First posted January 24, 2017 The Captive Mind (1953) has been compared to the two most revealing and penetrating works on the same subject previously published – Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon (1940) and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). Milosz was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1980. Read an interview with him in 2003, the year before he died. The… Read More The Captive Mind revisited
A few simple but deeply philosophical sentences by one of India’s most outspoken journalists. Ravish stands out, but there are many other courageous reporters, and we must be grateful to them all. Listen to his talk here, it was delivered yesterday. He uses the word talkhi to describe the atmosphere sought to be created and… Read More Ravish Kumar: आपके पास सत्ता है पर ताकत नहीं.. बहुतों को डराया जा सकता है.. उस डर का आप क्या करेंगे जिससे आप खुद डरे हुए हैं..
By Nectar Gan, CNN A Chinese citizen journalist who has been behind bars for four years over her reporting on the initial Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan is due to be released Monday after serving her sentence, according to supporters and a court verdict. Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, was one of the few independent Chinese journalists reporting in Wuhan… Read More Chinese journalist imprisoned for her Covid reporting due to be released after four years. But will she be free?
“Free speech in India has sunk into a perilous abyss and steadily falling press freedom indices underscore the dangers of crossing a line that is becoming increasingly contentious,” the collective said in its report. The first four months of 2024 in India have already seen at least 134 instances of free speech violations, with journalists,… Read More India Has Seen At Least 134 Violations of Free Speech in 2024: Free Speech Collective
Kate Lyons If anything is emblematic of the demise of Twitter, it is the rise and stall of the account of Oprah Winfrey. Oprah joined the platform in 2009, tweeting for the first time live from her wildly popular TV show: “HI TWITTERS. THANK YOU FOR A WARM WELCOME. FEELING REALLY 21st CENTURY.” It was “a breakthrough… Read More The demise of Twitter: how a ‘utopian vision’ for social media became a ‘toxic mess’
In this video, we explore how “WhatsApp University” influences unwavering loyalty among some citizens towards political leaders, despite personal hardships or evident issues like inflation and misinformation. A poignant discussion on the pervasive impact of misinformation spread through WhatsApp. The video highlights the complex interplay of media, personal belief systems, and political loyalty, encouraging a… Read More The WhatsApp Mafia | Dhruv Rathee
We are living through an incipient technological revolution. AI, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, commercial space travel, and other innovations are rapidly transforming everything from the workplace to the financial architecture of the global economy. While many of these technologies hold vast potential to benefit the social good, the multinational corporations and financial oligarchy that drive innovation and… Read More Chris Hedges on Technocapitalism: Bitcoin, Mars, and Dystopia
Bharat Bhushan Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Opposition leaders of displaying a “Mughal mindset” when videos surfaced of Lalu Yadav, Tejashvi, and Rahul Gandhi bonding over cooking mutton. Not only did he accuse them of deviating from Hindu dharma in the auspicious month of Sawan, but he also alleged that the display of bonhomie was deliberate. The videos,… Read More Food, community and elections
The moment the middle class feels it has no access to a public good, it does everything it can to devalue it. The systematic destruction of Delhi University is a case study in elite secession Mukul Kesavan The death of Delhi University has gone unremarked. It isn’t formally dead; it still educates tens of thousands… Read More In memoriam
NB: This essay was published in Outlook magazine on April 11. DS Waiting Are we in a post-ideological age? No, we are submerged in it. The term ‘post-truth’ is merely an example of the impact of ideology on our speech habits. What does it mean? We can approach the meaning of the term ideology by… Read More The Crisis of Ideology
After the truth-shower 