Modern times

It won’t be easy for Zohran Mamdani to realize his plans. (AFP)

Manu Joseph: Can Zohran Mamdani’s rise make America fairer?

4 min read . 09 Nov 2025

In January this year, an article in The Guardian asked whether Netflix was deliberately dumbing down TV so people can watch while scrolling. (Pixabay)

Manu Joseph: The myth of our short attention span—and why it endures

4 min read . 02 Nov 2025

The over-articulation of some ‘concepts’ greatly contributes to people examining themselves a bit too much. (istockphoto)

Manu Joseph: Why poor mental health doesn't always have to have a reason

4 min read . 26 Oct 2025

The Nobel Prize is the resistance of art against commerce. (AFP)

Manu Joseph: Why is Nobel prize-winning literature so hard to read?

4 min read . 19 Oct 2025

There is a popular view that Israel is so aggressive because Jews have been historically persecuted in Europe. (REUTERS)

Manu Joseph: What gives Israel the courage to defy the world?

4 min read . 12 Oct 2025

A part of what made Jane Goodall endearing to ordinary people infuriated her own scientific establishment. (AP)

Manu Joseph: Jane Goodall and why we search for ourselves in animals

4 min read . 05 Oct 2025

Indian cinema is a world where there is almost no mention of film stars, films, singers, any other public figure or real-life events. (REUTERS)

Manu Joseph: Why Indian TV and cinema fail to capture India’s popular culture

4 min read . 28 Sept 2025

People seem to carry a parallel life in their minds where they react to injustice against them with imagined acts of violence. (istockphoto)

Manu Joseph: Why we fantasize about revenge but rarely act on it

5 min read . 21 Sept 2025

At the heart of all revolutions is the second rung of power, aristocracy, wealth or clergy, attempting to bring down those above them. (AFP)

Manu Joseph: The big myth about revolutions is that they’re all organic

4 min read . 14 Sept 2025

Many symbols of health are the exact opposite of health. (Getty Images via AFP)

Manu Joseph: Why the Ironman is a new symbol of health that’s unhealthy

4 min read . 07 Sept 2025

Many young women in India face a classic problem where their in-laws and husbands make many material demands and the bridal side yields to them, assuming that things will get better. (Instagram)

Manu Joseph: Evaluate people by their worst qualities, not their best

5 min read . 31 Aug 2025

Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal in 'Materialists'

Manu Joseph: Why all marriages are actually arranged marriages

5 min read . 24 Aug 2025

The stray dog issue has appeared in Indian courts for years, with the victories mostly going the way of stray dogs. (AFP)

Manu Joseph: Why the poor remain unseen casualties amid India’s stray dog debate

5 min read . 17 Aug 2025

There is an ongoing lament about the disappearance of men who read novels. (istockphoto)

Manu Joseph: The pressure on men to read novels can be insufferable

5 min read . 12 Aug 2025

There was waist-deep water in many lanes of Gurugram because there was moderate rainfall for a few hours.

Manu Joseph: Can anything save Indians from miserable urban lives?

5 min read . 03 Aug 2025

Semaglutide and Tirzepatide cannot address the underlying reasons why people eat and overeat. (AP)

Manu Joseph: Why drugs that eat our hunger won’t cause a revolution

5 min read . 27 Jul 2025

Several American billionaires have backed Trump in the hope of benefiting from aligning with an authoritarian. (AFP)

Manu Joseph: Why there’s a difference between power and influence

5 min read . 20 Jul 2025

English now belongs to a confused minority: Upper-middle class. (istockphoto)

Manu Joseph: The defeat of English is the defeat of Amateur Indians

5 min read . 13 Jul 2025

Billionaires and other very rich people are proof that even money cannot buy the appearance of youth with the technology of today.

Manu Joseph: Try as you might, the human face cannot mask its age

5 min read . 06 Jul 2025

Israel elicits the admiration of outsiders for some unspoken reasons. (REUTERS)

Manu Joseph: What being in awe of Israel actually says about people

4 min read . 29 Jun 2025