In The Buzz Cut, we bring you a round-up of all the weird, controversial, and wonderful stories we’ve been reading all week.
Deepika Padukone is now the only A-lister from Bollywood to publicly show support for the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, some of whom were badly beaten up by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) goons earlier this week. Here’s why her silent presence at a protest with Kanhaiya Kumar was game-changing.
*
In a photoshoot with Grazia India, Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan sports tousled hair while standing on a bed, reminiscent of her Pooh days from Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. There’s one difference, however: she doesn’t seem to have any knees. The wonders of Photoshop?
*
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 86, has reported she is now free of cancer, much to the relief and joy of the American public. Bader, who is one of the four liberal justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, gave everyone a scare after she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2019.
*
In a dilapidated, abandoned building in Rome — home to migrant families, underground craft breweries, and a queer-people-only New Year’s Eve rave — an electricity outage threatened to put a damper on end-of-year plans. That is, until a cardinal in charge of the Vatican’s charitable donations restored the building’s electricity. Why?
*
Almond milk has gotten even worse for the environment.Turns out, the making of this very-same almond milk has been killing billions of bees every year. There is literally no such thing as catching a break.
*
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, the Duchess and Duke of Sussex, have announced, a mere two years into their royal marriage, their vision for a future separate from the Duke’s royal lineage, underwritten by their financial independence from the Queen’s estate. There’s no proof this was Markle’s idea, but I’m betting on it.
*
Get ready for a cringe-read: Have you ever seen those Instagram ads that sell sweaters with slogans like “we are the resistance” and “I miss Obama”? Well, it’s part of an industry aimed at capitalizing on the radical politics of current times; in other words, it’s the rise of the resistance socialite.
*
Two decades ago, Chennai resident and pickle enthusiast Usha Prabakaran wrote a pickle digest. Before she could publish it herself, she fell sick. This, however, did not stop an unknown author from self-publishing the book. It’s 20 years later, and Usha’s Pickle Digest is a cult classic in the pickle world. Prabakaran, on the other hand, says she never wanted any credit.
*
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women classic has had many adaptations and even more interpretations. In the latest Greta Gerwig version, is Jo March — the central, rebel character challenging the heteronormativity of the times — actually queer?
*
As the Harvey Weinstein criminal trial, borne out of several high-profile women’s accusations against the media mogul during the #MeToo movement, begins, Weinstein’s PR is sending out a 57-page PowerPoint as an instruction manual on how to report on his trial. Most of it contains poorly worded refutations of the women’s allegations. I speak on behalf of all publications, hopefully, when I say: No, Thanks.