In The Buzz Cut, we bring you a round-up of all the weird, controversial, and wonderful stories we’ve been reading all week.

Hasan Minhaj’s latest episode of The Patriot Act is arguably a shallow introduction to the controversial and corrupt world of Indian politics. But with elections looming, it’s possible that comedy is the only way to get through them.

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From Weight Watchers to Special-K diets, counting calories has been the go-to method to lose weight for more than a century. But the science tells us that it’s actually the most misleading measure to track health and weight loss.

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Actress Lori Loughlin’s daughter, Olivia Jade Giannulli, is a YouTube star who, after being swept up in the recent US college admissions scandal, is facing backlash — with implications for influencer culture in general.

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HBO’s new documentary, The Inventor, invites us to take another look at the the Silicon Valley health care company, Theranos, and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes. But more than facts, the film shows us how we like to consume a certain narrative about women in tech, and take pleasure in their downfall.

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“Why not bring classical raag to the layman?” said Shanno Khurana, a classical Indian vocalist who was at the peak of her career in the 60s and 70s. “Otherwise, the general response to classical music is: yeh kya aaaaa kya laga rakha hai (what is this aaa?).” Read up on the woman who composed landmark operas and defied traditions while she was at it.

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While Instagram may seem to have the monopoly on glossy, high fashion reportage in the age of social media, a small faction of Twitter is having impassioned arguments about everything from Karl Lagerfeld’s legacy to archival runway photographs. High Fashion Twitter, or ‘hf twitter’ as it’s known on the platform, is lit.

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Sugar is the most addictive drug — and advertisers know this. After going through years of archival data, researchers found that the marketing tactics that were used by tobacco companies are now being applied to sweetened beverages, ensuring kids are hooked on the sugar high for years to come.

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In the aftermath of the Christchurch tragedy, Ryan Broderick argues that the terrorist (and terror) will go viral and be repeated, in the way that the white-male-violence digital feedback loop will continue to spread and amplify his ideas and actions. With his references to PewDiePie and Luca Traini, the killer ties himself to a larger universe of far-right white nationalism and violence.

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No one has paved the way for intersectional feminism the way bell hooks, a queer social activist, has. As identity politics plays an increasingly important role in our culture, looking back on her work and legacy may give us more clarity about the future.

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While a lot of what we see in Queer Eye, the Emmy-nominated Netflix show, involves formulaic makeovers, behind the scenes, much more meaningful interactions are taking place.