Saturday, June 27

Messaging app Zapshot brings a voice to daily communications for Generation Z

This post was updated Feb. 28 at 9:06 p.m.  A new app is zapping the gap between the internet and interpersonal communication. Developed by Justin Liao, vice president of parent company Ph7, Zapshot aims to eliminate the time spent typing messages online, creating a way for a new generation of social media consumers to more efficiently and intimately communicate, Liao said. Read more...

Photo: Two women wearing blue tie-dye Zapshot hoodies smile together. Ruka Nagashima (right), an alumnus, is the lead marketing intern for the new social media app, which uses voice messaging instead of traditional text chats. She said Zapshot aims to reach a Generation Z audience at UCLA. (Courtesy of Ruka Nagashima)


Album review: Gracie Abrams’ lyrical wisdom in ‘Good Riddance’ exceeds expectations

Audiences are all but saying “Good Riddance” to Gracie Abrams. The introspective minimalist pop artist’s 2021 breakout EP, “This Is What It Feels Like,” left fans thirsty for more of her sweet, cathartic sound. Read more...

Photo: In a slightly distorted black-and-white photo, singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams looks toward the camera on the cover of her debut album, “Good Riddance,” which released Feb. 24.(Courtesy of Gracie Abrams and Interscope Records)


Dating simulator UC Love allows Bruins to experience cross-campus connections

This post was updated on Feb. 26, 2023 at 8:13 p.m.  The virtual UC Love campus could be the perfect place to fall head over heels. Read more...

Photo: Bella Pham (left) and Cole Strain (right) sit on a bench with a laptop displaying the UC Love title screen between them. The two students are the co-team leads on UC Love, a dating simulator web game launched by the Association for Computing Machinery at UCLA’s Student Run Studios project. (Sofia McMaster/Daily Bruin)


Coming-of-age film ‘Mutt’ highlights human connection in chaos of young adulthood

This post was updated on Feb. 26, 2023 at 8:19 p.m. “Mutt” is exploring the complex nuances of navigating long-lost relationships and day-to-day challenges. Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, “Mutt” follows a day in the life of a young transgender man named Feña who is forced to reconnect with his straight ex-boyfriend, estranged father and 13-year-old half sister. Read more...

Photo: Lío Mehiel plays Feña in “Mutt.” The film follows a day in the life of Feña, a transgender man, as he encounters estranged people from his past. (Courtesy of “Mutt”)



Q&A: Actors discuss race for gold, familial relationships in ‘Outer Banks’ season 3

The race for the gold has never been tighter. Streaming on Thursday, the third season of “Outer Banks” finds John B Routledge (Chase Stokes), Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline) and the rest of the Pogues stranded on a deserted island, free to do whatever they want after losing the gold they found. Read more...

Photo: (From left to right) Chase Stokes, Carlacia Grant, Jonathan Daviss, Madelyn Cline and Rudy Pankow stand on a pile of rocks in “Outer Banks.” Season 3 of the Netflix series will premiere on Feb. 23. (Courtesy of Jackson Lee Davis/Netflix)


‘Music and Justice’: Connecting the past and present through music, performances

This post was updated Feb. 22 at 8:29 p.m. Conversations of the past are coming alive in the present at “Music and Justice.” From Feb. 26-28, the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music will present a collection of talks and concert pieces merging conversations regarding social justice, racism and antisemitism with music. Read more...

Photo: From left to right, composer and jazz pianist Dave Brubeck converses with Erich Kunzel and Duke Ellington during a recording session for “The Gates of Justice.” The cantata, which Brubeck wrote in an attempt to unify Black and Jewish communities following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., serves as one of the central components of the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music’s upcoming concert and conversation series, “Music and Justice.” (Courtesy of the Brubeck Collection, Wilton Library)