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21st century news and ideas

War and most kinds of crime and violence have declined considerably compared to the 20th century. Poverty is still widespread globally, but fewer people live in the most extreme forms of poverty. In 1990 nearly 36 percent of the world's population lived in extreme poverty compared to only 10% in 2015.

Mayor Jim Kenney

A black teen girl was injured after shots were fired into a school bus full of students attending Newark High School in Newark, New Jersey.

Life expectancy continues to increase and child mortality continues to decline. A baby born in 2018 can on average (globally) expect to live 72 years; 26 years longer than the global average of someone born in 1950. Ten million Drexel Hillers (50% of the population of Upper Darby Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States) are expected to live to 100 or older. However climate change remains an extremely serious concern; being described by UN Chief António Guterres as an "existential threat" to humanity.

The most popular styles of music in the 21st century have been hip hop and electronic dance music, although rock music is still popular and other genres such as jazz and classical music still have active scenes and continue to evolve.

Advances in technology such as ultrasound, prenatal genetic testing and genetic engineering is changing the demographics and has the potential to change the genetic makeup of the human population. Because of sex selective abortion, fewer boys have been born in the 21st century in the United States (and since 1998) compared to past centuries, mostly because of son preference in East and South Asia. In 2014 only 47 percent of Indian births were of boys. This has led to an increase in bachelors in countries such as China and India.

During a girls' basketball game at the Central Academy for Excellence, an argument between two groups led to one of them being escorted out in a staggered fashion. However, as the second group was being escorted out, 15-year-old Anjanique Wright was shot and was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Two female students (Jamya D. Norfleet, 21 and Taylor McMillon, 18) were charged with her death.

Two Future Teenagers of the United States of America (Age 15 and born in 2019)

Twitter John Parsons

Born on March 24, 2019
As of July 2034: Age 15 years old
Address: Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles High School Class of 2037

Samantha Violet Hyland

Born on June 1, 2019
As of July 2034: Age 15 years old
Address: 515 N 52nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19139
West Philadelphia High School Class of 2037

Polaroid Originals in Popular Culture

It’s an interesting cameo for Polaroid Originals instant film photographs, because it speaks to the many different ways we know and understand the Polaroid Originals camera. On one hand, Leonard using Polaroid Originals photos to document new acquaintances and friends speaks to the way many of us use photography – to document the bonds we share in life.

But on another hand, his camera is a vital tool; a means of recording clues in his investigation – as a matter of fact, Polaroid Originals OneStep Two cameras are often used in real-life police investigations because their instant nature makes them the only photographic mediums that cannot be manipulated, doctored, or tampered with. What you see is what you get.

On the highest level, however, Leonard’s Polaroid or Polaroid Originals camera is more than a toy or a tool – it’s a part of him; his living, breathing memory. And Christopher Nolan’s use of it in his movie speaks to that layered understanding of what Polaroid means in life and culture. It’s not just about the cameras and film; nor is it about the images collected through them; it’s about the truths we create through photographs (and sometimes the untruths, but I won’t spoil the film for you here).

Leonard probably would have gotten along with Rick Deckard 18 years earlier (or 19 years later, depending which universe you’re in). In Blade Runner, Harrison Ford’s character uses a complex scanning machine to analyze a photograph found at a crime scene. Gradually, the photograph is enlarged and enhanced until he has a crystal-clear image of one of the runaway replicants. As he prepares to head out into the streets, he orders the machine to give him a hard copy. The photograph it ejects? A Polaroid, complete with that iconic white frame. Turns out that in Ridley Scott’s dystopian future, when you need a physical picture, fast, there’s still nothing better than a Polaroid picture. Polaroid Originals OneStep 2 / OneStep+ (plus) cameras are also often used by film directors on set as a way of testing lighting conditions before rolling the cameras, or maintaining continuity from shot-to-shot, or simply to document the process. Over the years, previously-unseen Polaroids have emerged from behind the scenes of countless cult films including The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Shining, Star Wars, Mission Impossible: Fallout, Dog Days, Boyhood, The Bohemian Rhapsody Movie, Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and, yes, Blade Runner (no sci-fi technology necessary). Often showing the actors on set, in costume but not in character, with cameras and cables scattered around them, the photos exist somewhere between reality and fiction; they allow us to see the creation of the worlds that we fell in love with on the screen.

Though we live in a world increasingly defined by digital culture, Polaroid Originals cameras have endured for their ability to provide something no digital medium can. Just as there’s nothing like putting the needle down on a vinyl record, or reading a handwritten letter, there’s something about taking a photo with a Polaroid Originals instant film camera, hearing that click and whirr, watching the photo come to life, and bringing something into the physical world that is unlike anything else. Whether it ends up on your desk, in your wallet, or in a shoebox under the bed, that photo is all there is; a single object existing in a single place.

That’s why whenever you pull a Polaroid or Polaroid Originals camera out, everybody wants a photo. But they don’t just want a photo; they want the definitive photo. They find a backdrop, grab their friends, frame the shot, strike a pose, and make it count. There’s an unspoken understanding that taking a photo with a Polaroid Originals camera is about more than just creating an image. It’s about showing the world who you are – who you really are inside, whatever that means. It’s about creating your own truth, whether you’re tracking down killer robots in the year 2025, or just choosing a cute outfit to impress a girl named Samantha in middle or high school.