Griffin’s Theory of Television. You can watch an English-language TV show with white people in it with the sound off, and if the teeth glow, it’s USAian, if there are crooked teeth and men with receding hairlines, it’s British, and if there’s freckled skin, it’s Australian.

Through all hopes that keep us brave, Farther off or nigher, Love me for the house and grave, And for something higher. ~ A Man's Requirements, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning Read by Susmita Srivastava #PoetryInParks #Poetry #SpokenPoetry #MayIReadYouAPoem

let's be clear, let's be very clear, let's be incredibly clear about something: Marcia Lucas is why you love Star Wars. She's why Star Wars worked. She's why it has heart. She's responsible for the in-media-res beginning, she's responsible for basically everything charming and unique about >

My father died defending our home, our village, our country. ~ Betrayal, by Tenzin Tsundue Read by Sukrity Gogoi. #PoetryInParks #Poetry #SpokenPoetry #MayIReadYouAPoem #TibetanPoetry #IndianPoetry

Oh dear. Gonna have to ditch my @scroll.in newsletters.

Sisyphus the spider Climbed up their TBR Took down a book off it And read for sev’ral hours Then came a lit event ’Twas in a big book store And now brave Sisyphus Has far more TBR For @galatfemme.bsky.social

2B / not 2B, that is the question: Whether 'tis woke to suffer The assault weapons of school shooters, Or to open carry against a sea of troubles And by opposing W. To unalive—to sleep, No more;

I wake and find myself in love: And this one time I do not doubt. I only fear, and wander out To hold long parley with a dove. ~ The Garden, by Dom Moraes Read by Menka Shivdasani. #PoetryInParks #Poetry #SpokenPoetry #MayIReadYouAPoem #IndianPoetry

Wikimedia Foundation just fired a long time lead developer of MediaWiki as well as its entire community team for unionizing. If you’re a donor, email [email protected] to protest this move. medium.com/@jakeorlowit...

The animation chat has me thinking one telling thing - in the years since AI arrived, there's not been a ground-up indie phenomenon, like we saw with earlier tech (Flash, etc). It hasn't unlocked anyone's creativity. For all the anti-gatekeeping rhetroic, nothing anyone cares about has been born.

14. So no...I have no proof of this. But we all keep trying to find "the moment" things went completely left. Some say the Popeyes chicken sandwich, covid, "fake news," I say Harambe. And The White House proves it for me end/

'The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar is...a perfectly judged, perfectly painted world and story, and one that should be destined for any SFF canon worthy of the term.' Many thanks @dreddieclark.bsky.social for the kind words, and for putting my little book among such fine company.

Donald Trump The Buffalo receives last-minute pardon, gets to live out the rest of his life blissfully unaware of Donald Trump The Buffalo memes, or Donald Trump, or memes

Anyone with a Samsung phone that's just updated, check your "Galaxy AI" settings. I just found mine had turned "call screening" (where a robot voice talks to your friends so you don't have to) and auto-translation of phone conversations on.

Our 32nd meet is in a Vashi park on 30th May, at 5 p.m. To get the map location, calendar invitation, and suggested theme, please write to us at poetry.in.parks.nm @ gmail dot com by Saturday morning.

This Sunday, 31 May, we will be discussing the Transgender Persons Amendment Act, 2026, and its implications for trans rights, self-determination, and protections against discrimination in India, with Raghavi Shukla, lawyer, and Grace Banu, activist. More: thegoaproject.wordpress.com/2026/05/27/a...

Clownlike, happiest on your hands, Feet to the stars, and moon-skulled, Gilled like a fish. A common-sense Thumbs-down on the dodo’s mode. ~ You're, by Sylvia Plath Read by Saundarya. #PoetryInParks #Poetry #SpokenPoetry #MayIReadYouAPoem

Your occasional reminder that I send these out (mainly via WhatsApp and Telegram channels, email only when I have the time to put together a collection) and subscribing is absolutely free. I am always grateful for tip-offs and submissions.

Subcontinental folx: Quote this post with a list of mango varieties you have eaten this summer.

Late for Towel Day, but… Almost 90 minutes. One man on stage. No props. No fancy slides. No music. Just talking to the audience, and a bit of reading from his books. Can't think of very many who could pull that off. This was a talk he gave a few days before he died, according to the comments.

The graphic novel RIVER OF STORIES, Orijit Sen's account of the protest against the Sardar Sarovar dam project, is drawn from his personal experiences from 1991-1993. It weaves together the history of the resistance with stories of local people & tribal folklore www.blaft.com/collections/...

Instagram is shadowbanning protest videos against the Google data centre in Andhra Pradesh. Villagers and farmers in the area are really concerned about the impact this data centre will have on water security, which is already in the doldrums. (1/2)

Writers using LLMs.

There are two wolves. They do not know that the alpha male theory has been discredited.

I wrote a good omelet...and ate a hot poem... after loving you Buttoned my car...and drove my coat home...in the rain... ~ I Wrote A Good Omelet, by Nikki Giovanni Read by @zigzackly.bsky.social #PoetryInParks #Poetry #SpokenPoetry #MayIReadYouAPoem

Two writers, Naresh Fernandes and Altaf Tyrewala, on the fabled ~ Spirit of Mumbai ~ The books are City Adrift and Mumbai Noir respectively.

The only thing I have disliked about Zubin Mehta is his association with Israel’s orchestra, which has gone way beyond the music, as the article explains. I only learnt recently that he had cancelled all performances this year as a way of protesting Netanyahu’s policies on Gaza.

I have an Instagram alt just for this. I mean, I can’t afford to buy art much, but browsing the Following tab is my regular brain cleanse, and I keep sharing their work, though mine is a tiny account.

I got curious about this quote, so I looked it up. It's a paraphrase. Here's the original: "When I see an actual flesh-and-blood worker in conflict with his natural enemy, the policeman, I do not have to ask myself which side I am on." —George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia.

Something that many people don’t know—it is deeply joyous how much more *themselves* trans people are after they transition—socially, medically or whatever. I’m on my 4th “before and after”, and it never gets old.

We have done something unusual for this industry - we have run a paid indie production paying people industry rates for their work. I say this because I want people to know how worth it every penny spent on talent was. And I want production companies to know that too. 2/

Inside me are two wolves, both are betas, and I really wanted betis.

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft captures stunning Mars images during high-speed flyby

Crackdown on Cockroach Janata Party & backlash against journalist Helle Lyng don’t reflect a govt confident in its many electoral victories, but one insecure about real & rising discontent, writes @betwasharma.bsky.social article-14.com/post/why-a-q...

a horse walks into a bar and says to the barman, "on a right angled triangle with sides x, y and z, if x and z are perpendicular which side is opposite the right angle?", and the barman says "y, the long face"

In sum, skip the Atlantic on this one and read Monstrous Regiment, a great standalone Pratchett and a perfect book for right now, because it takes on propaganda, war, gender, and how religious zealots starve nations and ruin everything. Quote me on that, why don’t you.

Sometimes as an NYT books columnist you find yourself quoted in the Atlantic by Helen Lewis, who believes two odd things: 1. That nobody is reading Pratchett anymore (instead of all the time, as they should), and 2. That Pratchett’s politics are hard to pin down, and Reg Shoe is not a fucking hero.

It must seem like we sought to leave you nothing but benzene, mercury, the stomachs of seagulls rippled with jet fuel and plastic. You probably doubt that we were capable of joy, but I assure you we were. ~ Letter to Someone Living Fifty Years from Now, by Matthew Olzmann #PoetryInParks #Poetry

Liberal in the US streets, fascist in the Indian sheets. Diaspora love liberals when they get to avail of affirmative action and PoC idpol, but ask them about reservations for DBA and caste violence and their deep seated and completely unexamined hatred makes itself known.

Happy Towel Day, hoopy froods.

Friends, romaines, countrymen, blend me your ears. I come to beurre the Caesar salad, not to braise it. The EVO that men do drizzles after them; The gud is oft interred with their bones.

1. Caste. Most people in the west don’t understand that the waves of engineers and doctors who immigrated out of India in the 70s and onwards were ‘high’ caste folks, who resented the Indian equivalent of affirmative action for caste. Caste solidarity is very powerful…/

I’ve said this before, only half in jest: high caste NRIs and migrants from India think they’re white

Google's CEO saying that the reason there's intense backlash to AI is because humans aren't "evolved" enough to understand it youtu.be/RgV57kDzcng?...

Tomorrow is the fourth Monday of this month. Come! And spread the word! Please note: tomorrow’s session will start at 7:30, since Prithvi’s summertime workshops for kids go on until then.

Feat. @mumbaipaused.bsky.social making a tracking shot in the background. You can see his reel of the session here: www.instagram.com/reel/C3MleRH...

Are we already at Ministry of the Future chapter one? “India is being left to die in the heat”, some important and justifiably angry writing by @vidyakrishnan.bsky.social aje.news/plufhf

Kala aur Kitabein is a year-long programme with workshops led by artist Jyothidas KV and facilitated by Tilottama B from the Artreach team. An Artreach India and FICA collaboration, supported by Yashodhara Dalmia. Art became our language & libraries became spaces to connect.

I chaos like a motherfucker. Ain’t no one can chart me. All the other planets, they think I’m annoying. They think I’m an escaped moon, running free. ~ Pluto Shits on the Universe, by Fatimah Asghar Read by @wordylocks.bsky.social #PoetryInParks #Poetry #SpokenPoetry #MayIReadYouAPoem

Your occasional reminder that I send these out (mainly via WhatsApp and Telegram channels, email only when I have the time to put together a collection) and subscribing is absolutely free. I am always grateful for tip-offs and submissions.