In The Buzz Cut, we bring you a round-up of all the weird, controversial, and wonderful stories we’ve been reading all week.
Delhi, and the whole country, is grappling with a catastrophe. Sushmita Sen chipped in by sending oxygen cylinders to a Delhi hospital. Her rising to the occasion didn’t sit well with some people who rushed to tear down the act of goodwill. The actor’s gracious response echoes the gravity and scale of the oxygen crisis: “Delhi needs it, especially these smaller hospitals,” she wrote, “so help if you can.”
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The McDonald’s ice cream machine has always been a bit of a mystery: it’s almost always out of order. A social media meme even shot to fame a couple of years ago to give validity to this theory. But the fragility of the machine is no coincidence: the unserviceable machine network is a huge moneymaker. A couple tried to catch McDonald’s and its distributor in this elaborate machinations by hacking their system, which unfolded a bizarre fight over corporatism and franchising. Some say it’s a cold war in its own right — something to think about the next time you have chocolate swirls and soft-serve cones.
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For queer relationships in India, marriage is not only about celebrating love — it’s more about celebrating choice. And while India continues to deny people dignity and freedom, stories of five couples growing in conventional households are a reminder that queer identity is more than legal validity. And focusing only on entering the institution of marriage “will erase, or endanger, the many other ways in which queer people relate to each other.”
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Living online can be especially infuriating when you keep spraying typos — across mails, Slacks, text messages — but it doesn’t always have to do with carelessness or haste. Turns out, there’s a name for this phenomenon — ‘dystextia,’ a disruption of the ability to type on phones. A woman spoke to a neuroscientist, a world champion speed typer, a Google Vice President, and a celebrity nail artist to see why in god’s name does anyone makes these linguistic blunders, and if perhaps, we can live in a world where there are no typos, ever.
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Millennials’ relationship with houseplants has resulted in an industry boom — succulents have become a cultural motif of modern living. But during a pandemic, these leafy pots do more than responding to a fad: “This year, though, as I’ve spent time a bit like a plant myself — rooted in one place, tilting toward windows—I began to wonder whether the plants had been changing me, too.” Tending to plants in a time of ecological and human loss is helping people make sense of grief.
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Social media’s beauty game is a stream of curated perfection — one which celebrities and influencers like Khloe Kardashian enable. So when Kardashian talked about body positivity last month, it reminded people of the times influencers endorsed tummy tees and waist trainers, effectively upholding and profiting from the conventions they now critique. One wonders “when will celebrities have to take responsibility for perpetuating the same beauty norms we all suffer from?”
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At midnight yesterday, India’s Chief Justice retired after 17 long months. His tenure has been stormy — seeing a slew of protests, electoral bonds case, India’s collegium decisions, and a pandemic like no other. Can we faithfully record his legacy?
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An Italian legend is cheating the system masterfully: he hasn’t shown up for work in 15 years but has managed to get paid anyway — $647,612 to be exact, for absolutely no labor. His trickery reminds one of Machiavelli’s The Prince — the scheming requires coordinated plotting, outside help, and a remarkable passion to ditch work and go shopping.
