Latest Stories from Flo
Can child acting ever be ethical?
In a world driven by fame, money, and internet notoriety, is pushing your child into acting inherently abusive? Nickelodeon star Jennette McCurdy certainly wants you to think about it. If you grew up in the late 2000s – and were lucky enough to have a Sky TV dish on the side of your house – you probably spent most of your weekday mornings watching Nickelodeon. Shows like Drake & Josh, Zoey 101,...
Pope Francis apologises for Indigenous residential school system
This week, Pope Francis wore a traditional Indigenous headdress presented to him by Canadian residential school survivors. The statement marked an official apology by the Catholic Church for its involvement in the widespread abuse of Indigenous children. When Chief Wilton Littlechild handed Pope Francis a traditional Indigenous headdress on Monday, years of suffering and institutional neglect were finally addressed. Photographs of the Pope in Native garb have made the rounds on...
Beyoncé removes ableist slur from new album after backlash
The singer’s decision to withdraw the lyric from her new song ‘HEATED’ has drawn a mixed response. Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’, a prodigious, 62 minute cacophony of dance and ballroom culture, has revived us – fawning and jubilant – from the slog of an endless heatwave. As we throw our limbs about to these 16 new tracks, it seems queen Bey can do no wrong. Her devoted ‘Beyhive’ – a legion of notoriously...
Australian senator Fatima Payman’s mission to normalise the hijab
Fatima Payman is the first hijab minister in Australia’s history. In cultivating a positive narrative around the headscarf, she’s determined she won’t be the last. The Australian Labour party announced Fatima Payman as their newest senator in June 2022, and this month she took her seat in the senate as the first woman to wear a hijab in Australia’s government. At just 27, Payman has described her journey as ‘completely...
Alena Wicker is the youngest student accepted to medical school
After completing two degrees – yes, two – 13-year-old Alena Wicker is off to medical school, making her the youngest person ever to do so. Most of us will remember being 13. For Gen-Z, it was a time filled with Tamagotchi and Justin Bieber. Our proudest accomplishments probably involved a particularly successful take on hair gems, or a well-crafted music video taken on our parents’ hand-held camcorder. In any case, these...
Afghanistan’s opioid crisis is only getting worse
Years of persistent poverty and war have turned thousands of Afghan men to drug use. Addiction has been fuelled by the country’s prolific poppy industry. Now, under Taliban rule, the crisis shows no signs of improving. Ebraham Noroozi’s recent look at Afghanistan’s drug crisis paints a morbid picture. Men dying on the hillsides of Kabul, others already gone. Noroozi’s Afghanistan is a country in the depths of addiction and crisis,...
Are white celebrities ‘retiring’ a Black aesthetic?
A recent article by ‘Dazed’ suggests famous white women, most notably the Kardashians, have abandoned the Black aesthetic they’ve appropriated for the past few decades. But can racial and cultural identity be reduced to a ‘look’? And does the white monopoly over global beauty standards show any signs of waning? Side-by-side comparisons of Khloe Kardashian have been making the rounds online, pointing out the sudden disappearance of her infamously large...
‘Friends’ Marta Kauffman apologises for trans misrepresentation
Kauffman has vocalised her regret over misgendering Chandler Bing’s trans parent – played by Kathleen Turner – for the first time. Well, it’s finally happened. After decades of wince-worthy jokes and a cast as white as Wonderbread, ‘Friends’ co-creator Marta Kauffman is addressing the show’s past mistakes. It may be long overdue, but the many controversies of ‘Friends’ – not least the blatant misogyny, lack of diversity, and questionable takes on...
Opinion – the remote working model is worth fighting for
As companies begin to welcome a more hybrid working model, and some scrap working from home altogether, it’s worth remembering what the remote professional lifestyle has changed for the better. Perhaps the biggest sign-post of a post-Covid era is the steady return to the office. Working from home defined the better part of 2020, and remains fundamental to much of the corporate world two years later. For millions of people, it...
‘In the Black Fantastic’ dubbed best exhibition of summer
London’s Hayward Gallery opens a new show featuring 11 artists from the African diaspora and, according to critics, it’s must-see. Kara Walker and Nick Cave are just two of the artists showing in the Hayward Gallery’s ‘In The Black Fantastic’, which opened this June. Curated by Ekow Eshun, chair of the Fourth Plinth (a London-based art commission bringing free contemporary art to Trafalgar Square), ‘In the Black Fantastic’ uses fantasy...
