A list of good reads
- The Conversation has Manjari Chatterjee Miller’s essay on why colonial reparations are rarely successful—and most importantly, why former colonies never ask for them.
- Scroll explains why filing RTI inquiries is often a waste of time—and the many ways the government dodges them.
- Lithub carried an excerpt from ‘Eyeliner: A Cultural History’ by Zahra Hankri that explores the relationship between beauty and power using the rich cultural history of eyeliner.
- Masha Gessen in New Yorker pens a powerful essay on how memories of the Holocaust shape the way we view Israel’s role in Gaza today.
- LA Review of Books has curated four powerful pieces by Palestinian poets—as an act of solidarity for the people of Gaza.
- Madeleine Dore offers 11 steps to actually begin something—since that is the hardest part.
- Olga Khazan in The Atlantic (splainer gift link) looks at how the word ‘season’ has become a way to speak about a phase in life. Example: “wintering.”
- The Hindu has an important piece on the missing daughters in a border village in Odisha—which has the highest rate of human trafficking in the country.
- Brian Klaas looks at the evolution of modern dog breeds—shaped by quirky, bored aristocrats who called themselves ‘doggy people’.
- Splainer subscriber Anita Rao Kashi in Mint Lounge explores the rise of astrotourism in India.
