Welcome to Pit Perspectives Season 5! Thanks for joining us and returning to the show for our third year.
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Taylor Swift has lived in news headlines for over a decade now. Recently, her Ticketmaster drama and criticism of her private jet usage have ruled her public image, though her new relationship with NFL player Travis Kelce is starting to rewrite the media cycle.

Today we're staying out of the politics and diving into the personal; what do UNC students think about Taylor Swift as an artist, a businesswoman, a girlfriend, a celebrity, and an industry powerhouse?

Students shared both their love of her music and their visceral hatred for the community she's created; some accused her fandom of being just privileged white women and others celebrated her for paving the way for other women in the industry. Some complained that they've heard enough of her breakups and others wished we'd stop treating her as if she's no more than the men she dates.

Today's episode is a short and sweet introduction to Pit Perspectives Fall 2023. But although we aren't diving as deep into history, philosophy, or politics, you'll leave the episode with just as many new questions and curiosities about yourself and your peers.

We end the episode with a question: what does your Taylor Swift opinion say about you?

We'd like to thank Jesse Ainslie for this episode's music. His work can be found here: jesseainslie.com

Pit Perspectives is a student-run podcast. We record your candid and anonymous opinions in The Pit, add commentary and supplementary materials, and create episodes on relevant social issues facing college students at UNC and across the country.

Find us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/pitperspectivesunc/) and online (https://www.pitperspectivesunc.com/).

Support the show

With election day around the corner, UNC students are struggling to balance their interests in their votes: hometown ties or the fight to turn NC blue?

College students today have a unique opportunity to strategize when they take to the voting booth- vote in Chapel Hill or in your home state? Or, don't vote at all? While UNC students expressed an overwhelming excitement for political activism, young people are projected to be least likely to vote in the upcoming election. Why?

What does it mean to abstain from voting?
Has politics in this country outgrown the use of our voting system?
Is voting obsolete?

Today's episode begins with a forgotten moment in NC and US history and an attack on voting rights and democratic government itself: the Wilmington Massacre of 1898. Next, we examine why UNC students do and do not vote. Finally, we examine the philosophical concerns behind our right to vote: are we supposed to act out of self-interest, or with social empathy?

We'd like to thank Jesse Ainslie for this episode's music. His work can be found here: jesseainslie.com

Pit Perspectives is a student-run podcast. We record your candid and anonymous opinions in The Pit, add commentary and supplementary materials, and create episodes on relevant social issues facing college students at UNC and across the country.

Find us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/pitperspectivesunc/) and online (https://www.pitperspectivesunc.com/).

Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FokdCdrJy-6GokbM8Y47imlbUxA5Nfl-Lk1imIoGuW4/edit?usp=sharing

Support the show

Fast fashion, online reselling, and class consciousness are on the rise; how do UNC students feel about today's practices of consumption?

Here in Chapel Hill, students have access to Rumors- a secondhand boutique, Frat Court Flea- a UNC-alumni-run vintage vending event for students, and a Goodwill just a few minutes away. Students also have access to millions of secondhand items on their phones via apps like Depop, Poshmark, and eBay. As social media pressures us to fit in, the rise in the trendiness of thrifting has created pressures to stand out. But, as much as we want to dress like (or unalike) our peers, we're bombarded with a new class consciousness fueled by Gen Z's renewal of environmentalism, marxism, and social justice.

Where does thrifting fit into the puzzle? Some UNC students worry that affluent thrift shoppers are taking away from low-income shoppers who need thrift prices, but others place the moral wrongdoings only with resellers who take from thrift stores and sell online at 100%+ markups.

Today's episode begins with a short history of thrift stores and thrifting practices in Chapel Hill, then, we examine the ethical pros and cons of thrifting, retail shopping, and reselling. Along the way, hear from Marshe Wyche, co-owner and co-founder of Rumors Boutique, and Jennifer Le Zotte, UNCW History Professor and author of Goodwill to Grunge (https://www.amazon.com/Goodwill-Grunge-Secondhand-Alternative-Economies/dp/1469631903).

We end with a question: how should we make decisions about our consumption?

We'd like to thank Jesse Ainslie for this episode's music. His work can be found here: jesseainslie.com

Pit Perspectives is a student-run podcast. We record your candid and anonymous opinions in The Pit, add commentary and supplementary materials, and create episodes on relevant social issues facing college students at UNC and across the country.

Find us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/pitperspectivesunc/) and online (https://www.pitperspectivesunc.com/).

Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MRpFOCpKin22a27R7agx81e6FXPCFcqiDoh1r4NpfIQ/edit?usp=sharing

Support the show