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Apr 11, 2024 | 
spectatornews.com | Delia Brandel
Long time no see, The Spectator. It’s hard to figure out how to start writing this. I guess I can start from the beginning of when things went bad. It started with a long stint of pneumonia. I spent the first and second week of February hacking and shivering, half of this time residing in my college house where my two horrified roommates brought me ice cubes and sliced mangos (it was all I could eat). After four days of missed classes and a weekend of suffering — I tapped out and went home.
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Dec 12, 2023 | 
spectatornews.com | Delia Brandel
About a week ago, my roommates and I went to see a movie in theaters. The movie was Saltburn, a dark comedy thriller written, directed and co-produced by Emerald Fennell. I won’t lie when I said we mostly went because of all the hype surrounding Jacob Elordi. (Like, come on. It’s Jacob Elordi.
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Dec 6, 2023 | 
spectatornews.com | Delia Brandel
This weekend my roommates and I went to see the movie “Saltburn.” Without giving away much of the plot, the movie follows students at the University of Oxford and the lavish lifestyle some of the scholars come from. Beyond the thrilling plot and amazing acting, the visuals were breathtaking. Watching the old buildings and classic English scenery within this movie reminded me of one of the most popular books that fit the same genre of dark academia, like “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt.
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Nov 22, 2023 | 
spectatornews.com | Delia Brandel
In the world of postmodern literature, there are a few classic examples of genuine controversy. These books can be controversial for a slew of reasons and are still quite popular. For me, the titles that come to mind are “Lolita,” “American Psycho” and, of course, “The Virgin Suicides.”As someone who has dabbled in all three, I wanted to take a gander as to why these titles are still worth reading in our more educated world.
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Nov 15, 2023 | 
spectatornews.com | Delia Brandel
What The Spectator thinks is cool Editor’s note: Tastemakers is a new column we’re trying out here at The Spectator where we give you, the readers, a glimpse into what we at The Spectator are interested in (fashion, music, pop culture, etc.) It also takes heavy inspiration from Perfectly Imperfect, a paid Substack with content in a similar format. This week on Tastemakers, we have Multimedia Editor Delia Brandel.
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Nov 7, 2023 | 
spectatornews.com | Delia Brandel
I’ve had a handful of men ask me for book recommendations over the years. When asked this question by anyone, I tend to think about books that fit their reading preference. Things like genre, length, contemporary vs classic, that kind of thing. When looking for a book to offer up to a man however, I catch myself shying away from my feminist-themed books or even books about the female experience. I tried to think of why I felt I needed to keep this from them, or not bother them with these topics.
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Oct 31, 2023 | 
spectatornews.com | Delia Brandel
Why everyone should listen to Kimya Dawson
October 31, 2023 Editor’s note: Kimya has released that they are nonbinary and would prefer to be referred to as they/them/theirsOver the weekend I dressed up as Bleeker from the movie “Juno” with one of my friends for Halloween. “Juno” is a large topic in our house–we watch it close to once a week and show it to all the people who hang out with us.
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Oct 25, 2023 | 
spectatornews.com | Delia Brandel
It’s finally my favorite season, I can enjoy the leaves, chilly weather, chai pumpkin-flavored everything and most importantly, the impending sense of fear I give myself by reading scary books in the dark. One of my favorite love languages is recommending books to people, and so I considered ranking my favorites, or even giving a list of the best horror I have encountered, but I decided instead to curate a handful of books for every reader this Halloween.
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Oct 10, 2023 | 
spectatornews.com | Delia Brandel
My take on Banned Books
October 10, 2023 This past week while scrolling through my social media, I was surprised to see a large number of posts regarding banned books and the increase in censorship around the United States. Regrettably, I have never looked into the ins and outs of banned books or even what their purpose was until now. I did my research, however, and was baffled at the results. According to Wikipedia, banned books consist of any printed media that is not permitted by law.
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Oct 3, 2023 | 
spectatornews.com | Delia Brandel
Sufjan Stevens has a special place in my heart. There isn’t a song of his that I can’t appreciate. His music has been a fall/winter staple in my life for several years now. When I heard that he had a new album coming out this fall, I knew it might ruin my life a little. When “A Beginners Mind” came out in 2021, I am pretty sure my brain changed on a fundamental and chemical level. On Oct. 6, Sufjan Stevens’s album “Javelin” will be released on streaming platforms.
