FAKE NEWS | China Furious at Sex141 Over “Taiwanese” Prostitute Listings
Beijing called it “a violation of the One-China principle.”
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December 2019
The Intersection Is a Dead End
Intersectional identity politics is both morally and intellectually bankrupt. This weakness makes its followers increasingly intolerant.
Musharraf’s Conviction Puts Judiciary and Military on Collision Course
Musharraf’s death sentence sets up a confrontation between Pakistan’s judiciary and its powerful military.
The Working Dead
Overwork and idiosyncrasies at Japanese companies are killing employees (sometimes literally).
Sleeping to the Top
Whilst prostitution evokes cheap perfume, immorality, and desperation, the courtesan is associated with art, fame, and riches.
POETRY | When I Am Filled With Anxiety
That I am but a ship rat, racing through the pipe dreams of an un-wild west.
National Myths
America’s national myths make it underrate its establishment and overrate its people. China’s make it do the opposite.
Brexit & Bullshit: The UK Election Explained
The Labour party suffered its worst defeat in a hundred years, but the biggest loser was the truth.
November 2019
To Mock the Mighty: A History of Court Jesters
More than just clowns, jesters played a unique and important role in the halls of power.
Age of Protests
Pakistan’s sit-in culture enables a zealous minority to topple elected governments.
Message to Hong Kong Partisans: SPLIT
If both sides try to defend the indefensible, the city will burn.
The Canada I Know
Lurking beneath the idyllic vision of Canada are rates of hate crime and violent crime comparable to those in the US.
A Prostitute’s Place
In modern Japan, prostitutes straddle both a legal and a moral boundary.
The Todai Mystique
Inside Asia’s most prestigious (and most overrated) university.
Anxieties of Influence
Who believes in the power of liberal democratic ideas the most? Dictators.
October 2019
Chinese Pride
Why do so many overseas Chinese support the Chinese Communist Party? Mostly, it’s racism.
Creepypastas: The Monsters We Make
How dark internet urban legends take on a life of their own.
Supernatural Femme Fatales
Why are myths and legends full of supernatural seductresses?
Kuchisake-onna: The Slit-Mouthed Woman
Death and maiming are predetermined when confronted with the vengeful spirit of Kuchisake-onna, or the Slit-Mouthed Woman, a yokai, a monstrous creature of Japanese folklore.
Bloody Mary and the Observer Effect
Could a darker realm of demons and spirits actually exist alongside our own? Quantum physics may hold the answer.
Tribes of Hong Kong
The original stimulus of the protests – the extradition bill – has long been withdrawn and forgotten; the tribal cycle of violence has generated its own self-sustaining momentum.
The Hand on the Wall
The Baroness of Carini was murdered on a cold winter’s night in 1563. Her legend, like the bloody imprint of her hand, has been haunting Sicily for centuries.
FICTION | Hungry Ghosts
A Chinese-American in Paris realizes her ancestral beliefs have followed her there.
The Life and Death of Sufi Muhammad, Battle Mullah
An extremist cleric’s death marks a transition to even more brutal terrorism.
FICTION | Shadow Holds the Shape
A vampire and a ghost stalk the streets of Manhattan.
The Translators: Marmaduke Pickthall, Yusuf Ali, and the Quran
The two quintessential translators of the Quran underwent conversions in opposite directions: Pickthall became a Muslim and Ali became an Englishman.
September 2019
The Afghan Elephant in the Room
Afghanistan is the women’s rights debate that no one’s having.
Pakistan’s Tribal Belt Joins the Modern World
Annexed by the British, claimed by Afghanistan, a battleground during the Great Game, the Cold War, and the War on Terror, Pakistan’s lawless tribal region is finally integrated into the rest of the country.
On the Trail of Iris Chang
Iris Chang, the historian who brought the tragedy of the Nanking Massacre home to the West, lived a life that was as incandescent as it was brief, and pioneered the way for Chinese American writers.
Melting Palaces
Beautiful, transient, and completely impractical, ice palaces are monuments to the human sense of novelty and wonder.
The Leftist Case Against Cancel Culture
Cancel culture not only doesn’t help social justice, it’s harmful to it.
Hong Kong’s Protestors Have Already Won. They Need to Appreciate That.
Forcing the withdrawal of the extradition bill is a great achievement, but now they risk overreaching.
August 2019
Zakir Naik and Malaysia’s Ugly Reflection
The Islamist preacher Zakir Naik is not important. What his case reflects about Malaysia, though, is.
Lee Kuan Yew’s Shadow
Lee Kuan Yew was a titan and the shadow he casts is long and black and all of Singapore remains under it.
How Progress Blinds People to Progress
Why do things look like they’re getting worse as they’re getting better?
Consuming the Consumer: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Companies are using our data to manipulate us. Most people don’t care.
Sex Slavery in San Francisco’s Chinatown
A journey through San Fran’s sordid past.
The Short, Tortuous History of the Qipao
Fashion statement, symbol of decadence, cultural relic, and party dress, this traditional Chinese garment has come to mean different things to different people.
July 2019
FICTION | The Foreigners
A poor, enterprising Chinese student sees a charitable American couple as an easy mark.
Olympic Isolation
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics is a golden opportunity for the Japanese people to move out of their cultural comfort zone. If only they’d take it.
Pakistan fights Polio Virus, but Hoaxes Go Viral
Anti-vax hoaxes have incendiary results in Pakistan.
Catullus: The Original Emo Rhapsodist
Whilst the popular impression of Romans is of marble statues, one poet showed they could cry, love, and swear.
The Subversive History of Japanese Tattoos
Traditionally associated with outlaws and gangsters, tattoos in Japan have a long and colorful history.
Sleeping with the Enemy
How did the Nationalist Party go from the sworn enemy of the Chinese Communists to the pro-Beijing party in Taiwan?
Silent Consent
Shinzo Abe’s remiltarization agenda illustrates the
disconnect between populace and politics in Japan.
Why Are There so Many Ladyboys in Thailand?
An answer to the question you’ve all been asking.
June 2019
New Seven Deadly Sins for the Modern World
Because modern problems require modern eternal punishments.
The One-Child Policy and the Rewriting of History
The film One Child Nation is a harrowing portrait of forced abortion in China. But how accurate is it, and what does it tell us about China then and now?
Smells like Hong Kong Spirit
Hong Kongers know when they’ve got something valuable, and if someone tries to take it from them, they’ll fight like dogs to keep it.
Vanishing Chinatowns
Chinatowns are disappearing across America. How is this affecting Asian American life?
Kitsune: The Japanese Fox Trickster
Kitsune are adept at shape-shifting from male to female, from animal to human, and back again.
Genius and Madness
They say there’s a thin line between genius and madness. But what’s the relationship between the two?
May 2019
FAKE NEWS | Xi Vows to Peacefully Reincorporate Taiwan (Which Is Already Part of China) into China by Force, If Necessary
Xi contrasted “peaceful force” with the “violent force” used by “Western imperialists.”
FICTION | The Banker & the Boatman
A rich banker (with an MBA) takes a ride with a poor boatman (without an MBA).
Can We Trust Our Algorithms?
Algorithms now rule much of our lives. How much faith should we have in them?
Upgrading Ourselves to Death
We’re ready for the increased speed and functionality from 5G. How about the increased radiation?
Starving Watchdogs
Pakistan’s news industry is dying – and government accountability along with it.
Sex, Death, and God
Sex is one of the most natural of human activities. So why do we treat it as so taboo?
FICTION | The Doll
An overworked and underappreciated wife and mother creates a novel solution to her problems.
Port in the Storm
To say Bradley’s living on borrowed time would be an understatement. It’s more like he’s living on stolen time. Like he made a deal with the devil years ago and he keeps shrugging it off.
Malaysia’s Democratic Moment
Malaysia has a rare shot at democracy. Will it drop the ball?
