NL Recommends: What's the meaning of equality?

Messiah Netflix

“Everybody worships. The only choice is what we worship. Some people kneel to money, some to power, some to intellect."

Messiah interrogates faith and politics in the modern world. It follows a man who first appears in the Middle East and instantly wins over a crowd of followers who proclaim him the Messiah. Is he sent from God or is he a dangerous fraud bent on dismantling the global geopolitical order?

– Anukriti Malik

A Whiff of Tear Gas LRB

In this first person account, British journalist John Lanchester reminisces about his childhood years in Hong Kong. While exploring what sets today’s Hong Kong apart from the one that he had lived in, he offers valuable insights to readers, such as myself, who are unacquainted with Hong Kong's history. He left Hong Kong early in his life and all his friends and family there died eventually, but he had made up his mind to never go back – until protests began last year. It is fascinating to read about his return to Hong Kong after decades. He looks at the place and the people from a whole new perspective. What really struck me were the similarities between the protests in India and those in Hong Kong, police brutality being the most prominent. Only, in spite of the heavier militarisation and longer duration of protests in Hong Kong, more people have been killed protesting against the new citizenship law in India.

– Snigdha Sharma

The Philosopher Redefining Equality New Yorker

Elizabeth Anderson argues that our real concern should be equality not in material benefits, but in social relations. That is, democratic equality.

– Manisha Pande

Hondros YouTube

A 2017 documentary film about the war photographer Chris Hondros, who was killed in a mortar attack while covering the 2011 Libyan civil war. It describes the stories behind some of his most iconic photographs.

– Parikshit Sanyal

First They Killed My Father Netflix

The movie, inspired by a true story, chronicles the harrowing journey of a young Cambodian girl, Loung Ung, who along with her family is forced to abandon her home and work in labour camps. It is set against the backdrop of the rise to power of Khmer Rouge, who wiped out around a quarter of the country's population. The film is based on a novel of the same name by Loung Ung.

– Nikhil Sharma

Hindu Rashtra Ashutosh

It's a narrative account of contemporary India and the sociopolitical churning caused by Saffronism, Gau Raksha politics and Hindutva propaganda.

– Akshat Dutt