We all know women’s history should be showcased and celebrated for more than 31 days a year. But each March, Women’s History Month pushes us to dig a little deeper into the history of the women who have shaped our past and our present, and created ripple effects that will likely shape our future. Since last year’s Women’s History Month, we’ve seen many inspiring women create world-shifting change. Stacey Abrams’ encouraging work with Georgia voters turned the state blue. Dolly Parton contributed to funding the Moderna… Read more

In order to achieve any goal, you have to imagine it for yourself first. Yet, some people roll their eyes at the concept of “manifesting.” In her new book WishCraft, Shauna Cummins, a N.Y.C.-based hypnotist and artist, carefully lays out why wishing is really the most important tool in our brain box for harnessing the subconscious mind to achieve our goals. She delves into historical and cultural traditions around wishing (including lessons from her own Celtic roots) and provides instructions for easy rituals you can… Read more

Twitch, the popular video live streaming service, recently faced backlash on social media over its usage of the term “womxn.” In honor of Women’s History Month, the company pledged to begin using the phrase as a means of being more inclusive of its trans and non-binary streamers. “Join us in celebrating and supporting all the Womxn creating their own worlds, building their communities, and leading the way on Twitch,” said the now deleted Tweet. LGBTQIA+ Twitter users didn’t take so kindly to the news, wondering whether… Read more

People who have periods will keep tampons hidden meticulously: being stranded without period products means uncomfortably, embarrassment, and ruined clothes. For people in Mexico City who use tampons with plastic applicators, however, they no longer have the option to hide them. They don’t even have the option to buy and use them. Mexico’s population of 126 million produces 6,000 tons of plastic waste yearly. To minimize their impact on the planet, Mexico City passed legislation banning single-use plastic in 2019. As… Read more

La Chica (French-Venezuelan artist Sophie Fustec) morphs into a magician, a witch, and an alchemist on the bilingual La Loba—dedicated to her recently deceased brother—in order to translate this devastating loss more clearly. “I transform anger,” she spits in Spanish on the visceral title track, over roiling piano and handclaps, “My anger is my strength.” The seven songs are dreamlike yet raw, more pared-down musically than her previous synth-pop works. “I don’t want to dream again/I’m his ghost/I drink your memory and… Read more

If you’ve been waiting for a song that makes you feel seen during these unprecedented times, “Waiting For the World (Tired)” might just become your newest anthem. Candice Hoyes, known professionally as an “artist-cum-activist,” is a woman in jazz wanting to spread the message of Black activism and joy. And she’s doing a damn good job at it. “Waiting For the World (Tired)” is more than just a song that will stick in your head; it’s a mantra that will become embedded into your consciousness. “I wanted to make the type of… Read more

What is the Hyde Amendment and why is it such an obstruction to reproductive justice? Hyde impacts nearly 29 million people of reproductive age by preventing government funds from being used to cover abortions. This staggering number includes individuals on Medicaid, in the military, in the Peace Corps, enrolled in Indian Health Services, and in federal prisons, among others. Illinois congressman Henry Hyde passed the amendment in 1976, shortly after the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling, and very explicitly attached… Read more

“You’re a cheetah, did you know that?” someone said to me. “You have to read Untamed by Glennon Doyle.” Released almost a year ago in March 2020, I had seen the vibrant book cover toted around by many women at airports, at brunches, and on Instagram; I saw Elizabeth Gilbert’s stamp of approval on the back. But it took me almost a full year to read the book that has sold over 1 million copies and was #1 on the New York Timesbest-seller list. Now that I have read it, I can see what the all the hype was about. However, I… Read more

A modern feminist icon, Roxane Gay is a brilliant writer of essays, fiction, comic books, newspaper editorials for The New York Times, and a fantastic newsletter called The Audacity. She is also a writing professor—most recently at Yale— and an editor of anthologies and collected works. Her many books include the celebrated collections Bad Feminist and Difficult Women, and the deeply personal memoir Hunger. And now, Gay has her own course on the streaming platform MasterClass where she’s teaching Writing for Social… Read more

Creating a good biopic can be a hit or miss. Regardless of the identity of the historical figure or entertainer, capturing the complexities of a person’s entire existence can be quite a daunting task — and with The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Lee Daniels both fails and succeeds at capturing her legacy. The film is both visually stunning and masterfully cast. Lead actress Andra Day’s uncanny embodiment of Holiday and chilling vocal performance have rightfully earned her a Golden Globe award this past week, making… Read more

Rapper, poet, and producer Noname is working towards abolishing the police and educating others on Black history — one book at a time. Since she created her online and IRL book club, Noname Book Club, back in 2019, it was announced on Monday, March 1, that Noname and other club members across the nation have come together to provide an official space for the organization. The official headquarters for the club will be an open area that will provide free services such as “political education classes, book drives, a… Read more

In her new book The Barbizon, historian Paulina Bren takes readers deep into the world of New York’s most famous women-only residential hotel. From its opening in 1928 through its eventual conversion to a more standard hotel in 1981, the Barbizon hosted countless icons, including Grace Kelly, Joan Didion, Phylicia Rashad, and Sylvia Plath. (Plath famously chronicled her time as a resident in The Bell Jar.) While Bren’s book is packed with juicy midcentury gossip, it’s also full of lesser-known characters who light up… Read more

The hashtag #KinkTok currently has more than 3.5 billion views on TikTok. Some #KinkToks are harmless reflections of a sex-positive world in which individuals are free to share their unorthodox sexual desires without shame: Dudes dressed up as French maids! Harry Styles licking his lips! A girl listening to “WAP” while eating a breakfast sandwich for some reason! But many others are more sinister in nature, entering a violent territory that may be dangerous for young people coming to terms with their sexuality. The… Read more

New York Times bestselling cookbook author and food equity advocate Julia Turshen has always known exactly what she wanted to be when she grew up. Turshen—who worked with Gwenyth Paltrow, former Food & Wine editor-in-chief Dana Cowin, and contributed to numerous cookbooks before writing her own—says cookbooks have always been essential to her. “As a kid,” she says from her home in upstate New York, “I couldn’t fall asleep unless I read a cookbook before bed.” Her newest release, Simply Julia: 110 Easy Recipes for… Read more

The dream of the ’90s is alive in Moxie. The new film, coming to Netflix March 3, follows a contemporary teen named Vivian as she leads a feminist revolt at her high school inspired by her mom’s old riot grrrl ’zines and music. Based on a YA novel by Jennifer Mathieu and directed by Amy Poehler (who also served as a producer and plays Vivian’s mom), the movie is a heartfelt exploration of growing up and learning how to fight for yourself, with the added bonus of a Bikini Kill-driven soundtrack. “When you’re in high… Read more

Here at BUST, Spring is in the air and a new, more hopeful year has already begun! To celebrate, we’ve got sunny, smart, and super-talented actor Rachel Brosnahan gracing our cover and getting us psyched for Oscar season and the return of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Inside, we’ve got a rad celebration of roller skating, the surprising true story of how Lysol was originally marketed as a feminine hygiene product, an exploration of the Chinese tradition of “Vegetarian Houses” for women who prefer to live with each other… Read more

A powerful R&B singer and songwriter, Andra Day was challenged like never before when she was cast to play the lead in The United States vs. Billie Holiday, a role which won her a Golden Globe award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture. Here, she opens up about her new career path, her new album, and why she actually named herself after Lady Day For Andra Day, portraying her idol, Billie Holiday, came with many challenges, chief among them finding the legendary jazz singer’s voice. “First, was the… Read more

Underground bands are intimately familiar with the DIY grind: spending precious free hours crafting show fliers, practicing hour-long set lists, organizing local showcases for friends and touring acts. Just ask Minnesota's Beebe Gallini: a mix of elbow grease, moxie and sheer enthusiasm has kept their colorful Twin Cities indie scene going (and that was back in the “before times”). When COVID-19 hit the U.S. last spring, artists who had already been spread thin had to ask whether music could still hold a real place in… Read more

A lot has been written on the subject of addiction, but Nina Renata Aron’s unflinching memoir, Good Morning, Destroyer of Men’s Souls, tells a story often overlooked—the story of what it’s like to be in love with a person who struggles with addiction. Aron intersperses her own experiences with historical and psychological context, dispelling misconceptions about the temperance movement, Al-Anon, and codependence. Here, Aron and I spoke about her book, relationships, and motherhood. Your book details the temperance… Read more

In the Survival Skills for Badass Bitches series, writer Melanie LaForce walks you through everything you need to know to survive the outdoors, tough situations, and/or the forthcoming apocalypse. Some disclaimers: Use common sense. If you aren’t 100% sure what it is, don’t put it in your mouth. Don’t forage illegally on public or private lands; check local laws before harvesting. Don’t disturb other organisms (random shrubs are animal homes!) in the process of collecting your food. Take only what you need. Respect… Read more

Natalie Bergman sees gospel music as “the true source of rock 'n' roll.” It's also the source of the Chicago-bred, Los Angeles–based singer’s forthcoming solo debut album, Mercy. Today, Feb. 24, marks the release of the record’s second single, “Shine Your Light On Me.” The song’s accompanying video is a nostalgic, black-and-white fever dream, sparkling with vintage Paco Rabanne sequins and largely inspired by a 1967 performance of “Reflections” by Diana Ross & The Supremes. Bergman enlisted her ex-boyfriend, Jean… Read more

This past year has been especially challenging for everyone. These challenges grow ever more prevalent when it comes to those combatting medical issues, even those separate from COVID-19. As the current pandemic has ravaged the American (and foreign) healthcare systems, other health issues have taken a backseat in the public consciousness. Providing the best possible care for those suffering from COVID-19 should certainly be prioritized during this time; however, major roadblocks have risen regarding women’s health and… Read more

Marlene van Niekerk’s Agaat is a beautiful, complicated epic of agrarian life in South Africa from 1948 onward, and it explores the evolution of a relationship between two women who take care of one another. Agaat, for whom the book is named, is a nurse, farmhand, and nanny essential to the functioning of the farm, Grootmoedersdrift. The complex relationship between Agaat and the woman who takes her in, farm matron Milla de Wet, is the heart and soul of this book. Over the span of decades, love and tenderness are… Read more

I’m exhausted. He’s up there sleeping, and I’ve escaped to the living room couch for refuge. His loud breathing is really getting to me. I love him dearly, but holy macaroni, I need sleep. Over the past decade, I have laid awake and annoyed on hundreds of nights, listening to his breathing for an hour before slipping out to sleep on our daughter’s extra bunk, even on blankets in the hall, anything to escape the noise. Now, I risk the loud stairs to rest, maybe sleep, on the living room couch. We really need to replace… Read more

“In the 1960s, and until very recently, you could not be beautiful and clever at the same time,” Marianne Faithfull said in a 2020 Vogue interview. “If you were pretty, you were obviously just a bimbo. A dolly bird. A sex object. Blah blah blah. And that was obviously why Mick [Jagger] liked me, at least that’s what they thought. But it wasn’t.” Faithfull’s excellent 1994 autobiography, Faithfull, told her side of the story and, after years in development, her story is coming to the silver screen via a biopic of the… Read more

This super simple and very pretty DIY elevates any envelope, whether you’re sending holiday wishes, thank yous, or an extra-special love letter. Enclose your card in an envelope, and seal. Using a hot glue gun, squeeze a dime-sized blob of glue where you want the sealto be (the glue will expand, so less is usually more). Using tweezers, carefully pick up a tiny dried flower (like those used for nail art,available online, or dry them yourself using a flower press or heavy books andnewspaper) and center it on the hot… Read more

While acts of rebellion could be described as techno, a closer listen reveals a wide array of styles under the surface. The album was written, performed, and produced by Colombian musician Gabriela Jimeno, who spent a decade playing in a hardcore band before moving to the U.S. to study jazz drumming and synthesizer design at Berklee. Jimeno brings a raw, political punk sensibility to tracks like “el cielo no es de nadie.” The percussion-forward approach makes her upbeat songs highly danceable (“Everyone told us it’s… Read more

Spare and lonesome, Nomadland follows Fern (Frances McDormand) while she navigates her new life after the loss of her husband and her community. Based on the Jessica Bruder book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, the film offers a documentary-esque peek into life on the road, deftly handled by director Chloé Zhao. After the twin tragedies of her husband’s death and the erasure of her town, Fern dedicates herself to staying untethered. She packs up her rickety van with a handful of valuables — the… Read more

I was supposed to write this article, an interview with Spider-Woman writer Karla Pacheco, almost a year ago. I messed up, but the world is currently kind of on fire, so we're okay. I bring this up to you, dear reader, because the irony of the situation does not go over my head: I messed up writing a story about the amazing Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman, who also at times has great intentions but f**ks up. Pacheco's Spider-Woman run has experienced a couple of setbacks because of the pandemic; however, these setbacks… Read more

She Shreds, founded by Fabi Reyna, has created a safe space for musicians—especially womxn of color—to heal. In 2017, She Shreds Media, initially a print publication dedicated to women guitarists and bassists, started an online challenge that encourages women and non-binary musicians to commit to playing and posting one riff (a 5-minute jam session) a day for an entire month. This January was unlike any other month of riffs, as participants met the #1RAD challenge while our social, economic, and political worlds… Read more

Texans need your help right now. The unprecedented winter storm has millions of people left with no heat, power or even running water for days. The freezing cold is making this a life or death situation — 34 people have died so far — and if you can help, here are a few links to ways to send emergency aid. VENMO:@feedthepeopledallas@mutualaidhou@austinmutualaid@trinitymutualaid@dawaheals DONATE:feedingtexas.orgfamilyplace.orgcrowdsourcerescue.comNorth Texas Food Bankredcross.org Top photo: Gabriella Shery is an… Read more

A former therapist of mine said she used to work as a switchboard operator. Only once, she admitted, did she ever eavesdrop on someone’s conversation: when Lionel Richie was on the line. Technically, I wasn’t eavesdropping on Tig Notaro and Sarah Paulson when I listened to the latest episode of Notaro’s “Don’t Ask Tig” podcast, but thanks to their explosive comic chemistry, it almost felt like I was. The podcast is a new twist on advice columns, where listeners write in with (mostly) serious questions. Notaro—the host,… Read more

Consummate New Yorker Kyra Sedgwick started off in showbiz in 1982 on the classic soap Another World and quickly became a bonafide movie star in films including Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July, Cameron Crowe's Singles, and 2012’s The Possession. She is perhaps best known for her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama The Closer—for which she won a Golden Globe and an Emmy—and now, she’s lighting up the new ABC sit-com Call Your Mother. On her A-List episode of BUST’s… Read more

On February 13, 2021, 22-year-old environmental activist Disha Ravi was arrested by Delhi police for her alleged involvement in the creation and circulation of a digital “toolkit” promoting support for Indian farmers. Farmers, who make up over half of the country’s workforce, have been protesting in Delhi for months in response to controversial agricultural laws that affect the sale of crops, as reported by The Guardian. In solidarity with Indian farmers, leading environmental activist Greta Thunberg shared her toolkit… Read more

When Big Thief’s spring tour was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, vocalist and guitarist Adrianne Lenker decided to use her unexpected free time to take to the woods and record. The result is a duo of albums, songs and instrumentals, whose uniting principle was Lenker’s attempt to make music she describes as sounding “like the inside of an acoustic guitar.” If that means she wanted to capture the instrument’s warm tones and association with intimate, comfortable spaces, then she’s succeeded. Sparer and quieter… Read more

The world of beauty tutorial channels on YouTube is vast. But L.A.-based makeup artist Bailey Sarian has found a way to differentiate herself with her weekly series Murder, Mystery & Makeup. On Mondays, her standard tutorials get a darker spin—instead of explaining makeup techniques and giving product suggestions, she tells a true crime story while still managing to paint a flawless face. Even applying eyelashes doesn’t make her miss a beat. (Don’t worry product fans, she lists all the makeup she uses down in the video… Read more

“Mr. Know-It-All is always right/And I think the only way out of this, is somehow they lose all their power,” multimedia artist Seth Bogart muses on the title track of his second solo LP, summing up the album’s underlying theme (and what the culturally and intellectually evolved children of this hell-world have already figured out): the patriarchal systems in which we are all raised are total bullshit! Men on the Verge of Nothing contains 10 fuzzy, post-punky, poppy tracks featuring a girl gang of guests including… Read more

Petrichor is singer/songwriter/violinist (and one-half of folk duo A Hawk and a Hacksaw) Heather Trost’s second solo album. Trost makes good use of these seven tracks, exemplifying her strong sense of journey and dynamic composition. Although written in 2019, the album is prescient of the current collective experience. Breezy, psychedelic opener “Let It In” declares, “Make the space for yourself/For others/We may not have the chance again.” Meanwhile, “Tracks to Nowhere” is dulcet heartache—a single guitar and layers… Read more

“Blondes make the best victims,” Alfred Hitchcock said in 1977. “They’re like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints.” In Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds, protagonist Melanie Daniels screams as crows, gulls, and ravens scratch at her until she bleeds. Leading lady Tippi Hedren’s horror was real: filming the scene had a traumatic effect on her, and Hitchcock was well aware of it. Like his iconic thrillers, which are chilling through both violence and psychological torment, the story of Hitchcock and Hedren is,… Read more

It’s no secret that the film industry took a major hit in the past year—cinema culture especially so. I spent the past year primarily enjoying older movies, and not really paying attention to new releases as I usually do during non-pandemic times. In reality, that’s quite a loss when considering how many truly idiosyncratic movies have been released online. In particular, the last twelve months have hosted a number of phenomenal films dealing with diverse accounts of contemporary womanhood. Here are ten that should… Read more

When Mary Wilson, founding member of The Supremes, died suddenly on Monday, February 9, 2021, we lost a true legend. Her longtime friend and publicist Jay Schwartz released a statement deeming Wilson “a trendsetter who broke down social, racial, and gender barriers.” Motown Records founder Berry Gordy remembered her as “a trailblazer [and] a diva.” In addition to her multi-decade solo career, Wilson’s name is immortalized in the legacy of The Supremes and Motown Records. Wilson co-founded The Supremes as The Primettes… Read more

This past August, when the Regeneron Science Talent Search announced the recipient of its top honor, it wasn’t just college recruiters who took notice. The winner, 17-year-old Lillian Kay Petersen of Los Alamos, NM, had invented a tool called Crop4Cast that analyzes satellite imagery to predict harvest yields, and nearly a dozen international aid organizations contacted her about using her data to help address food insecurity across the globe. Now a Harvard freshman, Petersen started her climate experiments in the… Read more

Few things are as cliché as a character standing on the edge of a bridge, contemplating suicide, in the pouring rain, before being rescued at the last moment. But these scenes play out effortlessly in the opening chapters of This Close to Okay by Leesa CrossSmith. The narrative bounces between the voices of Tallie and Emmett (our “we’re not in love” duo), which is a fun way to tell the tale of two secret-keeping soon-to-be lovers. Without wasting any time, Tallie convinces Emmett to get a coffee instead of killing… Read more

A frozen dildo, a ghost cat, and a “fucked witch.” Who knew these could all be ingredients to a cohesive film. Director Azazel Jacobs, from The Lovers and Momma’s Man, blends these outlandish pieces into the puzzle of French Exit, a new dark comedy starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges, based on Patrick deWitt’s book by the same name. The film follows Frances and Malcolm Price, a mother-son duo, who dip to Paris with their ever present black cat, after learning that the money from Frances’ late husband is running… Read more

Some of Saturday Night Live’s “Cut for Time” sketches are as noteworthy, if not more so, than the ones that make it to air (here’s looking at you, Kyle “Cut for Time” Mooney). On February 6, 2021, Schitt’s Creek co-creator and star Dan Levy hosted the show, and appeared in clever sketches such as a horny Zillow ad and a realistic “It Gets Better” campaign. But one of the most clever of all, “Men’s Cosmetics,” was cut from the live show due to time constraints and left largely unseen and underappreciated. “Men’s… Read more

At this point in our nation’s history, it’s not hyperbole to say that America is in crisis. Between COVID, mass unemployment, environmental destruction, foreign and domestic assaults on our democracy, the erosion of women’s rights, and nationwide civil unrest sparked by deep systemic racism, this country is crying out for help. But there is hope. The following young citizens—all under 35—are making big strides in their chosen areas of activism. And no matter what happens during this new administration, their inspiring… Read more

If you’ve ever yearned for a healthy dose of feminism in your high school English class unit on The Grapes of Wrath, consider your wishes granted. Kristin Hannah’s new novel, The Four Winds, reads like a feminist rewriting of history, calling out the sexism inherent in our stories of the Great Depression and the Dustbowl. “It was always about the men,” the prologue proclaims. Well, not in this book. Hannah is doggedly attentive to her female characters, punching up the text with great one-liners as her feminists fight… Read more

Both globally and nationally, the worldwide health crisis and resulting economic instability has brought us some of the highest rates of food insecurity we have seen in years. A study conducted by Northwestern University researchers estimated that since the COVID-19 health emergency, food insecurity in the US has doubled overall and tripled among households with children. The research states that low income families have been especially affected, due to a loss of subsidized school lunches paired with a high level of… Read more

Produced by the Duplass brothers (The Skeleton Twins, Safety Not Guaranteed), Young Hearts follows teenage next-door neighbors Harper (Anjini Taneja Azhar) and Tilly (Quinn Liebling) as they embark on their first romantic relationship. Immediately, there’s a naive sweetness to the film — it’s captured in Tilly’s moon dog eyes while he stares at Harper across the library and in the light reflecting off of Harper’s clear braces when she laughs. There's also a complication: Tilly is Harper's older brother's best friend.… Read more

Promising Young Woman, the debut film from actress and Killing Eve showrunner Emerald Fennell, is a divisive movie. It tackles the broad and insidious horror of violence against women, in all its casual and brutal forms, across an intricate plot. A technically precise, beat-by-beat saga of how trauma consumes and destroys, Promising Young Woman takes the rape revenge fantasy genre and gives it an upgrade, told in technicolor vignettes. Fennell knows how this story has been told before and makes it new, shepherding a… Read more