The West, FIFA and Us: We're all being hypocritical about the World Cup
Pro-migrant, anticolonial discourse has been weaponised to support Qatar’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup
1y ago
Mermaids aren’t real, and neither is race
Our current conceptualisation of race derives heavily from the last couple centuries of European imperialism.
2y ago
Declan Walsh's 'The Nine Lives of Pakistan': A journalist explains the country that banished him
In the middle of an Islamabad night, just before the Pakistan election of 2013, the Irish journalist Declan Walsh was visited by “angels”.
3y ago
An anarchist retelling of Tintin
The globetrotting hero-reporter, he of the blonde quiff and the plus four trousers, had many an adventure throughout a 46-year-long run under
3y ago
Revisiting the only book written by an Indian about the Indian soldiers of WWI
Tens of thousands of men sailed across the ocean to a land they’d never before heard the name of. They fought long and hard, in the world’s
4y ago
The Dead Can’t Dance
The death’s head is panther-stalking her through the party. Bodies washed in neon pink ebb and flow, sinking and rising from the shadows as light thrums.
5y ago
The trap of Re-Orientalism
“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,” wrote Rudyard Kipling, a man with a silly name who only had a career because West met East and immediately mugged it, running off with wallet, shoes and pants. Through Kipling’s pen, the British
5y ago
October 26, 2018
Let's get rid of our colonial hangover, please
Around Class 3 or so, we were studying Zainul Abedin for our Bangla classes. My peers from English medium schools will remember Bangla textbooks as quaint
August 3, 2018
In Case of Distress, Scream
I was at a park the other day with my friend Tom—who just so happens to be an adult like myself, which neither of us can be blamed for—and the area was infested with the verminous offspring of other adult humans.
December 29, 2017
That sweet Dhaka air
I tried breathing in Dhaka and honestly, if you haven't tried it yourself, I can't recommend it to you. It's a waste of your time—simply the worst.
December 28, 2017
Imperial justice
The machine wandered into town a week after the child's death.
September 14, 2017
Stories that dictate the Rohingya genocide
While simple charity should in an ideal world be taken for granted, in this world of closed borders, ideologies and poverty, we can at least congratulate ourselves a little for having kept the door open to the Rohingyas. Make no mistake: arriving in Bangladesh is not necessarily a solution to all their problems, but at the very least they are for now safe from harm.
August 31, 2017
Synthpop, myths, and the end of the world
Ulver's 2017 release, The Assassination of Julius Caesar, includes in its lyric booklet the celebrated painting Bonaparte before the Sphinx. A great myth, the relic of a lost civilisation juxtaposed against a man who was building his own legend. A man who styled himself after Caesar, whose name bookends an entire era.
August 31, 2017
Don't get hyped for Age of Empires 4
On 21 August 2017, Microsoft announced Age of Empires 4. There is a trailer on YouTube, but before you get excited let's break down what we know about the project so far.
August 10, 2017
Dunkirk isn't just a “war film”. It's great cinema.
Dunkirk is a brilliant film about war, though it is not a “war film” in the traditional sense of the term. War movies are often for rah-rah patriots, but the Battle of Dunkirk was not a victory or a glorious last stand. It was a retreat.
August 10, 2017
Shepherd
In the midst of storm, I have prayed to the Salt to calm his waters.
July 27, 2017
A mansion has many rooms…and stories
What Remains of Edith Finch is a game by Giant Sparrow about what death does to a family.
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