India, Internet, and Interesting Trivia
February 06, 2022
Hi,
Hope you are doing well. Life has been very pleasant these days. Free from the confined spaces of Bombay, I have been enjoying taking a stroll in the park twice a day in Trichy. It has given me time to listen to some wonderful podcasts, think things through, and generally become happier.
That being said, here are this week’s recommendations:
Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What data can and cannot tell us about modern India, by Rukmini S.
Rukmini is one of India’s finest data journalists. If you wanted to ‘know’ India - how Indian courts work, how Indians earn, how Indians fall in love - this book gives you reliable data to form your opinions on. If you are an Indian liberal (for all the flak that receives), this book is a great way to embellish your arguments and you can refer to it when you make a point you believe in but forgot where you got data for your arguments from. If you are not, this book is perhaps the gateway to you changing your opinions.
Welcome to the Internet, by Bo Burnham.
Bo is a fine comedian and an artist. While we might have enjoyed his comedy, this song is not only catchy but also a great take on the internet. On hatred, the attention economy, and the batshit crazy stuff out there - this song will make you laugh.
Interesting Trivia
Recently, I was listening to a wonderful podcast about criminal defence lawyers in the US. It teaches a lot about the law, but more importantly, I found a very interesting nugget of trivia:
Deep Throat was a 1972 (pornographic) US film that was in the limelight for all the wrong (right?) reasons. With the mores of those days, the government sought to ban the film by invoking penal provisions. Initially, they sought not to go against the well-networked producer of the film, but against a lowly projectionist. Not only did the cops arrest him thrice on three consecutive days, but invoked felony charges against him. A lot happened, but after multiple courts heard the matter, including the Supreme Court of the US (2x) and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the projectionist was let free. While this young man had apparently struggled to get a job prior to being a projectionist (after a short and unremarkable stint with the armed forces), he found his calling after the criminal litigations against him. He went on to have a thriving career, not as a projectionist or in Hollywood but as a successful jury consultant. After all, who better than a man who had been part of one of the most important criminal litigations of his time. Interestingly, the prosecution had argued that the 16mm projection reel used to screen Deep Throat was a criminal instrument - to trump up misdemeanour charges to a second degree felony charge.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Looking forward to writing to you next week!