Column: There's more to life than politics

The Editorial Board spent a good 15 minutes debating Greyson Chance at a recent meeting. Fifteen minutes discussing a singer whose most major accomplishment to date is a piano cover of a Lady Gaga song in 2010. Yeah. That happened. And, if we’re being honest, that’s not entirely out of character for our meetings — we talk about pop culture a lot. Our typical routine looks a little something like this:

*Fade in:*

INT. 109 E FRANKLIN ST, CHAPEL HILL, NC, THE DAILY TAR HEEL OFFICES – DAY

*A group of young students and CHRIS DAHLIE are gathered around a circular grouping of tables in the corner of the office. MISHA MARUF, opinion editor, clears her throat to get everyone’s attention.*

MISHA

“Ok, who wants to kick things off?”

CHRIS

“Well I don’t know if you saw it, but this thing is happening in the news and I think we need to address it.”

*Murmurs of general assent*

KENT

“That reminds of me of a thing that reminds me of this other pop culture thing.”

ABBAS

“Isn’t this other pop culture thing great???”

*Murmurs of general assent*

*One man, however, is silently smirking. He is ALEC DENT, tall, a master of meta humor and fond of three-part lists when describing people.*

ELISA

“What’s so funny?”

ALEC

“Oh nothing, I just think this other pop culture thing is overrated.”

*Murmurs of general dissent*

EVERYONE, BUT ALEC, IN UNISON

“WHAT???? This other pop culture thing is amazing.”

SETH

“You’re stupid and I hate you.”

MISHA

“Not liking popular things isn’t a personality trait.”

PAIGE

“This is why we impeached you.”

NOTE: ALEC WAS NOT ACTUALLY IMPEACHED, PAIGE IS LYING

*Conversation devolves into various discussions on topics ranging from what constitutes “real barbecue” to the best One Direction song. Misha probably says something about Florida being great.*

*Fade out.*

We still get to the serious stuff and have insightful conversations and debates on current events, but it just wouldn’t be an edit board meeting without music or movies or something decidedly unserious — often the Kardashian-Jenner clan — making its way into the mix. 

The lighter topics help us keep our sanity during a time when it seems the news is constantly full of depressing stories, and, just as importantly, help build relationships on the Board. Political views have become so central to one’s identity that, according to a recent study performed by Comparitech, nearly 44 percent of social media users have unfollowed or unfriended someone they know because of political disagreement. In our divisive times it’s important to remember that there’s more to life than politics, and, well, I’m running up against my word count now so I think you can figure out the rest.