Lauren Rearick

Despite the surprising amount of unity, laughter, and even a hug that began Friday (February 7) evening’s Democratic presidential primary debate, the night quickly gave way to contention and personal attacks.

Jacob Tobia spent a large portion of their childhood dreaming of working in Hollywood. They grew up in a small North Carolina town and often turned to cartoons as a means of entertainment and escape — but they didn’t always feel represented in the shows they watched. So when the opportunity came to pay it forward for other kids who dream big, and provide the voice of a nonbinary shape-...

More than 200 artists and other members of the music industry have disavowed the retail giant Amazon, after the company announced its inaugural Intersect music festival, which is set to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, in early December.
On Thursday (October 24), a coalition of artists announced the No Music For ICE! petition, Rolling Stone reported. Signed by artists including Speedy Ortiz, Deerhoof, Guy Picciotto of Fugazi, Priests, Downtown Boys, and Hurray for the Riff R...

Brenda Song still remembers the first time she heard that her mother had breast cancer. Fifteen years ago, the then 16-year-old actress, along with her two brothers, received the news, and since then, Brenda's mother has faced cancer three additional times. Although the diagnosis has never gotten any easier to hear, the former Suite Life star has learned how to cope, and she wants others to know they can get through similar difficulties too.
Speaking with Teen Vogue for Breast Cancer Awarenes...

By Lauren Rearick
Rocko’s Modern Life is officially back. Two decades after the show’s series finale aired on Nickelodeon, the talking wallaby and his friends returned to airwaves on August 9, 2019, with a Netflix special. But as viewers of Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling have come to find, not everything in the fictional world of O-Town is the same — and that’s a good thing.
When Rocko’s Modern Life first aired in 1993 on Nickelodeon (which is owned by Viacom, MTV News’ parent company), th...

By Lauren Rearick
For 38 consecutive Fridays, 14-year-old Alexandria Villaseñor has held the same ritual at a bench outside of the United Nation Headquarters in New York City. As the world continues to burn, literally, Alexandria has one thing on her mind: She wants politicians to do their part to stop climate change.
She was first inspired by personal research into the climate crisis after two events altered her life view: she experienced an asthma attack as a result of wildfire during a fam...

By Lauren Rearick
When the National Basketball Association resumes its regular season on October 22, 2019, it won’t be without major changes to how the league approaches how it supports the mental health of its players.
The NBA has unveiled a series of mental health guidelines set to be implemented before the 2019-2020 season, The Athletic reported, but, according to HuffPost the NBA has made continued attempts to offer mental health support to its players since 2015. Initially, a clinical ps...

By Lauren Rearick
For the first time in the company’s 42-year history, Victoria’s Secret cast a transgender model to appear in one of its campaigns. Valentina Sampaio, a model and actor from Brazil, is slated to appear in a mid-August ad, CNN reported. She teased the shoot with a photograph ostensibly taken on set, and tagged the retailer’s younger-skewing offshoot brand, PINK, in the post.
Though neither Victoria's Secret nor PINK has yet to feature Sampaio on any of its own social channels,...

Lacey Baker wants to change the world of skateboarding.
An influx of women and non-binary participants have joined in on the sport over the years, but there’s still work to be done to make skateboarding more inclusive of all those who want to enter it. Lacey, who uses they/them pronouns and identifies as queer, sent a message at the 2019 X Games: It’s time to make space for LGBTQ individuals in skateboarding.
Over the last few years, Lacey’s star has continued to rise. They started out skateb...

By Lauren Rearick
On July 16, 2019, a Pennsylvania school district threatened to place children with outstanding school lunch debt in foster care. Just a week later, the president of the district's board of education defended the decision with some pretty condescending financial advice.

It's been nearly one month since YouTubers Tana Mongeau and Jake Paul surprised the world and announced their engagement. In the days following, attention surrounding the pair hasn't exactly relented, and as Tana tells Teen Vogue, she feels like her life is essentially chaos right now.
Chaos, be it in the form of an unexpected engagement or an attempted fan convention gone awry, isn't exactly a new element in Tana's day-to-day life. If you've spent any time following the 21-year-old over the ...

For two decades, Spongebob Squarepants has delighted and inspired fans with adventures direct from his pineapple under the sea. Since launching on May 1, 1999, the Nickelodeon series has become a cultural phenomenon, spurring a series of beloved memes, an upcoming spinoff series, and even a run on Broadway.
This weekend, Nickelodeon marked Spongebob's 20th anniversary with a television special, and in celebration of the milestone, we're taking a look back, remembering the moments filled with ...

It's the summer of colored makeup, including lashes in every hue of the rainbow and Rihanna's colorful Fenty Beauty liquid liner, and brighter truly appears to be better. But before you go ahead and replace every item on your cosmetics counter with its neon counterpart, you may want to give the label a careful read.
Earlier this week, Estée Laundry, an anonymous beauty-focused Instagram account, pointed out that many beauty brands have recently released neon-colored palettes. In an accompanyi...

The third season of Stranger Things has arrived on Netflix, and as fans continue to note every detail of the new episodes, including Maya Hawke's uncanny resemblance to her parents, some viewers are snapping up all of the Stranger Things-inspired merch. Re-creating the look of your fave character is a lot easier than defeating the Mind Flayer, and if you're looking to rock Eleven's colorful new wardrobe, we've got you covered.
If you haven't consumed the entire season already, or you're not e...

With the continued passage and consideration of legislation that would attempt to ban abortion in states including Ohio, Alabama, and Mississippi, reproductive rights were understandably a focal point during the Democratic Primary debate on Wednesday, June 26.
The mention of abortion, particularly during a presidential debate, is especially significant as the topic has previously been considered something of a lightning rod — and only recently have Democrat lawmakers shifted...