Vikas

Episode 524...Some of the guests on the podcast have the habit of talking over other guests. For example, Professor Tanvir was more into responding and cutting off Anand rather than first listening and understanding the point. We moved to NL from legacy news because we want to hear a conversation, not people talking over each other. Maybe you guys can do some sensitisation for new guests. Thanks.

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AP

A song that I found very funny. Maybe you can use it as the outro/in Newsance. 

PS: Long-time subscriber and contributor to NL.

Thanks and regards, 

AP

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Anonymous

I’ve been a member for nearly eight years and have lived in both red and blue states in the US Since the 2024 election cycle, I’ve followed your US politics coverage. However, your takes on Trump, DOGE, etc, feel naive – essentially a copy-paste from left-wing U.S. media. Hafta without Anand and Manisha has become an echo chamber of ideas. Even your guests reinforce this bubble. I urge you to invite more diverse viewpoints to enrich the discussion and reflect a broader reality.

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Naoman Khan

Pardon the long letter, but I expect better from Newslaundry. I hope you read it fully.

In a recent Hafta episode, Anand mentioned Muslims burning The Statesman copies in Kolkata as a protest. Just mentioning this, without context, is a lazy way to criticise the protesters. You should also examine the writer, Johann Hari – a so-called journalist known for plagiarism and fabrications. I won’t get into that, as I’m sure you’re aware.

Hari’s article claimed the Prophet, at 53, had sex with a 9-year-old and ordered entire Jewish villages murdered for not following him. This framing is deeply problematic. Yes, Muhammad married Aisha young, but Islamophobes often reduce it to six to paint him as a vile rapist. I have no sympathy for Muhammad or religion – I firmly believe it has harmed women and society. But let’s not ignore how these narratives are weaponised in an imperialist, Islamophobic framework to portray all Muslims as rapists, subhuman, and undeserving of empathy.

This is a liberal-fascist exercise, and we need historical nuance when discussing how women have faced barbarity globally. Those who say “but Muhammad did it” have no moral high ground – their own religions don’t treat women any better. And when it comes to “exposing” religion, these people fixate on Islam, not out of concern for women, but to whitewash the crimes of fascist, imperialist regimes.

The day these critics write equally about Hindutva, Zionist, colonial and white oppression, not just Islam, we’ll know they care about sociological realities rather than using Islam as a scapegoat. I suggest you read another of Hari’s articles, which makes it clear he pushes a Zionist-imperial agenda:

https://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2010/02/what-often-happens-to-israels-critics-i/190375/

I hope Newslaundry presents all the facts in discussions like this – because selective framing is just unfair.

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Tanya

Hi, on Hafta where Anand and Manisha made a point about shaping minds of individuals in university spaces, I agree with Anand saying that students are disassociated with the community experience of university. I study at Delhi University. I see around myself students who do not have caste and class privileges that I do and who are not exposed to alternative political, social, cultural, economic perspectives. Here, university plays a huge role. 

I was present at Nivedita Menon's session that Manisha was talking about and could feel that so many more girls would have access to it if it would have taken place inside the campus. If our professors want us to think that caste does not exist in urban spaces, it is the reading circles, protest demonstrations, art and graffiti that tells us that it exists. But with universities attacking even the smallest of progressive actions, they are shaping the minds of at least some students and they have to be held accountable for that.

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