by Kenan Malik
. A few years ago, I set up a Patreon account to help fund improvements to Pandaemonium. Patrons have been incredibly generous, and I am thankful for all the support I have received. However, I have not had the time and space to do much of what I hoped to do, such as digital books and podcasts. And now I am working on a (physical) book, due out autumn next year, which means that I have even less time to […]
Categories: Kenan Malik, Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . The Brazilianization of the worldAlex Hochuli, American Affairs, Summer 2021 The reality is that the twentieth century – with its confident state machines, forged in war, applying themselves to determine social outcomes – is over. So are its other features: organized political conflict between Left and Right, or between social democracy and Christian […]
Categories: Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . Ghosts in the land Adam Shatz, London Review of Books, 3 June 2021 The territory it governs lies in ruins, but Hamas has reason to celebrate. While 90 per cent of its rockets were repelled by Iron Dome, Israel’s defence system, 100 per cent hit their other target: the Palestinian Authority, which looks […]
Categories: Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . Coronavirus and the withering of the public spherePhilip Alcabes, American Scholar, 19 September 2020 In lieu of a proper public response to coronavirus, the United States was the scene of a heated and unbridled reaction that is, as anyone who pays attention knows, still smoldering. National health officials shifted blame; state governors offered […]
Categories: Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
. From Covid to Black Lives Matter, 2020 was a year like few others in recent times. Here’s a rundown of the year through the posts on Pandaemonium. . Covid Covid-19 was, of course, the issue that dominated the year. My first essay on the subject was a reflection on how new diseases seem to expose the existential fragility of human societies and how responses to epidemics are often attempts by the authorities to show that they are in control, […]
Categories: Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . How they built GrenfellAnoosh Chakelian, New Statesman, 11 December 2020 In December 2007, an Irish building materials company called Kingspan tested the fire safety of one of its insulation materials, Kooltherm K15. It was tested on a rig mocked up like a building, to mimic how the product might be used in real […]
Categories: Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . Ding-dong, the jerk is gone. But read this before you sing the Hallelujah ChorusThomas Frank, Guardian, 8 November 2020 Biden’s instinct, naturally, will be to govern as he always legislated: as a man of the center who works with Republicans to craft small-bore, business-friendly measures. After all, Biden’s name is virtually synonymous with […]
Categories: Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . Xenophobia turns migrants into scapegoatsJan Bornman, New Frame, 23 September 2020 In recent months, as South Africa has been dealing with the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been growing calls for migrants to be deported and for the government to take action against crimes allegedly committed by people born outside […]
Categories: Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
. This is just a short note to apologize if posting on Pandaemonium is slightly erratic over the next year. I have started work on a new book which unpacks ideas of “whiteness” – white supremacy, white identity, white privilege. More details in due course. But working on a book may mean that posts are a bit more irregular than normal. My apologies, but I hope you continue enjoying what is posted here – and the book, too, when it […]
Categories: Kenan Malik, Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . ‘The biggest monster’ is spreading. And it’s not the coronavirus.Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times, 3 August 2020 Until this year, TB and its deadly allies, H.I.V. and malaria, were on the run. The toll from each disease over the previous decade was at its nadir in 2018, the last year for which data […]
Categories: Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . The triumph of American idealismAlex Hochuli, Damage, 17 June 2020 What has motivated people from Sweden to New Zealand to take to the streets, for non-Americans to express solidarity with an American cause? We are all horrified to see police brutality and think racism is bad, of course, but that hardly suffices as […]
Categories: Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . China forces birth control on Uighurs to suppress populationAssociated Press, 29 June 2020 The Chinese government is taking draconian measures to slash birth rates among Uighurs and other minorities as part of a sweeping campaign to curb its Muslim population, even as it encourages some of the country’s Han majority to have more […]
Categories: Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . Shouting into the institutional voidGeorge Packer, The Atlantic, 5 June 2020 The urban unrest of the mid-to-late 1960s was more intense than the days and nights of protest since George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis policeman. More people died then, more buildings were gutted, more businesses were ransacked. But those years had […]
Categories: Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . The urgency of critique New Frame, 21 May 2020 In South Africa there is, to our collective shame, a long list of unarmed people who have been killed by the police in the post-apartheid era. People have been killed during protests, as well as during various forms of armed state action such […]
Categories: Pandaemonium
by Kenan Malik
The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . Why we fail to prepare for disasters Tim Harford, Financial Times, 16 April 2020 You can’t say that nobody saw it coming. For years, people had warned that New Orleans was vulnerable. The Houston Chronicle reported that 250,000 people would be stranded if a major hurricane struck, with the low-lying city left 20ft […]
Categories: Pandaemonium
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