Spotlight

Our essential reads for the week

Before Zombeid: On Saeed Rizvi’s devotionally lurid cinema

Dead men walking, UFOs, and electric-blue nights populate a largely forgotten filmography

The Afterlives of Ertugrul in Pakistan

The Turkish TV series’ wild popularity in Pakistan has enabled a disturbing visual grammar for violence

The Year of The Witch

Witches continue to inspire literary imaginations, whether in the form of supernatural entities (with or without cauldrons) or simply regular women demanding agency and labelled as ‘witchy’ troublemakers. Inspired by some of the titles on the 2026 International Booker Prize longlist, Iman Iftikhar muses on the recurrence of this motif and its emancipatory possibilities.

Michael (2026): The King of Pop, Half-Crowned

No matter how visually compelling, a PR exercise does not make for meaningful cinema

Power Lunches

World-altering, unprecedented events may be unfolding, but we still need to know what’s on the menu

Ajaib Ghar: Urdu in the Museum of Memory

Urdu may be ours, but it is becoming increasingly unfamiliar to our children, our cities and our lives


Books

The Year of The Witch

Witches continue to inspire literary imaginations, whether in the form of supernatural entities (with or without cauldro...

Private Traps

For Mina Malik, Kiran Desai’s Booker nominated novel 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 —a sweeping saga of love and fami...

All That Goes West

This Is Where the Serpent Lives strives for scope but reduces class and gender to the familiar

Rebel English Academy - A Review

When a major Pakistani political figure is hanged, OK Town erupts in protest. A few miles away, Sir Baghi is surprised b...

Anaemic Reparations for Symptoms

‘𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺: 𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘈𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩’ by Uzair Younus wonders if instead of a collapse, we are on t...



Columns


PAKISTAN EXPLORED

Stories, Cultures, and Landscapes


Comment

Reflecting on the Zeitgeist

Marketing Magnificence: The Promise and Perils of Punjab’s New Heritage Campaign

𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘗𝘶𝘯𝘫𝘢𝘣 is not only about preserving the past, but about imagining a future through the past, and will determine who the cultural future of the province belongs to

By Sarah K. Cheema

May 15, 2026

Article Image

America At War With Itself, On Film

As the US contends with its crumbling imperialism, is Hollywood incurring one political debt after another?

By Ibrahim Tanweer

Apr 13, 2026

Marketing Magnificence: The Promise and Perils of Punjab’s New Heritage Campaign

𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘗𝘶𝘯𝘫𝘢𝘣 is not only about preserving the past, but about imagining a future through the past, and will determine who the cultural future of the province belongs to

By Sarah K. Cheema

May 15, 2026

America At War With Itself, On Film

As the US contends with its crumbling imperialism, is Hollywood incurring one political debt after another?

By Ibrahim Tanweer

Apr 13, 2026

Article Image

The Impossible Bench

Badly enacted and unbelievably hopeful, can the Pakistani courtroom drama go beyond spectacle?

By Manahil Tahira

May 07, 2026


SPORTS


WORLD

European Resistance to Trump at Davos

At the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, the European Union and its leading member states were no longer willing to quietly acquiesce to Washington’s demands under President Donald Trump.

By Ahmad Jamal Wattoo

Jan 29, 2026

Trump, Greenland and the Climate Order

Trump’s interest in Greenland is not new. During his first term, his suggestion that the United States should ‘buy’ Greenland was widely mocked, dismissed as a diplomatic oddity. Ahmad Jamal Wattoo looks at the strategic logic beneath the spectacle.

By Ahmad Jamal Wattoo

Jan 21, 2026

Debt-for-Climate Swaps: The G77+China’s Chance to Make Them More Than a Sideshow

Debt-for-climate swaps are no longer boutique transactions, but are being pitched as a central tool to help countries break free from the vicious cycle of debt distress and climate vulnerability. Can the G77+China succeed in making them more than symbolic, clever deals on the margins?

By Shahira Khan

Nov 11, 2025


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