Letter From The Editor
April showers bring May flowers
If I’m being honest with everyone reading this, I hate writing my Letter From The Editor. I used to be good at it, trying my best to finish a week before publication so I could focus on other things. Now, it’s production day, and I’m sitting here typing this, not knowing exactly what to write about.
I struggle with writer’s block, partially when it comes to these letters, but also just — in general. I love writing. I love how it makes me feel to create. It’s one reason I like production days; they are hectic and time-consuming, but watching editors work on their respective layouts — it’s always enjoyable.
A part I grapple with in my letters is repetitiveness — not knowing if I’m just saying the same exact thing in each letter. I should remember, but I don’t, and my ADHD might be to blame for that.
One thing I won’t forget to mention is that this week, you can vote in the Associated Students election via Corsair Connect. Voting in any election, local or not, is beneficial to our communities — educating yourself on candidates and the message they want to express through their campaign can help you make informed decisions.
Change begins at a local level. With our school facing a huge deficit, knowing who you put in positions of power is crucial for future decision-making, and the future of Santa Monica College.
Election voting ends on April 9. Make sure to cast your votes on Corsair Connect!
(L-R) Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsair Editor in Chief Katie Easterson and Managing Editor Sofia Kieser pose for portraits outside the SMC science building in Santa Monica, Calif. before hosting an Associated Students Candidates’ Forum on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Elizabeth Bacher | The Corsair
(L-R) Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsair Editor in Chief Katie Easterson and Managing Editor Sofia Kieser pose for portraits outside the SMC science building in Santa Monica, Calif. before hosting an Associated Students Candidates’ Forum on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Elizabeth Bacher | The Corsair
Corsair Editors
Editor in Chief
Katie Easterson
Managing Editor
Sofia Kieser
Photo Editor
Elizabeth Bacher
Assistant Photo Editor
Tom Rosholt
News Editor
Kayjel J. Mairena
Assistant News Editor
Patrick Conlon
Arts & Entertainment
Editor
Kyla Downey
Culture Editor
Nastassia Melendez
Opinion Editor
Jaqueline Martin
Sports Editor
Ciara Burris
Copy Editors
Scarlett Mendez
Harley Morgan
Maria Lebedev
Design Editor
Scarlett Mendez
Multimedia Editors
Jenna Tibby
Tim Sim
Raphael Lopez
Social Media Editors
Jeffrey Berrios
Mollie Bishop
Staff Writers
Front Cover
Protesters brought all sorts of signs to the “No Kings 3” rally on Palisades Park at Ocean Avenue and Montana Avenue on Saturday, March 28th, 2026, in Santa Monica, Calif.
Guillermo De La Barreda | The Corsair
Inside Cover
A Santa Monica College student practices Chinese calligraphy at the Chinese Culture Club during Club Awareness on the SMC main campus on Thursday, March 26th, 2026 in Santa Monica, Calif.
Guillermo De La Barreda | The Corsair
Back Cover
Santa Monica College Diving Corsair and 2018 Youth Olympics
Gymnast Karla Perez squeezes her towel before her front 2 ½ tuck dive from the one-meter board at the Western State Conference No. 3 Swimming and Diving Meet on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the SMC Pool in Santa Monica, Calif. Perez won gold for her team in the competition.
Silke Eichholz | The Corsair
Advisers
Gerard Burkhart || Photo Adviser
Sharyn Obsatz || Writing Adviser
Samantha Nuñez || Social Media Adviser
Harley Morgan, Alexandra Gorgij, Kollin Zullo, Malaika Kamau, Christine Muñoz, Leo Williams, Izabel Enrique, Natalia Zabala, Addison Koepke, Kayvon Nili-Esfahani, Cam Brewster, Sean Mendoza, Caelen Perkins, Maria Isabel Carias, Victoria Cue, Vicki Mehdizadeh, Joanna Rivas, Paola Carrasco, Alejandro Contreras, Milca Lopez
Photographers
Andrew Starnes, Victoria White, Jinhao Tian, Guillermo De La Barreda, Silke Eichholz, Karina Custodio, Jordi Garcia Sosa, Michael Diebert, Tori Campbell, Juliana Frame, Maria Lebedev, Katelynne Dubeau, Gregory Hawthorne, Kantapong Wongjirasawad, Masie Najafi, Danny Sanchez, Ada Greatrix, Masanori Aguayo
Social Media Staff
Roxanne Solar, Clarissa Moreno, Cayman Carter, Donnisha Mukes, Gia Rush, Darlene Cabanillas, Seandrea Brady (nicole), Tiwana Floyd
Santa Monica’s Multi-Generational ‘No Kings’ Protest
Caelen Perkins || Staff Writer
Thousands of protesters ranging from 99 to 2 years old, gathered for a “No Kings” protest at Palisades Park in Santa Monica.
Overlooking the Santa Monica pier, “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer played from inside a white tent. Thousands of people, ranging from senior citizens to toddlers, attended the Santa Monica Democratic Club’s “No Kings” protest at the Pacific Palisade Park on March 28, 2026.
The DJ kept the protesters’ feet moving and their bodies shaking. Hundreds of people of all ages continued to arrive, holding signs of various shapes and sizes and cheering on the people dancing as they passed by.
“The most scenic No Kings in the country is this one,” said John Katz, organizer and president of the Santa Monica Democratic Club. “You can look out and see the ocean, you can look at the palm trees, and it’s a beautiful 75-degree day.”
Katz said this was the third No Kings protest the club has organized, and the success was an accumulation of the previous two.
Under a large, shaded tree, two street musicians played “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie, while a mother swung her toddler daughter in circles. Children climbed trees and played tag, dodging and weaving around protesters' legs on the green grass. While the kids played, their parents mingled and supervised, calling them back when they strayed too far.
Sean Rosenberg said he brought his 2-year-old son, Oelsen, to the protest so that he could start to understand social problems, solutions and his role in shaping the country at a young age.
Protesters dressed up brought all sorts of signs to the “No Kings 3” rally on Palisades Park at Ocean Ave. and Montana Ave. on Saturday, March 28th, 2026, in Santa Monica, Calif. The protest was part of a nationwide movement opposing policies of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Protesters brought all sorts of signs to the “No Kings 3” rally on Palisades Park at Ocean Ave. and Montana Ave. on Saturday, March 28th, 2026, in Santa Monica, Calif.
Guillermo De La Barreda | The Corsair
Guillermo De La Barreda | The Corsair
“Being engaged is not a concept, but it’s a part of American life and it always has been,” Rosenberg said. The 2-year-old, Oelsen, held a bubble machine gun in one hand and a small handmade sign that said, “Kings? No thank you!” in the other.
Some people brought their children, and others brought their parents. “We don’t want Trump,” said Muriel Bates, a 99-year-old Santa Monica resident. Bates came to the protest in a sequined American flag top hat, accompanied by her daughter Vivian Bates, and her chihuahua, Bino.
Michelle Grant, vice president of programs for the Santa Monica Democratic Club, said she and co-chair Leslie Bracker organized the “democracy fair,” comprising 12 organizations including Indivisible West LA, Field Team 6, L.A. Guild of Reproductive Health and Santa Monica Great Park Coalition. Each organization had a table shaded by a large fig tree, where they handed out pamphlets and doughnuts, and helped residents register to vote.
Grant and Bracker worked with the Santa Monica Police Department to close three blocks of Ocean Avenue, from Idaho Avenue to Alta Avenue along Palisades Park.
“The point of this protest is strength in numbers,” Grant said. “We need to show this administration that we care, and that people are listening and watching. We are going to come out and vote in November and get some power back.”
Steve Schmidt, a former Republican strategist, headlined the event. Schmidt told the crowd they had a responsibility as Americans to defy what they believe is morally wrong.
“This generation of adults in America cannot tolerate handing to our country a legacy where a man implicated in the abuse and rape of little girls is able to function with impunity.”
- Steve Schmidt
Schmidt’s speech ended the protest at 1 p.m. After he finished, the crowd cheered and lined up to shake his hand.
“We have no place to compromise on the idea of ‘Should we have a king,’” Schmidt said. “We have to defy it, we have to oppose it, we have to stand up to it. When July 4th comes, let it come with a defiant spirit for all of your hearts.”
Protesters listen to political strategist Steve Schmidt’s speech during the “No Kings 3” rally on Palisades Park at Ocean Ave. and Montana Ave. on Saturday, March 28th, 2026, in Santa Monica, Calif.
Guillermo De La Barreda | The Corsair
Protesters with signs gather for the “No Kings 3” rally on Palisades Park at Ocean Ave. and Montana Ave. on Saturday, March 28th, 2026, in Santa Monica, Calif.
Guillermo De La Barreda | The Corsair
Oelsen Rosendburg, 2, left, and twins Logan, center, and Aurora Sullivan, right, 2, play with bubble machines and hold a mini protest sign at the No Kings protest at Palisades Park in Santa Monica, Calif., on March 28, 2026.
Caelen Perkins | The Corsair
Steve Schmidt, political strategist and co-founder of the Lincoln Project as well as the Save America Movement, addressed a crowd during the “No Kings” rally at Palisades Park on March 28, 2026, in Santa Monica, Calif.
Guillermo De La Barreda | The Corsair
Santa Monica College Corsairs hosted the Western State Conference No. 3 Swimming & Diving Meet on Friday, March 27, and competed against visiting Ventura College Pirates, Los Angeles Valley College Monarchs, College of the Canyon Cougars, and the Citrus College Owls.
The women Corsairs finished once in first place, four times in second and three times in third, with 99 points scored from 20 entries with an average performance of 315.9.
The men’s team scored 119 points from 30 entries with an average performance of 310.6, earning three firstplace, two second-place and five third-place finishes. The women and men Corsairs ranked third overall.
The event kicked off at 10 a.m. with the diving competition, limited to the 1-meter diving board only, which earned the women Corsairs their first top finishes. Karla Perez placed first, Jodi Globus second and Cindy Canseco fifth. Corsair Christian Ventura also placed fifth, earning the first four points for the men’s team that day.
In the absence of SMC diving head coach Ryan King, swimming head coach Brian Eskridge said, ‘‘We got five divers, which is nice. Nice score, a lot of points. There are not a lot of divers
SPORTS
Corsairs
make a splash with strong Led by standout diving performances and strong home meet into a preview of conference
Silke Eichholz || Staff Writer
at this level. So having divers gets you a lot of points.”
Perez’s parents, Arelis Blanco and Juan Perez, and her younger sister, Jimona Perez, cheered in the stands. Her father recorded her dives and they immediately analyzed the videos after to see how she could improve on her next round. Jimona Perez said that her sister started diving two years ago and was previously a gymnast. Before diving, Karla competed in the 2018 Youth Olympics, where she represented the nation of Guatemala and won a bronze medal.
“She’s very good. She’s going to compete to win the State Championship this year,” said Eskridge. “She set our school record on both the three-meter and the one-meter already.”
After the diving competition ended, the attention of the spectators switched to the relays and individual races in the pool.
In the men’s individual events, Ronan Suarez won the first gold in the 1650 long-distance freestyle.
Corsairs swept the 200 breaststroke event with Riley Taizo Amis winning gold, followed by Zinadin Rosales earning silver with a personal best and Anton Olsson taking bronze. Nazaret Argueta placed fourth and Gabriel Munoz seventh.
Rosales also won bronze in the 200 individual medley, and Munoz, competing for the first time in the 400 IM event, placed third as well. Daine Lira, another competitor in the 1650 freestyle, also placed third.
In the relay events, both men’s 400 medley swim teams placed at the top. The first team of Suarez, Amis, Rohan Lee and Rosales won gold, while the second team of Casey Stockton, Argueta, Lira and Ricardo Parseghian earned bronze.
In the 400 freestyle relay, the team of Amis, Olsson, Rosales and Lee won silver, and the team of Olsson, Suarez, Lira and Argueta placed third in the 800 freestyle relay.
Stockton raced twice for a personal best in the 200 backstroke, placing sixth and in the 100 freestyle, finishing ninth. Rigo Juarez Pastrana also improved his personal best.
Amis, a biology major, said, “For the conference in about three weeks, I think I am feeling really good… as a
Both gold winning, SMC Swimming & Diving Corsair Rohan Lee (left), competes in the Men’s 400 Medley Relay one-meter board. Corsair Anastasia Rho (bottom right) swims as anchor in the Women’s 800 freestyle relay placing
SPORTS
strong showing at WSC Meet No. 3 relay squads, SMC swimming and
diving turns a conference and state potential.
Writer and Photographer
team, I think we are in a good spot to maybe get a couple of teams, a couple of relays in conference and states.”
In the women’s individual events, Isabella “Izzy” Montgomery raced twice for silver in the 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly. Montgomery missed gold by 0.27 seconds behind Abigail Chatalyan from Los Angeles Valley.
Ashley Gonzales placed third in the 200 breaststroke and reached a personal best.
In the women’s 400 medley relay, the
team of Anastasia Rho, Gonzalez, Montgomery and Isabella Garcia won silver. The second team of Daniela Prado Cota, Leslie Alvarado, Liette Espinoza and Juniper Erin Kim placed fourth.
Bronze was earned in both the 400 freestyle relay by Espinoza, Ornella Dubuche, Gonzalez, and Cota, and in the 800 freestyle relay by Montgomery, Garcia, Dubuche and Rho.
Corsairs Alvarado, Kim, Garcia and Rho all recorded personal bests in various events. Rho said she experienced some
back issues and swam through the pain.
Montgomery, a sophomore and a political science major said, “My goal is to get first place in all my events. Probably gonna swim the 100 fly, 200 fly, and maybe the 100 IM, or the 200 back. For the 200 fly, I’m definitely aiming for a 2:15 time as my time, and then the 100 fly, I want to get under a minute.”
Having the meet at SMC encouraged families and friends to attend. Stockton’s mother, Katie Sweeney, refers to herself as a “groupie” who also travels to see her son and his teammates compete.
Rho, a nursing major, said “I think the team spirit is good. I think today was fun, having people’s family and friends here. I think everyone did really well and we were cheering each other on. The divers did amazing. As usual, yeah!”
Eskridge explained that there are 10 teams in the Western State Conference and that every SMC athlete will participate in the conference meet, which determines the conference champion as well ase who qualifies to compete for the state championship in mid-April. SMC hosted the WSC last year, and this year it rotates to
Los Angeles Valley College.
Eskridge considers the meet’s race training. “It doesn’t really matter who wins these meets. It’s all about the conference and state championships… you want to put up good times. A lot of it is race training. They’re s wimming a lot in practice and then going straight to a meet and learning to swim tired. It’s been good,” he said.
When asked whom to look out for, Eskridge said, “On the boys’ side, Riley Amis. He’s probably gonna qualify for state and Rohan Lee. He was a state qualifier last year. And then our relays, for the boys, they have a good shot at making state, too. On the girls’ side, Izzy Montgomery, she’s a returner. She was a state qualifier last year and conference champ in the 200m butterfly.”
Lee had not swum in a few weeks prior to the meet due to a shoulder injury but did participate in a few events.
The swimming and diving Corsairs will next travel to Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa to compete in the OCC Invite on Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4.
Silke Eichholz | The Corsair
Relay swimming butterfly, and Karla Perez (top right), a 2018 Youth Olympics Gymnast, dives from the placing her team third on Friday, March 27, 2026 at the SMC Pool in Santa Monica, Calif.
Join The Club
Hundreds of students gathered on Santa Monica College’s main campus quad Thursday, March 26, for a club awareness event, where dozens of clubs recruited new members.
The event brought together a wide range of student organizations, each offering a glimpse into their culture, interests and values.
Live Oaxacan and Sinaloense style music from the Bandalos Corsarios could
“We’re here because it’s important for cultural awareness,”
-Guzman
be heard throughout the quad, and club president and musician, Arthur Guzman, spoke on the importance of representation.
Guzman said, between songs. When asked
about why playing this style of music was important for the students at SMC, he said, “I don’t see any of that here.”
Nearby, the Barber Club drew attention not only for its spin-the-wheel game offering free haircuts, but for its friendly dog, Ghost. “I want to bring people the same joy I feel when I’m with my dog,” Yusuf Hana said when asked about his companion. Hana shared his passion for his craft, his mentors, and a little-known campus resource: a student-run salon where haircuts are available for $10.
A member of the Santa Monica College club The Oaxacans of SMC, blows bubbles as students engage during Club Awareness Day on the main campus on Thursday, March 26th, 2026 in Santa Monica, Calif.. The club brought a ‘banda’ to perform live, along with traditional candies and artisanal objects.
Guillermo De La Barreda | The Corsair
Nastassia Melendez | Culture Editor
ARTS & CULTURE
Randy Bonilla, cuts hair for Santa Monica College student Cam Brewster during Club Awareness Day Kantapong Wongjirasawad | The Corsair
ARTS & CULTURE
traditional Chinese candy to any student that wold stop by.
“I love the teachers,” Hana said, “especially Miss Mange.”
At the Japanese Language and Culture Club Associations table, students focused on accessibility and support for anyone interested in the language or culture.
“We have native speakers, and new speakers,” said Vice President, Damara Powell. “If you’re in a Japanese class, feel free to come join.”
JLCA also offers hands-on help. “We can help you with your homework if you need,” she said, noting recent activities like practicing tongue twisters “to kind of help people with enunciation.”
The Geography Club offered a broader lens, encouraging students to think about land, culture and history in new ways. “Maybe you’re into geography,” said member Kenneth Beckford, who hopes to be a city planner one day, “or you might be interested in knowing about cultures who utilized the land, such as a river for agriculture.”
For Cameron Stephenson, the appeal is his passion for maps, including their differences in scale: “there’s a ton of different map projections, the common one is the Mercator projection,” he said. “It makes Greenland the size of Africa.”
The Business Club highlighted professional growth alongside learning.
“It’s a really good way to get to know other people, and connect with others who are in the same major,”
- Tjahyadikarta
said Co-President, Margareth Tjahyadikarta.
“You’re also learning from all the guest speakers that are coming in,” Tjahyadikarta said, “and learning from their experiences.”
Community-building was a central theme across the event. The Black Collegians Club emphasized connection as a foundation for student success.
“It’s so important to feel connections, and build community,” said treasurer Xenia Porter. “This just gives me more opportunities to meet people I wouldn’t necessarily run into.”
Porter also stressed awareness of campus resources. “We want to be able to make sure students know their resources, know more about the campus, more about what’s around for them. That’s so important.”
The Adelante Club echoed the value of building relationships. “That’s our goal here: for you to make new friends,” said co-secretary, Vanessa Gutierrez. “We welcome anyone,” Gutierrez says, “everyone’s opinion matters here in our club.”
A Santa Monica College (SMC) student practices Chinese calligraphy at the Chinese Culture Club during Club Awareness Day. The Chinese Culture Club also offered
Guillermo De La Barreda | The Corsair
ARTS & CULTURE
“Latinos are a really part of a big part of the U.S.,” she says, noting that representation remains central to their mission and “representing where they’re coming from, and where the roots are.”
Cultural awareness was also at the forefront for a newly formed Muslim Club, sharing a table with the Middle Eastern Club. Mehdi Hidouche, displaying his father’s 50-year-old Quran, spoke about how the club, though only about 10 members strong, emphasized how even small numbers have an impact.
“If you want to join, you can learn more about Islam,” Hidouche said. “Since a lot of people don’t really talk about it
out here, it’s better for us to tell you, coming from a Muslim.” The Chabad Jewish Student Club also centered on how cultures can be marginalized through misrepresentation, and spirals of silence that perpetuate misinformation, underscoring the importance of these clubs.
“This club is important because it gives Jewish students a community, and a safe place to go to, and just feel very welcome and supported,” said President Rebecca Hauptschein.
All across the quad, students centered on a simple but powerful idea: if your culture isn’t represented, create the space yourself and invite others in.
Club Banda Corsairs plays music at the Club Awareness Day Their music spread throughout the event and event helped to hide the sounds of nearby construction. Tori Campbell | the Corsair
Bandalos Corsarios, a band, performs as part of the Oaxacan Club during Santa Monica College Club Awareness Day.
College
plinary performance artist
Arts & Culture
Rafa Esparza: Brown the Experiment
The Santa Monica College Art Department brought Mexican-American artist Rafa Esparza to campus for a special event held at the SMC Student Services Center Orientation hall.
Christine Xolotl Muñoz and Masie Najafi || Staff Writers
“Ifind myself time traveling when I am making art,” Rafa Esparza said. “My relationship to adobe comes from my relationship to my family. Learning how to make adobe was something that I asked my father because I missed our friendship and his guidance, and he taught me.”
Esparza is a first-generation Mexican American and multidisciplinary performance artist who resides in Los Angeles. Many SMC students are able to relate to his experiences of being the first in the family to navigate the college experience.
“Hearing Esparza’s journey reminds SMC students that community college is the first step toward growth and a place to explore interests and creativity. Esparza’s work engages contemporary topics that are of interest to SMC students, including Brown queer identity, challenges to the rigidity of traditional spaces like museums, responses
to policing and surveillance, the impact ICE has had on the Latiné community in Los Angeles, and connecting heritage and personal identity to greater community engagement,” Brianna Simmons said.
Simmons is an art history professor at SMC and attended the talk with her students. “It is so important for SMC students to know that their education, their engagement, their presence truly matters,” Simmons said.
Simmons said Esparza highlighted his transformative experience at community college during his speech and how meaningful it was for him.
“Now he is a renowned artist with exhibitions at museums like the Whitney in New York City and also abroad, such as Diego Rivera’s Anahuacalli Museum in Mexico City,” Simmons said.
Masie
The Santa Monica
Art Department hosted Mexican American multidisci-
Rafa Esparza at a special event held on Wednesday, March 11, 2026.
SMC art history professor Briana Simmons attended artist Rafa Esparza’s talk with her students .
Arts & Culture
“In his talk, Esparza talked about the significance adobe holds for him and showcased his recent artwork connecting Mexican culture to the community today,” Mara Laforte, SMC student and sociology major, said. “I would love to see more artists talk like this on campus. It’s inspiring to hear stories behind the work and feel a connection to the artist instead of watching or reading about them on a screen.”
Laforte sat in the first row prepared to take notes during the talk. She was drawn to the event after taking an art history class at SMC.
“The thing that interested me most about this event was Esparza’s creative scale in using adobe as his base. His range from adobe paintings to adobe floors amazed me,” Laforte said.
SMC Art Professor Robert Huerta took the opportunity to invite Esparza to speak on campus.
“The Santa Monica Associates Lecture Series takes place every year, and I saw it as an opportunity to invite Rafa, whose work aligns with the themes of the ‘Concrete Hope’ exhibition currently on display at Santa Monica College’s Pete and Susan Bar-
rett Gallery,” Huerta said.
Huerta saw Esparza’s story as an inspiration for students, saying “Rafa’s trajectory from a community college to a UC serves as a model for students in the Art Department looking to continue their arts education and develop a professional practice as an artist.”
“I hope that students who attended the event were inspired by the scale that Rafa has taken his work over the span of his career and moved to continue the development of their own ideas in whatever they do,” Huerta said.
Esparza said he wanted to learn how to work with adobe as a way to connect with his father and also challenge the classification of adobe as being only used as a building material to now seeing it as an artistic medium.
Bringing adobe into the museum space was a way for Esparza to challenge who and what type of art can be in those spaces.
“I think it is important for students to experience contemporary artists like Esparza because he is at the forefront of changing paradigms,” Simmons said.
themes of heritage, identity, and other influences that drive his work across a variety of mediums, including installation art, sculpture, drawing, painting, and performance.
Masie Najafi |The Corsair
SMC student Mara Laforte attends artist Rafa Esparza’s talk.
Rafa Esparza discussed
Medina, guitarist and singer of British band I See Orange, performs at Shangri-La on Thursday, Mar. 12, 2026, in Austin, TX, during the South By Southwest (SXSW) festival.
At
Giselle
40, SXSW remains a proving ground for musicians
Written and photographed by Guillermo de la Barreda
ARTS & CULTURE
The longtime Austin festival and conference blended music, film, and technology across the city, reaffirming its role
Every March, Austin hosts South by Southwest, a conference and festival that combines music, film and TV, and interactive media. The event is known for spotlighting emerging and established talent across multiple creative industries. It also serves as a hub for networking and connecting industry professionals and fans alike.
“SXSW still delivers,” said Sean Goulding, senior agent at British music booking agency One Fiinix. “Maybe not at the level of its peak years, when thousands of acts competed for attention, but the heart and soul of the festival remain very much intact.”
Goulding appreciates the level of community and engagement among artists. “I also heard about songwriting camps fostering collaboration, observed bands playing 15 plus shows with relentless hustle, and was especially moved by the artists in the crowd supporting their peers onstage.
I left SXSW with a sense of optimism. Something that can feel in short supply in today’s world,” he said.
SXSW started in 1987 as a music festival. Over the years, it has expanded in scope to include a major film and TV festival and an interactive division focused on technology and innovation. This year marked SXSW’s 40th edition. Due to last year’s demolition of the Austin Convention Center, all three festival tracks ran simultaneously over a single week, creating a more dispersed festival footprint as conference programming was distributed across hotels and venues throughout downtown.
This year, SXSW had a schedule of events that stretched throughout the day for a full week, rather than the usual 10 days of prior editions. Daytime programming featured panels, meetups, screenings, and startup events, while brands and organizations hosted daytime concerts and gatherings. In the evenings, the official music showcases started and continued late into the night, while film screenings and premieres kept taking place. Austin’s fluctuating spring climate became another defining feature of the week’s experience. Weather conditions shifted dramatically throughout the week, starting with mild temperatures in the 70s, to peak near 98 degrees, before cooling into the low 50s.
SXSW has long served as a discovery platform where artists from around
the world perform in intimate venues for industry professionals and fans, hoping to build momentum in their careers. Most arrive either as emerging acts or as somewhat established performers seeking broader recognition. Some return multiple years before breaking through, while others may manage to build steady careers or eventually give up. Past performers who later achieved widespread success include LCD Soundsystem, St. Vincent, Amy Winehouse, Billie Eilish, Metric, Fontaines D.C. and Idles, among others.
Some of the most talked-about artists this year included Lola Young, Swapmeet, Chalk, Basht., Adult DVD, Tom A. Smith, TTSSFU, and Panic Shack. Bands often performed several 45-minute sets each day throughout the week, moving quickly between venues across Austin. Audiences, filled with industry insiders, watched closely as performers presented their work in a setting widely known for music discovery and career exposure.
Stefan Parker-Steele of London’s post-punk trio, Alien Chicks, jumps mid-air while performing at Swan Dive on Monday, March 16, 2026, in Austin, Texas, during the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival.
Kimito, of Japanese electro rock band
The Game Shop, performs at Elysium during Japanese Night on Sunday,
Pedro Perazo, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist of New York-based punk rock band Gogol Bordello, performs at Mohawk on Thursday, March 12, 2026.
Jack Parker of New York-based PONS performs at 13th Floor on Tuesday, 17, 2026, in Austin, Texas.
(L to R) Romi Lawrence and Emily Smith, of Welsh punk rock band Panic Shack, perform at Swan Dive
Tasmin Nicole Stephens, also known as TTSSFU, an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, dances with a fan while singing
Meg Fretwell, of Welsh punk rock band Panic Shack, takes her guitar out as she gets ready to perform at Mohawk
Ryan Gosling Blasts Off With “Project Hail Mary”
Adapted from the novel by Andy Weir, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller deliver a highstakes interstellar epic starring Ryan Gosling and a co-star who’s not so human.
Maria Isabel Carias || Staff Writer
Moving a story from the internal monologue of a best-selling novel to the visual language of the big screen is a notoriously delicate operation — but with the works of novelist Andy Weir, Hollywood has succeeded twice.
“Project Hail Mary” is Weir’s third novel following the smash hit “The Martian” and the moderately received “Artemis.”
In an interview with Grimdark Magazine, Weir remarks how “Project Hail Mary” was initially conceptualized as “Zhek,” a traditional space opera involving aliens, faster-than-light travel and a telepathic protagonist. However, Weir deemed the protagonist as “too boring,” but salvaged aspects of the manuscript for “Project Hail Mary.”
Even before the novel’s release in 2021, film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer secured the film rights to the novel for $3
million and attached Ryan Gosling in the leading role with directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller being hired to direct and write the screenplay two months after the movie’s announcement.
After numerous production delays, the film adaptation of “Project Hail Mary” premiered on March 20, 2026, starring Ryan Gosling, Sandra Hüller, James Ortiz and Lionel Boyce. The film received glowing reviews from critics and general audiences, but how does it compare to other science fiction offerings?
The story begins in a not-so-distant future, where a powerful yet dangerous microorganism known as astrophage is consuming the sun’s energy, which will cause a catastrophic global cooling within 30 years. Desperate to stop the sun’s dimming, a team of three astronauts are sent on a mission
