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Articles by Teo Almaguer
I am everything I’m not
I am half Mexican, but I have never really felt Latino. I don’t speak Spanish any better than my peers who aren’t Hispanic. I carry few Mexican traditions. I look white, am perceived as white and, for all intents and purposes, move through the world as a white man. “Latino” is a box I truthfully check on the census, but it has never felt like an accurate description of my lived experience. That is undeniably a strange thing to write for a Hispanic Heritage Month issue.
The Daily Tar Heel
Soy mitad mexicano, pero nunca me he sentido realmente latino. Yo no hablo español mejor que mis compañeros que no son hispanos. Mantengo pocas tradiciones mexicanas. Mi apariencia es de un blanco, me perciben como uno, y para todos los propósitos e intenciones, me muevo por el mundo como un hombre blanco. “Latino” es una casilla que yo marcó en el censo, pero nunca se ha sentido como una descripción precisa de las experiencias que he vivido.
Column: Let time be your razor
It seems there is a brewing consensus about media these days: It is trite, boring and uninspired. The movies are stupid, the novels are recycled fantasy-smut-slop and television is just reality TV garbage. I’m not necessarily here to defend modern media — though I do wonder why anyone expects a Spider-Man movie to push the boundaries of cinema — but I do think there is a foolproof way to find art worth consuming. I like to think of it as a heuristic (“rule of thumb”).
Column: Some things should haunt us.
Opinion Feb 27, 2026, 1:58 AM We need to talk about our memes — not the absurd, hyper-online and largely harmless ones that make scrolling at 1 a.m. feel like a communal fever dream, but the ones that take real horror and flatten it into a punchline. Gen Z has developed a reputation for not taking anything seriously. Within a few hours, we meme-ify every major death, political scandal and looming catastrophe.
Column: It is that deep
Opinion Photo assets courtesy of Adobe Stock. Jan 23, 2026, 8:10 PM A few weeks ago, I was leaving a showing of "Marty Supreme" with some friends, still buzzing after seeing the culmination of the months-long hype train that preceded the film. As we walked back to the car, a few of us started doing what is one of the most natural things in the world after watching a movie: trying to make sense of it.
Column: Health and wellness culture is the new alt-right pipeline
Opinion Nov 18, 2025, 12:38 AM When COVID-19 forced us indoors, many of us turned inward — toward our bodies, our routines and whatever forms of self-improvement we could control. That moment has long passed, but the culture it sparked has only expanded. What began as coping in isolation has evolved into a sprawling ecosystem of fitness influencers, biohackers and “ancestral” lifestyle gurus.
Column: Bring back physical documentation of photos
College is full of picture-worthy moments. Sports, parties, Halloween, fall break trips, spring break trips, an especially good dining hall meal, our campus, a cute outfit, your friend doing something stupid — I have 36,000 photos on my phone, and over 6,000 of those came from my first year of college.
Column: The obesity epidemic doesn’t end when the numbers decline
For the first time, the number of obese children and adolescents globally is greater than the number of those who are underweight. Thankfully, progress in obesity research and treatment is keeping up with the disease's rising prevalence. A recent clinical trial found that GLP-1 medication administered in pill form resulted in an average 13 percent reduction in body weight over a 64-week period.
Column: How to rebel against the ceaseless march of time
Every other Sunday evening, I begin a small ritual: I peel a worn pair of “two-week” contact lenses out of my eyes and replace them with a fresh pair the next morning. It’s a mundane ritual that’s been part of my life for nearly a decade — hardly worth a second thought for the most part — but recently, what these rituals signify hit me. Two weeks have gone by. Just like that. One-twenty-sixth of a year, discarded into the bathroom trash can absentmindedly.
Column: Essential healthy habits can't be bought on Amazon
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025 Newsletters Latest print issue I got rid of all my polyester Calvin Klein underwear, a seed oil has never touched my pans at home and I always tell cashiers I don’t need a receipt. That might sound like satire, but it isn’t too far off from what my life has become. Scroll for a few minutes and you’ll likely stumble across warnings about polyester underwear, seed oils or the hormone-wrecking dangers of touching a receipt.
Column: You will never be buff enough
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025 Newsletters Latest print issue When I first started lifting back in high school, I thought I was just cultivating healthy habits — building strength, discipline and resilience. But slowly, those habits slid into something else. I became hypercritical of my appearance, working out harder and harder, trying in vain to look like the guys on my For You Page.
Column: Protein-packed Pop-Tarts are not the answer
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Monday, Sept. 1, 2025 Newsletters Latest print issue The other day, I was wandering through Harris Teeter when I realized just how absurd the protein craze has gotten. Every aisle was stacked high with creations that would make even Dr. Frankenstein himself tremble: protein ice cream, protein candy, protein cookies — and yes, protein Pop-Tarts. Who, I wondered, is buying this stuff? To answer that, we need to understand how protein became so obsessed over.
Column: My journey with short-form content
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue I’m three months clean of TikTok. I’m one week clean of Instagram Reels. I’m five hours clean of YouTube Shorts. It was a Sunday afternoon like any other. I was lounging on my futon, scrolling on TikTok absentmindedly, as one does, when I realized that it was no longer afternoon at all.
Column: I voted and felt nothing
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue I’ve been accompanying my parents to vote for as long as I’ve been alive. I distinctly remember standing next to my parents outside on sunny autumn afternoons as they patiently waited to cast their ballots. We stood in snaking lines outside the Herb Young Community Center in Cary, N.C. for what felt like hours as we awaited our turn to enter the building.
Column: See the beauty in being a beginner
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue We all love the idea of trying new things — that is, until we remember that we initially won't be good at them. This past summer, I wanted to pick up some new hobbies to fill my near-endless free time. I tried to learn how to skateboard, how to sew and how to run. I didn't stick with a single one of them. With all of these activities, I would get incredibly invested one week and stop pursuing them the next.
Column: Go a week with your AirPods
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue Last year, I always had my AirPods in. Whether I was listening to a podcast as I walked to class, playing music as I did homework or watching Netflix as I brushed my teeth, my headphones were rarely out of my ears. I had them in so often that my mom joked that they were becoming part of my body.
Column: Make your gratitude more than reciprocal
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Monday, Sept. 30, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue After a long and exhausting day of classes, club meetings and work, I begin my trek from North Campus down south to my dorm. I walk down the steps by the Carolina Union and as I cross South Road I am greeted by a familiar beaming face.
Column: Don't take shortcuts. Learn for learning's sake
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue A true love for learning has reached an all-time low among college students. Everywhere I turn in class my peers are swiping, scrolling or even sleeping. This disinterest in courses extends past lectures and into coursework; students overwhelmingly use ChatGPT to answer their questions, write their essays and solve their equations.
Column: In defense of dining alone
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue Last semester, against the advice of my peers and parents, I canceled my meal plan. Despite being a freshman on South Campus, I did the math and it turned out that eating out would be less expensive than purchasing a meal plan where the cost of a dinner swipe is $17.25. Not being particularly keen on cooking in the dorm’s communal kitchens, my semester was filled with a lot of dinners at Chipotle.
Column: Don't let LinkedIn make you feel inadequate
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Monday, April 22, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue I avoid LinkedIn like the plague. I know that whenever I open the website, I will be bombarded by my peers announcing how privileged, grateful, thankful and blessed they are to accept an impressive professional opportunity. I know that every time I get off LinkedIn, I won't be able to escape feelings of inadequacy. Why subject myself to that?
Column: UNC has a PLUS Swipe problem
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue Were you planning on using a PLUS Swipe for dinner? I hope you’re okay with fried chicken. All meal plans offered by Carolina Dining Services at UNC include PLUS Swipes alongside traditional swipes. Depending on the meal plan, students receive either 25 or 35 of these swipes. Rather than going to the dining halls, a PLUS Swipe allows students to get a special food combo from some restaurants on campus.
Column: Get off Genius, interpret music for yourself
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue Painters, illustrators and sculptors rarely come forth and outright explain the meaning of their art, so why are musicians doing it so often? Annotating every song under the sun seems to be the mission of Genius, a digital media company based in the United States. It was founded in 2009 primarily for rap music and functions as a crowdsourced lyric-annotating encyclopedia.
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