American Monsters
Navy SEALs are often romanticized as American heroes. In reality, though, they are unaccountable, barbaric, and often homicidal.
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What Happens to the Chip Supply if China Invades Taiwan?
The world is hugely dependent on Taiwan’s foundries for semiconductors, which makes the question of who controls them – and how they use this power – of paramount importance.
In Detention, the Ghosts Are the Least of the Horrors
Ghosts and ghouls lurk in the popular Taiwanese videogame, Detention, but it’s the dictatorship, and the ordinary humans who aid and abet it, that really chill the blood.
The Black Magic Is Working
In India, people fear black magic curses from their enemies…and their “friends.”
The Taming of the Bunyip
Metamorphosizing from a fearsome monster to a bogeyman to a cute cartoon character to a conservation mascot, the Australian bunyip is a metaphor for our changing relationship with nature.
FICTION | The Feud
When an ordinary man criticizes a famous rapper’s latest album, the rapper sics his fans on him. Things escalate from there.
The National Woke Awards
The most prestigious intellectual awards in America are now ridiculously fixated on race. We should be worried.
Once You Go Fat, They Never Let You Go Back
Many fat activists have gone beyond body acceptance and are actively discouraging obese people against losing weight, with no regard for the science or their health.
US Withdrawal From Middle East Could Leave China as the Biggest Target
As the US withdraws from the region, China may come to be seen as the chief foreign interloper.
Will the West Fight for Anything Anymore?
Today, Westerners admire violent heroism more than ever, so long as it’s in the distant past or in movies. Is the great heroism of the West now gone to dust and song?
Modi and His Supporters Face a COVID Reckoning
Even Modi’s most affluent and committed followers are feeling the pain from the second wave – and are blaming him for it.
How Australia’s Economy Became Addicted to China
As Canberra stands up to Beijing, it will have to contend with many Australians who have profited from keeping China happy.
We Need an AI Limitation Treaty. Now.
Artificial intelligence presents an existential threat to humanity. As with other existential threats, like global warming and weapons of mass destruction, we need a treaty to manage its risks, and soon.
South Korea’s Sunshine Policy Keeps North Koreans in the Dark
South Korea’s efforts to appease Kim Jong-un make it complicit in his crimes.
Malaysia’s COVID Reckoning
Earlier this year, Malaysia had a responsible government and responsible citizens, at least as far as COVID was concerned. Now, it has neither.
The Artist of Japan’s Bloody Era
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Japan’s last great printmaker, captured the spirit of an age of carnage.
FICTION | Honor
Tales grow in the telling, they say, and so they do, and yours most of all, a tale that has grown to become legend.
At Nightmare’s Edge, Lifelike Dolls
Thousands of people collect hyperrealistic vinyl babies – but how do they sleep at night?
Packing the Supreme Court Could Destroy the US Legal System
The likely result of packing the court is a spiral into legal anarchy.
Democrats, Let Trump Fill the Supreme Court Vacancy
If the Democrats cynically try to delay the confirmation process, it may cost them the election.
China’s Third Way
Will China be able to sustain its spectacular economic growth with an increasingly autocratic regime? If so, it may mark the end of the liberal order, and the rise of authoritarian capitalism.
The Last Infidels of Hindu Kush
Persecuted by Muslims for centuries and squeezed by the forces of assimilation and modernity, the Kalasha are on the verge of extinction.
Big Boss Is Watching You
As more employees work from home, employers turn to invasive tech to monitor them.
The Apocalyptic Imperative
The COVID-19 crisis drives home the need to rethink our tepid response to climate change.
Red Lines for China
To check China’s abuses, other countries will have to draw a line in the sand – and punish Beijing if it crosses it.
Tablighi Superspreaders in Pakistan
An Islamic missionary movement is spreading COVID-19 across Pakistan, and the authorities are afraid to stop it.
FICTION | The Tunnel
She was going to bring it in and get us all sick, and a quarantine with secret hook-ups is not a quarantine at all.
Japanese Culture Isn’t Designed to Handle a Pandemic
Japan’s lassitude in the face of COVID-19 stems from its national character.
Is Mahathir Powerless Now?
Malaysia’s political mastermind seems to have lost control of everything.
War Is Peace: The Symbiosis Between Islamists and Neo-Nazis
Islamists and neo-Nazis are fighting each other, but their shared goal is to destroy the liberal order.
Democracy Backstabbed: A Malaysian Whodunit
Democracy has been backstabbed and lies in intensive care, but who did it?
A Pashtun Rights Movement Rises; Pakistan Tries to Strangle It
The recent arrest of civil rights activist Manzoor Pashteen is a blow to democracy in Pakistan.
To See How Coronavirus Outbreak Might Play Out, Look at This Virtual Plague
The Corrupted Blood incident of 2005 offers disturbing insights into how the coronavirus crisis might unfold.
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).
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.
Creepypastas: The Monsters We Make
How dark internet urban legends take on a life of their own.
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.
Consuming the Consumer: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Companies are using our data to manipulate us. Most people don’t care.
Pakistan fights Polio Virus, but Hoaxes Go Viral
Anti-vax hoaxes have incendiary results in Pakistan.
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.