Essays

Essays

Here’s a (non-exhaustive) list of essays I like/find interesting/are food for thought; I’ve tried to sort them as much as possible. The starred (*) ones are those I especially love

also quick note: some of these links, especially the ones that are from books/anthologies redirect you to libgen or scihub, and if that doesn’t work for you, do message me; I’d be happy to send them across!

Literature + Writing

Godot Comes to Sarajevo - Susan Sontag

The Strangeness of Grief - V. S. Naipaul*

Memories of V. S. Naipaul - Paul Theroux*

A Rainy Day with Ruskin Bond - Mayank Austen Soofi

How Albert Camus Faced History - Adam Gopnik

Listen, Bro - Jo Livingstone

Rachel Cusk Gut-Renovates the Novel - Judith Thurman

Lost in Translation: What the First Line of “The Stranger” Should Be - Ryan Bloom

The Duke in His Domain - Truman Capote*

The Cult of Donna Tartt: Themes and Strategies in The Secret History - Ana Rita Catalão Guedes

Never Do That to a Book - Anne Fadiman*

Affecting Anger: Ideologies of Community Mobilisation in Early Hindi Novel - Rohan Chauhan*

Why I Write - George Orwell*

Rimbaud and Patti Smith: Style as Social Deviance - Carrie Jaurès Noland*

Art + Photography (+ Aesthetics)

Looking at War - Susan Sontag*

Love, sex, art, and death - Nan Goldin, David Wojnarowicz

Lyons, Szarkowski, and the Perception of Photography - Anne Wilkes Tucker

The Feminist Critique of Art History - Thalia Gouma-Peterson, Patricia Mathews

In Plato’s Cave - Susan Sontag*

On reproduction of art (Chapter 1, Ways of Seeing) - John Berger*

On nudity and women in art (Chapter 3, Ways of Seeing) - John Berger*

Kalighat Paintings  - Sharmishtha Chaudhuri

Daydreams and Fragments: On How We Retrieve Images From the Past -  Maël Renouard

Arthur Rimbaud: the Aesthetics of Intoxication - Enid Rhodes Peschel

Cities

Tragic Fable of Mumbai Mills - Gyan Prakash

Whose Bandra is it? - Dustin Silgardo*

Timur’s Registan: noblest public square in the world? - Srinath Perur

The first Starbucks coffee shop, Seattle - Colin Marshall*

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai’s iconic railway station - Srinath Perur

From London to Mumbai and Back Again: Gentrification and Public Policy in Comparative Perspective -  Andrew Harris

The Limits of “White Town” in Colonial Calcutta - Swati Chattopadhyay

The Metropolis and Mental Life - Georg Simmel

Colonial Policy and the Culture of Immigration: Citing the Social History of Varanasi - Vinod Kumar, Shiv Narayan

A Caribbean Creole Capital: Kingston, Jamaica - Coln G. Clarke (from Colonial Cities by Robert Ross, Gerard J. Telkamp

The Colonial City and the Post-Colonial World - G. A. de Bruijne

The Nowhere City - Amos Elon*

The Vertical Flâneur: Narratorial Tradecraft in the Colonial Metropolis - Paul K. Saint-Amour

Philosophy

The trolley problem problem - James Wilson

A Brief History of Death - Nir Baram

Justice as Fairness: Political not Metaphysical - John Rawls*

Should Marxists be Interested in Exploitation? - John E. Roemer

The Discomfort You’re Feeling is Grief - Scott Berinato*

The Pandemic and the Crisis of Faith - Makarand Paranjape

If God Is Dead, Your Time is Everything - James Wood

Giving Up on God - Ronald Inglehart

The Limits of Consensual Decision - Douglas Rae*

The Science of “Muddling Through” - Charles Lindblom*

History

The Gruesome History of Eating Corpses as Medicine - Maria Dolan

The History of Loneliness - Jill Lepore*

From Tuskegee to Togo: the Problem of Freedom in the Empire of Cotton - Sven Beckert*

Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism - E. P. Thompson*

All By Myself - Martha Bailey*

The Geographical Pivot of History - H. J. Mackinder

The sea/ocean

Rim of Life - Manu Pillai

Exploring the Indian Ocean as a rich archive of history – above and below the water line - Isabel Hofmeyr, Charne Lavery

‘Piracy’, connectivity and seaborne power in the Middle Ages - Nikolas Jaspert (from The Sea in History)*

The Vikings and their age - Nils Blomkvist (from The Sea in History)*

Mercantile Networks, Port Cities, and “Pirate” States - Roxani Eleni Margariti

Phantom Peril in the Arctic - Robert David English, Morgan Grant Gardner*

Assorted ones on India

A departure from history: Kashmiri Pandits, 1990-2001 - Alexander Evans *

Writing Post-Orientalist Histories of the Third World - Gyan Prakash

Empire: How Colonial India Made Modern Britain - Aditya Mukherjee

Feminism and Nationalism in India, 1917-1947 - Aparna Basu

The Epic Riddle of Dating Ramayana, Mahabharata - Sunaina Kumar*

Caste and Politics: Identity Over System - Dipankar Gupta

Our worldview is Delhi based*

Sports (you’ll have to excuse the fact that it’s only cricket but what can i say, i’m indian)

‘Massa Day Done:’ Cricket as a Catalyst for West Indian Independence: 1950-1962 - John Newman*

Playing for power? rugby, Afrikaner nationalism and masculinity in South Africa, c.1900–70 - Albert Grundlingh

When Cricket Was a Symbol, Not Just a Sport - Baz Dreisinger

Cricket, caste, community, colonialism: the politics of a great game - Ramachandra Guha*

Cricket and Politics in Colonial India - Ramchandra Guha

MS Dhoni: A quiet radical who did it his way*

Music

Brega: Music and Conflict in Urban Brazil - Samuel M. Araújo

Color, Music and Conflict: A Study of Aggression in Trinidad with Reference to the Role of Traditional Music - J. D. Elder

The 1975 - ‘Notes On a Conditional Form’ review - Dan Stubbs*

Life Without Live - Rob Sheffield*

How Britney Spears Changed Pop - Rob Sheffield

Concert for Bangladesh

From “Help!” to “Helping out a Friend”: Imagining South Asia through the Beatles and the Concert for Bangladesh - Samantha Christiansen 

Gender

Clothing Behaviour as Non-verbal Resistance - Diana Crane

The Normalisation of Queer Theory - David M. Halperin

Menstruation and the Holocaust - Jo-Ann Owusu*

Women’s Suffrage the Democratic Peace - Allan Dafoe

Pink and Blue: Coloring Inside the Lines of Gender - Catherine Zuckerman*

Women’s health concerns are dismissed more, studied less - Zoanne Clack

Food

How Food-Obsessed Millennials Shape the Future of Food - Rachel A. Becker (as a non-food obsessed somewhat-millennial, this was interesting)

Colonialism’s effect on how and what we eat - Coral Lee

Tracing Europe’s influence on India’s culinary heritage - Ruth Dsouza Prabhu

Chicken Kiev: the world’s most contested ready-meal*

From Russia with mayo: the story of a Soviet super-salad*

The Politics of Pancakes - Taylor Aucoin*

How Doughnuts Fuelled the American Dream*

Pav from the Nau

A Short History of the Vada Pav - Saira Menezes

Fantasy (mostly just harry potter and lord of the rings)

Purebloods and Mudbloods: Race, Species, and Power (from The Politics of Harry Potter)

Azkaban: Discipline, Punishment, and Human Rights (from The Politics of Harry Potter)*

Good and Evil in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lengendarium - Jyrki Korpua

The Fairy Story: J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis - Colin Duriez (from Tree of Tales)*

Tolkien’s Augustinian Understanding of Good and Evil: Why The Lord of the Rings Is Not Manichean - Ralph Wood (from Tree of Tales)*

Travel

The Hidden Cost of Wildlife Tourism

Chronicles of a Writer’s 1950s Road Trip Across France - Kathleen Phelan

On the Early Women Pioneers of Trail Hiking - Gwenyth Loose

On the Mythologies of the Himalaya Mountains - Ed Douglas*

More random assorted ones

The cosmos from the wheelchair (The Economist obituaries)*

In El Salvador - Joan Didion

Scientists are unravelling the mystery of pain - Yudhijit Banerjee

Notes on Nationalism - George Orwell

Politics and the English Language - George Orwell*

What Do the Humanities Do in a Crisis? - Agnes Callard*

The Politics of Joker - Kyle Smith

Sushant Singh Rajput: The outsider - Uday Bhatia*

Credibility and Mystery - John Berger

happy reading :)

More Posts from The-real-ranger-rick and Others

4 years ago

I know there a lot of dom/sub fics told from the Ryan's (as the sub) perspective and him being turned on by Shane's dominance but are there any where it's in Shane's perspective and Ryan obeying him/being submissive really turns him on?

Praise the fucking Lord for this request.

Okay, so there aren’t many (not that there are actually that much d/s in the fandom either), but here we go. We do need more d/s with dom!Shane’s POV, please authors interact–

you get me closer to god by sessrumnir

Summary: Ryan wants to experiment. Shane is more than happy to comply.

Rated: E

Commentary: This is one of my favorite d/s fanfics in the fandom. A first time doing a scene, first time being a dom for Shane, and it’s amazing. It has this really good POV, too. Shane’s feelings while doing the scene, taking desicions and learning to command are great, there is not even a moment where the fic forgets this and it’s just overall amazing. Such a great story from an amazing author, we all need this in our life.

Ryan Bergara: The Biggest Fucking Tease in the World by ClaraLuna98

Summary: why was Shane so GODDAMN disheveled during the Sodder Children episode?

Rated: M

Commentary: One of the first d/s stories in the fandom, this story is a lot of fun to read. It’s a good PWP and it gives you the chills, it’s great. I really like the dom!Shane they write in this, I love him. Just in general, I really like this fic. Little warning for daddy kink and lotsa good dirty talk.

The Desk Fic by SincerelyLeah

Summary: Shane was having a shitty Monday morning and it was all because of one person, Ryan Bergara. But, by now he should know that endless teasing gets Shane more than riled up.

Rated: E

Commentary: Ah, this fic. I love that we, as a fandom, have gathered the universal headcanon that Ryan is a damn tease and it gives Shane life. This fic is intense and overall very good, one of my favorites. Once more, beware of the daddy kink and tons of dirty talk.

4 years ago
LISTEN UP AGAIN KIDS STOP REBLOGGING THIS FUCKING GARBAGE POST. IT IS 100% FUCKING BULLSHIT AND CAN AND

LISTEN UP AGAIN KIDS STOP REBLOGGING THIS FUCKING GARBAGE POST. IT IS 100% FUCKING BULLSHIT AND CAN AND MOST DEFINITELY WILL LITERALLY KILL. DO YOU NOT SEE WARNING LABELS THAT SAY “DO NOT INDUCE VOMITING”? THEY AREN’T FUCKING AROUND. YOU CAN FUCKING BURN THEIR ESOPHAGUS BY CAUSING VOMITING, CAUSE CHOKING, DROWNING, OR MAKE IT WORSE! AGAIN DO NOT FORCE ANYTHING DOWN ANYONE’S THROAT. THEY. CAN. DROWN. IF SOMEONE IS LOSING CONCIOUSNESS ALL THE CHIT CHAT IN THE WORLD WILL NOT PREVENT IT AT THAT POINT THEY ARE IN SERIOUS DANGER. “Buuut i don’t wanna take them to the hospital!!!” WELL SUNSHINE GLAD YOU’D RATHER HAVE A DEAD FRIEND THAN A LIVING ONE BUT YOU’RE IN LUCK CALL FUCKING POISON CONTROL. THEY ARE NOT THE COPS. THEY WILL HELP YOU. AND IF THEY SAY GO TO THE FUCKING HOSPITAL YOU GO TO THE FUCKING HOSPITAL. NO EXCUSES. 0. NONE. I have seen this shit cross my dash SO MANY TIMES so PLEASE fucking reblog this and prevent some well meaning idiot from accidentally killing someone they love!

4 years ago

Chan: Hey, have you seen Felix and Jisung? I haven't seen them since yesterday.

Changbin: Same here. I wonder-

*Instagram notification sounds*

[realstraykids is live]

Changbin, sighing: Found them.

Felix & Jisung: [recording outside Area 51] RELEASE THE ALIENS MOTHERFUCKERS

3 years ago

Chrome extensions I actually use as a mentally ill university student

Making websites easier to digest:

Dark Reader - Changes any webpage to dark mode.

Mercury Reader - Simplifies the layout of any webpage to eliminate distractions and irritating formatting.

Podcastle AI - Turns any article into a podcast. This is a lifesaver for being able to process what I’m reading, to be honest.

Spelling/grammar:

LanguageTool - Spelling and grammar check for those of us who regularly type in more than one language.

Grammarly - Spelling and grammar check for those of us who only type in English. Can be used with LanguageTool installed, which is what I do.

Google Dictionary - Define any word on the webpage with a double-click.

Google Translate - Translate an entire webpage or even just a short segment.

Misc:

AdGuard Adblocker - After trying quite a few adblocker options, this is the one I find the best.

The Great Suspender - Automatically suspend inactive tabs to help with performance. <- as an edit, I don’t believe this is available anymore

Honey - Try coupon codes automatically to save money on online purchases.

Built-in Chrome tab grouping - Group your tabs to keep organized and minimize distracting clutter.

4 years ago

“ Eremin is canon,“ I say into the mic.

The crowd boos. I begin to walk off in shame, when a voice speaks and commands silence from the room.

"He’s right,” they say. I look for the owner of the voice. There in the 5th row, Hajime Isayama himself

3 years ago

FYI : this website definitely DOES NOT have a million free TEXTBOOKS and in general books for you all to download 😌

No reason to reblog this 👀

Edit : omg this blew up GUYS CHECK MY STUDYGRAM I AM SHARING LIFE SAVING TIPS ON THE DAILY @ABOOKISHDEMON 

3 years ago

i went to a small private school in bumfuck, alabama, and we had a rite of passage. in 10th grade, every student took chemistry with Mr. Jenne, and every year, he showed his students a short video. the older students refused to tell the younger students what the video was, so by the time we got to chemistry, we were all super curious about it.

Mr. Jenne would go through the syllabus and explain how his class worked, then he'd drag out an old tv set and put an ancient vhs tape into an equally ancient vcr (i graduated in 2005; we knew what dvds were, but i don't think this was ever put on dvd). finally, he'd turn out the lights, and let us watch The Consequences of Our Choices, aka

The Pump

afterwards, when we were completely and utterly confused, he'd explain the metaphor. Mr. Jenne said he could always tell who had primed the pump by studying and who was going to die in the desert because they'd been cheating.

somewhere around December, when it was time for exams, he'd show it to us again. after that, he'd show it to us at random intervals -- if he needed to leave the room for a bit, if we finished the lesson early (ha!), or the next time we had exams in May. He also taught organic chemistry and physics, and you can bet your sweet ass i took both of those classes. i got to watch The Pump quite a few times.

Mr. Jenne passed away about a decade ago. He's still one of my all time favorite teachers because he taught us how to think, not what to think, and he didn't hold it against us when we thought something he didn't agree with (unless it was something provable, like science. he would've mercilessly mocked anti-maskers).

the older of my 2 little sisters starts 10th grade at my high school soon, so i did what any good sister would -- i made her watch The Pump. after i explained the metaphor and how much all of Mr. Jenne's students came to love the weird little video, she immediately started texting the link to her friends.

so, after a decade, i brought The Pump back to my school. I feel like I've reintroduced an endangered species to its native habitat.

(yeah, The Pump was originally about Christianity and Jesus and all that crap, and it was put out by the Mormons, but when i see this, i think science, not religion. but i tagged it religion, anyway, just in case)

4 years ago

heyyyyyyy I found a shyan fanfic where shane shares his clothes with Ryan b/c he likes the way he smells, they get together in the end. lost it and need help finding it again. any idea what it might be called?

wasted on you by cursingcursive (queenradi)

Summary: there’s a reason shane loves when ryan wears his clothes.

Rated: M

Commentary: I fell in love with this fic the second I read it. It’s such a thing, ins’t it? aksjfdjskdj. Possessiveness like this it’s such a good thing to read (for me), and I loved the way the author got to put this all together. Ryan’s realization, how well it fits both of them, it’s really good.

4 years ago

I explained to some absolute idiot on discord that as a blind person I hate when people make their blog titles or their usernames a bunch of letters compiled from different languages. If you use the letter that looks like an A but in Greek is actually an s, the screen reader is going to read it with an s sound. So a blind person cannot tell what you have typed because it reads as garbled nonsense.

And they thought it was just the funniest joke to intentionally type like that to poke fun. Please reblog and spread awareness that typing like this is inaccessible

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