Ashis Basu
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ashis.bsky.social
Ashis Basu
@ashis.bsky.social
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Smoke and Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories by @amitav.bsky.social a stellar review by @rentravailer.bsky.social

“Ghosh pays attention to the role that writers have played in our collective inheritance of the histories in Smoke and Ashes.”

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Nandini Das · Dark Propensities: Opium Inc.
Despite European and British efforts to emphasise the ‘traditional’ use of opium in both India and China, neither...
www.lrb.co.uk
Reposted by Ashis Basu
this is...quite something

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
November 20, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
Don’t do this with leaves. Just, don’t
November 23, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
"At its most basic, they turned a figure of love into a figure of hate who blesses precisely the cruelties that he condemned in the Gospel; we went from “the meek shall inherit the Earth” to “the meek shall die of cholera.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
They’re doing to America what they did to Christianity | Bill McKibben
Trump’s wrecking-ball approach to America has a precedent: the evangelical perversion of Jesus’s message of radical love to one of hate and aggression
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
Protests, tears and a baby: Five key images that tell the story of Cop30 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Protests, tears and a baby: Five key images that tell the story of Cop30
Emotions ran high in Brazil at the Climate Change Conference, which saw its first major protest in four years
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Researchers are only beginning to uncover the toxic cocktail of chemicals, microplastics, and heavy metals hidden in tires. But experts say these tire emissions are a significant source of air and water pollution and may be affecting humans as well as wildlife.

e360.yale.edu/features/tir...
Road Hazard: Evidence Mounts on Toxic Pollution from Tires
Researchers are only beginning to uncover the toxic cocktail of chemicals, microplastics, and heavy metals hidden in car and truck tires. But experts say these tire emissions are a significant source ...
e360.yale.edu
November 27, 2025 at 12:47 PM
A Startup’s Bid to Dim the Sun

“The gloomy arguments in favor of solar geoengineering are compelling; so are the even gloomier counter-arguments.” @elizkolbert.bsky.social

www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
A Startup’s Bid to Dim the Sun
The gloomy arguments in favor of solar geoengineering are compelling; so are the even gloomier counter-arguments.
www.newyorker.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:53 PM
“Conditions such as obesity and diabetes, for instance, raise the risk of severe COVID and flu; malnutrition exacerbates the course of diseases such as tuberculosis and measles.” @katherinejwu.com

www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/...
RFK Jr.’s Miasma Theory of Health Is Spreading
The NIH is picking up Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s argument that a healthy immune system can keep even pandemic germs at bay.
www.theatlantic.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:43 PM
“Ghosh is one of the most important living writers writing in English” - LARB

Received @amitav.bsky.social’s latest book WILD FICTIONS today, it’s the kind of book that will enthrall readers, a collection of Essays on Literature, Empire, and the Environment. A Must Read.

@crof.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
This restaurant or collection of restaurants in Singapore looked like a modest storefront from the the street but it stretched down most of this block-long interior walkway (Hasselblad SWC, Zeiss 38mm f4.5 Biogon, Fuji 400H)
November 24, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
"So, what comes after failure?" Particularly timely reading as this year's COP heads toward a particularly miserable close: theconversation.com/the-world-lo...
The world lost the climate gamble. Now it faces a dangerous new reality
The world bet on collective but voluntary action to keep global warming at a safe level.
theconversation.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
Boast from EPA chief Lee Zelda: “We will do more deregulation in one year than entire federal governments in the past have done across all federal agencies combined.”
In One Week, Trump Moves to Reshape U.S. Environmental Policy
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
As climate change has pushed global temperatures to record levels, the Amazon has become increasingly combustible. After four decades of research, one scientist is trying to encourage small shifts in behavior there that might help stop fires before they begin. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/c...
November 23, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Flesh by David Szalay, bound by Stuart Brockman

‘The design shows the progression of the story of István’s life through the book,’ says Stuart Brockman.
November 23, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
For over 30 years, Fellows from the Designer Bookbinders society have created unique hand-bound editions of each title on the Booker shortlist.

Find out more about this year’s designers and their beautiful, bespoke books ⤵️
https://thebookerprizes.pulse.ly/19ybdm9ezm
Revealing the hand-bound editions of the Booker Prize 2025 shortlisted books | The Booker Prizes
For over 30 years, Fellows from the Designer Bookbinders society have created unique hand-bound editions of each title on the Booker shortlist. Here, this year’s designers unveil their beautiful, bespoke books
thebookerprizes.pulse.ly
November 22, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
An Israeli source told CNN that the target of the attack was Haytham Ali Tabatabai, effectively Hezbollah’s second-in-command

www.cnn.com/2025/11/23/m...
Israel targets Hezbollah chief-of-staff with first strike on Beirut in months | CNN
The Israeli military has conducted an air strike on southern Beirut, the first since early June, targeting Hezbollah’s second most senior figure.
www.cnn.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
Despite outcry over earlier attack, Trump doubles down and calls for rivals who issued message to military to be jailed.
Trump again slams Democrats who urged US troops to refuse illegal orders
Despite outcry over earlier attack, Trump doubles down and calls for rivals who issued message to military to be jailed.
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Feeling thankful is increasingly touted as a cure-all, but sometimes there are reasons not to be grateful @tiffanywatts.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
Is there a dark side to gratitude?
Feeling thankful is increasingly touted as a cure-all, but sometimes there are reasons not to be grateful
www.theguardian.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:32 AM
The 1940 painting of Kahlo asleep in bed has surpassed the record set by the $44.4m sale of Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 in 2014

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Frida Kahlo self-portrait sells for $54.7m to set new auction record for a female artist
The 1940 painting of Kahlo asleep in bed has surpassed the record set by the $44.4m sale of Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 in 2014
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
What better way to honor Omar and this book than to divest from your bank sponsors that invest in and profit from the destruction of Palestine? And to celebrate him by making a statement as such.
November 20, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
The Trump Steamroller Is Broken

Infighting. Bad polls. Party divisions. Midterm fears. It’s all back. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
The Trump Steamroller Is Broken
Infighting. Bad polls. Party divisions. Midterm fears. It’s all back.
www.theatlantic.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:27 PM
“Whenever you read, watch, or listen to the news, you’re likely to be exposed to stories of violence and murder. As a criminal psychologist, I’m often asked to comment on these cases to pick apart the motives of the perpetrators.” @drjuliashaw.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Should we treat environmental crime more like murder?
Serial killers and violent criminals dominate the headlines. What if we covered ecocide and pollution in the same way?
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
"By synthesising ... wider work from the social sciences, I have developed a psychological profile of environmental criminals"

Read my new article on how we can use social science (and investigations) to help catch and understand green criminals! 🧪

theconversation.com/criminal-psy...
Criminal psychologists are profiling a different kind of killer – environmental offenders
By understanding why people commit crimes that damage the environment, we can better hold environmental criminals accountable.
theconversation.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
"Dr. Julia Shaw's new book, Green Crime, is a page-turning exposé" -Marc Bekoff

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anim...
Inside the Minds of People Who Knowingly Destroy the Planet
Criminal psychologist Dr. Julia Shaw's new book, "Green Crime," is a page-turning exposé of why some people wantonly commit serious environmental crimes, and how to stop them.
www.psychologytoday.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Ashis Basu
Since my "Defenders of the Environment" series I've been obsessed with the brave people fighting against ecological crimes.
@drjuliashaw.bsky.social new book "#GreenCrime" explores why these crimes are so deadly, and how we can stop them from "stealing our future".

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jIp...
Dr Julia Show on Green Crime (and how to prevent it)
YouTube video by Christian Cummins
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:14 PM