‘An incredible take on the issues plaguing our planet’
‘Witty, thoughtful and intense’
The multi-award winning series of comics, Green Humour is back as the third anthology Sea Ice? Now You Don’t! From penguins balancing their nests on thin ice to tigers basking in their own glamour whilst worrying about their future, from ghazal-loving bats to whales dumping marine plastic waste right back at us- meet an array of wild animals with their own list of concerns, and their own brand of humour. The comics will take you from the high skies to geothermal mines in the very bottom of the ocean, and from sweltering tropical mangroves to the icy poles, engaging you in discussions about ecology, biology, nature conservation, and the politics of governing nature. This is a wild ride for sure, but NOT one which needs you to leave your brains at home!
Sea Ice? Now You Don’t! is the third in the series of Green Humour collections, after ‘Green Humour for a Greying Planet’ and ‘Pugmarks and Carbon Footprints’, and includes comics published in periodic columns with platforms like DW News, The Hindu, Roundglass Sustain, and Gocomics.
From two of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI, what you need to know about AI—and how to defend yourself against bogus AI claims and products Confused about AI and worried about what it means for your future and the future of the world? You’re not alone. AI is everywhere—and few things are surrounded by so much hype, misinformation, and misunderstanding. In AI Snake Oil, computer scientists Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor cut through the confusion to give you an essential understanding of how AI works and why it often doesn’t, where it might be useful or harmful, and when you should suspect that companies are using AI hype to sell AI snake oil—products that don’t work, and probably never will. While acknowledging the potential of some AI, such as ChatGPT, AI Snake Oil uncovers rampant misleading claims about the capabilities of AI and describes the serious harms AI is already causing in how it’s being built, marketed, and used in areas such as education, medicine, hiring, banking, insurance, and criminal justice. The book explains the crucial differences between types of AI, why organizations are falling for AI snake oil, why AI can’t fix social media, why AI isn’t an existential risk, and why we should be far more worried about what people will do with AI than about anything AI will do on its own. The book also warns of the dangers of a world where AI continues to be controlled by largely unaccountable big tech companies. By revealing AI’s limits and real risks, AI Snake Oil will help you make better decisions about whether and how to use AI at work and home.s
‘Like the whirlpool, still centre of a giddy circling,
the homeland’s an ocean that scatters us in all directions.’
Mir Taqi Mir (1723–1810)
Mir, one of the greatest Urdu poets, lived through extraordinarily turbulent times in a Delhi besieged by marauders, and in exile elsewhere in North India. By the time he died, aged eighty-seven, he had witnessed a long era of violence and chaos. Yet, through it all, he crafted the most exquisite poetry, shaping the Urdu language from the resources of Khari Boli, Persian and Brajbhasha. A thoughtful selection of 150 of his asha’ar or couplets by Ranjit Hoskote, The Homeland’s an Ocean reveals a far more political Mir than we know, a many-sided poet of melancholia, irreverent humour, love and audacious social vision. Hoskote’s fresh, contemporary translation brings Mir’s poetry back to a world that needs such a passionately urgent voice. Framed by the translator’s substantial introduction to Mir’s life and his literary, linguistic and political contexts, this book invites readers to look through a unique eighteenth-century lens at our current crises of homeland, identity and belonging.
In Semiotics of Rape, Rupal Oza follows the social life of rape in rural northwest India to reveal how rape is not only a violation of the body but a language through which a range of issues—including caste and gender hierarchies, control over land and labor, and the shape of justice—are contested. Rather than focus on the laws governing rape, Oza closely examines rape charges to show how the victims and survivors of rape reclaim their autonomy by refusing to see themselves as defined entirely by the act of violation. Oza also shows how rape cases become arenas where bureaucrats, village council members, caste communities, and the police debate women’s sexual subjectivities and how those varied understandings impact the status and reputations of individuals and groups.
In this way, rape gains meaning beyond the level of the survivor and victim to create a social category. By tracing the shifting meanings of sexual violence and justice, Oza offers insights into the social significance of rape in India and beyond.
Newly married Seema Hyderi is tired of being thrown out of her husband’s house. Now, sitting on her suitcase after a third eviction, she has a choice to make: obey her husband and submit, or listen to her instinct and leave forever.
The consequences of her decision will take Seema on a journey: from a world of unloving mothers and manipulative matchmakers to new avenues filled with anxiety, exploration and pleasure. In delightful prose filled with wicked humour and immense pathos, Haider takes Seema and her suitcase on a rollercoaster ride from Karachi to London
and back again.
- What is the relationship between Sanatana Dharma and Hinduism?
- How does a mantra work?
- How do I know who is a guru?
- Why are there two holy books, Shruti and Smriti?
- What is meditation, really?
- Why can’t I remember my past life?
These and many other questions are answered with clarity, simplicity and humour in this comprehensive guide to the essence of Hinduism. For fifty years, Kripamoya Das has taught the spiritual culture of Sanatana Dharma all over the world. Putting together the questions and doubts he’s encountered over the decades, he presents this handbook that readers can turn to any time on their spiritual journey.
