In 2019, “Saturday Night Live” aired a skit about an Irish date show that portrayed contestants as inbred knuckleheads with a reduced worldview and a propensity toward marrying their cousins. And it stood out like a sore thumb. Stereotypes are increasingly being shunned as the lowest form of humor, and remarkable progress has been made […]
As St. Patty’s, er — Paddy’s — Day approaches, we’ve created this handy guide to Irishisms so you at least can sound Irish while doing decidedly unIrish things, like drinking green beer and pinching people wearing the wrong color. Away and boil yer heed = “go and boil your head” leave me alone, or, I don’t […]
Spring forward, fall back. This notion was standardized when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act in 1966, and it makes as little sense now as it did then. The notion was conceived by famous overthinker Benjamin Franklin (to no effect) in 1784 when he penned a satirical piece on thrift. It was […]
Healthy by a Hair As the coronavirus looms, the CDC has issued an infographic advising which styles of facial hair render filtering face masks ineffective by preventing them forming a tight seal with the skin. Here are some key takeaways: The sheer variety of beards styles is staggering, ranging from Victorian farmer muttonchops and Spanish […]
Almond milk is the latest food product to come under scrutiny as a destroyer of the environment and killer of honeybees. But the reality is that almond milk is just one of many manmade food crises decaying the planet’s ecology and eradicating populations of wild pollinators across the globe. The scrutiny surrounding almond milk began […]
Imagine a February without a snowfall. And then imagine a January without any significant snowstorms. Finally, take your mind back to December 1, the date when the last snow of any note fell in our backyard. During that period, the average temperature was 49.6F (historically, the average temperature in December-February is 40F), with an unseasonably […]
Nashville, Austin … Kent County? Rhode Island isn’t necessarily the first place that comes to mind when you think of country music, but it might not be too much of a stretch to associate the two. On the shores of Lake Mishnock in West Greenwich stands an unofficial symbol of the state’s country music scene: […]
The Latest Hollywood-Style Reboot: Hooters Returns For anyone who has ever hung out on Airport Road in Warwick, you’ll be familiar with the rapidly decaying Hooters building adjacent to All Stars Pub. Concerned that the sight will detract from Warwick’s beautiful skyline (and to distract from all his political problems), Mayor Solomon has vowed to […]
It’s not easy being young. Millennials and their juniors face an uphill battle arguably more arduous than any generation has faced since the Second World War. An ever-competitive workforce characterized by low income, long hours and unrealistic expectations of 24/7 loyalty and availability is the norm, with unfavorable rates of interest, legacies of debt and […]
Tomaquag Museum in Exeter, the only institution in the state that focuses on Indigenous culture, history and art, has undergone an internal facelift. New and expanded exhibits include a pottery section featuring acclaimed Indigenous artists Brenda Hill and Diosa Summers, with another showcasing local basketry and beadwork threaded with wampum. The powwow section focuses on […]