The Hitchhikers Guide to the Deep Web
The deep web is often cited as making up 99% of the Internet. It is understood to be a murky, metamorphosing nebula of information in which websites for contract killers and drug lords swirl malignantly. Impossible to navigate without the precise address of your destination, untamed by national laws
John School: A New ‘Cure’ For The World’s Oldest Profession
Cynthia is talking to a room of men about her first husband. She married him for a kilo of crack cocaine, only to, only to discover he was a hit man. While they were married she was shot twice – the second time landing her in a coma for three months. It was then that […]
Prudish Republic: Sexual Repression in China
One night in 2005, the Nanjing police arrived at a gathering at the house of an academic; they came by night, their purpose unstated but obvious. It’s unclear for how long his activities had been known to the authorities, but the academic no doubt crossed a line when he publicly solicited the coop
Truth, Justice and the American Way: The secret politics of the superhero
In 1912, a socialist revolutionary named Iosif Dzhugashvili penned an article in the St Petersburg based newspaper Pravda under the pseudonym ‘Stalin’. Operating under various different names during his lifetime, it was neither his first nor his favourite alias, but it was to prove the most endu
A Pig Among Panthers
Richard Aoki was not your typical member of the Black Panther Party. Most famous for both arming and training the young Panthers in their early years, Aoki was a streetfighter belonging to many radical groups in the San Francisco Bay Area before joining the party. Rising to the rank of field marshal
All Quiet on the African Front: A troubling blind spot in the British press
Ask somebody what they know about the Second Congo War and you will receive one of two responses. Either there will be a look of blankness accompanied by a comment like “I didn’t even know there was a first Congo War”, or, the respondent’s eyes will drift as they struggle to gather vague fra
Ice Cream and Communism: The Sweet Side Effects of the Cuban Revolution
An immense ice-cream parlour stands on a leafy street in Havana, Cuba, like a towering UFO. Reputedly over 30,000 customers visit every day to devour scoops of Coppelia ice cream, Cuba’s government-subsidised snack of choice. The Havana branch of Coppelia lies in the art deco time warp of Vedado,
Out of Thin Air: MH370, Flight 8501 and vanishing aircraft
There’s something undeniably alarming about flying. It’s with a certain relief that even the most seasoned air traveller feels the thud of the plane’s wheels touching the ground. Despite the oft-used statistic that flying is safer than car travel, it is, for want of a better phrase, a bit scar
Profiting from Loss: India and the Right to Reproduce
“With all these vigilant vigils on virginity, you would think the country would have controlled its population by now.” ― Mallika Nawal, I’m a Woman & I’m on SALE. With roughly 1.27 billion people, India’s population is the second largest in the world. Projections for growth