- The National Register of Citizens has torn apart the state of Assam. In Mint, Abul Kalam Azad writes about his struggle to rent a house as Muslims with origins in Bengal.
- In sharp contrast to the claims of the Bharatiya Janata Party that Bangladeshis are swarming into India, people across the border actually enjoy a better standard of living than Indians, notes Swati Narayan in the Indian Express.
- If the Jaipur Literature Festival is increasingly being accused of failing to live up to expectations, equal blame must be laid at the doors of the publishing industry ecosystem, writes Aditya Mani Jha in the Hindu Business Line.
- It is tragic that the Modi government has snuffed out mainstream Kashmiri politics, argues Ramchandra Guha in the Telegraph.
- In Aeon, Alexander Klein explains how English philosopher Bertrand Russell’s “scientific” philosophy was a bulwark against nationalism
- The trouble with anti-populism: In the Guardian, Benjamin Moffit explains why the champions of civility keep losing.
- Managment consulting firm McKinsey destroyed the middle class in the United States, argues Daniel Markovits.
- A growing chorus says that science has shown free will to be an illusion. But it actually has offered arguments in its favor, argues Christian List in the Boston Review.
- About 50,000 years ago, ancient humans in what is now West Africa apparently procreated with another group of ancient humans that scientists didn’t know existed. In NPR, Merit Kennedy explains how this ghostly human ancestor was discovered.
- What is wrong in being tacky, asks John Semley in the Walrus.
Reading
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1
Children’s fiction: Three children investigate why geometry boxes are going missing from schools
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2
Showdown between digital platforms, governments shows that neither cares about user rights
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3
New Delhi and Islamabad should live like good neighbours: Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif
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4
Last man standing: Rafael Nadal’s retirement hints at the final days of an era, but not the end
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5
YouTube chef Kabita Singh reveals how creating a niche and focusing on content made her channel grow
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6
From the memoir: An Indian-American woman on growing up with white society beauty standards
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7
From GN Devy’s new book: How Adivasis have become activists to tackle the neglect of their languages
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8
Picture perfect wanderlust: How a Chinese app is driving tourism in Southeast Asia
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9
Where is India’s forgotten war headed?
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10
The colonial blind spot in the analysis that was awarded this year’s Economics Nobel