Author: Siena Bannister

Siena Bannister is an editorial intern at Ms. and a graduate student in the publishing program at Pace University. Bannister graduated Suma Cum Laude from Appalachian State University with a bachelor's in english in 2025. Her beats focus on pop culture and women's activism/health. She is from Greenville, S.C., and now lives in Washington, D.C. Follow her on Instagram: @sienab_13.

From ‘Love Island’ to Election Day: How Close Is the U.S. to Deciding Elections by Phone?

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Five nights a week, millions of Americans vote on Love Island USA with just a few taps on their phones. Yet when Election Day arrives, most still stand in line, mail absentee ballots or travel to polling places. Despite using smartphones to bank, buy homes, file taxes and manage their healthcare, Americans still can’t use them to vote. The contrast raises an increasingly common question: If Americans trust their phones with nearly every other aspect of life, how close are we to trusting them with democracy?

While internet voting already exists in limited form for some military, overseas and disabled voters, expanding it to the broader public remains one of election administration’s most contentious debates. Supporters argue that allowing eligible voters to cast ballots securely from their phones could remove one of the most persistent barriers to participation. Critics counter that convenience cannot come at the expense of election security, warning that no current internet voting system has yet demonstrated the level of security, transparency and public trust required for democratic elections.

Whether Americans will someday choose presidents the same way they choose reality TV winners remains an open question.

What if Women Really Went Back? Viral Thriller ‘Yesteryear’ Deconstructs the Dark Side of Tradwife Culture

What if women really went back? That question sits at the center of Caro Claire Burke’s 2026 debut novel and viral summer read Yesteryear.

At a moment when tradwife influencers are building massive audiences by romanticizing domesticity, submission and “traditional” gender roles, Burke asks readers to imagine what life inside those arrangements actually looks like for the women who lived them—and what rights and freedoms were sacrificed along the way.

Yesteryear follows wealthy, polished (at least on the outside) tradwife influencer Natalie Heller Mills, who has built a carefully curated online brand around nostalgic femininity. But as the fantasy unravels, Burke exposes the gap between aestheticized womanhood and women’s lived experience.