We, too, were once in the dark. We didn’t realize we’d never been satisfied until we heard the “Hamilton” soundtrack and immediately followed its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, on Twitter. We then Googled everything about him. 

Suddenly, we were helpless. We were down for the count and drowning in it — the supreme positivity Lin-Manuel Miranda brings to this world. Ahead of the Broadway star’s “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig, we just wanted to shout from the rooftops how lucky we are to be alive right now, in the age of Lin.

PSA: Lin-Manuel Miranda is, obviously, not all good looks. He’s spoken with his father about how proud he is to be a Latino. He collaborated with Jennifer Lopez on a song dedicated to the victims of the Orlando shooting, a tragedy he referenced in his Tonys acceptance speech. He’s been vocal about Puerto Rico’s debt crisis. He’s behind a program where New York high schoolers can see “Hamilton” for $10. He’s just a really cool guy.

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Female photojournalists are risking their lives to cover unfolding conflict and human tragedy around the world, and an exhibition opening in Italy this month is spotlighting some of their most significant work.

Titled “On the Front Line: Women Photojournalists in War Zones,” the show includes 70 photographs by 14 women photojournalists, and runs at the Palazzo Madama in Turin from Oct. 7 to Nov. 13. The featured images document crises taking place around the world, among them: the war in Syria, protests in Egypt, refugee and migrant movement across Europe, and arms smuggling in the Central African Republic.

Every photograph selected for the show shows the photojournalists’ “ability to capture not just an action, but an emotion,” according to the organizers.

Photojournalist Andreja Restek, who conceived of “On the Front Line,” says the show aims to show the diversity in styles and approaches across this group of women photographers, who hail from various different countries, including Italy, Egypt, the United States, Croatia, France and Spain.

“Some of us show the drama of war with a certain tenderness, capturing moments of everyday life. Others are more ‘hard’ and they see the fiercest sides of the conflict,” Restek told HuffPost Italy.

“But we all want to tell, professionally and without hypocrisy, the truth and the difficult moments in people’s broken lives,” she said.

The exhibit confronts the notion that photojournalism is a men-only profession, according to Restek. “There are in fact many women who take on the same job with great strength and courage," she said. 

Scroll down for more photos from “On the Front Line: Women Photojournalists in War Zones.” 

This piece originally appeared on HuffPost Italy and has been translated into English. 

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In a city of millions, Rosie O’Donnell ran into none other than Ivanka Trump in New York City this week. 

O’Donnell has been the target of Donald Trump’s attacks for years now, but when she saw his daughter Wednesday night around 9 p.m. at Nobu, it sounded like their interaction was positive. The comedian tweeted about the encounter after it happened. 

Then, on Thursday, she wrote a more detailed description of the meeting in the form of a poem, which she published to her personal website. The poem detailed her first impression of Trump, who was dining with her husband, Jared Kushner, before she even realized who the two were.

i watch them
stunned by her face
and his calming charm
they were definitely a THEY

obvious for all to see
oblivious to all seeing them
love works like this
i thought

two
so connected
alone together
in a crowded corner

“that is the most beautiful woman i have ever seen”
i say aloud to dana
she turns to look – turns back at me
“that’s ivanka”

can’t be i said
no it can’t be
it is –
she reassures me 

Initially, O’Donnell wanted to leave, but decided to approach Trump. A four-minute conversation unfolded. 

i walked the 5 steps toward her table
introduced myself
she smiled genuinely
her husband was warm and gracious

i told her of my children
some truths about myself
my pain and shame
she was absurdly kind

The moment left an impression on her. 

i wrote a book once
about bashert
the concept of
meant to be

it has comforted me
on my darkest days
when my inner voices scream
u deserved it

as her father has
same as my own

Read the full blog here. 

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly
incites
political violence and is a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-911_565b1950e4b08e945feb7326"> style="font-weight: 400;">serial liar, href="http://www.huffingtonpost
.com/entry/9-outrageous-things-donald-trump-has-said-about-latinos_55e483a1e4b0c818f618904b"> style="font-weight: 400;">rampant xenophobe,
racist, style="font-weight: 400;">misogynist and href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-stephen-colbert-birther_56022a33e4b00310edf92f7a"> >birther who has
repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from
entering the U.S.

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Artist Nick Cave’s work is best described as an explosion of color, texture and noise. Born in Fulton, Missouri, in 1959, Cave is known for his soundsuits ― wearable artworks that can be displayed as still objects or incorporated into wild performances as costumery. 

Drenched in electric hues and hallucinatory patterns ― and marked by their ability to produce sound when individuals like Cave don the elegant objects ― it’s easy to view the suits as whimsical ware. But, according to Cave, the suits are anything but “fun.” 

“They come from a dark place,” he explains in Episode #239 of ART21. In fact, the fashion-infused sculptures originated as metaphorical suits of armor in response to the brutal treatment of Rodney King in 1992. Cave made his first suit shortly after video footage captured the unlawful beating of King at the hands of Los Angeles Police Department officers.

The suit was simple, consisting of a sheath of twigs that rustled as the wearer moved. Cave has since created around 500 subsequent suits, many more decadent than the original. Most, if not all, reflect on Cave’s identity as a black man, confronting his experiences with racial profiling and police brutality.

Cave says that his suits represent his desire to “lash out” in response to personal experiences, as well as sorrowful moments in American history. “And if I do, lashing out for me is creating this,” he explains in the video above, gesturing toward his work. “The soundsuits hide gender, race, class and they force you to look at the work without judgment.”

The “Here Hear” exhibition of Cave’s soundsuits was previously on view at Detroit’s Cranbrook Art Museum, the museum connected with the artist’s alma mater. In a previous interview with The Huffington Post, Cave described the city he once called home as vibrant and alive, but noticeably different from when he last attended school in 1989. He was, he explained to ART21, the only minority there in 1988.

The ART 21 episode above is titled “Thick Skin,” referencing Cave’s suits’ ability to serve as “an alien second skin [...] allowing viewers to look without bias toward the wearer’s identity.” Referred to as “vehicles for empowerment,” the suits stand out amid the 21st century’s array of creative political work, breathing new meaning into the possibility of addressing prejudice through visual art.

Episode #239 of ART21 is dedicated to Nick Cave’s work. Learn more about the artist here. 

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In “Be Right Back,” an episode of the British futurist drama “Black Mirror,” a woman named Martha loses her fiancée, Ash, in a car accident. The young couple had each been active social media users, and, in the world of the episode, that digital footprint enables Martha to recreate her dead loved one. After starting small, holding text conversations with the artificial-intelligence version of Ash, she moves on to phone calls and, soon, a life-sized android. 

The episode aired just three years ago, but a Russian woman named Eugenia Kuyda has debuted a strangely similar project ― without the androids ― detailed in a bittersweet feature published this week by The Verge. 

Kuyda’s close friend Roman Mazurenko was killed in a Moscow hit-and-run car accident in November 2015. After his sudden death, Kuyda took advantage of resources she’d been using to build a messaging app to see if she could recreate her friend’s voice in text. With over 8,000 lines of text messages from Mazurenko donated from friends and family, Kuyda debuted a digital version of her friend through her existing app, Luka, in May. Users could chat with Mazurenko, who was deeply involved in the tech sphere himself, by tagging @Roman.

Kuyda is far from the first to make computers imitate humans. In 2010, Sirius Radio founder Martine Rothblatt unveiled BINA48, a lifelike bust of her wife, Bina Aspen. In 1966, computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum gave the world a program that answered human questions, called ELIZA.

So far, the Roman bot has received mixed responses; some who knew Mazurenko believe it sounds eerily like him, others believe it’s an abomination and refuse to interact with it, The Verge reports. But Kuyda isn’t giving up on a future where computers can speak like humans. 

For the whole story, head to The Verge.

“Black Mirror” returns to Netflix with new episodes on Oct. 21.

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Ava DuVernay knows the power of a fearless woman. 

The director, screenwriter and all-around badass filmmaker recently sat down with Glamour for the magazine’s November issue to discuss her new series “Queen Sugar.” The show, which is co-produced by Oprah, is another example of DuVernay’s active push for greater diversity and female-driven narratives in Hollywood. (And make some all-around good TV, of course.) 

DuVernay told Glamour that it can be challenging to carve out space in Hollywood as a woman, because Hollywood was created by and for men. 

“It’s a patriarchy, headed by men and built for men. To pretend like Hollywood is anything other than that is disingenuous,” she said. “#OscarsSoWhite is trendy, but for women filmmakers and filmmakers of color, it’s not a trend. This is our reality, and it’s important that we do something to change it. We have to find new ways to work without permission, new ways to turn corners and go through doors that are closed off to us to create our own audiences and our own material independently.” 

DuVernay added that the strength and confidence she possesses to go after what she wants comes from her mother:

My mom always told me that I could. From a very early age, I felt comfortable leading. I did not have any problem with speaking up because my mother, my family, my grandmother, my aunt ― I grew up in a family dominated by women ― always encouraged me to do so. And if a girl is unafraid, then the world is her oyster.

We could not agree more, Ava.

Head over to Glamour to read the rest of DuVernay’s interview.  

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A calligrapher in Vancouver is drawing attention thanks to a series of Instagram videos in which she demonstrates her skills.

Vicki Kei Chan started off as a graphic designer but developed an interest in calligraphy while planning her wedding.

She was instantly hooked on this traditional art form, according to her website. 

That was in 2015. Eight months ago, she started posting videos where she shows off her steady hand and artistic vision.

Chan’s calligraphy videos are at once eye-catching and relaxing, and have resulted in increased customer requests, according to BuzzFeed.com.

Chan told the website that she “can hardly believe” the reaction to her work, and that she’s having trouble keeping up with the increased workload.

”It still feels a little surreal,” she told BuzzFeed. “Once in a while, I get a rude comment and it can hurt my feelings, but I’m trying to embrace it. Both positive and negative reactions push me forward.”

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The Netflix smash-hit show “Stranger Things” has already blown away fans of old-school horror films, and the cast is now gearing up to start shooting Season 2.

There’s one question on everyone’s minds as we get ready for the next chapter of Upside Down adventures, though: What happens to Eleven?

The cast and crew have been tight-lipped about what’s to come in the new season. But actors David Harbour (Chief Hopper) and Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) might have dropped a few hints during a panel discussion at New York Comic Con when one fan presented an interesting theory: Maybe Chief Hopper will raise Eleven as his own daughter and future episodes will explore that new and complex dynamic.

Considering the tragic backstories of both these characters ― the death of Hopper’s daughter and the disturbing relationship between Eleven and her father ― that theory actually makes sense. And, in the final episode of Season 1, Hopper is last seen leaving out food from the police station’s holiday party in the middle of the woods, including Eggo waffles, implying that Eleven is still alive despite her dramatic disappearance. 

Harbour did not dismiss the idea, responding, “I will say that there would be a rich emotional arch there for us to explore.” Brown chimed in to say, “It’s all very exciting.” 

We have a hunch about this fan theory and can’t wait to see for ourselves when Season 2 debuts next year.

Don’t know what to watch on Netflix? Message us on Facebook Messenger for TV and movie recommendations from our editors! 

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Iranian-born photographer Abbas has been capturing culture and religion around the world for nearly half a century. In his latest body of work, the photographer takes viewers into the mystical world of Hinduism with stunning effect.

“Gods I’ve Seen,” published in September by Phaidon, was shot over the course of three years in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bali. The photos feature intimate moments of ritual and religious practice, offering a window into the lives of Hindus throughout these countries.

Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion, with more than 1 billion adherents around the globe, according to Pew Research Center. Often considered to be more of a family of religious traditions rather than one discrete faith, Hinduism traces its roots back more than 4,000 years.

From elephant blessings to goddess worship, Abbas captured a number of contemporary Hindu traditions with ancient roots. Scroll down to see a sampling from “Gods I’ve Seen”:

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Nia Lewis knows the feeling of shame so many women experience after being catcalled. 

The young poet brought those feelings to life when she performed her poem “Closed” at an event for the LA-based youth poetry center Get Lit. The poem, which was uploaded to Button Poetry’s YouTube page on Sept. 21, illustrates emotional fallout of being harassed on the street. 

Lewis describes trying to grow up quickly and “walk like a woman,” until the first time she was catcalled. 

“He doesn’t understand that I am 13, he looks at my body and sees curves,” Lewis says. “But the only curve that he should look at is my smile. He looks at me with lust that teaches me nothing about loving my body.” 

Lewis’ discomfort overwhelms her, she tells the crowd:

His words make me uncomfortable. Uncomfortable to wear what I want to wear. Uncomfortable with my body... One simple action can make me feel so small.

She’s tired of not wearing what she wants ― like leggings or yoga pants ― because she doesn’t want strangers to comment on her body.

“Respect me,” Lewis demands. “You must respect that I am a young, intelligent, smart, African American. Respect for my hips lips and breasts. Respect for my hourglass body. Respect for my flaws.” 

As Lewis so eloquently puts it, men need to remember that women are so much more than their bodies. Her silhouette does not define her.

Head over to Button Poetry to watch more spoken word performances. 

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New research, reported on by The New York Times this week, argues that Adolf Hitler once wrote a book lauding himself as Germany’s future savior ― and had it published under another man’s name. 

The short book, Adolf Hitler: His Life and His Speeches, was purportedly written by Baron Adolf Victor von Koerber and published in 1923, well before Hitler rose to power. Von Koerber was a real person, an aristocrat with mainstream conservative bona fides. The Times notes that “[s]cholars have said that Hitler sought Mr. von Koerber out for the biography,” seeking to legitimize himself through the endorsement of an establishment figure. Now, however, documents found in von Koerber’s archives seem to show that Hitler composed the entire book, with the named author contributing nothing but his byline.

Published before Mein Kampf, and before he’d seriously begun jockeying for national power, the book compared him to Jesus and advanced an image of the rabble-rousing beer-hall speaker as a vital force in German politics. 

Obviously, this angle would be way more convincing if someone other than Hitler wrote it ― and research from Thomas Weber, a historian at the University of Aberdeen, suggests the future dictator knew that all too well. “He does not have to expressly say, ‘I want to be leader,’” Weber explained to the Times. “He creates the expectation that others will call him to become the leader.”

Sound familiar? With the wheels greased by technology, a false or illusory identity created to legitimize oneself and gin up support has grown into such a phenomenon it has a name: the sockpuppet. A sockpuppet is a false identity used to attack your opponents, express support for yourself, or otherwise create the appearance of false numbers in your camp. Usually these sockpuppets are entirely fictional, unlike Hitler’s von Koerber; online it’s tricky to prove or disprove the existence of a person behind the Twitter, Reddit, Amazon or Yelp account. (We can thank that for MTV’s “Catfish.”) 

Even before that, a certain businessman-cum-presidential-candidate took the telephone approach to sockpuppetry. Donald Trump, according to reports this spring, used to speak to journalists while posing as a publicist named John Miller or John Barron ― throughout the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. Under this guise, he’d lavishly praise Trump’s attractiveness to women, his financial health, and his all-around excellence. 

But as these reports indicate, sockpuppets often are outed in the end. Trump publicly denied posing as Miller or Barron, but he also admitted to it during testimony in court in 1990.  

Scott Adams, the self-aggrandizing cartoonist behind “Dilbert,” had a sockpuppet scandal several years ago, when he was caught defending himself as a “certified genius” on a Metafilter thread under another name. Several years before that, New Republic critic Lee Siegel was suspended after being caught posing as a commenter in the New Republic forums in order to castigate his haters and swaddle himself in praise. 

From Hitler to the Twitter eggs clogging up your mentions, the intent is the same: To manipulate public opinion by creating a mirage of external validation for the originator.

To be clear: Using a sockpuppet is not remotely equivalent to Nazism ― it’s a tactic, not a governing philosophy or a set of political beliefs. (Godwin’s Law check!) Another caveat comes, in the Times article, from Harvard historian Charles S. Maier, who cautions that this revelation may prove little more than Hitler’s use of a similar approach to many politicians working with ghostwriters on as-told-to biographies. 

“The difference, Professor Maier argued, is that most subjects of ghostwritten memoirs want their own name on the text,” notes the Times. For Hitler, and for sockpuppeteers everywhere, that’s a difference that matters.

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Like a virgin to a candle, rumors of a “Hocus Pocus” sequel have long lit up the internet. Sarah Jessica Parker fueled them once again during a “Watch What Happens Live” appearance on Thursday, saying, “I would love that. I think we’ve all been fairly vocal about being very keen.”

Parker is right. Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy ― the other two Sanderson sisters ― have also expressed emphatic interest in making “Hocus Pocus 2.” Midler said in 2014 that it’s up to Disney, which produced the 1993 original, to get the cauldron boiling. 

I’m not one to encourage Hollywood’s nostalgia obsession, but there may be good reason to revive this particular Halloween staple. In a vintage interview with Entertainment Weekly, Parker said the “Hocus Pocus” we know now is nothing like the one she thought she was making. The original script centered more heavily on the Sanderson sisters, but the studio chose to shift focus to the teenagers who resurrect the witchy trio. 

”I haven’t experienced editing to this degree before,” Parker reportedly said. The EW article indicates she was nearly edited out of the film, despite “weeks” of rehearsal. Considering Parker still appears in a solid chunk of “Hocus Pocus,” even getting her own musical number, I must admit I’d love to see a follow-up that showcases the full extent of the Sanderson sisters’ quirks. If not a sequel, maybe an alternate cut emphasizing the original vision?

”She was, like, Renfield mixed with Lolita mixed with a Shakespearean wood nymph mixed with, like, a 4-year-old with breasts,” Parker said of her character. “It was totally up to me to create her. I understand the choices that they made. I just wish they had left in a lot of the weird moments.”

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The ladies of Twitter never fail to brighten our days with their brilliant ― but succinct ― wisdom. Each week, HuffPost Women rounds up hilarious 140-character musings. For this week’s great tweets from women, scroll through the list below. Then visit our Funniest Tweets From Women page for our past collections.     

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At a recent film screening, I had the uncanny feeling I was watching something with critical relevance to the presidential race ― though it had nothing to do with politics.

The film ― aptly titled “Denial” ― explores the repercussions of the Holocaust and specifically, those who deny its historical truth.

“Denial” tells the true story of American historian Deborah E. Lipstadt, played by Rachel Weisz, who published a book in 1993 called “Denying the Holocaust.” In the book, Lipstadt made references to British Holocaust denier David Irving ― who later sued Lipstadt and her publisher, Penguin Books, for libel. 

Lipstadt decided to fight Irving in court. The trial would be held in England, where the burden of proof rests with the accused. Lipstadt and her lawyers had to prove that Irving was, in fact, a Holocaust denier ― which, in this sad and crazy world of ours, meant they had to essentially prove there was a Holocaust to deny in the first place.

There are people alive today who witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust with their own eyes. If that isn’t enough, there’s also ample historical and scientific evidence to prove the massacre occurred.

But Irving drew “evidence” to disprove the Holocaust from the Leuchter Report, a pseudoscientific document published in 1988 that claimed the gas chambers were used only for the purposes of disinfection and fumigation.

All of this was on the table during the trial with Lipstadt and her lawyers, who were tasked with proving to the judge that Irving was an anti-Semitic pseudo-historian who bent history to suit his own racist beliefs.

Much was at stake. As Lipstadt worries in the film, the trial’s outcome could determine whether or not going forward it would be socially acceptable to believe the Holocaust didn’t happen.

We live in a time when truth doesn’t hold the kind of weight we’re taught it does as kids.

 I won’t spoil the ending for you (though this is a historical film after all, so the trial’s outcome is a Google search away.) But suffice it to say that the Holocaust is rightly accepted as fact by all the characters in the film, except for Irving.

And honestly, I’d expect nothing less. Imagine if David Irving were just one of many truthers out there, casually believing Elvis is still alive, the world is flat and, oh yeah, the Holocaust never happened.

The scary thing is, that is the world we live in. 

We live in a time when truth doesn’t hold the kind of weight we’re taught it does as kids. We live in a time when people can fashion their own personal realities out of bias and bigotry, and it’s not only acceptable to do so, but actually celebrated.

Case in point, the country is facing a first-rate liar and conspiracy theorist as a presidential candidate. The man who could become the next president of the United States is right at home with half-truths and worse ― and his supporters seem equally so.

At a screening of “Denial” in Los Angeles, director Mick Jackson joked that the eerie similarities between Irving’s and Trump’s brands of deceit might make it seem the film was thrown together in the last few months. He has a point.

Just last month a poll released by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling found that a majority of Republicans ― 54 percent ― believe President Obama to be Muslim. Forty-four percent don’t think he was born in the U.S.

This is a delusion Trump himself espoused for months before finally putting the issue to rest in late September in time for the first presidential debate. President Obama, for what it’s worth, provided a long-form birth certificate in 2011 to placate hateful rhetoric surrounding his citizenship.

In a similar vein, David Irving has been known issue public challenges to anyone who could come up with a document proving him wrong. He wouldn’t believe the Holocaust happened unless he could see with his own eyes a paper ordering the execution of millions of Jews, signed by Hitler himself. (Irving later admitted that the Holocaust happened, but maintains that Hitler knew nothing about it.)

Evidence is always important when it comes to shaping our understandings of history and truth. But what motivates our pursuit of truth can make all the difference between fanning the flames of conspiracy and helping society evolve with greater wisdom.

David Irving ― who, by the way, was sent to jail in 2006 in Austria, where Holocaust denial is illegal ― operates from a foundation of bigotry. In evidence Lipstadt’s lawyers presented during the trial depicted in “Denial,” Irving was shown to have written out a children’s diddy in his journal that went: “I am a Baby Aryan/ Not Jewish or Sectarian/ I have no plans to marry/ an Ape or Rastafarian.”

Trump’s entire campaign is equally steeped in bigotry. More broadly, he operates from a place of fear, or as Vice President Joe Biden characterizes it, cynicism. Ultimately Trump believes that all systems are broken (except the ones from which he directly benefits,) and Americans are ready to hand over their power in exchange for some perceived safety.

Come November, we will all be on trial to determine where the moral heart of the heart of the country lies.

Had Irving won his case against Lipstadt, the world might be all the more accommodating of not only Holocaust denial, but the larger racist re-envisioning of history Irving puts into practice.

Likewise, imagine what a Trump presidency would do to legitimize the politics of racism, misogyny and cynicism worldwide?

Both Irving and Trump want us to believe we’ve been duped. Not by the white, Christian men who’ve primarily controlled western politics and society for centuries, but by Jews, Muslims, liberals, gays, African Americans, women and a host of other so-called “agendas.”

Come November, we will all be on trial to determine where the moral heart of the heart of the country lies. Will we choose denial and elect the Trumps and Irvings of the world to represent us? Or will we learn from history ― real history ― and reject isolationism in favor of promoting our collective strength?

I can only hope history will reflect the latter.

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

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This uplifting program is getting young hospital patients in California to boogie down. 

Kids in hospitals across the state are getting free dance lessons, thanks to the nonprofit organization Dancin Power. Instructors with the Oakland, Calif.-based group adapt their lessons to accommodate kids’ physical and emotional restrictions. That way, everyone is able to dance. 

Dancin Power got started in 2006 and has gotten special attention recently, after a video about the organization went viral.

The lessons ― in Hula, traditional Brazilian dance, hip hop and other forms of dance ― are designed to make the children’s days a little brighter.

“For that moment, the patients and their families are able to interact with one another in a non-medical way,” Vania Deonizio, the group’s founder and president, told The Huffington Post in an email. “They are laughing, learning something new, having a good time, feeling happy together!”

The instructors first check in with the hospital to see which patients they’re working with and what restrictions they have. Then the instructors work with the youngsters in groups or one-on-one.

If necessary, classes are held in patients’ hospital rooms ― with special precautions taken to avoid jeopardizing the kids’ sometimes precarious health.

“Sometimes we have kids that are undergoing chemo and have very low immune system and have to be in isolated areas,” Deonizio told HuffPost. “In those cases our Dancin Power teachers then have to wear masks, gowns, gloves to go teach those kids at their bedside.”

Deonizio said it was important to involve the patients’ loved ones as well as the kids themselves.

“We believe when a child is sick, it truly affects the entire family,” she told HuffPost. “By having the whole family, and at times their doctors and nurses too participating, we create community, a very supportive and fun one.”

The classes have a big impact on the kids’ outlook, Deonizio said. The children may be a bit uncertain at the start, she said, but once they get involved “the shyness goes away, and laughter and joy come in.”

Dr. Mai Ngo of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital has seen the program in action. She told HuffPost in an email that it is “one of the most feel-good services offered to patients” ― and that it’s especially helpful to kids recovering from severe injuries.

“Getting them out of bed and into a wheelchair to move their bodies in Dancin Power helps prevent de-conditioning, so their muscles do not get even weaker from immobility,” she explained. “It improves their mood and builds their confidence in the control they have of their own bodies in medical situations when they feel completely out of control.”

And the patients aren’t the only ones who benefit from the program.

“Every time I teach I learn something new from my students/patients,” Deonizio told HuffPost. “[A] few of the most important lessons I take every time I teach is the reminder of being completely present, appreciate the moment, have gratitude and never give up.”

To learn more about Dancin Power, visit their website here. 

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It’s ladies’ night at the New York Film Festival. Last week, Ava DuVernay’s searing race examination “13th” became the first documentary to open the fest. Elsewhere, Isabelle Huppert headlines a dark satire about a rape victim, Pedro Almodóvar’s mother-daughter drama “Julieta” adapts three of Alice Munro’s short stories, and Kelly Reichardt’s “Certain Women” features Laura Dern, Michelle Williams and Kristen Stewart in a triptych about the banality haunting, well, certain women in small-town Montana.

The best of these, “20th Century Women,” which premieres at NYFF this weekend, captures the pliability of life’s expectations at a moment when generations collided and America evolved. That moment is 1979. California’s halcyon hippie days have faded into Jimmy Carter’s proverbial “crisis of confidence.” Second-wave feminism and punk-rock turf wars are enveloped in clouds of cigarette smoke, the nation’s moral morass deciding whether it can still stomach, as the Talking Heads would say, parties and discos.

At least that’s the mood that writer-director Mike Mills captures in the film, a merry and heartfelt drama about Dorothea Fields (Annette Bening), a divorcée laboring over which ideals to impart upon her teenage son (Lucas Jade Zumann). A survivor of the Great Depression with dashed dreams of becoming a pilot, Dorothea had Jamie at age 40. Now she’s a stock-market-obsessed chainsmoker who, when not pondering her past and future, rents out rooms in a spacious Santa Barbara home that’s always under construction. 

One room belongs to a maroon-haired photographer named Abbie (Greta Gerwig). In another resides Dorothea’s handyman (Billy Crudup), a burnout who survived the bygone bohemia of the ‘60s. And every night, like clockwork, Jamie’s thoughtful longtime pal Julie (Elle Fanning) escapes her cold mother and climbs the home’s scaffolding to curl up next to him in bed, raising friend-zone frustrations within the newly horny 14-year-old. Along with Dorothea, these five characters, who take turns narrating the film, form the bedrock of “20th Century Women.” They are varied snapshots, lives filled with the yearning for lost opportunities and the hope for superior possibilities. Their struggle comes in determining how to connect those dots.

Dorothea, who feels she knows her son less well as he ages, has one goal: helping Jamie to mature, specifically in regard to his ideas of women. She wants to protect Jamie from the hardships her marriage endured and from the loneliness that plagues her adult life. Dorothea, who suffers aimlessness and a touch of self-involvement, recruits Abbie and Julie to help, proposing that they agree to raise Jamie jointly while residing under the same roof. That sends “20th Century Women” in several directions, from punk nightclubs where Abbie slips Jamie a beer to road trips where Julie undresses yet still denies him sex. 

Mills, who wrote and directed 2005’s “Thumbsuckers” and 2010’s “Beginners,” crafted a kaleidoscopic script that gives each character both internal and external histories. In a sense, they are all manic pixie dream ladies, with one vital twist: They tutor Jamie on the facts of life while pondering their own drifty trajectories in real time. As one character asks, “How can you be a good man? What does that even mean nowadays?”

It’s a good question, to which “20th Century Women” does not offer a succinct solution. This is a group of people raising queries and attempting to figure out the answers. Each performance is vibrant and alive, particularly that of Bening, who layers Dorothea with both optimism and anxiety. Every line on her face is pained but hopeful. In some ways, Abbie and Julie can only hope to age as well as Dorothea has. In others, they should want nothing less. Those poignant brushstrokes are evident in Sean Porter’s cinematography, which teeters between psychedelia and solemnity. 

Far more than a didactic lesson in feminism, “20th Century Women” is about the comings and goings of our loved ones ― the influencers who bestowed important parables upon our adolescence and the leaders who gave us the benchmarks to move forward with aplomb. Not everything will go well. Cancer will strike, divorce will intervene, distance will prevail, orgasms will be faked. But, as Mills shows us in these characters’ journeys, what matters is one’s foundation ― particularly when there are modern women at the center. 

“20th Century Women” opens in theaters Dec. 25.

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The wedding day passes by in the blink of an eye. That’s why it’s essential to have a talented, experienced photographer there to capture moments big and small.

This week, Fearless Photographers ― a website dedicated to showcasing the very best in wedding photography ― released their new collection of award-winning images. 

After poring over 10,000 entries from photogs all around the world, they arrived at 123 finalists. Below, we’ve compiled 25 of our favorites. 

Visit the Fearless Photographers site to view the collection in full. 

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“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful [women]. I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait,” Donald Trump can be heard saying to “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush in an explicit and uncensored 2005 video recording obtained by The Washington Post’s David A. Fahrenthold and released Friday.

“And when you’re a star they let you do it,” Trump continues. “You can do anything ... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” (Watch the video footage below.)

These comments are among the most lewd and repulsive of what the public has heard the Republican presidential candidate say about women. Americans are well aware that Trump has a history of misogyny, ranging from attacking the appearances of women he dislikes, to shaming a woman breastfeeding, to fat-shaming a beauty queen, to sexually harassing women who worked on “The Apprentice,” to rating women on a numerical scale.

In Trump’s world, women are objects ― objects that only hold a value based on how physically attractive he personally finds them to be. And if women are objects, rather than whole human beings, it follows that Trump must deserve them. Women are things. And when he wants them, he wants them. 

As he says to Bush: “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

This is what rape culture looks like.  

In a statement, Planned Parenthood Action Fund Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens explicitly connected Trump’s 2005 commentary to sexual violence. 

“What Trump described in these tapes amounts to sexual assault,” she said. “Trump’s behavior is disgusting and unacceptable in any context, and it is disqualifying for a man who is running for president of this country.”

Trump shook off the comments he made, telling The Washington Post:

This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course ― not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended.

But whether or not these sort of comments are the “locker room banter” Trump and his buddies engage in ― many men seem to take issue with the idea that this is normal locker room talk ― his comments are indicative of just how little he values women’s autonomy. They also signal how little he understands women’s lived experiences. 

As Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of women’s advocacy organization UltraViolet Action, said in a statement: “Comments like these ... are an embodiment of a culture that normalizes sexual harassment and violence against women.”

You’d be hard-pressed to find a woman out there who hasn’t been groped against her will or propositioned in a way that felt threatening or had a man yell lewd comments at her as she walked down the street. These experiences are seared into our memories and built into our muscles. They are why we flinch when we sense someone behind us on the street at night, and why we make sure to have a friend nearby at a bar who will intervene if a stranger gets handsy. 

This is rape culture, and a man who might be our next president doesn’t understand it at all.

Rape culture is why victims of rape and sexual assault feel unsafe reporting their assaults to law enforcement.

Rape culture is why even when these crimes are reported and prosecuted, the perpetrators rarely see the inside of a jail cell. 

Rape culture is why the vast majority of women have experienced street harassment.

Rape culture is why many female victims of sexual violence are still asked what they were wearing and drinking when the assaults occurred.

Rape culture is what allows famous men like Bill Cosby to remain untarnished in the public eye until more than 50 women publicly accused him of sexual assault. 

Except that the public is not discussing Trump and Bush’s comments in the midst of a referendum on a famous man’s character or past. Americans are weighing whether Donald Trump is a person who should be allowed to hold the futures of more than 318 million Americans ― of whom 162 million are women ― in his hands.

In four weeks we will elect either our first woman president or a man who doesn’t understand the difference between “locker room banter” and sexual assault. The choice is ours.

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

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A new book chronicles the history of the spoof Turnip Prize, which is awarded annually for the world’s intentionally worst work of modern art.

The parody of the better-known Turner Prize encourages entrants to “take the least amount of effort possible” in creating their pieces, which are then judged on how crappy they are.

Trevor Prideaux launched the competition in Wedmore, southwest England, in 1999 as a humorous response to what he believed was the Turner Prize’s “decline in integrity.”

“It was in protest to Tracey Emin entering her unmade bed into the Turner Prize,” he told The Huffington Post this week. “A few locals in the pub agreed we in Somerset could come up with equally shit art to challenge it.”

What started as a tongue-in-cheek award for locals has expanded into a global competition, with dozens of artists from around the world now vying each year for the turnip-impaled trophy on a rusty 6-inch nail.

Many enter under pseudonyms and their titles are usually an amusing play on words. In 2015, Bonksy took the prize for a doodle on a piece of wood entitled “Dismal And” ― an amusing reference to street artist Banksy’s pop-up bemusement park Dismaland which he opened in nearby Weston-super-Mare that summer.

Prideaux teamed up with Royston Weeksz, an art critic who also goes under a pseudonym, for the new book “The Turnip Prize — A Retrospective,”  which showcases examples of the award’s best worst entries.

See some of the other entries that are featured in the book here:

Entries for this year’s competition are open from Nov. 1 to 21. Organizers will announce the winner at The New Inn in Wedmore on Dec. 5. 

Send pieces to venue via the address on its website.  But don’t expect the works back. “We do not return entries,” Prideaux said. “We just throw them all in the skip!”

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Fans of “Stranger Things” will know the show’s first season left us with plenty of unanswered questions ― Where’s Eleven? Why did Barb die but Will lived? Who is Eleven’s real dad? And where the heck are Lucas’ parents? 

On last night’s episode of “Saturday Night Live,” the show tried to answer that last question, offering a hilarious parody of what’s to come on Season 2 of the Netflix show. The skit also provided some commentary on the #BlackLivesMatter movement, tackling police brutality and racism with humor. 

We learn that Lucas’ parents (Leslie Jones and Kenan Thompson) aren’t very supportive of their son looking for the Upside Down while hanging around with Mike (played by Kyle Mooney), Dustin (played wonderfully by the night’s host, Lin-Manuel Miranda) or Eleven (played by Kate McKinnon). In their eyes, the world is tough enough.

“Baby, people who look like us already live in the Upside Down,” they tell their son. “You don’t have to go looking for scary stuff. It finds you.” 

When Sheriff Hopper shows up, the parents put their hands in the air right away, a nod to “hands up, don’t shoot,” which became a protest symbol following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown. Lucas assures his parents they don’t have to be scared of Hopper because he’s the police chief. 

“We know!” Lucas’ dad says before pulling him away from his friends. “OK, let’s go. These white people are crazy.”

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