This month’s Mood Ring Radio leans into the cozy, cathartic, and quietly defiant tracks that help you survive seasonal depression with a little more softness and a little more fire. From Florence Welch’s scream therapy to MARINA’s glittery reclamation anthem, consider this your winter emotional support playlist.

After years of chasing plans and posts, I found freedom in slowing down. This is what it means to protect your peace.

This personal column challenges the glorification of nonstop work and argues that real power lies in slowing down, choosing joy, and reclaiming rest.

This month’s playlist leans into that back-to-school energy—the excitement, the nerves, and the bittersweet feeling that nothing will ever be quite the same. Curated by Tricia Chérie and Reilly Marie, Class of Forever blends songs about change, nostalgia, and the friendships that shape us, pulling from every era to soundtrack the messy, magical process of growing up.

Before she was investigating lead pipes and climate injustice, Lizzie Walsh was ghostwriting for Big Pharma. Now the CUNY J-School grad is turning spreadsheets into stories that stick.

From Boyle Heights to the Bronx, “Mood Ring Radio: East L.A. x Nueva Yol” curates the protest anthems of our time. Blending Chicano pride, global diaspora stories, and razor-sharp commentary on ICE, borders, and belonging, these 10 tracks remind us that music doesn't just reflect resistance—it is resistance.

Six months into Trump’s second term, the U.S. feels like a dystopian reality show: floods kill children while disaster funds build cages, famine is weaponized abroad, and justice rots behind sealed files. America’s Villain Era: Season 2 of Trump’s Dystopia asks: is this what we want America to be?

In a world that equates value with virality, what happens to the joy of creating just for yourself? Smriti Mamgain reflects on the pressure to monetize everything, and what it means to return to art, rest, and hobbies without a performance lens.

Journalist and educator Molly Stark Dean reflects on newsroom ethics, the rise of AI, gender disparities in media, and why storytelling remains vital in an evolving digital landscape.

Charli XCX called it first—now “Brat Summer” is turning into a Gen Z-powered political moment. From viral TikToks to Megan Thee Stallion rallies, Kamala Harris’s campaign is embracing the internet’s loudest language. Here’s how the VP became the main character of 2024.

New Blood vs. Nostalgia: Inside Warped Tour’s Gen-Z Reboot June 2025 By: Tricia Cherie If Coachella was your cousin’s Instagram debut, Warped Tour was your older sister’s final MySpace post—chaotic…

New Blood vs. Nostalgia: Inside Warped Tour’s Gen-Z Reboot June 2025 By: Tricia Cherie If Coachella was your cousin’s Instagram debut, Warped Tour was your older sister’s final MySpace post—chaotic, cathartic, and soaked in sweat. For scene kids, it wasn’t just a festival. It was our origin story—our main character era before we even had a word for it. The tour officially called it quits in 2019 with a 25th anniversary blowout—Blink-182, The Used, Simple Plan—what felt like a farewell, not a comma.

In this cultural deep-dive, journalist Tricia Chérie unpacks the eerie predictions of the AI 2027 forecast—where self-improving algorithms don’t just follow prompts, they make the rules. From lovebots to geopolitical arms races, this isn’t science fiction. It’s already here.

Lorde strips it all back — literally and lyrically — in her latest single “Man of the Year,” a raw, gender-blurring meditation on ego death, identity, and emotional rebirth. This isn’t just another pop song. It’s a quiet detonation.

Farah Ahmed didn’t plan on becoming the voice of Arab alt-radio—but now she’s building a soundscape without borders. From Kuwaiti roots to Cypriot airwaves, the Med Mix host is curating psychedelic deep cuts and indie gems across the Middle East. With no filters, no quotas, and absolutely no apologies, she’s creating the kind of radio that doesn’t ask for permission—just your attention.

Princess Superstar helped invent the chaos pop’s obsessed with today. Her new era proves she’s still remixing the rules.

What if activism didn’t need a megaphone? Christine Marie Turner, a Ph.D. candidate in Counselor Education and Supervision at Old Dominion University, is redefining advocacy through everyday acts of empathy and systemic change. From challenging stigmas in mental health to expanding support for BIPOC students, her work proves that quiet doesn’t mean passive—it means powerful.

Mood Ring Radio Raised Voices & Restless Rhythms: Protest Songs Across Generations March 2025 Every month, Mood Ring Radio curates a playlist that reflects the mood of the moment—whether it’s the shifting seasons, cultural waves, or the energy of major events. Co-curated by Tricia Chérie and Reilly Marie, this column bridges generations, mixing the new, the nostalgic, and the unexpected. Unlike algorithm-driven lists, we go beyond trends, pulling from any era to fit the vibe.

Chasing the Gram -REEL VS Real By: Smriti Mamgain There was a time when travel wasn’t about capturing moments—but feeling them. As a teen in Thailand, I stood barefoot in soft sand, the ocean stretching endlessly, honeymooners lost in their own love stories. For years, I held onto that image—Thailand as a fairytale, a place where my own story would unfold.

New Britain, Connecticut. Women welders at the Landers, Frary, and Clark plant. Sourced from the Library of Congress. More: View public domain image source here Civil Rights activist Marianne Wrigh…