Journalist by trade & inclination. PhD. FRSA. Lecturer @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social Novel The Pomegranate Peace, Hachette Sign up: This Week, Those Books https://thisweekthosebooks.substack.com https://medium.com/this-week-those-bookshttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mva5rea4h22t2 books offer crucial context on the effects of #9/11, a quarter century on. #thisweekthosebooks https://thisweekthosebooks.substack.com/p/911-chapter-or-just-a-footnote11 Sep 2026 08:33 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mva5rea4h22thttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mv6zw7jjm22uAnother thought-provoking piece in Walid El Houri's @untoldmag.org : "Turtle doves and migrants cross the Mediterranean seeking sanctuary. Europe protects one species while hunting it; lets the other drown." https://untoldmag.org/turtle-doves-malta-migration/10 Sep 2026 21:51 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv6zw7jjm22uhttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mv6o2lx7ds2j@jerusalem.bsky.social writes “The Costs of War project at Brown University estimates that the total death toll in post-9/11 war zones of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen is between 4.5 million & 4.7 million. This number includes both direct combat casualties and indirect deaths...” 1/2 https://thisweekthosebooks.substack.com/p/911-chapter-or-just-a-footnote?r=1ejfm&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web10 Sep 2026 18:19 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv6o2lx7ds2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mv62o6zd2c27Moving op-ed by Erika Kirk on life without her husband Charlie, one year since his Sept 10 assassination. In the past year, interestingly, per @1440daily.bsky.social , "college students' support for violence as a means to combat speech has dropped slightly" https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/07/opinion/erika-kirk-grief-faith.html10 Sep 2026 12:32 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv62o6zd2c27https://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mv5z6x6tps26Great reporting @opendemocracy.net 's @ethanshone.bsky.social on gaping hole in #UK politics – regulation of lobbying. ATM, unlike MPs, councillors are not barred from being lobbyists. So, an ex-Tory MP-turned-#Reform councillor also works as a lobbyist! https://www.opendemocracy.net/email/62197bd7-f61f-43fa-b37a-77b8373dbb6c/10 Sep 2026 12:05 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv5z6x6tps26https://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mv4otpefgc2h@theatlantic.com 's @radiofreetom.bsky.social : Trump’s attitude toward Canada is almost indistinguishable from the way Putin sees Ukraine: not as a state but as some kind of historical anomaly that should be returned to its rightful owners. https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/2026/09/why-trump-hates-canada/688561/09 Sep 2026 23:27 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv4otpefgc2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mv4gzeyajc2lCrucial context from Dominic Streatfeild’s book ‘A History of the World Since 9/11: Disaster, Deception, and Destruction in the War on Terror’. #thisweekthosebooks https://thisweekthosebooks.substack.com/p/911-chapter-or-just-a-footnote09 Sep 2026 21:07 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv4gzeyajc2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mv3wkzn5m22u@semaforben.bsky.social offers interesting insights into the changing nature of #military-#media transparency, with the #US hitting a high point under George 'Dubya' Bush & Don Rumsfeld. Now, the US, #Israel, #Ukraine...all guard access very tightly https://www.semafor.com/newsletter/09/07/2026/semafor-media-out-of-sight-out-of-mind?utm_source=newslettershare&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=flagshipnumbered2#d09 Sep 2026 16:13 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv3wkzn5m22uhttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mv3s5kja62239/11: Chapter or just a footnote? #thisweekthosebooks offers crucial context from 2 compelling books. Get smarter, faster with this 5-minute read via @medium.com https://medium.com/this-week-those-books/9-11-chapter-or-just-a-footnote-3e640aa5a274/share/thisweekthosebooks?source=social.bluesky09 Sep 2026 14:54 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv3s5kja6223https://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mv3hpglmw223This Week’s Books from #thisweekthosebooks •A dismal summing up of #9/11’s effects. •A novel about how the attack on #America affected an Iraqi village. A 5-minute read. https://thisweekthosebooks.substack.com/p/911-chapter-or-just-a-footnote09 Sep 2026 11:47 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv3hpglmw223https://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mv3hnfkedc239/11: Chapter or just a footnote? https://thisweekthosebooks.substack.com/p/911-chapter-or-just-a-footnote?r=1ejfm&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web09 Sep 2026 11:46 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv3hnfkedc23https://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3muuw34sk7s2fLovely @airmail.news piece on the #food critic who's rattling #France’s culinary establishment: He wears wigs, trashes legendary pâtissiers, and terrifies the city’s top chefs. https://airmail.news/issues/2026-9-5/the-man-who-ate-paris06 Sep 2026 21:16 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3muuw34sk7s2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mumydvncok2aTo be portrayed as a protectionist, even predatory, neo-imperial force is rather a dismal semisesquicentennial birthday present for the shiny, happy idea of #European collaboration. https://www.rashmee.com/the-eu-brand-becomes-a-bit-less-shiny/03 Sep 2026 17:35 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mumydvncok2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mumyajvrfc2aThe #EU brand becomes a bit less shiny https://www.rashmee.com/the-eu-brand-becomes-a-bit-less-shiny/03 Sep 2026 17:33 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mumyajvrfc2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mukutdrlus2d@simonglynn.bsky.social ’s first Fertile Future post recommends the trillion-person-year epoch as a suitable time horizon because it allows for both agency and vision. It’s not too long nor too short…1/202 Sep 2026 21:27 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mukutdrlus2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mukin5p2r223@alastaircampbell2.bsky.social via @thenewworldmag.bsky.social : #Trump says #Europe is broken. My nine-country journey showed how idiotic he is https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/alastair-campbells-diary-trump-says-europe-is-broken-my-nine-country-journey-showed-how-idiotic-he-is/02 Sep 2026 17:48 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mukin5p2r223https://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mujus6afr227#Pakistan, #Saudi Arabia, #Turkey's Mecca Defense Alliance will formalize the structure of their pact with a secretariat based in Saudi and Pakistan appointing the first secretary general to lead it.02 Sep 2026 11:53 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mujus6afr227https://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3muew6w45zk26Brilliant @airmail.news investigation into who earns hundreds of millions from using #Einstein's name and likeness. https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-29/einsteins-eternal-returns31 Aug 2026 12:35 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3muew6w45zk26https://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3muev5ouqys2u"Mass politics”, unions, churches, mass membership, endured until the 1980s. “Post-politics” defined 1990s & 2000s with Third Way & depoliticized technocratic management. “Anti-politics” marked the 2010s. Now, “hyperpolitics” with politics everywhere https://www.theideasletter.org/essay/froth-fury-and-the-rise-of-the-new-right/31 Aug 2026 12:16 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3muev5ouqys2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mueuhuhq2k2nThe #US govt will have a 100-year 'contract' in 17 Venezuelan oil fields & thereby, access to more than 65bn barrels of oil. The deal involves Trump 'viceroy' Alejandro Betancourt López, whose family controls the Venezuela's 2nd largest private oil company https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/pentagon-talks-venezuelan-mogul-massive-195621864.html31 Aug 2026 12:04 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mueuhuhq2k2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3muesf75gl22gSpot on William Dalrymple: We still speak of the #British conquering #India. In reality, the conquest of the Indian subcontinent between 1756 and 1803 was the work not of a nation-state but of a private company, the East India Company. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/opinion/ai-power-lobbying-military-britain-east-india-company.html31 Aug 2026 11:27 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3muesf75gl22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3muesa3gqus2g@airmail.news has some interesting theories on why Harry and Meghan have moved back to Britain. https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-29/from-megxit-to-megret31 Aug 2026 11:24 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3muesa3gqus2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3muerv2tcks27Per @financialtimes.com : "Asked about his relationship with the #Trump administration, #Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said #Afghanistan would 'absolutely' welcome #US investments in sectors including mining, infrastructure, agriculture and trade."31 Aug 2026 11:18 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3muerv2tcks27https://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3muerjihgsc2s@pedro-pina.bsky.social, YouTube's head for Europe, Middle East and Africa, has said broadcasters could flourish alongside new digital platforms, just as painters continued to flourish after the invention of the photograph. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/aug/26/amol-rajan-warns-bbc-destined-to-shrink-at-accelerating-rate31 Aug 2026 11:11 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3muerjihgsc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mueqw3nmgd2pAs the summer holiday comes to an end, nugget dug up by #thisweekthosebooks from 2 great reads: Modern tourism grew out of the building of a “kind of virtual reality called the picturesque: a certain way of selecting, framing & representing views” https://thisweekthosebooks.substack.com/p/summer-holiday-hill-station-to-coolcation31 Aug 2026 11:01 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mueqw3nmgd2phttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mudplqbb3k2i“Reham was killed.” She wasn’t lucky enough to be killed in a way the news would call tragic...no moving last words, no rescue operation, no photograph of her traveling or wounding a foreign conscience. 1/231 Aug 2026 01:04 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mudplqbb3k2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mudidtkz3s2b@alastaircampbell2.bsky.social in particularly good form in his @thenewworldmag.bsky.social column on doing God right. He writes about ex-Australian PM, Presbyterian-turned-Catholic Malcolm Turnbull's speech The Politics of Love re. those who spread hate 1/2 https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/alastair-campbell-sometimes-i-do-do-god-but-only-as-a-favour-to-the/30 Aug 2026 22:55 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mudidtkz3s2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mucpngbxsk2tAd multos annos, @BBCMonitoring, 87 years and counting. https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/inside-bbcm/22030 Aug 2026 15:33 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mucpngbxsk2thttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mu7vlidpsy2zDog days of August but summer holiday still. An anthropologist explains the creation of the modern tourism industry. Stories from a cool holiday spot in colonial India. #thisweekthosebooks has 2 great reads https://medium.com/this-week-those-books/on-holiday-hill-station-to-coolcation-9f14d0a8031329 Aug 2026 12:41 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu7vlidpsy2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/rashmee.bsky.social/post/3mu7mgfwk6k2nAcross from Meerut Road, the expanse of heather and grass clumps is littered with New England Pony poop. These magnificent animals pay no heed to humans (and their dog) passing by. The scene is of peaceful coexistence for all that the name of the main road recalls war https://www.rashmee.com/brockenhurst-is-pretty-and-peaceful-though-its-meerut-road-recalls-a-war/29 Aug 2026 09:57 +0000at://did:plc:u2xz26src2bdf5tw2rb4zv6b/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu7mgfwk6k2n