The fall and rise of Saudi Arabian cinema The tides might be turning in Saudi Arabia. Gender segregation at restaurants has been eased up, music concerts are becoming more accepted, women enjoying greater freedom on the job market, and a 35-year ban on cinemas has been lifted. Since Mohammed Bin
Flat Earthers: What Drives People To Believe In Conspiracies?
If you are reading this, you should know that everything you’ve been taught is a lie. It is a sunny, cloudless day and you and your friends decides to go chill at Lomma beach. You know that the earth feels flat walking across the pavement towards the sand. You will
▶︎ Abrisham Ahmadzadeh: The Kung Fu Panda Obsession
Ever watched Kung Fu Panda? For one of our speakers the film has nearly taken over her life. Abrisham Ahmadzadeh talks about the realism with which the movie portrays Kung Fu practices and Chinese traditions, even though it is an American production – and all of that despite being a
By UPF Webzine
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The Bold And The Beautiful: Beauty Pageants Going Political
Beauty pageants are often associated with sexism and superficial showbiz. They are considered as silly competitions where bikini-clad women make starry-eyed appeals for world peace. At first glance, these contests might seem like something we should be attempting to rid ourselves of in this politically conscious #MeToo-era. However, recent changes
K-Pop as lip-gloss diplomacy
Many North Koreans die escaping their country. Mind you, many North Koreans die not escaping their country too. Without luck, bribery or help from a skilled trafficker, the chances of running across the border and living to tell the tale are very slim. This is especially when you run across
By UPF Webzine
Articles/Culture/Europe/Freedom of Speech/Human Rights/International Relations/Media/Nationalism/Pop culture/Russia
Russia’s Euro-vision for the future
From Finnish rock bands to Portuguese opera singers, Eurovision is the place where once a year Europeans gather and showcase their unique, sometimes strange, yet always entertaining music acts, and there is a level of mutual respect between countries that always shines through our television screens. This year Ireland’s entry,
By UPF Webzine
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Are young people going to change the world?
For decades, young people have been the catalysts for change all over the world. Protests against the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons as well as movements such as the Arabic Spring have all been pushed forward by the young generations. These movements tend to occur together with some core question
The dark side of fast fashion
$64 USD. That’s the average monthly wage for a worker in Bangladesh’s textile industry, which accounts for roughly 80% of the country’s exports, making it the second-largest garment exporter in the world. Five years ago this month, more than 1,000 people died and thousands more were injured when Rana Plaza,
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How The Other 0.01% Lives
“I like ‘Star Wars’ way better. I’m a capitalist. ‘Star Wars’ is the capitalist show. ‘Star Trek’ is the communist one. There is no money in ‘Star Trek’ because you just have the transporter machine that can make anything you need. The whole plot of ‘Star Wars’ starts with Han
By UPF Webzine
Articles/Culture/Europe/Freedom of Speech/Human Rights/Middle East/Nationalism/Pop culture/Women
The moral fashion police
Imagine walking down the street and being stopped by a police officer. You haven’t attacked anyone, stolen anything or caused any harm to anyone, and instead you are being arrested for ‘public indecency’. Such an arrest would make sense if you were nude in public, but wearing trousers and a