On Third World feminism absorbed by institutions, Dido of Carthage written out of her own story, and the Buddha who waits at the back of the room while history argues over foundations.
The Buddha at the Back of the Room
Category: Culture & Society
Essays and reflections on culture, society, modernity, and what it means to live in the contemporary world.
Monuments to Ourselves
A philosophical essay on how Abbey Road and the Notting Hill blue door became monuments—and what it reveals about our culture of symbolic acquisition over authentic experience.
Should We Stay or Should We Go?
A philosophical meditation on uncertainty, decision-making, and the nature of regret — inspired by reflection during geopolitical tension over Tehran.
Purity Is an Aesthetic of Death [From the Glitch Series]
Why do glitches reveal deeper truths? An essay on imperfection, complexity, and the philosophical implications of error in nature, technology, and human experience.
One Billion Day Funeral for the Toaster
“At every occasion, I’ll be ready for a funeral” https://vimeo.com/12315305?share=copy The violence and unprecedented lawlessness of events generating world media headlines in the first week of this year have delayed this long-overdue eulogy. They also sharpened the risk that any further delay is likely to result in its never being written at all as the… Continue reading One Billion Day Funeral for the Toaster
This is not a Pipe and Other Instruments
I find myself in constant awe of human creativity. Human creativity in its ordinary form, beyond the masterpieces, the unceasing churn of fonts, gadgets, fabrics, toys and tools, gushing into existence in such voluminous torrents the mind short-circuits to infinity. Unless you are a fanatic minimalist just have a look about your house. If you… Continue reading This is not a Pipe and Other Instruments
Adults in the Room Behaving Badly
Imagine a world where we could barbecue brisket, kebabs, tavuk and langoustine to ensure adequate protein intake without reliance on industrialised agriculture and the ruin it has wrought upon the biosphere. Better still, without the moral dissonance required to justify the mass torture and mechanised slaughter of domesticated animals. There was a time these lofty… Continue reading Adults in the Room Behaving Badly
The Battle of Midway
through the day. “Good morning.” “Good afternoon. It’s 12:16 p.m.” You know the type — that wry, pedantic smirk. Fack off. English, among other tongues, has turned noon into a change of guard, a hinge-hour demanding we adjust our greeting like a uniform. Compliance is obligatory. There’s no way out of this small tyranny. You… Continue reading The Battle of Midway
Yute
It had been several minutes since the tug pushed us away from gate 3C and left us idling in the middle of the tarmac at Hamad International. From 6A’s porthole, the sea swayed gently at the edge of the runway, the Gulf sun making the ridges on the water and in the concrete slabs shimmer.… Continue reading Yute
From Polo Sticks to Spades: How Cards Conquered the World
I’ve never been a card player. Yet I’ve always been drawn to the aesthetics of card play. From the crisp snap of a freshly shuffled deck, the intricate symmetry of suits and ranks, the quiet choreography of hands and cards, to the charged silences around the table cracked by curt instructions or blown open by… Continue reading From Polo Sticks to Spades: How Cards Conquered the World
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