Why the Diaspora is not as interesting to me
A friend of the podcast mentioned with a bit of surprise that so much of it was focused on India as opposed to the Indian Diaspora (you can substitute “South Asia(n)” into “India(n)”). When this weblog was started at the end of 2010 it was probably more Diasporic in orientation. That was the era when …
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The decline of the bee
At the Spelling Bee, a New Word Is M-O-N-E-Y – Elite spellers now can pay to get a spot in the national event. For this generation of zealous competitors, it just means another chance to shine: An extra factor driving the stakes for this generation of spellers is a concerted effort by non-U.S.-born parents, particularly …
The decline of the bee
At the Spelling Bee, a New Word Is M-O-N-E-Y – Elite spellers now can pay to get a spot in the national event. For this generation of zealous competitors, it just means another chance to shine: An extra factor driving the stakes for this generation of spellers is a concerted effort by non-U.S.-born parents, particularly …
Aladdin!
Disney’s Aladdin is likely to be a hit. And Naomi Scott is likely to be the break-out star. The half-English and half-Guju British chatterbox is also going to play Elena Houghlin in this fall’s reboot of Charlie’s Angels. The casting of the mixed Scott, of white and Indian ancestry, as Jasmine created some silly backlash …
Having a common name in a post-Dunbar’s number world
I’m not sure I believe the model outlined in Robin Dunbar’s Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language. I’m not even sure about the specific details of Dunbar’s number. But, the overall insight, that the vast majority of human history has been defined by small groups with people you see again and again had an […]
The many ways of being Brown Diasporic
An admission: I have no idea what half of Zach’s posts are about. More clearly, they’re written in English, but there are so many references to Indian/South Asian pop-culture and drop-ins of Hindi-Urdu words that I have no idea what he’s talking about. It might as well be Greek. Often after 30 minutes of Google, …
Bring the Kalash to Ladakh!
This was something that was suggested on Twitter (or emerged out of a discussion on Twitter): why can’t the Kalash have the option of relocating to Ladakh? It’s not that different of an ecosystem, and there would be less cultural pressure to change and/or threat of assimilation. The Indian government imposes a no-contact policy for …
What is in a name?
Martin Luther was the key figure in the precipitation of the Reformation. The name Martin: Martin may either be a surname or given name. Martin is a common given and family name in many languages and cultures. It comes from the Latin name Martinus, which is a late derived form of the name of the …
BrownCast Podcast episode 27: Zach on why he’s an Islamophobe and why he hates PewDiePie
Another BP Podcast is up. You can listen on Libsyn, iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher. Probably the easiest way to keep up the podcast since we don’t have a regular schedule is to subscribe at one of the links above. You can also support the podcast as a patron (the primary benefit now is that you get the podcasts considerably earlier than …
Finishing What Darwin Began
Wilson argues cogently that humanity, both in its biology and its culture, is a product of evolution.
The evolution of languages
Map of language families of the world todayThe story in the Bible about the “Tower of Babel” was the explanation that the ancient Hebrews gave for why there was so much linguistic diversity in the world around them. Ancient people were curious and obse…
How Indian are Pakistanis (vs. non-Indian)
I was sent this link via Twitter, Pakistanis are Arabs: OK – so clearly that’s nonsense … but while I have your attention .. Back in 2012, the Aspen Institute held a discussion called “My Middle East” featuring authors from around the “modern Middle East”. This included participants from various Arab countries, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan …
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A toxic cocktail of American narcissism and Indian American self-righteousness
Like many of you, I’m monitoring what’s going on in the Indian subcontinent. I’m not saying much because I don’t know much. No value to add. But then this showed up in my timeline, and I honestly could not believe that even the confluence of characteristics we’ve been talking about recently might lead to such …
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I now support quotas on (South) Asian Americans at elite universities
A Harvard Law Professor Is Representing Harvey Weinstein. Students Say This Makes Them Unsafe, Demand His Resignation: Harvard’s administration is taking students’ concerns seriously, and has agreed to conduct a review of Sullivan. “In this situation, we would like to have a more complete understanding of the current environment at Winthrop House,” wrote Dean of …
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Do people in India care about ‘racist’ knitters?
There is a weird controversy about a white knitter who was perceived to be racist against Indians because they were worried about going to India because it was so alien from her experience? At least that’s what I get from the conversation. See the above exchange for some more context. The mainstream website Vox, published …
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Brown is all, all is brown
There emerged a question in the comments below as to what was “brown” or “desi”? Ah, the old demarcation problem! Since there is no “Pope of Brownness” we can all offer our opinions. I take a “liberal” and “broad” view. There are children adopted from India in the United States who are as physically South …
The ghost of empire and the origin of all repression
The New York Times published an op-ed, How British Feminism Became Anti-Trans, where India implicitly makes a showing: It’s also worth noting that the obsession with supposed “biological realities” of people like Ms. Parker are part of a long tradition of British feminism interacting with colonialism and empire. Imperial Britain imposed policies to enforce heterosexuality …
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The Insight Show Notes — Season 2, Episode 11: Cultural Evolution
The Insight Show Notes — Season 2, Episode 11: Cultural EvolutionThis week on The Insight (Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Podcasts)we discussed the field of cultural evolution with Richard McElreath of Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthrop…