Posted inCyber
A Nation of Nasty Keyboard Warriors
YouTube commenters have zero chill. The remarks reflect the kind of polarisation that makes “love jihad” seem like the most plausible explanation for a declining Hindu populace.
Posted inPop Culture
Classroom vs Console: What Gaming Taught Me
I’d never have heard about the Crusades, if it hadn’t been for Assassin’s Creed. Video games can teach us so much more than the drab, narrow view of history we are fed at school.
Posted inPOV
What Lonely Planet Won’t Tell You About Visiting the Kumbh Mela
The grand procession of sadhus at the Kumbh Mela making their way to the banks of the holy Ganges for one of the shahi snans is a once-in-a-lifetime experience — note that attending twice may lead to serious emotional distress.
Posted inPop Culture
From Reverence to Reefer Madness: The Journey of Weed
How did a drug that was once touted “food of the Gods” become associated with the guy who never showers and listens to “Satanic music”?
Posted inSports
Liverpool FC: Always the Best Man, Never the Groom
This season, under the leadership of real-life Santa Claus Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool FC finished second in the English Premier League. Of course, putting up the club’s highest individual total in premier league history (97 points), and losing just one game in 38, wouldn’t be enough...
Posted inPop Culture
PewDiePie vs T-Series: No Matter Who Wins This Scrappy Internet Brawl, We Lose
When did YouTube become a battleground between PewDiePie, a Swedish man-child who makes memes for a living, and T-Series, an implacable corporation that relentlessly polices social media?
Posted inPop Culture
Ocean’s 8: A Better Female Bonding Film Than Veere Di Wedding
This month, I learnt two very different female bonding lessons from Ocean’s 8 and Veere Di Wedding. If Veere... taught me that all women want are one-night-stands with lovable creeps, then Ocean’s 8 educated me that women can have dreams and fun without men.
Posted inPOV
“What Do JNU Students Do All Day?” Ask Economics Nobel Winner Abhijit Banerjee
Surprisingly, rather than celebrating Abhijit Banerjee’s achievement of winning the Nobel Prize for Economics, some have been deriding him for his “anti-national” credentials. What must sting these critics most is that Banerjee happens to be an alumnus of the most hated-on educational institute in right-wing intellectual circles: Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Posted inPOV
Did Kendrick Lamar Just Pimp the Pulitzer?
There was a time when mainstream rap involved guys named “Lil” talking about sex and drugs. Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer prize is an indicator that mainstream rap can be meaningful. It could one day be considered classical music.
Posted inPop Culture
Deadpool 2: A Film So Meta It is Its Own Review
Deadpool 2 manages to make fun of several Marvel superheroes, the entire DC Universe, the people who make all these movies, and the viewers. It is a reminder of how absurd our obsession with comic book superheroes is.