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Sanity Break #1
Our first sanity break of this year is this breathtaking filmed over the Scottish highlands, narrated by actors like David Tennant. This unique melding of AI technology and poetry celebrates the dawn of 2021, and our collective resilience in the face of 2020. Learn more about it . (Full screen, laptop viewing recommended)
Headlines that matter
TRUMP’S UNHINGED PHONE CALL The has accessed a recording of a bizarre phone call between the soon to be ex-President and Brad Raffensperger—the Republican in charge of counting the votes in the state of Georgia. Trump is heard bullying Raffensperger, saying: “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.” Trump lost Georgia by 11,779 votes. Why this matters: This is just a preview of the bigger tamasha that will unfold this week when Congress certifies Joe Biden’s victory—at which time a small group of Republican members will challenge the result. Is any of this legal? No. Do any of these politicians care? No. THE GREAT PANDEMIC: A QUICK UPDATE * On Saturday, the US 277,000 new cases in a single day and the United Kingdom hit a new high of 57,000. The US has uncovered at least three cases of the new, more infectious strain of the virus (explainer ). * Speaking of the new strain, a recent study shows that it is 'hugely' more transmissible than the previous versions—and that the differences between them is “quite extreme.” What’s really scary: The November lockdown did not make a dent in the spread of infection, which tripled during the same period. has more. Also a must read: on why we shouldn’t take any comfort from the fact that this new strain does not cause more serious symptoms. * The UK government is therefore getting more creative with its vaccination plan. Strategy #1: Use all available doses to deliver at least one dose of the two-jab Covid vaccine to as many people as possible—and then delay the second jab to up to 12 weeks. has more on the debate over this move. * Strategy #2 is even more controversial. New guidance allows doctors to ‘’ different vaccines (Oxford, Moderna, Pfizer etc) if needed: “If a second dose of the vaccine a patient originally received isn’t available, or if the manufacturer of the first shot isn’t known, another vaccine may be substituted.” * Also being creative: US authorities who are considering giving folks of the Moderna vaccine. * Israel has one million citizens—at the rate of 11.5 doses per 100 people, which is the highest in the world. However, it is vaccinate Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. * A good related read: explains why Indian women have a higher Case Fatality Ratio—i.e. percentage of cases that lead to death—than men, unlike the rest of the world. JACK MA HAS VANISHED The Alibaba founder has not been seen in public for two months—raising questions and confusion. The most recent cause for concern: He was a no-show at the final episode of his own TV talent show ‘Africa’s Business Heroes’. And his photo has been removed from its website. An Alibaba official claims it’s because of a “scheduling conflict,” but many suspect this is the fallout of his clash with the Chinese government. Ma had criticised Chinese banking regulators—calling them an “old people’s club”—in a controversial speech in October. Soon after, Beijing stepped in to block the highly anticipated IPO of his company Ant Group—and launched an anti-monopoly investigation into Alibaba in December. reports on why Ma’s fall from grace had been years in the making. ( or ) COMEDY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE IN INDORE Stand-up comic Munawar Faruqui and four others were on Friday at a show in the city. The reason: The son of a BJP MLA accused them of being offensive: > “When I heard about Munawar’s show, I bought a ticket and went to see it. As expected, he was insulting Hindu deities and also > mocked Home Minister Amit Shah by dragging his name with Godhra riots.” Faruqui and others were roughed up and then arrested. Yet, the video clip of the performance shows that Faruqui did not make any of these alleged comments. The local inspector agrees, but Faruqui is still in jail—now because he’s been named as the organiser of the show. The clip below offers a glimpse of the on-stage harassment: RAW HAS ALL SORTS OF PROBLEMS Wikileaks has released a string of emails that make clear that the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) treats all Muslims as hostile to Indian interests. The spy agency was looking to buy surveillance software from an Italian company via an Indian consultancy agency. When it came to demonstrating the software’s capabilities, the agency CEO Vikas Sharma had : > “[Y]our demonstration can be provided by your people only in our office premises. No business cards can be exchanged. Please > ensure that no Muslims are part of the demonstration team.” Equally as interesting: > "The emails also revealed concealed information that there could be no paper trail showing RAW buying equipment from abroad. > 'The system has to be provided under our name since the agency cannot buy it from a foreign agency,' [Sharma] wrote." KAMAL HAASAN REVEALS HIS INNER SEXIST The founder of Food Bank India, Sneha Mohandoss tweeted of her practicing with nunchucks, along with the message: “Feeling Confident in your Ability to Protect yourself Empowers you to live with less fear & more FREEDOM #Free_From_DomesticViolence #Learn_SelfDefence” Kamal Haasan’s unsolicited and absurd : > “Dignity and equipoise are important to your protection and empowerment. With the above qualities, your self-defence can become > non-violent. When non-violence meets violence, there is no combat; clearly the criminal is exposed. Your confidence can do more > damage than pepper spray.” has more on the public spanking that followed. FUSS OVER SOURAV GANGULY’S HEART ATTACK The former India captain suffered a mild heart attack, and is recovering well. It wouldn’t have been a big deal except for the political scrum that followed. Everyone from CM Mamta Banerjee to the Bengal Governor raced to the hospital. Home Minister Amit Shah offered an air ambulance to airlift him to Delhi if needed. Even Modi-ji to check on Dada’s health. The real reason for all this fuss: State elections are drawing near, and a Ganguly on the party ticket would be a major coup. has more on the silliness. WONDER WOMAN 2 FAILS TO IMPRESS The first installment of the franchise was a global blockbuster, earning $821 million worldwide. But its sequel ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ has proved to be a bit of a dud— making only $118.5 million so far. The cost of making the film: $200 million. One reason is the pandemic, and the fact that HBO Max also released the movie on its streaming platform in the US. But also: “waning interest from fans.” That said, plans for a third installment have already been announced. () VAGINA WARS IN BRAZIL A 33-metre bright red, concrete vagina called Diva has sparked a between rightwing supporters of President Jair Bolsanaro and the artwork’s leftwing admirers. Artist Juliana Notari wrote in a Facebook post: > “In ‘Diva’, I use art to dialogue with issues that refer to gender issues from a female perspective combined with a > cosmopocentric and anthropocentric western society. Currently these issues have become increasingly urgent. After all, it is by > changing perspective of our relationship between humans and humans and nonhuman, that will allow us to live longer on that > planet and in a less unequal and catastrophic society.” None of that has gone down well with her detractors who have responded with even more bile. You can judge for yourself (more photos ).
Sanity Break #2
This gorgeous image of the was voted the Hubble telescope image taken in 2020. We, however, hope it is an omen of the year that awaits us.
Smart & Curious
A LIST OF GOOD READS * offers a lyrical elegy to a year of loss—that included the death of her dog. * looks back at a year that changed our relationship to food—and then changed it right back! * asks: Is ‘Bridgerton’ really progressive when it comes to race? * An absolute must-read: Snighdha Poonam and Samarth Bansal in uncover how frighteningly easy it is to buy detailed personal information on someone in India. * has a delightful excerpt from Krish Ashok’s ‘Masala Lab’—which uncovers the alcohol lurking in everyday foods. * Ranjit Lal in pens a funny essay on the married lives of birds. * has a trendspotting piece on a subject close to our heart: working from bed. * Why are so many parents in Disney movies either dead or missing? investigates. * Speaking of parents, you must read to his mother—who died on Christmas Day. * Christina Dhanaraj in offers a thoughtful pushback to our romanticisation of friendship. * Before we went on break, everyone was talking about Andy Mukherjee’s essay titled ‘’. Kiran Kumbhar in is in the exact same place but for very different reasons. His essay offers a valuable corrective to some of Mukherjee’s blindspots.
Feel Good Place
When you know it’s time to fire your ad agency… When you know your kid is trying to tell you something… This is Rajdeep Sardesai’s NYE gift from his daughter. Also: When you know your kid is trying to tell you something, part two. When you finally figure out how to deal with your baggage…
