Yair Wallach: The violence that began at Jerusalem’s ancient holy sites is driven by a distinctly modern zeal

Judaism, as it developed in antiquity and the middle ages, is a religion shaped by the absence of the Temple – destroyed by the Romans in 70CE. And while Jewish prayers speak about yearning for its reestablishment, the biblical practices associated with the Temple (such as animal sacrifice) are antithetical to the praxis and spirit… Read More Yair Wallach: The violence that began at Jerusalem’s ancient holy sites is driven by a distinctly modern zeal

14th May 202130th July 2022 Dilip

Barry Jenkins: ‘Maybe America has never been great’

Barry Jenkins first heard the history of the Underground Railroad from a teacher when he was six or seven years old. The school lesson described the loose network of safe houses and abolitionists that helped enslaved people in the American south escape to free states in the north in the 19th century. Jenkins as a… Read More Barry Jenkins: ‘Maybe America has never been great’

9th May 202130th July 2022 Dilip

Book review: Understanding Homer

In telling the story of his life, Kanigel unites it with Parry’s work to frame a single, massive question: What’s the relationship between tradition and inspiration? Born middle-class in Oakland in 1902, Milman Parry became famous posthumously for his idea that The Odyssey and The Iliad, thought by many to have been written by an individual human being named “Homer,”… Read More Book review: Understanding Homer

8th May 202130th July 2022 Dilip

Colette: The French resistance fighter confronting fascism – Oscars 2021 Short Documentary Winner

90-year-old Colette Marin-Catherine confronts her past by visiting the German concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora where her brother was killed. As a young girl, she fought Hitler’s Nazis as a member of the French Resistance. For 74 years, she has refused to step foot in Germany, but that changes when a young history student named Lucie enters… Read More Colette: The French resistance fighter confronting fascism – Oscars 2021 Short Documentary Winner

4th May 202130th July 2022 Dilip

The deep roots of Myanmar’s crisis

In this episode of Himal interviews, we speak to Geoffrey Aung, an anthropologist of Myanmar whose area of research focuses on the politics of infrastructure and the economic history of postcolonial Myanmar. He is currently a PhD candidate at Columbia University. In the context of the military coup and ongoing violence against civilians, Aung talks to us about… Read More The deep roots of Myanmar’s crisis

24th April 202130th July 2022 Dilip

Chris Hedges: The real tragedy behind the collapse of the American empire

America’s defeat in Afghanistan is one in a string of catastrophic military blunders that herald the death of the American empire. With the exception of the first Gulf War, fought largely by mechanized units in the open desert that did not – wisely – attempt to occupy Iraq, the United States political and military leadership… Read More Chris Hedges: The real tragedy behind the collapse of the American empire

20th April 202130th July 2022 Dilip

Concentration of wealth in the hands of the 1% // The evolution of wealth inequalities over the last two centuries

Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century is an indispensable book for anyone interested in learning more about the unequal distribution of wealth in the world today. As I read this major 950-page study, which is supplemented by a large amount of statistical data and tables available on Internet), it became obvious that the Occupy Wall Street movement… Read More Concentration of wealth in the hands of the 1% // The evolution of wealth inequalities over the last two centuries

19th April 202130th July 2022 Dilip

John Palattella – Earthly Anecdotes: an alternative to the doom-saying of our times

Very few among us can crawl or climb to the depths and heights of deep time… And so today, when there is no snow on the ground, I am thinking again about icebergs. Along with the work of Bishop, Stevens and several contemporary poets, I’ve often turned to Underland during the past year as an alternative to… Read More John Palattella – Earthly Anecdotes: an alternative to the doom-saying of our times

17th April 202130th July 2022 Dilip

Pratap Bhanu Mehta – Weaponising faith: The Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath dispute

There was something incongruous about the moment when I read the news on April 8 that the district court in Varanasi had directed the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a study of the Gyanvapi Mosque. This day also happened to be Kumar Gandharva’s birth anniversary. It was hard to resist playing his composition in… Read More Pratap Bhanu Mehta – Weaponising faith: The Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath dispute

13th April 202130th July 2022 Dilip

In Memoriam. Premen Addy PhD; June 26, 1938 – January 15, 2020

First posted February 19, 2020 NB: Premen Addy passed away on January 15, 2020, coincidentally exactly a year after the death of my old friend and comrade Rabindra Ray. He was my kaka – my late father E.J. Simeon‘s maternal cousin. His father, Kiron Chandra Addy, was my granduncle, whom my father had nicknamed ‘Mejo’. He was… Read More In Memoriam. Premen Addy PhD; June 26, 1938 – January 15, 2020

6th April 20216th April 2023 Dilip

After the truth-shower

Philosophy, history, literature, current affairs, and other stuff. Posted by Dilip Simeon

Tag: History