Rollie Pemberton

1 week ago | hazlitt.net | Rollie Pemberton

Welcome to Mind in Bloom, a column deconstructing current events, music and art. March 2025, Rolling Loud California. An ocean of glimmering phones paints a horizon, piercing the dark stillness of the Inglewood night. A barely perceptible drone sails through a misting of smoke that hangs limply in the air.

2 months ago | hazlitt.net | Chantal Braganza |Richard Warnica |Nour Abi-Nakhoul |Rollie Pemberton

The original title for Scaachi Koul’s Sucker Punch (Knopf Canada), the follow-up to her bestselling 2017 essay collection, One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter, was a translation of a Kashmiri phrase her mother would often hurl in exasperation at Koul and her brother whenever they acted up as children. “Paye thraat.” I Hope Lightning Falls on You.

Feb 27, 2025 | hazlitt.net | Nour Abi-Nakhoul |Richard Warnica |Rachel Gerry |Rollie Pemberton

Depending on where you live in the world and what your principles are, the past year and a half has either been business as usual or one of the most devastating periods of your life. Israel’s relentless massacre in Gaza, which began in October 2023, was initially explained as a necessity in order to defend the settler state from the militant political group Hamas—but has continued long past the point when that excuse could hold water.

Dec 19, 2024 | hazlitt.net | Abhrajyoti Chakraborty |Meg Bernhard |Michaela Cavanagh |Rollie Pemberton

Fifteen minutes into Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’avventura (1960), you sense that this is a movie about lying adults. Anna (played by Lea Massari) is on a yacht cruise with a group of friends near an abandoned island off Sicily. She is lolling about the waves in her swimsuit when she cries that she has spotted a shark. Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti), her architect boyfriend, rushes to her aid and escorts her safely back to their boat.

Nov 27, 2024 | crackmagazine.net | Rollie Pemberton

28.11.24 Words by: Rollie Pemberton Photography: Michelle Helena Janssen Video: David Camarena Production: Julian-Edward Tongol Extra: Ally Edwards Larry June’s health-giving blend of aspirational bars and lifestyle hacks have turned him into something of a life coach for hip-hop heads Bathed in rays of natural light glimmering through the floor-to-ceiling windows of his San Francisco apartment, Larry June wants to show me something. Over Zoom, he flips his phone camera so I can see from his...