Easily Bridget

In HBO Max’s  His Dark Materials , Mrs. Marisa Coulter is easily one of the most enigmatic and terrifying characters in the series. Beautiful, brilliant, and unrelentingly cruel, she exerts control over others—especially children—through manipulation and psychological warfare. But perhaps her most unsettling dynamic is the one she shares with her own daemon: a mute, golden monkey who rarely leaves her side and who suffers beneath the surface of every episode in which they appear together. The golden monkey, unnamed and unheard, is one of the only daemons in the world of  His Dark Materials  that does not speak. While daemons are external manifestations of the human soul, bound to their humans in both pain and emotion, Coulter’s relationship with hers is uniquely disturbing. She physically assaults the monkey. She rejects it. She locks it away. She seems to loathe it. And that loathing may be the key to understanding not only the daemon’s silence, but Mrs. Coulter’s deep p...

                        In his latest move to reorganize and change policy, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced the removal of all sitting members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) on June 9 th .  Kennedy stated, “Today, we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda. A clean sweep is necessary to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science.” The seventeen members of the ACIP were replaced by eight members, four of whom share Kennedy’s anti-vaccine ideology, and all of whom took a critical stance against procedures used during the COVID-19 epidemic. This was not the first change pertinent to vaccines. In an editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Vinay Prasad, Director of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, and Dr. M...

The renewed scientific fascination with psychedelic substances continues to peel back layers of how these compounds transform consciousness—and potentially, mental health. One of the latest and most provocative contributions to this field comes from Dr. Adam Levin, a psychiatrist and postdoctoral scholar at The Ohio State University’s Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education. His new theory, published in the   Journal of Psychopharmacology , suggests that the secret behind psychedelics' power to expand empathy, creativity, and insight may lie in their unique ability to invert the brain’s typical hemispheric hierarchy temporarily. Most people are familiar with the idea of the brain’s two hemispheres having different “personalities.” The left hemisphere is often associated with logic, language, and sequential thinking, while the right hemisphere is linked to spatial awareness, emotional depth, and holistic perception. Traditionally, during normal waking consciousness, the l...

Let’s get one thing straight: your lips deserve their main character moment this summer. Whether you're vibing with a soft-focus matte pout or craving a wet-look shine that screams “yes, I  am  the moment,” there’s a lip plumper ready to bring the drama, without the sticky mess or the mid-party fade. Enter:  About Face’s Blurred Matte Lip Plump  and  Valentino Beauty’s Puffer Gloss . Two different lip energies, one shared goal— plumped-up, hydrated, kiss-me-quick lips . 💋 The Matte Moment: About Face’s Blurred Matte Lip Plump Okay, matte girlies, this one’s for you. If you’ve ever wished your favorite matte lipstick could give you juicy volume  without  that dried-out, flaky finish, About Face heard you and delivered. This is not your basic matte liquid lipstick. It glides on like butter (like, actual butter), gives you that faint minty tingle that screams “plumping in progress,” and then  sets  into the softest blurred f...

The 2025 Met Gala dress code was “Tailored for You,” but judging by the red carpet, it may as well have been “Tailored...but forgot the pants.” From crystal-drenched bodysuits to blazers bravely flying solo, this year’s Met carpet was a formalwear fever dream, with an unmistakable lack of bottoms. Now don’t clutch your pearls just yet (unless they’re part of your look). The pantsless aesthetic has been brewing for years. We first saw whispers of it in 2021, when sheer dresses paired with sparkly panties debuted as a refreshing twist on tired naked dressing. Zoë Kravitz did it best in a Saint Laurent silver slip, gleaming undies. Subtle? Not even close. Effective? Absolutely. Fast-forward a few years, and we’re no longer peeking through mesh to catch a glimpse—we’re looking underwear dead in the eye. By 2022, Kylie Jenner was proudly front row in Loewe briefs, and Julia Fox made a case for lingerie as loungewear... in the grocery aisle. Then came 2023, when Miu Miu de...

Gaslighting: The Silent Weapon of Intimate Partner Abuse There’s a reason emotional abuse is often called invisible. It leaves no physical scars, just a slow unraveling of a person’s sense of self. And one of the most damaging tools in an abuser’s arsenal? Gaslighting. Gaslighting is more than lying. It’s psychological warfare. It's a calculated (or sometimes unconscious) campaign to distort your reality, make you second-guess your memories, instincts, and worth. Over time, it chips away at your ability to trust yourself, and once that’s gone, the abuser doesn’t need to use fists or threats. Control has already been achieved. The heartbreaking reality is that some people are walking into relationships with a need to dominate. Maybe they don’t fully realize it, but their actions follow the same pattern: subtle control, isolation, emotional manipulation, escalating harm. And they often choose partners who won’t be believed. People with mental health challenges, or those without ...