The Blotter; Staff Writer Highlight and BC Volleyball

The Berkeley Carroll Blotter is proud to present its 6th weekly newsletter of the 2025-2026 school year! This edition features the standard “5 in News” by Rory O’Connor (‘26) and a piece about Taylor Swift’s new album by staff writer Fiona Kay (‘28). Later, James Kirven (‘26) writes a recap on NFL week 6 and Dylan Angel (‘26) presents a piece on the collaboration between Varsity Volleyball and Power of Women affinity group. Photos from Spencer Gaddie (‘26) are throughout. As always, we thank you for interacting with The Blotter.

Happy reading!

• Genevieve Eisner and Cleo Logan, co-editors

5 in news:

Rory O’Connor (‘26)

1. On October 9th, judges dismissed Drake’s defamation lawsuit against rapper Kendrick Lamar, with District Judge Jeanette Vargas stating that “the allegedly defamatory statements in ‘Not Like Us’ are nonactionable opinion”. Over the course of the past two years, there has been a rising rivalry between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, which started when both artists dropped diss tracks targeting the other. In January of 2025, Drake sued his record label company, UMG, for promoting Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us”; according to NBC, the song contains lyrics “accusing Drake of being a pedophile”.

2. On October 8th, 2025, President Trump sent 200 National Guard troops from Texas to Chicago. Earlier this week, Illinois filed a lawsuit to stop the deployments, calling them unnecessary and illegal. However, Trump ignored their lawsuit and labeled Chicago a “lawless hellhole of crime”.

3. Bari Weiss, a former New York Times opinion writer, has recently been promoted to the role of editor-in-chief of CBS news. Weiss left the New York Times in July of 2020, arguing that the newspaper was becoming more partisan and less open to controversial viewpoints. She later started her own right-leaning media company called Free Press.

4. Saul Zabar, the owner of Zabar’s delicatessen in the Upper West Side for over 70 years, died on October 7th, 2025. His daughter, Ann Zabar, announced that his death was due to a brain bleed. He was 97 years old.

5. The price of gold has reached an all-time high, now costing $4,000 per ounce. Investors pounced on this opportunity, and the metal has gained more than 50% in stocks this year alone. Wall Street Journal analysts, however, are reluctant to construe this increase as positive, attributing it to the country’s political upheaval and economic instability.

Your Comprehensive Guide to The Life of a Showgirl (Excerpt)

Fiona Kay (‘28)

Pull out the feather boas, bejeweled headpieces, sequined dresses, and your best pearls, because The Life Of A Showgirl is here. On October 3rd, Taylor Swift released her twelfth studio album, which she announced on her fiancée Travis Kelce’s podcast in August. The concept behind the record is a peek “behind the curtains” of The Eras Tour, Swift’s global phenomenon of a tour, which has shattered every existing live concert record and boosted America’s GDP along the way.

The Life Of A Showgirl has unsurprisingly also broken all sorts of musical records (many of them Swift’s own) by becoming the largest first-week debut for an album, most notably selling four million album units in just seven days. It was streamed a billion times in its first week, and the lead single The Fate of Ophelia became the most-streamed song in 24 hours, clocking in at 30 million streams on Spotify alone.

Despite these massive achievements, this album might just be Swift’s most polarizing yet. From written reviews, discourse in the comments of Swift’s posts on Instagram, and personal interactions, I have deemed the general consensus for this album is that you either love it or you hate it. The main critique this album receives is in regards to its songwriting, many stating that the storytelling lacks dimension and is weak in comparison to past records. While I do agree that the writing on this album may not present as strong as many of her past works, that is not to say that we should disregard the clever and expressive lyricism Swift weaves into these twelve new songs. Take the opening track.

The Fate of Ophelia: You would have to have been living under a rock not to have heard this song. Its constant radio rotation and dance trend taking over the internet make it the biggest hit in the world right now. Its juxtaposition of new and old style writing paired with an infectious pop melody make this track the perfect choice for the lead single. It is almost unheard of for a #1 pop song to include Shakespearean references and language, so I personally hope this track marks the rise of quality lyricism in pop smash hits.

Standout lyric: And if you’d never come for me/I might’ve lingered in purgatory/You wrap around me like a chain, a crown, a vine/Pulling me into the fire

*To read more in-depth analyses of each track, make sure to check out our print edition in early December!*

Volleyball for Awareness

Dylan Angel (‘26)

The Berkeley Carroll Girls and Non-Binary Varsity Volleyball team is entering the playoffs next week with a record of 4-2. The team is coming off an electric senior-night victory over Staten Island Academy, and is hoping to grab first seed as we await information on their three way tie with Dwight and Avenues.

The team has launched numerous new initiatives to increase fan engagement throughout the season, my personal favorite being all of the additions to the annual Pink-Out Breast Cancer Awareness game, like the bake sale, raffles, and countless pink decorations around the Athletic Center and Lincoln Place buildings. This year, the Breast Cancer Awareness game took place on September 29th in our Athletic Center, where the team faced off against Dwight.

The game was in collaboration with Berkeley Carroll’s Power of Women affinity group; both programs worked to increase awareness and fundraise for Breast Cancer treatments. Traditionally, the POW affinity group has hosted a Think Pink bake sale at school, but this is the first year they worked with the team to offer concessions during the game.

As co-leader of the POW group and a member of the Varsity Volleyball team, Mikaela Gerstenhaber told me, “We thought it would be a nice idea to support the Think Pink tradition as well as partnering with Girls Varsity Volleyball and doing it together, making the event more likely to gain traction as well as receive funds. It also just made the game more lively and exciting.”

A “lively event” may have been an understatement: the team used the roaring crowd as momentum to defeat Dwight in a riveting five-set game. Going forward, events and bake sales like these will not only raise money for important causes, but they can also clearly help motivate our teams to big victories.

NFL Week 6 Recap

James Kirven (‘26)

The NFL continued last week with an incredible slate of games. The Tennessee Titans, after an abysmal 1-5 start, parted ways with their head coach Brian Callahan, handing the job to interim coach Mike McCoy. Now, Cam Ward, the first overall pick, needs to navigate the chaotic environment.

The Seattle Seahawks are quietly becoming one of the league’s darkhorses. They improved their record to 4-2 this past week, and remained unbeaten on the road with their new head coach Mike Macdonald, relying on their dominant passing attack to get results. The Baltimore Ravens, however, have had their worst start in a decade (1-5), and pressure is mounting on long-time head coach Jim Harbaugh.

The Buffalo Bills also lost to Atlanta after the Falcons’ young running back Bijan Robinson looped 170 yards past the Bills’ defense. Buffalo’s record is now 4-2; the team is failing to prove they’re as dominant as people thought. Kansas City’s quarterback Patrick Mahomes now leads the MVP race after another stellar performance against the Detroit Lions, passing for three touchdowns.

What to Watch/Predictions:

1. Kansas City vs. Los Angeles Chargers

   1. Prediction: Chiefs 30 - Chargers 21

2. Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns

   1. Prediction: Ravens 24 - Browns 17

3. Seattle Seahawks vs. Detroit Lions

   1. Prediction: Lions 37 - Seahawks 30

Lions Den: Upcoming Games for the week of 10/20 - 10/24

Tuesday:

• Volleyball Girls and NB (JV) vs. Friends Seminary (Home)

  • 4:00 PM, Athletic Center SEMIFINALS

• Volleyball Girls and NB (Varsity) vs. Dwight (Home)

  • 5:30 PM, Athletic Center SEMIFINALS

• Soccer Boys and NB (Varsity) vs. Dwight

  • 5:00 PM, Dwight SEMIFINALS

• Soccer Boys and NB (JV) vs. Avenues

  • 3:00 PM, Owl Hollow SEMIFINALS

Wednesday:

• Cross Country (Varsity) vs. ACIS (Away)

  • 3:30 PM, Van Cortlandt Park SENIOR NIGHT

• Soccer Girls and NB (Varsity) vs. Dwight

  • 4:00 PM, Owl Hollow SEMIFINALS

Games later in the week will depend on the results of these games. Stay tuned and go support our athletes!

Community Time 10/20 - 10/24

Monday: Off for Diwali

Tuesday: Grade Meetings, 10-12; Advising, 9th

Wednesday: G Block

Thursday: Diwali celebration

Friday: Senior Speakers

Senior Speakers 10/24

Valentina Menendez

Sophie Russo

Martiño Tenreiro Perez

Isaac Jeffrey