Political Pandora

Digital technologies have fundamentally changed how we see and use spaces. Today, it’s no longer abstract or just about the physical, but the layers of information that exist on top of our geographies. These digital surfaces actively shape our experiences and influence how we move through spaces, and essentially, how we understand them. An example of this is Google Maps. Today, such applications dictate more than directions to shape how one experiences a space, one that is ra

Palestine has been the political moment for the last two years. As we approach the second anniversary of the most recent iteration of warfare on Palestine (that’s 730 days of ceaseless colonial violence), some reflections seem appropriate. Shourideh C. Molavi’s Environmental Warfare in Gaza provides exactly these reflections although written almost entirely before 7 October 2023.

The crafts that once connected us and the earth have faded from view and taken with them fundamental relationships. A political enquiry into these media allows us to take craft seriously, as a tool to imagine and shape more cooperative, sustainable and liberating ways of life. This has never been more necessary than amidst our epoch of rapid accumulation, consumption and disconnection.

I would suggest that Cregger’s follow-up, Weapons, is him trying to reverse engineer an even more successful movie by having multiple swerves throughout the entire thing. The whole film does follow one story, in which an entire classroom of children save for one shockingly disappear into the night, running out of their homes with seemingly no explanation, and throwing the entire community into turmoil.

In previous conflicts between India and Pakistan, there was a general sense that it was our governments who were at war and not the people. But this time, it seemed different. There was a parallel war being fought on social media. It was clear that the governments on both sides wanted to shape public opinion through controlling the flow of information. 

When Fantastic Four was released in 2005, nobody knew what to do with superhero movies. It  is probably best understood as a mainstream studio’s attempt to capitalise on their recent unexpected success without quite understanding the catalysts of their popularity.

According to the Forum ERF Policy Portal, scholars have questioned whether the standard Mercator projection was a political tool that contributed to the scramble for Africa by various Western powers. By making the continent look small and ‘conquerable’, it could have played a role in the colonisation of Africa. The late 19th and 20th centuries saw the peak of colonialism where Western powers competed fiercely for colonies in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

The gravitational pull of Cruise’s star power and the enticing spectacle of watching him do his big stunts warped the franchise into being predominantly about those two things — Cruise and his stunts.

When Ella Yelich-O'Connor uploaded a handful of songs to SoundCloud in November 2012, one could hardly have anticipated the shockwaves she was about to set off in the then-manicured landscape of pop music.

Lexi travels the streets of Hong Kong, dodging cars and bright lights in the night’s pleasant breeze. Hong Kong used to be colder, but Lexi moved here for the warmth. Lexias pardalis, or the Archduke butterfly, originally hails from India. As a second-generation immigrant to Hong Kong, she comes from a family that has been moving everywhere in search of warmth. 

Modern work leaves many overworked and unfulfilled, trapped in cycles of productivity without purpose. This essay explores how alienation shapes our jobs today—and how rethinking work through care, creativity, and community can offer a more meaningful alternative.

What does it mean to move on from violence when memory itself is a site of conflict? In Gujarat, the legacy of the 2002 pogrom has been carefully, even violently, curated into the official memory of the state, one that erases as much as it remembers. What remains is not reconciliation, but a selective memorisation that excludes the lived trauma of the Muslim community.

Long-running horror franchises are either defined by their reinvention or lack thereof. To watch the series in order is to witness a distinct evolution. From Bride of Chucky onwards, the series moves away from the familiar trappings of 80s slasher cinema into a much more distinctly queer text.

The cultural consensus couldn’t be defeated: Sinners was the movie of the moment. It shouldn’t have been nearly as much of a surprise.

In the shadows of sacred rivers and holy rituals, it is the caste-marked bodies who carry the weight of cleanliness; public filth in India is less about civic failure and more about caste-designed neglect.

An inflection point exists with India's suspension of the IWT that echoes beyond the immediate Indo-Pakistani dyad. It brings an urgent inquiry into whether international law allows suspension of treaty obligations based on persistent non-state violence.

“Deceptive” is sort of the operative word when it comes to Theroux — the question of how much of his bemused, questioning affect is legitimate, and how much of it is him playing up for the camera. This is what makes Theroux the perfect documentarian for a topic like this — his straightforwardness in approaching a subject cuts through the mire and arrives at a crystal clear center.

On March 21, 2025, Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White was released in theaters. Beset by controversy and bad press, the film ended up having an expectedly tepid performance at the box office. But according to Disney executives, the source of all the film’s woes could be placed at the feet of one person and one person only: Rachel Zegler, who tweeted her support for Palestine.

As is evident, in the eyes of the US President, many things are not deserving of his attention. President Trump refuses to listen to his counterparts on either side of the US border, dismissing voices from both the north and south. The question, therefore, is: What does Trump want to hear about?

Who belongs? Birthplace and bloodline shape destinies, but should citizenship be earned through real ties instead of an accident of birth?