Dear Abhinandan,
Please keep my mail anonymous. This is a small rant of mine and Hafta panellists are welcome to point out the flaws it. I would like to request Abhinandan to stop putting comedians on a pedestal. They may be funny and witty but I would rather read or hear the opinions of journalists over comedians because I think that journalists still are way ahead of comedians in terms of their knowledge and their capability to understand nuance.

For example, just compare your interview with Kanhaiya Kumar and the interview of Kanhaiya done by Kunal Kamra. I think that your line of questioning was way superior to that of Kunal Kamra. You did grill him on student politics, the relevance of communism etc, while Kunal Kamra seemed to be drooling all over Kanhaiya in his interview. Also, consider the rebuttal given by Sanjay Rajoura (who I think is the most overrated comedian in India) to your article on consent. I think he did not even understand the nuances of your piece (which I think he is incapable of) and was making sweeping generalisations about everything under the sun in his article which was also full of moral posturing.

In the end, I would like to leave you with an article titled Learn From America. Don’t Make Comedians Your Saviours by Devang Pathak. Devang writes about the comedy scene in India. In the above article, he basically argues that political comedy does not change anything and he gives solid arguments in support of his thesis. Please do go through this article before Hafta as I like to hear your and the panel’s view on this topic.

Thanks,
A***

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Hi Newslaundry team,

And special kas hero chha to Manisha. Nice change of flavour by bringing in a sports reporter. The discussion between the guest and Abhinandan sparked this thought and I would love the team’s point of view on this.

On the future of sports being bright for female teams/players in the elite leagues, what you guys think of future of mix teams like mix doubles in tennis for example mix t20 or mix NBA or Euro cup.

Great work, keep the news independent.
Ashish Chaudhary

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Hi Hafta team,
Thank you for the great work that the NL team does. Love all the podcasts, videos and stories published.

Newslaundry has made me shift completely from traditional media to subscription-based media. I am now a consumer of NL, Caravan, Scroll and Economist. I keep pushing people to become subscribers so that independent news media like yours can thrive.

Just one feedback.

In Hafta 228, discussing Girish Karnad, who was a Padma Bhushan and one of the greatest Indian playwrights, should have been more important than discussing if cricket is a sport or a game. Please prioritise. Love Abhinandan’s rants, but only when they are in the context of the real issues.

And a suggestion. Do consider having a sports podcast, maybe a weekly one. Sports/games other than cricket are seeing a growing following in India, and there is no podcast that covers them.

You can also discuss the economics and politics of sports through it.

All the best to all of you.

Love,
Chinmay