Nigerian, born and raised to embrace our rich and diverse culture. I thought different tribes, languages, and traditions were what made us strong. But the older I became, the more I realized how deeply tribalism had shattered the very pillars of our nation.

Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groups, yet the most densely populated—Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo—dominate national politics and overshadow our shared identity. The roots of this division lie in colonization, when external forces arbitrarily drew borders across Africa, grouping together vastly different peoples into one country. Nigeria was not born as a nation; it was created as a colony. And the scars of that project remain.

Still, while I acknowledge the role colonization played, I also believe the current generation must take responsibility. Tribalism exists today because we keep perpetuating it—not because colonizers are still here.

I’ve seen it within Nigerian churches here in America, where adults tell children to “only marry Yoruba,” or discourage friendships along tribal lines. These are not harmless preferences; they are seeds of division, disguised as tradition.

Some Yoruba people even pride themselves on having “never been slaves,” using this as proof they are superior to other tribes. But no history is entirely pure. Such myths only breed resentment.

We’re taught to treat each other as “other,” even though we share the same national anthem, the same flag, the same future.

My Nigerian-ness cannot—and should not—be defined only by my tribe.

It is time to break the cycle. We, the youth, must consciously reject the stereotypes passed down to us. We can honor our traditions without using them as weapons.

We may have inherited tribalism, but it does not have to be our legacy.

AI Can Do the Dishes—But Leave the Writing to Us

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By Emmy M.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, once wrote on Reddit that we must not lose compassion behind computer screens. Yet his company has stolen art and writing from millions of people to power its software. This brings up the question: Is the use of AI ethical?

It’s not. But in an age of technological advancement, we’re forced to adapt to this new tool.

AI has become appealing because many use it as a shortcut—to get ahead. But Artificial Intelligence has its place, and it’s not in the arts or humanities.

“I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and writing—not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes,”
wrote Joanna Maciejewska in an Instagram post, later quoted in an article on Medium.

AI can be amazing for organizational and computational tasks. It’s efficient and powerful. It’s a great tool. But the truth is—it’s not going away anytime soon, and we must approach it carefully.

To feed its database for ChatGPT, OpenAI claimed that if content was online, it was fair game—including pirated, paywalled, and private material.

This logic has justified the theft of work from millions of artists and writers, all without permission. AI platforms now allow access to their creations, often at the cost of their livelihoods.

In September 2023, the Author’s Guild filed a class action lawsuit against OpenAI for copyright infringement.

In its complaint, the Guild wrote:

“Defendants [at OpenAI] knew that their ‘training’ data included texts protected by copyright, but willfully proceeded without obtaining authorization.”

During the case, ChatGPT was prompted to generate an outline of Mary Bly’s novel This Duchess of Mine—a copyrighted work—which it did without permission.

Thankfully, the Author’s Guild won the case. But others haven’t been so fortunate.

Meta was also sued for copyright infringement by authors such as Richard Kadrey—and Meta won the case. That, along with another pivotal lawsuit involving AI company Anthropic, marked key legal wins for Big Tech in the AI space.

The consequences of using AI for the arts and humanities are clear: it threatens to destroy them. If it continues, these fields will no longer be profitable—and no longer human.

This new form of rampant digital theft could permanently reshape media and culture, wiping out opportunities for creators altogether.

As users of these tools, we have a moral obligation to protect artists, writers, and the humanities in our communities.

TikTok, Fetishization, and the Weaponized ‘Oxford Study’

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By Yullianne L.

Picture this: you’re a young Asian woman on TikTok, vlogging GRWMs and lip-syncing to songs. Everyone is supportive of your platform—until you show your white boyfriend.

Suddenly, your comment section is flooded with one phrase: “Oxford study.”

The phrase refers to an academic study out of Oxford University that examined how TV advertisements shaped perceptions of romantic relationships between white men and Asian women. The study concluded that Asian women are disproportionately sexualized and objectified—but it’s been misquoted online to claim that Asian women “prefer” white men.

That so-called “finding” has taken on a life of its own on social media.

This trend—an oversimplification at best and a dangerous distortion at worst—shows how the degradation and racialization of Asian women is normalized on TikTok.

The Oxford study didn’t prove desire or preference. It revealed patterns shaped by algorithmic suggestion and historical power dynamics. It showed how Asian women are often reduced to tropes of being submissive or exotic. These narratives didn’t emerge overnight—they’re rooted in media portrayals and colonial histories.

Nowhere is this more misleading than on TikTok, where the narrative has morphed into a toxic trend. Videos featuring Asian women and white men often go viral—not in celebration of love, but because they reinforce the tired “white savior/exotic Asian girlfriend” trope.

The comments that follow push these toxic narratives even further, turning actual people into caricatures for clout.

This dynamic is baked into the platform itself: TikTok’s algorithm rewards content that conforms to stereotypes while burying or punishing content that challenges racial or gendered norms. Meanwhile, Asian women who speak out against this fetishization are often labeled ungrateful, angry, or divisive.

The “Oxford study” has been weaponized to justify the very thing it tried to condemn: the ongoing objectification of Asian women, valued only through a white lens.

We need to call this out for what it is—not “preference,” but another face of misogyny, wrapped in pseudoscience and likes.

From Candidate to Target: How MAGA’s Attacks on Zohran Mamdani Reveal Their True Ideology

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By Rania S.

How did Zohran Mamdani go from little-known state lawmaker to MAGA’s public enemy #1?

Since the beginning of the young mayoral candidate’s campaign, he’s faced a wave of attacks not only from challengers in the New York City race but also from national political figures. Even Donald Trump weighed in, calling Mamdani a “communist lunatic.”

Since launching his campaign in late 2024, Mamdani has taken the country by storm, sparking mass online support—and just as much outrage. At first, backlash focused on his self-identification as a democratic socialist. Socialism is an ideology unfamiliar to many Americans, which leaves room for fear. And because Mamdani is vying to run the largest city in the country, that label hasn’t been taken lightly.

But the hate directed at Mamdani is no longer just about his leftist politics—it’s now about his faith.

Conservative online personality Charlie Kirk has been one of Mamdani’s loudest critics. More recently, however, the focus of Kirk’s attacks has shifted. On June 24, Kirk tweeted:

“24 years ago a group of Muslims killed 2,753 people on 9/11. Now a Muslim socialist is on pace to run New York City.”

The xenophobia only escalates from there. Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles even suggested deporting Mamdani—despite the fact that he is a U.S. citizen.

Compare this to Bernie Sanders, also a democratic socialist, who launched his first presidential campaign in 2015. Though Sanders faced widespread backlash, it was never as hateful or personal as the pure venom Mamdani is receiving in a local race.

This shocking animosity reveals something deeper: Islamophobia is back on the rise—and stronger than ever.

When corruption is rampant and conflict ever-present, the Republican Party has once again chosen to weaponize fear of the unknown. Just as they did during Trump’s presidency, they’re using Islamophobia to divide Americans—only now, the target is even more localized.

More Than a Tan Suit: How Racism Shapes Presidential Respectability

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By Diego G.

Evil comes in many forms: the removal of healthcare from vulnerable Americans, the erasure of marginalized and oppressed peoples, or—worst of all—a tan suit.

No matter the issue, few things stick out more to the American public than the face behind it.

August 28, 2014, was pivotal for this reason. During the then-age of flower crowns and UGG boots, a tan suit worn by President Obama was deemed a national offense. Ironically, that fashion “crisis” somehow overshadowed Obama’s actual press conference about military plans in Syria. Whether it was deemed “unpresidential” or just “inappropriate,” America collectively decided: we’ll talk about ISIS later.

The ecru suit—typically worn in warmer, semiformal settings—seemed to symbolize another unspoken taboo in American politics: non-whiteness, something that many may have subconsciously linked to being “unprofessional.” If it were truly about the suit, why didn’t Donald Trump’s navy blue attire at Pope Francis’s funeral draw similar outrage?

But it didn’t—just like the current administration’s bizarre AI-generated TikToks portraying Trump as a golden idol or Obama being arrested didn’t either.

Since then, Donald Trump has refused to lower the flag after Senator John McCain’s death, and built a reputation around erratic tweets and a shocking digital footprint. He’s become less a symbol of professionalism and more of a reality TV character. Yet, somehow, Obama’s tan suit lasted longer in the public imagination than many of Trump’s actual political scandals.

That begs the question: What makes a Black man presidential—if someone like Trump can act like an estranged Kardashian and still merit the title?

This isn’t to say Obama’s presidency was without controversy. But unlike international arms deals or scandals, the most iconic media frenzy of his term was…the color of his suit.

Systemic racism doesn’t always announce itself loudly. It hides in plain sight—beneath standards, between expectations, and along the blurred lines of who is deemed “professional” and who is not.

Yes, Black Americans are often told they must work twice as hard to be treated equally. But two times zero is still zero. Without respect, privilege stays intact. And suits are still expected to be black.