Everipedia Culture Roundup #11: Yoked and Smoked

Sometimes, you have to take a step back to appreciate that we live in a time where you can relate to an event that is happening thousands of miles away from you on the other side of the world. On this week’s edition of Everipedia Culture Roundup, we take a look at the story of teenager William Connolly who went viral for egging Australian politician Fraser Anning who was previously criticized for his insensitive comments towards Muslims during the aftermath of the Christchurch shootings. Morrie Tobin, on the other hand, went much more under the radar, but his role in starting the investigation in the college admissions scandal should not be ignored. Lori Harvey is making a name for herself beyond being Steve Harvey’s step-daughter with her modeling career and being in online tabloids over her dating exploits. Samantha Yap is a career woman at the nexus of media and blockchain and is combining the two to launch her own PR firm. And finally, the book Crippled explores how government policy can have a drastic effect on the most vulnerable in the United Kingdom. Read more about the figures from this week below!

Will Connolly in the process of throwing an egg at Australian politician Fraser AnningWill Connolly (Egg Boy)

Will Connolly, otherwise known as “Egg Boy”, made international headlines for doing what many considered a heroic act in the wake of the Christchurch Shootings. Initially, Australian politician Fraser Anning made comments blaming Muslims for the attacks saying that it highlights a “growing fear within our community, both in Australia and New Zealand of the increasing Muslim presence” Will would find himself at an Anning press conference where he saw an opportunity to make his mark, approaching Anning from behind with camera in hand and egged him in the face. In response, Anning punched the teenager and put him in a headlock. The video would go viral and bring Connolly international notoriety. Campaigns were launched to help fund Connolly’s legal expenses which he redirected to the victims of the Christchurch terrorist attacks.

A picture of Lori HarveyLori Harvey

The step-daughter of Steve Harvey is making a name for herself in her own right. Already signed with the European modeling agency Select Model Management and LA Models in The United States, the 22-year-old boasts over 1 million followers on Instagram where she posts her latest photo ops and moments from her daily life for the world to see. Harvey has been in the news recently for being romantically linked to Memphis Depay, Trey Songz, Justin Combs, and Future. There were even rumors that she was dating Diddy which turned out to be false. Regardless, Harvey’s presence in pop culture will most likely grow as her career moves forward.

A picture of Morrie TobinMorrie Tobin

The Los Angeles-based financial executive and convicted felon was in the news this week for being the domino that led to the fall of the biggest college admission scam in the history of the United States. Facing hefty jail time, Tobin offered federal authorities an initial tip that the head women’s soccer coach at Yale tried to extract a bribe from him in exchange for getting his daughter into college. The tip would lead to the formation of the FBI’s Operation Varsity Blues investigation which culminated in the arrest of 50 people involved in the $25 million college admissions scheme. Prosecutors have called the scheme, the “largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice.”

A picture of Samantha YapSamantha Yap

Samantha Yap is an entrepreneur and journalist whose latest company YAP Global aims to work on the PR and communications of meaningful projects in the blockchain space. Starting her career as a freelance journalist in 2012, Yap has the Special Broadcasting Service, Australian Broadcasting Service, Al Jazeera, SYN Media, and Channel NewsAsia to list in her credentials. Her work has been featured in outlets such as Tech in Asia, Cryptonews.com, Channel NewsAsia, SBS News and ABC News and in 2017 she became a Senior Account Executive at Media & Capital Partners. From her experience, Yap has gained enough knowledge in both the media and crypto space to combine the two together to create her own firm. With things currently quiet in the market, Yap is putting herself and her company in the position to take center stage when interest picks up again.

Crippled Book CoverCrippled

In her book Crippled, British journalist and political commentator Frances Ryan documents the personal stories of disabled people who have to deal with the austerity policies of Britain. These stories include a paralyzed man forced to crawl down the stairs because the council wouldn’t provide accessible housing, the malnourished woman sleeping in her wheelchair, and the young girl with bipolar disorder forced to turn to sex work in order to support herself. The book ultimately documents how the public perception of disabled people changed from compassion to contempt and the effects that it is having on them. Ryan hopes to bring more awareness to the struggles plaguing those who are disabled and to influence the conversation about government policy towards them.

Everipedia Culture Roundup #11: Yoked and Smoked was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.