Girl Noise Takes the Bowery Ballroom

The year 2026, thanks to the efforts of Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, Doechii, Stevie Nicks, and more at the star-studded and popstar-packed Daisy Chain Fields music festival, has been viewed by many as a huge year for women in music. Why stop at Daisy Chain Fields? Artist Simone, 21-year-old musician and Brooklyn native, has brought the girl power to NYC for the third year in a row. The 47Magazine editors got the chance to talk to Simone about the impact festivals like this can have on young women and local communities. 

Lucy Anderson: What was it like putting together the festival lineup and choosing artists?

Simone: Every time I start planning an event, I have so much fun deep-diving into local bands and artists and seeing who might be a good fit for GIRL NOISE. I’m lucky to be in New York because there’s truly an endless list of talented and inspiring girls here. I do all the booking personally, and it’s a real joy to connect with artists and tell them about our mission. Everyone who plays these shows is really doing it out of the goodness of their heart. It’s really touching, and I’m so grateful to be able to share the stage with them. 

LA: Tell us about Brave House and their mission. What inspired you to collaborate with them?

S: The Brave House was one of the only organizations I reached out to ahead of this event because they were exactly the type of nonprofit I wanted to partner with. They provide a variety of free support to young immigrant women and gender-expansive youth, with a focus on survivors of gender-based violence. It’s been deeply disturbing to see our current administration treat immigrants with such brutality and inhumanity. I wanted to partner with an organization that’s doing work to combat this injustice. What the women at The Brave House do every day is beyond inspiring, and I’m so grateful they decided to work with us. 

LA: What inspired you to start Girl Noise?

S: I came up with the idea in the summer of 2024, right around the time I started writing my album. I was 19 and angry most of the time. I didn’t like how the people around me were treating me, like my voice didn’t matter and my opinion wasn’t important. All I wanted was to find comfort and community, and I realized that I’ve always found those things in women and music. I wanted to create a space where women could feel safe and supported, where they could be their most authentic selves on stage, and where everyone believed in the cause of protecting and uplifting girls. It felt like there weren't a lot of people doing something like this, so I thought, why not just do it myself? 

LA: What has it been like putting the festival together for the third year?

S: With every show, I learn more and more about what works, what doesn’t, how to write a good email, how to not stress out at all hours of the day. I also just learn to love it more and more. It’s been the most rewarding experience watching it grow these past few shows. After selling out our last show in March, we’re playing our biggest venue yet, Bowery Ballroom. I’m so committed to making these shows the best they can possibly be, for our audience and for our artists. It’s always worth it. 

LA: Girl Noise works with a lot of nonprofits; can you tell us about how you’ve connected music and community through this festival?

S: Music and community were really the catalysts for this whole thing. I wanted to make these shows fundraisers because I knew that would help people feel like they were a part of something bigger than just a show - which is true! So much of what community means to me is being proud of who we are and what we stand for. It was also important to me that we supported women in all different ways, which is why, with every show, we spotlight women-owned businesses, women-led music organizations, and women photographers and creatives.

LA: What has been your favorite part about putting Girl Noise together? 

S: Seeing it all come to fruition at the shows is always surreal. Being in a room full of women who want to celebrate each other is the most joyous experience. Talking to the artists in the greenroom, giving stickers and friendship bracelets to the girls in the audience, hanging up decorations with my best friends and my mom. They’re memories I will cherish forever.

LA: Why should people attend Girl Noise this year? 

S: Here’s an actual list, because no one wants to read full sentences anymore:

1. Free shit (stickers, temporary tattoos, zines, bracelets, etc)

2. Great music (I’m biased, but the lineup is STACKED and I never lie)

3. Great cause (all ticket proceeds go to CHARITY, so not only are you going to have FUN, but you’re also gonna be making a DIFFERENCE, and isn’t that just beautiful?) 

4. Community (make friends, bring friends, crack jokes, share secrets, fall in love, experience everything) 

5. FOMO (as in you will have it if you don’t come)

GIRL NOISE is a celebration of women’s voices in music, art, and advocacy. Founded in 2025 by artist Simone Lipkin, GIRL NOISE is creating authentic, community-driven experiences where women and like-minded individuals come together in an empowering environment. The festivals are led and produced by young, ambitious women, with a goal to uplift one another and encourage community and activism through music. The third GIRL NOISE event will take place on Sunday, October 4th, at The Bowery Ballroom, featuring seven local female artists and benefiting The Brave House, a nonprofit supporting immigrant women and gender-expansive youth in NYC.

Link to tickets here.

Is Our Online Data Really Safe?

On May 7, 2026, the educational technology company, Instructure, was hacked. Instructure owns Canvas, a platform used by schools across the world for education purposes, such as course grades and assignments. The cyberattack left millions of students unable to access the platform.

ShinyHunters, the group that claimed to be behind the breach, demanded that a ransom agreement be made, or else they would leak the stolen data, which included students’ emails and messages. According to Instructure, ShinyHunters was able to hack their software by exploiting a security breach through their Free for Teachers platform.

Luke Connolly, a threat analyst at cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, described ShinyHunters as a “a loose affiliation of teenagers and young adults based in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.”

Society has become almost totally reliant on technology to store vital information which means our online data is even more susceptible to cyberattacks.

ShinyHunters isn’t the only hacking group out there, but the group alone has been associated with a number of notable data breaches in recent years. Many platforms were used by students and younger generations in general, such as Wattpad, SoundCloud, and even Mathway, a platform students use to solve algebraic equations.

They haven’t only targeted educational or social platforms. In 2024, the website Ticketmaster and its parent company LiveNation were victims of a data breach by ShinyHunters, who claimed to have stolen the data such as the names and addresses of over 560 million customers. In recent years, ShinyHunters has also gained access to user information from companies such as AT&T Wireless, Google, and LVMH.

The breach at Canvas has raised concerns across the board about how safe our information really is online, especially from students affected by the hacking.

A Liberty University graduate student said it wasn’t just Canvas that was down for her school. “I was trying to sign up for classes, and I needed a form to fill out, so I went to look for the form, and it wasn't showing up.” She was concerned about being able to turn in the rest of her assignments on time. She said, “Honestly, at that point I was annoyed. I need to do my assignments, and I don't get any extensions." she said. Luckily, one professor was lenient. “Because of [Canvas] being down, one of my professors did put an extension on the assignment!”

"We're secure until all the technology goes down.” she added. “It's not security, it's a crutch, and I think you realize that when you don't have it."

A Lenoir-Rhyne University senior said he found out Canvas was down after attempting to check his grades. “I check Canvas a lot,” he said. “All my assignments and things were turned in already, and I was getting updates about grades in Outlook, but I could not check what the grades were.” He remarked on how much harm can come from even one cyberattack. "One hacking, one malware attack, can shut down thousands of schools,” he continued. “It's kind of ridiculous how that can happen."

When asked about how safe our information really is, he said, "It's not secure at all, it's very fragile, and I also think it just goes to show that putting all of our eggs in one basket is very dangerous.”

Could TMZ Bring Accountability to American Politics?

TMZ is branching out from the Hollywood Hills to Capitol Hill.

On March 26, 2026, they put out a open call for pictures to be taken of politicians spotted out over Easter weekend, and it could be just the thing to bring more accountability to American politics.

You might be thinking, really? TMZ and accountability?

To understand how TMZ can be effective, you have to understand the United States, its elections, and its relationship with the media.

In the United States, we elect politicians to represent us in government. Elections are just one way the law allows us to replace the leaders we feel aren’t representing us well or making the changes we want to see. If politicians want to be elected or re-elected, they have to do what we, the people, elect them to do. Not only that, but they have to win over the American people, so it matters how they are perceived. This is where the media comes into play.

Think of it as filmmaking v.s. Hollywood: Filmmaking is the actual act of making movies, and Hollywood is about image and perception. If people actually like you (actor, director, etc), they’re more likely to support your work (Film, TV, etc).

When it comes to government, I like to think of it as public service v.s. “politics.”

Public service is the actual boots on the ground work, like drafting legislation. Whereas a big part of “politics” is playing the game of perception. Hence, campaign tours, doing interviews, etc. 

Political campaign tours basically run on the same principle as Hollywood press tours. Perception and likability are key!

Throughout American history, politics and the media have gone hand in hand. From political cartoons, radio interviews, images in newspapers, to televised presidential debates, television commercials, and now social media. Politicians have always relied heavily on the media to get their message across to the public.

With social media being even more crucial in election results over the last ten years, we’ve seen politicians becoming even more and more visible and accessible to the public, where before they may have been harder to reach. Ironically, visibility doesn’t solve a lack of transparency. Just because we’re seeing politicians on our feeds more, doesn’t mean they’re being more honest.

Currently, there is a lack of transparency between the American people and the officials we have elected to represent us.

Politicians benefit from the tax dollars we pay, but they aren’t following through or being truthful. 

Let’s go back to the Hollywood and politics analogy.

For the most part, actors or other celebrities will say whatever they need to say to the public for a plethora of reasons, whether it be promoting a movie or avoiding scandals. It’s the same for politicians.

That is why TMZ may be the answer. The way TMZ and other paparazzi and tabloids pry into the lives of celebrities without second thought or abandon could be exactly the aggressive journalism America needs right now.

Think about it: America is being run not just by a businessman, but a media mogul. His presidency so far has been like a reality show, and many of the people in his cabinet are from the media world. There’s Dr. Oz, a physician and television host, who currently serves as the Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Linda E. McMahon, co-founder and former CEO of the WWE, serves as the U.S. Secretary of Education. 

What better way to combat this style of leadership than with the very thing all people in the media try to avoid? The paps!

So here comes TMZ, a tabloid company that is notorious for prying into the personal lives of the rich and famous, often releasing photos and information that is downright intrusive and sometimes evil. They promise that if people send them photos of politicians on vacation, they will help demand accountability.

In a time of cellphones and technology like Meta glasses, there is a general lack of privacy that previous generations didn’t have to face, where at any moment someone could be recording you, and you would never know it.

Everyone is a paparazzi now; all anyone needs is a recording device and a little bit of nosiness. People even go as far as to record strangers! It’s no longer just celebrities who are concerned with being photographed during their off time, but everyday people.

By calling for people to send in pictures of politicians on vacation, TMZ is tapping into a gold mine! Essentially allowing people to channel the power of surveillance into holding their elected officials accountable. It would seem that the paps might be obsolete when everyone can take a photo or record a video, but TMZ has found a way around it, a way to funnel all that media attention back through themselves.

And they found the perfect timing: amidst last month's government shutdowns, T.S.A. agents working with no pay, and waiting for Congress to make a decision, while members of Congress take two-week vacations, during which many will travel by plane. 

The hypocrisy is hard to miss.

Since the current political landscape looks like a reality show, with members of the administration being fired like a Survivor elimination, who better than TMZ to step up to the plate to hold them accountable?

TMZ created an avenue for the people’s frustration to become motivation, and for that motivation to become an actionable step. It’s honestly genius.

In a way, it taps into the very heart of the American experiment, the idea that, if we the people don’t like how our leaders are acting, we can do something about it.

Time will tell how much this will change things, but in a rapidly changing, image-obsessed political landscape, it might be the perfect start.