All posts tagged: identity

Is Usha Vance’s Hindu identity an asset or a liability to the Trump-Vance campaign?

Is Usha Vance’s Hindu identity an asset or a liability to the Trump-Vance campaign?

(AP) — Usha Chilukuri Vance loves her “meat and potatoes” husband, JD Vance. She explained to a rapt Republican National Convention audience how their vice-presidential candidate adapted to her vegetarian diet and even learned to cook Indian food from her immigrant mother. That image of her white, Christian husband making the spicy cuisine of her parents’ native state in South India is atypical for the leaders of a party whose members are still largely white and Christian. Her presence at the RNC sparked enthusiasm on social media among some Indian American conservatives, particularly Hindu Americans, although most Indian Americans identify as Democrats. But for all Usha Vance shared about their identity-blending marriage in her speech last month in Milwaukee, which was a little over four minutes, she made no mention of her Hindu upbringing or her personal faith and their interfaith relationship – biographical details that have exposed her to online vitriol and hate. While some political analysts say her strong presence as a Hindu American still makes the community proud, others question whether the …

I Changed My Name Back To My Korean Name

I Changed My Name Back To My Korean Name

Kelly, Melissa, Rachel, Jennifer — oh, I longed to have one of these names as my own. I would’ve even settled for Grace or Esther, which were common Korean American names in the ’90s. By the time I was in fifth grade, I was used to teachers calling me Kim, even though Kimberly wasn’t my name and Kim was my last name. Many stopped asking how to pronounce my real name, Kyunghee, and shamelessly asked if I had a nickname they could use or just assigned me one without asking if it was OK. I wish I could go back and give the young Kyunghee a big, warm hug for how much she endured. I now understand why I stayed quiet and let people treat me the way they did. Most kids, whether they’re from Korea or America or anywhere else, just want to be accepted — even if that means not speaking up about something as important as their name. While my teachers and classmates were calling me whatever was easiest for them, I …

Identity Theft Is a “Kafkaesque” Nightmare. AI Makes It Way Worse.

Identity Theft Is a “Kafkaesque” Nightmare. AI Makes It Way Worse.

This is the story of William Woods. No, not the fake William Woods. The real William Woods. It’s a story that traverses more than three decades, zigzagging from a hot dog stand to a jail with a stop at a mental institution and ending with—well, you. It all began 36 years ago in the sun-drenched streets of Albuquerque, where William Woods was working at a hot dog stand, serving office workers and city dwellers. On an otherwise unremarkable day, his coworker—a large man with dark hair named Matthew Keirans—stole Woods’s wallet. With it, Keirans pilfered not just Woods’s Social Security number but eventually his entire identity. The theft was the seed of an existential usurpation and the beginning of a Kafkaesque nightmare for William Woods. That’s because Keirans had decided to become William Woods to escape his own troubled past. By 1990, Keirans had used the Social Security number to obtain a Colorado ID in Woods’s name; he then opened a bank account (also in Woods’s name) and wrote some checks that later bounced, according …

Milk’s identity crisis – The Atlantic

Milk’s identity crisis – The Atlantic

This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning. Forget “Got milk?”—the new question du jour is “What is milk?” The ubiquity of plant-based alternatives has challenged ideas about what the word means and what it encompasses. And it’s not just oats and almonds that are complicating milk’s identity; the liquid itself is the subject of scientific uncertainty. “If an alien life form landed on Earth tomorrow and called up some of the planet’s foremost experts on lactation, it would have a heck of time figuring out what, exactly, humans and other mammals are feeding their kids,” my colleague Katherine J. Wu wrote last year. Researchers who focus on milk can describe who makes it, where it comes from, and what it does, “but few of these answers get at what milk materially, compositionally, is actually like,” Katie writes. Today’s newsletter doesn’t solve these big milk conundrums, …

EQT snaps up API and identity management software company WSO2 for more than 0M

EQT snaps up API and identity management software company WSO2 for more than $600M

WSO2, a company that provides API management and identity and access management (IAM) services for enterprises, has been acquired by Swedish investment giant EQT. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TechCrunch has learned via sources that the deal values WSO2 at “more than” $600 million, with EQT attaining a “significant majority” stake for the price. WSO2’s products include an open source API manager, comparable to something like Google’s Apigee, which businesses use for building and integrating all their digital services, either in the cloud or on-premises. The company offers tangential services such as API management specifically for Kubernetes, as well as its flagship Identity Server — a little something like Okta — that companies use for managing identity and access functionality in their apps, such as single sign-on (SSO). WSO2, which was founded out of Sri Lanka in 2005, had raised around $130 million in funding from the likes of Intel, Cisco and Goldman Sachs, with its most recent tranche coming via a $93 million Series E round in 2022. An official valuation …

Richard Osman claims ‘everyone’ in industry knows identity of Richard Gadd’s abuser in Baby Reindeer

Richard Osman claims ‘everyone’ in industry knows identity of Richard Gadd’s abuser in Baby Reindeer

Richard Osman has claimed that “everyone” in the television industry knows the identity of Richard Gadd’s sexual abuser, who is depicted by actor Tom Goodman-Hill in the comedian’s hit Netflix series Baby Reindeer.  For those who have yet to watch the breakout drama, which is currently the streaming platform’s number-one show, it’s a semi-autobiographical series based on Gadd’s one-man Edinburgh Fringe show.  © Ed Miller/NetflixRichard Gadd is the writer and star of Baby Reindeer The series follows struggling comedian Donny Dunn, who is relentlessly stalked by a middle-aged woman named Martha after offering her a free cup of tea during a pub shift, forcing him to confront the trauma caused by sexual abuse at the hands of a TV writer named Darrien during the early days of Donny’s comedy career.  WATCH: Baby Reindeer is based on a true story Osman, who is a best-selling author and previous host of BBC’s Pointless, discussed the show on his podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, which he co-hosts with journalist Marina Hyde.  He told Marina that “everyone knows who …

Katherine Ryan admits she ‘lost her identity’ in motherhood – exclusive

Katherine Ryan admits she ‘lost her identity’ in motherhood – exclusive

Katherine Ryan has many strings to her talented bow; comedian, TV presenter, doting mother-of-three, and as I recently learned, she’s also an expert at selling pre-loved fashion on eBay.  When we met at Shoreditch’s luxe Curve Club, Katherine was wearing a glittering Christopher Kane ‘Mercury’ gown complete with a teardrop cutout and all-over crystals.  “I started selling things on eBay in the early 2000s, I totally saw myself as a young entrepreneur,” she said, reminiscing on how she’d use a wire to connect her camera to her PC to upload photos of her clothes.  © Instagram / @ebay_ukKatherine Ryan wears a glittering Christopher Kane ‘Mercury’ gown In a full circle moment, The Duchess star was the host of eBay’s first ever eBay Live event on 1 May, where many of her most memorable on-screen and stage outfits went on sale via the platform. Katherine sat down with HELLO! to discuss everything from refinding her sartorial identity after having children to what her teenage daughter, Violet really thinks of her style.  “In the simplest terms, I …

How unconditional support for Israel became a cornerstone of Jewish American identity

How unconditional support for Israel became a cornerstone of Jewish American identity

(RNS) — Mainstream American Jewish institutions have vociferously condemned the pro-Palestinian protests roiling student campuses, throwing their support behind Israel and labeling all critics, even Jewish ones, as antisemitic. On Thursday (April 25), the head of the Anti-Defamation League went so far as to suggest some of the activists on campus were Iranian proxies. “Iran has their military proxies like Hezbollah, and Iran has their campus proxies like these groups, like Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace,” ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt said on MSNBC. But unconditional support for Israel and for Zionism, the national movement that established a homeland for Jews in Israel, has not always been a given. From the 1880s through to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, American Jewish leaders were ambivalent, if not downright opposed, to the idea of a Jewish nationalism. It wasn’t until 1967 that they began to coalesce behind allegiance to Israel. A new book by Babson College historian Marjorie Feld looks at the long history of American Jewish dissent on Israel, …

how a rock concert for kids sends a powerful message about social identity

how a rock concert for kids sends a powerful message about social identity

Like many parents, the music I find myself listening to has drastically changed since having children. My young children are fans of Andy and the Odd Socks, the band featured in the CBBC show Andy and the Band, and, it turns out, so am I. I won’t deny that I’ve been found singing along to their songs while driving – with empty car seats in the back. When the Odd Socks announced that they were going on tour, I was first in line to buy tickets for my family. I knew we’d enjoy the concert. But I wasn’t prepared to experience something I research in my role as a social psychologist – the formidable power of a shared social identity. My time at the gig reminded me how powerful social identity can be in helping to break down barriers, forge unexpected friendships, and the joy that comes from social connection. The social identity approach is a dominant theory in my field. It argues that we are motivated to categorise ourselves and others into social groups, …

Scotland’s Leader Resigns After Conflicts Over Climate Change, Gender Identity Weakened Government

Scotland’s Leader Resigns After Conflicts Over Climate Change, Gender Identity Weakened Government

LONDON (AP) — Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, resigned on Monday, triggering a leadership contest as the governing Scottish National Party seeks to avoid early elections. Yousaf, whose party has been weakened by a campaign finance scandal and divisions over transgender rights, was finally brought down by his decision to oust the Green Party from his governing coalition because of differences over climate change goals. He was forced to resign after that left him unable to cobble together a majority in Scotland’s devolved regional parliament. With no prospect of victory in two confidence votes later this week, Yousaf quit rather than face defeat. “I’ve concluded that repairing our relationship across the political divide can only be done with someone else at the helm,” he told reporters in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital. “I have therefore informed the SNP’s national secretary of my intention to stand down as party leader.” Yousaf will remain first minister as the SNP tries to choose a replacement who can command a majority in the Scottish parliament. If it fails to do so, …