smart & curious
A long list of good Monday reads
- Social media timelines have been awash with mental health counselors offering their services. The Wire has an important piece on why this may not be a good thing.
- Netflix released the list of its ten most popular original movies. Variety argues that the list reveals why the platform is no place for original or risky filmmaking.
- For all recovering smokers, a lyrical read in Psyche titled: ‘Cigarette! Exquisite fiend, ephemeral friend, how I miss you!’
- An excellent read: Samhita Arni’s essay on the many appropriations of Ramayana through history—from a 14th century Thai King’s capital city Ayutthaya to the Japanese anime character, Goku in Dragon Ball Z.
- Boshika Gupta’s first-person account in Buzzfeed News describes the oddly frustrating experience of being neither plus-size nor size zero as a model.
- Sandip Roy offers the wisest take we’ve read on ‘cancel culture’—and how it turned him into someone he did not like at all. Yeah, he namechecked splainer which made it all the more excellent.
- Priyanka Mattoo’s delightful essay in the New Yorker recounts her childhood memories of a beloved Kashmiri dish—Rogan Josh—and her first attempt to cook it. Recipe included!
- In National Geographic, Paul Salopek pens what may be the definitive essay on India’s water crisis. Both the writing and the accompanying photos are stunning. We highly recommend making the time to read this—at leisure and on a laptop.
